AFI DOCS 2021 Announces Lineup for Hybrid Festival
BY SCOTTIE KNOLLIN
The American Film Institute announced the full lineup for its upcoming 2021 documentary festival, set to take place June 22-27 i a hybrid format. Based in Silver Springs, Maryland, the festival will also screen films virtually on the AFI DOCS website.
Garrett Bradley, Academy Award-nominated director of “Time”, will present “Naomi Osaka”, a new docuseries for Netflix about the champion tennis player as the fest’s opening feature. “Cusp” has been selected as the closing night film.
The festival will feature 77 films from 23 countries, including four world premieres. The festival also features a wide range of creative voices with 52% of its selections directed by women, 40% by BIPOC directors, and 18% by LGBTQ directors.
In addition to the opening and closing projects, one of the most anticipated titles is Morgan Neville’s “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain”. The biodoc is earning early raves and many are already counting it among the list of frontrunners for next year’s Academy Awards.
Of the films being presented, other titles include “White Coat Rebels” about the movement to push back against big pharma, “The Slow Hustle” about a corruption scandal in the Baltimore police department, and “Courtroom 3H” about family court trials. Docuseries are also being highlighted during the festival, including “Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson” and “9/11: One Day in America”.
The Charles Guggenheim Symposium will feature a discussion with Dawn Porter and a free screening of her new film “Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer”.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Opening Night Screening
NAOMI OSAKA
Dir. Garrett Bradley; USA
Synopsis: An intimate look inside the life of one of the most gifted athletes of her generation. World Premiere.
Closing Night Screening
CUSP
Dirs. Parker Hill and Isabel Bethencourt; USA
Synopsis: A coming-of-age documentary following three teenage girls during one life-changing summer in their small Texas town.
Centerpiece Screening
ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN
Dir. Morgan Neville; USA
Synopsis: A look at the uncommon life of the late storyteller, explorer, and chef.
2021 Charles Guggenheim Symposium
Dawn Porter and RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER
Dir. Dawn Porter; In conversation with Variety’s Clayton Davis; USA
Synopsis: An exploration of the role of media during early 20th century events, like the Tulsa Massacre.
Feature Films
COURTROOM 3H
Dir. Antonio Méndez Esparaza; Spain
Synopsis: A journey inside Tallahassee’s Courtroom 3H, a family court. North American Premiere.
DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD
Dir. Brooke Pepion Swaney; USA
Synopsis: Follows Kendra, a Native American searching for her birth mother while grappling with her white, suburban upbringing.
DELPHINE’S PRAYERS
Dir. Rosine Mbakam; Belgium, Cameroon
Synopsis: Delphine, a Cameroonian woman, recounts the story of how she ended up in Brussels.
FATHOM
Dir. Drew Xanthopoulos; USA
Synopsis: Follows women in the field of cetacean research.
THE FIRST STEP
Dir. Brandon Kramer; USA
Synopsis: CNN’s Van Jones takes a trip down the rabbit hole as he builds an alliance with Jared Kushner.
LFG
Dirs. Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine; USA
Synopsis: An intimate look at the U.S. women’s national soccer team as it files a class-action, gender discrimination lawsuit against the team’s employer, the U.S. Soccer Federation.
THE LOST LEONARDO
Dir. Andreas Koefoed; Denmark, France, Sweden
Synopsis: Shares the story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold.
LUCHADORAS
Dirs. Paolo Calvo and Patrick Jasim; Germany, Mexico
Synopsis: Three female wrestlers confront crises in their personal lives and their community of Ciudad Juarez.
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY
Dirs. Julie Cohen, Betsy West; USA
Synopsis: The directors behind “RBG” profile Pauli Murray, one of the 20th century’s great human rights activists.
THE NEUTRAL GROUND
Dir. CJ Hunt; USA
Synopsis: Dives into history by asking difficult questions about the U.S.’s Confederate monuments.
NO STRAIGHT LINES
Dir. Vivian Kleiman; USA
Synopsis: A look at the history of queer comics and the queer artists who carved out space in the culture.
NORTH BY CURRENT
Dir. Angelo Madsen Minax; USA
Synopsis: The filmmaker seeks answers after the death of his niece and accusations against his family.
THE ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY
Dir. Andre Gaines; USA
Synopsis: Guided by other entertainers, Dick Gregory finds his humor again.
PRAY AWAY
Dir. Kristine Stolakis; USA
Synopsis: Former leaders of the “pray away the gay” movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions.
PRESIDENT
Dir. Camilla Nielsson; Denmark, USA, Norway
Synopsis: Nelson Chamisa challenges Zimbabwe’s presidential candidate.
RADIOGRAPH OF A FAMILY
Dir. Firouzeh Khosrovani; Iran, Switzerland, Norway
Synopsis: Khosrovani excavates and examines her parents’ marriage in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution.
REBEL HEARTS
Dir. Pedro Kos; USA
Synopsis: L.A.’s Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary challenge the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s.
SEARCHERS
Dir. Pacho Velez; USA
Synopsis: An exploration of online dating apps and those searching for love in all the digital places.
THE SLOW HUSTLE
Dir. Sonja Sohn; USA
Synopsis: A corruption scandal in Baltimore Police Department.
STORM LAKE
Dirs. Jerry Risius and Beth Levison; USA
Synopsis: Art Cullen and his family have been publishing the Storm Lake, Iowa local paper for 30 years.
THE STORY WON’T DIE
Dir. David Henry Gerson; USA, Germany, Denmark
Synopsis: Syrian artists head to Europe in exile.
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)
Dir. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson; USA
Synopsis: A music festival in Harlem in 1969 shines light on American music and African American history.
TOM PETTY, SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE
Dir. Mary Wharton; USA
Synopsis: Newly discovered 16mm footage is weaved together with intimate interviews about Tom Petty’s touchstone album, “Wildflowers”.
TRY HARDER
Dir. Debbie Lum; USA
Synopsis: Features high school seniors pulling out all the stops to get into their dream colleges.
WE
Dir. Alice Diop; France
Synopsis: A slice-of-life portrait of Paris and its suburbs.
WHITE COAT REBELS
Dir. Greg Barker; USA
Synopsis: A probing look at the influence of Big Pharma.
Series
9/11: ONE DAY IN AMERICA
Dir. Daniel Bogado; USA
Synopsis: A harrowing review of the morning of September 11 in collaboration with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. AFI DOCS will present the first three episodes.
OBAMA: IN PURSUIT OF A MORE PERFECT UNION
Dir. Peter Kunhardt; USA
Synopsis: A multi-part deep dive into the journey of Barack Obama from his early upbringing to the 44th U.S. presidency. AFI DOCS will present the first two episodes.
WATCH THE SOUND WITH MARK RONSON
Dirs. Mark Monroe, Morgan Neville, and Jason Zeldes; USA
Synopsis: Explores sound creation and the revolutionary technology shaping modern music. AFI DOCS will host three episodes of the new series.
Cinema’s Legacy
IN SEARCH OF OUR FATHERS (1992)
Dir. Marco Williams; USA
Synopsis: Williams’ seven-year journey to track down the father he never knew.
SINK OR SWIM (1990)
Dir. Su Friedrich; USA
Synopsis: A personal documentary about one of Friendrich’s pivotal childhood memories.
STEVIE (2002)
Dir. Steve James; USA
Synopsis: A straightforward glimpse of the man James once mentored as a Big Brother.
