The 26th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, unspooling April 4–7 in downtown Durham, will screen more than 50 films from 22 countries. Think of it as an abundance of great filmmaking, right in our yard.
In anticipation of the annual event, we’ve got Q&A features on two documentaries we’re anticipating, Girls State and Family Tree, and a sampling of this year’s feature-length films, which give a sense of the festival’s ambitious depth and breadth. (There’s a whole other slate of short films on offer, too.) For information on times, dates, and tickets, visit the festival website.
Making its world premiere at Full Frame, director (and former INDY photographer) D. L. Anderson’s doc profiles a remarkable grassroots initiative with a local connection. North Carolina activist Erica Payne and her nonpartisan Great Economy Project join with working-class conservatives in Whiteville, NC, to fight for real and lasting change in living wage legislation. The group ultimately battles its way to the NC General Assembly on the power of an old political truism: meaningful change comes from the ground up.
In addition to pioneering entire vistas of ambient and electronic music, British musician Brian Eno has inspired generations of artists with his structural innovations to the creative process itself. (Google the phrase “Oblique Strategies” sometime.) This innovative profile from director Gary Hustwit, who is also curating this year’s thematic program alongside filmmaker Jessica Edwards, parallels Eno’s approach vector by using generative software to shuffle and randomize the film with each viewing: every individual screening is unique.
Part of this year’s Tribute series honoring Full Frame founder Nancy Buirski, this acclaimed documentary chronicles the intriguing love story of Richard and Mildred Loving. In 1967, with the help of the ACLU, the Lovings took their case to the Supreme Court and overturned all remaining anti-miscegenation laws in the United States. Featuring some astonishing archival footage, Buirski’s film was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2012.
Maybe this year’s most flat-out fascinating film, Agent of Happiness follows the adventures of Amber Kumar Gurung, whose job is to improve the happiness quotient in his native country of Bhutan. A predominantly Buddhist nation in the Himalayas, Bhutan is constitutionally mandated to assess and promote joy through its Ministry of Gross National Happiness. Amber is one of many happiness agents sent out with a mission—and a 148-question survey. The film earned ecstatic reviews, fittingly, at its Sundance premiere earlier this year.
One of several films this year to dig beneath the grim daily news headlines, All We Carry follows a Honduran immigrant family—mom, dad, and child—and their experience seeking asylum in the United States. Director Cady Voge takes a close-up vérité approach to the story, illuminating the immigrant experience at ground level over a three-year period—following the family from cargo trains in Mexico and separation at the border to a caring synagogue community in Seattle.
This unique film from Italy tells the delightfully odd story of map collector David Rumsey and his quest to create a kind of 21st-century spatial poem in the virtual realm of Second Life. Director Andrea Gatopoulos explores the essential mystery of maps, which exist in the notional space between the actual and the conceptual—in the nooks and crannies of art, technology, imagination, and history.
Another deep dive beneath the headlines, Union details the three-year odyssey of Amazon warehouse employee Chris Smalls and his quest to unionize his fellow workers. Billed as the ultimate David-versus-Goliath story, the film reveals the enormous amount of effort required to fight back against Amazon’s relentless anti-union strategies. Union also slots into a proud tradition of films that document the enduring power of collective action.
Filmmaker Joanna Rudnick tracks the history of children’s picture books by way of archival interviews with beloved authors (Maurice Sendak!) and, naturally, playful animated sequences. The film also tracks issues of diversity and representation by profiling three current authors who are expanding the form in terms of race, class, gender, and identity. A good documentary film can make you intensely curious about things you never stopped to think about before—like how picture books are most kids’ very first experience with storytelling.
Luther is the first full-length documentary to chronicle the life and art of R&B godfather Luther Vandross, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest vocalists of all time. Distilled from archival footage and more than 80 hours of performance clips, the film weaves in appearances from friends, family, and collaborators including Mariah Carey and Roberta Flack. Luther is slated as the closing-night film, which is usually pleasantly rowdy. Festival officials are forthright: bring your dancing shoes.
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