Friends, the Fandads were lucky to attend a few screenings at this year’s 9th annual Doc10 documentary film festival. The festival ran from May 2 – 5, 2024. This year’s festival is presented at the Davis Theater and Gene Siskel Film Center, featuring a selection of 10+ acclaimed Chicago premieres and a package of 10 prestigious documentary shorts.
DEVO
The band DEVO is more punk rock than you would think they are. This documentary not only gives us the genesis of the group but shows us how ahead of their time they were. The group was always against the grain and these interviews give us deeper insight into their process and how they smartly used their platform. From home movies to early concert footage, DEVO is a must-see!
Dir. Chris Smith
Producers: Chris Holmes, Anita Greenspan, Danny Gabai
95 min, 2024, US
“Whip it, whip it good!” This spirited irreverent portrait of the legendary new wave band Devo charts the unlikely rise of the musical innovators from Akron, Ohio. From Dadaist Kent State radicals in the 1970s, galvanized by political unrest, to unlikely icons of the 1980s, featured in Honda Scooter commercials and mainstays of the early days of MTV. Directed by Chris Smith, known for his breakout debut American Movie and nonfiction hits Tiger King and Wham!, Devo goes beyond the typical bio-doc to channel the absurdity and edginess of the sonic provocateurs with the help of their own bizarre and hilarious archival materials. “Bursting with energy and creativity” (Rogerebert.com) and “every bit as fun as its subject” (Variety), the film “apes the art-damaged, collage-like aspects of [their] visual work, while also making manifest their philosophical approach of meeting cynicism not with optimism but a barrage of irony.” (Rolling Stone).
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story gives the audience a fantastic look into the life of this incredible actor with never before seen footage from home movies. Reeves lived his life to the fullest and shared that passion with his children. Through this documentary we see how his fight to live each day to the fullest did not dim after his accident and how that light inspired those around him. Whether a fan of his role as Superman or his more dramatic takes, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story will give you more appreciation for the man and life in general.
Dirs. Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Producers: Lizzie Gillett, Robert Ford, Ian Bonhôte
104 min, 2024, United Kingdom, USA
Never-before-seen home movies and extraordinary personal archives reveal how Christopher Reeve went from unknown actor to iconic movie star as the ultimate screen superhero. After suffering a tragic accident that left him quadriplegic and dependent on a ventilator to breathe, he learned the true meaning of heroism as an activist. “Enrapturing” (IndieWire) and “a superbly made and supremely moving portrait” (Variety), “Super/Man [is] so satisfying [and] for a biographical film in which tragedy and loss play such a central part, it’s rich in evidence of hope and kindness, gratitude and the resilience of the human spirit” (The Hollywood Reporter).
APOLONIA APOLONIA
Apolonia, Apolonia follows the life of artist Apolonia Sokol for 13 years. In those years we witness the birth of her art and her style. We also witness the struggles she faces as a young woman artist in a male dominated world. Apolonia has a vision that is bigger than what we have seen before and the art world is not ready for her. For a deep look into the term “making it” in the art world, Apolonia, Apolonia will hold your attention until the final frame.
Dir: Lea Glob
Producer: Sidsel Lønvig Siersted
116 minutes, 2023, Denmark, Poland
A portrait of the artist as a young woman, Apolonia Apolonia is among the year’s most celebrated and fascinating documentaries. Shortlisted for this year’s Academy Awards and winner of top prizes at festivals around the world, the film follows 13 years in the life of charismatic French painter Apolonia Sokol, from her days as a bohemian student at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, to her travails as a millionaire-sponsored artist in Los Angeles and beyond. “Bittersweet [and] “beguiling” (New York Times), “astonishing [and] affectionate” (RogerEbert.com) and “an impressively idiosyncratic, far-reaching work” (Variety), the film charts Apolonia’s winding course through the (often male-dominated) art-world and her close relationships with two other women, her best friend Ukrainian feminist activist Oksana Shachko, and the documentary’s director Lea Glob. As she reveals profound questions about female identity and friendship, art and commerce, filmmaker and protagonist, life and death, Glob is “utterly captivated by her subject, and the result leaves us just as transfixed” (POV Magazine).
DAUGHTERS
Daughters is the type of documentary that needs to be seen, talked about, and shared with everyone. This documentary can cause change in the prison system if more prisons participated in this program. The families that participate are so intriguing and the build up to the father-daughter dance is an emotional punch that you are not ready for. Daughters is an important film that could hopefully lead to change! Daughters will be coming to Netflix later this year!
Dirs: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae
Producers: Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft, James Cunningham
107 min, 2024, US
A profoundly emotional eight-year journey of incarnated fathers and their daughters, this Sundance standout—winner of two Audience Awards and voted the festival’s best documentary by critics—Daughters is a miraculous wonder of humanity, compassion, and social conscience. Inside a jail in Washington, D.C., male inmates are invited to join a special rehabilitation program, which culminates with a Daddy Daughter Dance. Meanwhile, we get to meet their daughters Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana, all different ages and very different relationships with their absent dads. Though Daughters builds to an incredible reunion, the film powerfully conveys their personal stories far beyond this single special night. “Rife with visually lyrical moments” (Variety) and “alternately shattering and hopeful … intimate and stirring” (Vanity Fair), this “enormously moving” (IndieWire) documentary will make you “want to follow these fathers and daughters deep into the future” (Los Angeles Times).