Many people are familiar with the Kinsey Report on sexual behavior, which rocked the establishment in the early fifties, but far fewer know about 1976’s Hite Report, which effectively described the frequency and variability of female orgasm. The report’s author, feminist researcher Shere Hite, was alternately celebrated and vilified for her writing, with media outlets often outwardly hostile to ... more >
ARCHIVES
“THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE” | Interview with the director
Starring Dakota Johnson, Shere Hite and Michael Conrad
Directed by Nicole Newnham
Ken Burns returns with “THE AMERICAN BUFFALO,” along with trusted colleagues | INTERVIEW
The American Buffalo is back
At the start of the twentieth century, it was estimated that fewer than 1,000 bison were left on the Great Plains following two centuries of unchecked extermination. Today, thanks to conservation efforts, they number approximately 450,000—but still far, far below the tens of millions of animals that once roamed the continent. In “THE AMERICAN BUFFALO,” master documentarian Ken Burns traces ... more >
Land grabs, the search for justice and remembrance in “SILVER DOLLAR ROAD”
Documentary
In the last century, more than ninety percent of Black farmers lost their property, often in schemes that dispossessed them of decades or even centuries of ties to their land. Greed, as it often does, plays a part, especially when backed by a corporate machine intent on seizing property for development. Just one such example of land grabbing is documented in the new film “Silver Dollar Road” ... more >
The emotional power of stock taking and self-examination: “JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE” | INTERVIEW
Film premiered at the 2023 DC/DOX Festival
Co-directed by Miri Navasky, Karen O'Connor and Maeve O'Boyle
Joan Baez I Am a Noise” is less a travelogue of Joan Baez’s six decades in music than it is an exploration of her personality, her hopes, her tragedies, her triumphs and her political advocacy on behalf of the cause of peace. In addition to the music she made early on with Bob Dylan, the film tells of Baez’s difficulties with anxiety as well as her later-in-life wish to confront her parents about ... more >
“DEADLOCKED: HOW AMERICA SHAPED THE SUPREME COURT”; interview with filmmaker Dawn Porter
"it’s time that we shine a light on the court and how it impacts you and me literally daily"
The filmmaker Dawn Porter is also a lawyer. And even though she has the utmost respect for the Supreme Court, she is nonetheless perturbed by what she describes as the public’s loss of faith in its premier judicial institution. “The court did not just turn right suddenly,” Porter said on a recent phone call. “We have a very dramatic and ideological shift. And so I wanted to trace the history so ... more >
The must-have Texas bourbon story gets the documentary treatment | FILM REVIEW
The full proof tale of Garrison Brothers
Directed by Chet Garner and Daniel Mecey
It’s said everything is bigger in Texas, perhaps nowhere more so than in the incredible true story of Garrison Brothers, a bespoke whiskey distillery in the humble town of Hye whose Texas bourbon is now the toast of the Lone Star State. “Cowboy Bourbon” is an intriguing new documentary about Dan Garrison, a dreamer who believed that authentic bourbon need not come from Kentucky. And while ... more >
In “Nina & Irena” filmmaker Daniel Lombroso interviews his grandmother, who survived the Holocaust
Revealing a tragic tale of loss
The filmmaker Daniel Lombroso continues to amaze me. I learned of his work early in the pandemic, encountering his documentary “White Noise” at the first (but not last) virtual AFI DOCS fest in 2020. That searing film—which was on my best-of-the-year list—introduced us to true believers in the cause of white supremacy, including a young Canadian woman who is among the most intriguing documentary ... more >