Want A Sneak Peak at This Year's Oscar Doc Hopefuls? Just Head On Over to LA's (Secret) August Doc Fest

It may be the dog days of summer, but, somewhat secretly, the opening round of competition for this year's Oscar for Documentary Feature is about to play out in theaters all around Los Angeles.  On the one hand, it's the perfect time for nonfiction film lovers, as nearly every film that is going to make a run for the award - and which isn't already in release - will be screening in Los Angeles this month.  There won't be any big promotion, there won't be any crowds, but it takes only a couple of clicks around the internet to find out who's trying to qualify and where you can see them.

The biggest part of this - and the one with the most attention (and press coverage) is IDA's DocuWeek, the line-up of which I wrote about here and which is also available on the IDA website.  But for films that are bypassing the IDA (either because they had a different strategy or because they didn't get chosen for the organization's annual showcase), there is another big player - Laemmle Theatres.  [Full disclosure - my own film is in DocuWeek and if it were not, it would likely be one of the films jockeying for time at one of the Laemmle houses, as described below.]

In fact, one need only take a glance at the Laemmle website - at the films coming soon - to get a good sense of which films are hoping to find favor with the Academy.

With the Academy's deadline of August 31 - by which time feature documentaries must have played for a week (at least 2x per day) in New York or Los Angeles - a number of films (even some that don't have a full theatrical roll-out planned) are booking Laemmle screens to make their qualifying run.  It's an annual ritual - unknown to almost everyone in Los Angeles - by which you can get a sneak peak of some of the biggest docs of the year, some even before they have their official "World Premiere".  But you'll have to go to some of Laemmle's most hidden theaters (all the better to qualify with) like the cavernous Grande in downtown LA or the subterranean One Colorado in Old Town Pasadena.

One thing that quickly surprised when looking at the Laemmle site was that Alex Gibney's TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE has been screening for the past week at the downtown Grande (it closes tonight).  TAXI is also part of the upcoming DocuWeek showcase and there is some question as to why the film is screening currently and, also, as part of DocuWeek.  I suspect that an upcoming television broadcast might be the cause of the earlier booking, but am currently awaiting confirmation and will report on that later.

Meanwhile, in addition to TAXI and its DocuWeek compadres (CHOPS, HERE AND NOW, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON, LARRY FLYNT: THE RIGHT TO BE LEFT ALONE, NANKING, THE PRICE OF SUGAR, A PROMISE TO THE DEAD: THE EXILE JOURNEY OF ARIEL DORFMAN, PROTAGONIST, WAR/DANCE and WE ARE TOGETHER (THINA SIMUNYE)), here's a sneak peak of some of the films you could catch in LA this month (along with actual release information when available):

Now Playing
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE
Laemmle Grande
closes Thursday, August 9

Opening August 10
JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN
(scheduled for release November 2 from IFC)
Directed by Julian Temple
Laemmle Fallbrook

LAKE OF FIRE
(scheduled for release October 3 from THINKFilm)
DIrected by Tony Kaye
Laemmle Grande

Opening August 17
BILLY THE KID
Directed by Jennifer Venditti
Laemmle Grande

DARIUS GOES WEST
Directed by Logan Smalley
Laemmle Grande

Opening August 24
FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO
(scheduled for release in October from First Run)
Directed by Daniel Karslake
Laemmle One Colorado

SAND AND SORROW
(HBO has acquired - see yesterday's post)
Directed by Paul Freedman
Laemmle One Colorado

AUTISM: THE MUSICAL
(HBO has acquired)
Directed by Tricia Regan
Laemmle One Colorado

THE GATES
Directed by Antonio Ferrara and Albert Maysles
Laemmle One Colorado

GANJA QUEEN
(HBO has acquired)
Directed by Janine Hosking
Laemmle One Colorado

BLOOD AND TEARS: THE ARAB-ISREALI CONFLICT
Directed by Isidore Rosmarin
Laemmle Grande

SKID ROW
(Fugees' Pras Michel spends nine days as a homeless man)
Directed by Ross Clarke, Niva Dorell and Marshall Tyler
Laemmle Grande

MEETING RESISTANCE
Directed by Steve Connors and Molly Bingham
Laemmle Grande

TOTAL DENIAL
Directed by Milena Kaneva
Laemmle Grande

In addition to the above, two acclaimed documentaries that will have previously opened in New York City, will come to Los Angeles as part of their theatrical roll-out:

MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET)
(opening in New York at the Angelika on August 17)
Directed by Jason Kohn

SUMMERCAMP!
(opened at the IFC Center last month)
Directed by Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price

It should be noted that a number of the DocuWeek films have their distribution in place - including four titles from THINKFilm - and some of them would probably prefer that audiences would pay to see their films on opening weekend rather than next week at the Arclight or the Landmark.  Others will use the DocuWeek program not just for their qualifying run, but also to fulfill the Academy's controversial roll-out requirements (14 cities in 10 states).  [Full disclosure again - my film is opening October 3 at the IFC Center in NY and October 5 at the Nuart in LA.  Balcony Releasing is the distributor.]

I've previously written about a number of the above films, so follow the links if you want my two cents on any of the following:

BILLY THE KID
FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO
LAKE OF FIRE
MANDA BALA (SEND A BULLET)
PROTAGONIST
SUMMERCAMP!
TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE
WE ARE TOGETHER

Finally, you'll also be able to catch a great number of films vying for the Documentary Short prize, including THE FIGHTING CHOLITAS, SPITFIRE 944, LA CORONA (PRISON PAGEANT) and OCHBERG'S ORPHANS.  A full list is on the Laemmle website, although you'll have to click through to see which films are nonfiction shorts and which are obscure four-walling narratives.