movies about movies - reDocumented

A collection of black and white photographs of 1940s film productions displayed across a table.

documentary review

The Propagandist (dir. Luuk Bouwman)

It’s probably not coincidental that there are multiple documentaries releasing this year that deal with WWII propaganda. Andres Veiel’s Riefenstahl premiered a year ago at last year’s Venice Film Festival and Luuk Bouwman’s The Propagandist premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, also last year. Both

A woman in all black with long straight hair and cat-eye glasses sits discussing movies.

film festival review

Melbourne International Film Festival: 1000 Women in Horror (dir. Donna Davies)

Adapting books into documentaries comes with a unique set of issues. Especially so when you’re adapting what is essentially an a to z encyclopaedia of over one thousand women who have made an impact, large or small, on the horror genre. Like Xavier Burgin’s Horror Noire: A History

A black and white image of an ageing man in a dark outfit conducts an orchestra.

music documentary

Music by John Williams (dir. Laurent Bouzereau)

Nobody needs me to sit here and talk about John Williams. We all know who he is and what he has achieved. He is that rare sort of below-the-line film technician that even casual filmgoers recognise not just the work of but his name, too. A symbol of an era

Stylised pink photograph of a transgender woman looking at the camera.

documentary review

MQFF: I'm Your Venus (dir. Kimberly Reed)

I’m Your Venus is a movie that does not go overtly into the complicated history of Paris is Burning. Neither as a cultural artefact, nor for its legacy as a story about queer and trans people directed a cis filmmaker. Just as we have long since gone beyond needing

Ethan Hawke in a beanie and black shirt walks down the action aisle of a Blockbuster video.

documentary review

Sydney Film Festival – Videoheaven (dir. Alex Ross Perry)

A visual essay about video stores playing at a film festival. What a concept! You’ve got to be careful with a film like Videoheaven. Alex Ross Perry’s near-three-hour movie starts with Ethan Hawke in Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (aka Hamlet 2000!) reciting the famous "to be

Stylised film still of the texas chain saw massace of a man holding a chainsaw chasing a young woman.

documentary review

Sydney Film Festival – Chain Reactions (dir. Alexandre O. Philippe)

We don’t necessarily need another documentary about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Between features and home entertainment productions, general horror docs plus cast and crew biographies, Tobe Hooper’s horror masterpiece has been well and truly covered over its 50 years. Or at least that’s what it feels

Scala title card: this film has been passed X rated by British Board of Film Censors like an old film would receive.

movies about movies

Eight Great Anecdotes from Scala!!! (dir. Jane Giles and Ali Catterall)

Movies like Scala!!! don't always suit themselves to traditional reviews. This is a documentary about the famed Scala theatre and cinema in England, which has existed in some form since 1905. A Hard Day's Night was shot there! It's played over 4000 films and

A man with beard and glasses sits in front of a editing machine that is playing a black and white movie.

documentary review

The Cinema Within (dir. Chad Freidrichs)

Movies about movies. Groundbreaking. Movies about the "psychology of film editing"? Okay, that's a bit different. I have enjoyed the films of Chad Freidrichs well enough; The Pruitt-Igoe Myth and The Experimental City have each covered two very different and historically curious moments of the 20th