North By Current
Essential Documentaries
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1h 23m
Leaving November 1
Directed by Angelo Madsen Minax | 84 mins | 2021
In this heart-wrenching documentary, a filmmaker returns to his Michigan hometown after his niece’s unexpected death and goes deep into reflections about his family, growing up, and trans identity. Recharging the personal-essay form with tough-minded self-interrogation and cosmic reflections, Minax bares his soul but also doesn’t let himself off the hook.
Up Next in Essential Documentaries
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Ornette: Made in America
Directed by Shirley Clarke | 85 mins | 1985
“Discovering the work of filmmaker and the Film-Makers' Cooperative co-founder, Shirley Clarke made me aware of the wide range of cinema’s possibilities. This 1985 documentary shot in collaboration with the late Ornette Coleman, using a diverse array of... -
Our Beloved Month of August
Directed by Miguel Gomes | 147 mins | 2008
Gomes’s magical mystery tour through the rich pageant of summertime Portugal blurs fiction and documentary as it chronicles a traveling family pop band, interviews with an array of folks in the country, and a fragile fictional love story. Gomes’s second ... -
Portrait of Jason
Directed by Shirley Clarke | 107 mins | 1967
A distillation of a single 12-hour interview in a room at the Chelsea Hotel with the charismatic Jason Holliday (“real” name Aaron Payne), a gay, African American cabaret dancer, part-time hustler, and full-time raconteur, Portrait of Jason grows from ...
