Best Shop Movies

Art is largely about self-expression -- about the artist's desire to tell us something -- but do we always know what it is the artist is trying to say to us? This question comes to mind while considering the life of photographer Francesca Woodman. Francesca grew up in a creative household -- her mother, Betty Woodman, worked in ceramics; her father, George Woodman, was a painter; and her brother, Charlie Woodman, became a video artist. From an early age, Francesca was taught about the importance and value of art, and she displayed a precocious gift as a photographer. In 1975, at the age of 17, Francesca began creating remarkable and unusual images, often featuring nude women, and after studying in Italy and at the Rhode Island School of Design she seemed on the verge of a long and distinguished career until she committed suicide in early 1981, just days before the opening of the first major exhibition of her work. Filmmaker C. Scott Willis offers a moving portrait of an unusual family and how Francesca's family recognized her genius but not the demons that haunted her in the documentary The Woodmans. The film received its world premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The football program at Manassas High School in Memphis, TN, has earned a powerful reputation during the school's 110-year history, but unfortunately it doesn't happen to be a positive one. The Manassas team has never been eligible for a single play-off game, and no one expected this to change before Bill Courtney entered the picture. Courtney was a businessman and football fan who took it upon himself to do something about the Manassas football program; he volunteered his services as coach and began shaping a hapless team into one with genuine prospects. Filmmakers Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin followed Courtney and his players through the 2009 season, and their documentary Undefeated examines the coach's efforts to give the school a winning record, as well as the sometimes complex relationship between Courtney, a white, wealthy businessman, and his players, who are all black and mostly come from communities stuck in a cycle of poverty and crime. Undefeated received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

On March 1, 2010, Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was arrested on charges of "propaganda against the Islamic Republic" (his crime was speaking out on behalf of activists protesting the dubious re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), and he was sentenced to six years behind bars and banned from making films for twenty years. While Panahi's prison sentence was suspended after a few months in jail, Iranian officials have still forbidden him from directing movies, writing screenplays, giving interviews or leaving the country. In response, fellow filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb teamed up with Panahi to create In Film Nist (aka This Is Not a Film), in which Panahi ponders the past and current state of his career as well as the screenplay he was planning to shoot shortly before his sentence was handed down. As Panahi stages a reading of the script in his home (with Mirtahmasb capturing the action on video as other friends and family members occasionally function as "director" via messages and phone calls), Panahi demonstrates the blocking and camera angles he had in mind using taped diagrams on his living-room floor, and the two filmmakers explore the nebulous line between making a film and talking about how one would make a film in front of a camera. Panahi and Mirtahmasb were able to smuggle a copy of This Is Not a Film out of Iran in defiance of the government's ban on Panahi's work, and the picture was screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Bill Cunningham is a fashion photographer, but unlike most in his profession, he rarely spends a day in a photo studio. Cunningham's work has been a long-time fixture in The New York Times; in his "Evening Hours" column, he presents pictures he's snapped of the wealthy and influential and what they're wearing to social events, while "On the Street" documents bold and individual looks worn by everyday people on the sidewalks of New York City. Cunningham captures the glamorous lives of others and has been hailed as one of the most important men in New York fashion, yet he prefers to live a simple life -- he rides a bicycle around town, makes his home in a modest apartment, has his film processed at a corner store, and keeps his personal life to himself. Filmmaker Richard Press offers a look into the life and art of this influential and enigmatic figure in the documentary Bill Cunningham New York, which follows him as he works and tries to reveal what makes this unique artist tick. Bill Cunningham New York was an official selection at the 2010 Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Liam Neeson narrates director Anthony Geffen's documentary exploring the mystery of famed British adventurer George Mallory, who -- along with fellow climber Sandy Irvine -- perished while attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest back in 1924. Eight years after discovering Mallory's preserved body in one of the most treacherous areas of the mountain, American climber Conrad Anker teams with British mountaineer Leo Houlding to retrace Mallory's footsteps on the North East Ridge Route, free climbing in areas of the mountain that have since been outfitted with ladders despite the risk of injury or death. Alan Rickman, Hugh Dancy, and Ralph Fiennes provide additional narration. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The story of how a friendship between two of Europe's most important filmmakers turned into a rivalry is recounted in this documentary. François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard first met in 1949; in many ways they were very different people -- Godard came from a wealthy and supportive family, while Truffaut had troubles with both school and the law during a hardscrabble youth -- but they were both passionate devotees of the cinema, and became star writers at the pioneering film journal Cahiers du Cinéma. Ten years later, Truffaut and Godard were the most visible figures in the New Wave of French cinema, having enjoyed international success with The 400 Blows and Breathless. But as the two men became more successful, each developed a greater confidence along with differing opinions about art and politics, and by the time Truffaut died in 1984, they hadn't spoken in years. Les Deux de la Vague (aka Two in the Wave) uses vintage interview and newsreel footage of Godard and Truffaut to illustrate their friendship, their rise to fame, the films and filmmakers who influenced them, and the changing times and attitudes that drew them apart. Two In The Wave received its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Screenwriting cousins Jeff and Gregg Sherman team up to craft this documentary exploring the darker side of the relationship shared between their famous fathers, Robert and Richard. Back in the 1960s, Robert and Richard Sherman rose to fame penning upbeat songs for such classic children's films as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But the pair's catchy, optimistic ditties masked a contentious brotherly bond -- which ultimately grew so sour that their sons Jeff and Gregg weren't aware of one another despite the fact that they only lived a few blocks apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Israeli documentarian Yoav Shamir's Checkpoint was a cinéma vérité-style exploration of the daily intractable confrontations between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian citizens at several border checkpoints. For Defamation, Shamir adopts a completely different filmmaking style. Defamation, which explores anti-Semitism, is a more personal "essay film," in the style of Michael Moore or Nick Broomfield. (The filmmaker has described it as "a personal journey.") Shamir dispenses with subjectivity, appearing on camera to ask pointed questions, and explaining his point-of-view in a wry voice-over. Claiming that, having lived in Israel all his life, he's never experienced anti-Semitism (though he points out he's read a lot about it in Israeli newspapers), Shamir travels to America to discover what the phenomenon is all about. He goes to New York, where he looks into alleged incidents of anti-Semitism that turn out to be relatively minor. He also meets Abe Foxman, who heads up the Anti-Defamation League.

After spending some time traveling the world with Foxman, the filmmaker worries that while the ADL's purported purpose is to fight discrimination and bigotry, in practice, the group appears to be using the fear of anti-Semitism to bolster uncritical support for the state of Israel. Shamir contrasts Foxman's access to power with the struggles of embattled, controversial academic Norman Finkelstein, author of The Holocaust Industry, and, like Foxman, the son of Holocaust victims. The filmmaker also travels with a group of Israeli high school students on their traditional class trip to Auschwitz. Shamir suggests that there's a danger in exposing the youngsters to this traumatic experience of the most hateful anti-Semitism just before they enter their mandatory military service. Shamir was granted unfettered access to Foxman and the ADL, and the organization later issued a statement criticizing Shamir and the film. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

The story behind the world's largest oil-related environmental lawsuit comes to the screen as award-winning documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) investigates the facts in the case of the so-called "Amazon Chernobyl," a disaster that occurred deep in the rain forests of Ecuador. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner uses reports by Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser and The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan as a springboard to exploring where the food we purchase at the grocery store really comes from, and what it means for the health of future generations. By exposing the comfortable relationships between business and government, Kenner gradually shines light on the dark underbelly of the American food industry. The USDA and FDA are supposed to protect the public, so why is it that both government regulatory agencies have been complicit in allowing corporations to put profit ahead of consumer health, the American farmer, worker safety, and even the environment? As chicken breasts get bigger and tomatoes are genetically engineered not to go bad, 73,000 Americans fall ill from powerful new strains of E. coli every year, obesity levels are skyrocketing, and adult diabetes has reached epidemic proportions. Perhaps if the general public knew how corporations use exploited laws and subsidies to create powerful monopolies, the outrage would be enough to make us think more carefully about the food we put into our bodies. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In the aftermath of the 1992 L.A. riots, something truly remarkable happened at the intersection of 41st Street and Alameda Avenue thanks to an uncharacteristically charitable move by the city government; where once existed a barren field littered with garbage and syringes suddenly appeared a 14-acre community garden. Dubbed the South Central Farm, the produce garden soon began yielding fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and sweet papayas. Now the local farmers could enjoy their own crops rather than relying on food stamps for subsistence. Not only that, but it also replaced a scene of urban blight with a scene of unusual beauty. For over a decade, the South Central Farm thrived, though in December of 2003 it appeared that the days of this inner-city oasis may be numbered. As the farmers receive eviction notices and bulldozers prepare to level the garden to make room for warehouses, filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy documents the two-and-a-half-year court battle to save the South Central Farm. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi