This past summer, feature-length documentaries such as RBG, Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Three Identical Strangers were some of the most popular titles to hit the arthouse circuit. Each of the movies even grossed more than $10 million bucks.
The Capitol Theatre hopes the six movies it'll show as part of its annual Fall Doc Series will benefit from the popularity of those aforementioned films.
Here’s the series lineup along with descriptions provided by Cleveland Cinemas. The Fall Doc Series commences next week.
Path of Blood
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Summary: Deep in the Saudi desert, young thrill-seekers at jihadi boot camp sign up to a plot to overthrow the Saudi government. They detonate three horrific car bombs at Western compounds in downtown Riyadh and become embroiled in a nail-biting game of cat and mouse with government forces. As their plans unravel, they resort to ever more brutal tactics.Exposing the dark side of the human soul, Path of Blood reveals Al Qaeda as you've never seen it before. Using a treasure trove of Al Qaeda home-movie footage captured by the security services, this haunting documentary film shows how brainwashed idealism and the youthful pursuit of adventure can descend into madness and carnage.
Bad Reputation
Wednesday, Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Summary: After being in featured at this year’s Cleveland International Film Festival, Bad Reputation returns to Cleveland. Joan Jett is so much more than "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." It's true, she became mega-famous from the number-one hit, and that fame intensified with the music video's endless play on MTV. But that staple of popularity can't properly define a musician. Jett put her hard work in long before the fame, ripping it up onstage as the backbone of the hard-rock legends the Runaways, influencing many musicians both her cohort of punk rockers and generations of younger bands with her no-bullshit style. Bad Reputation gives you a wild ride as Jett and her close friends tell you how it really was in the burgeoning '70s punk scene, and their interviews are laced with amazing archival footage. The theme is clear: even though people tried to define Jett and keep her stuck to one hit, she never compromised. She will kick your ass, and you'll love her all the more for it.
Mating/Maya/M.I.A.
Tuesday, Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Summary: Drawn from a cache of personal video recordings from the past 22 years, director Steve Loveridge's Sundance award winning Mating/Maya/M.I.A. is a startlingly personal profile of the critically acclaimed artist, chronicling her remarkable journey from refugee immigrant to pop star. She began as Matangi. Daughter of the founder of Sri Lanka's armed Tamil resistance, she hid from the government in the face of a vicious and bloody civil war. When her family fled to the UK, she became Maya, a precocious and creative immigrant teenager in London. Finally, the world met her as M.I.A. when she emerged on the global stage, having created a mashup, cut-and-paste identity that pulled from every corner of her journey along the way; a sonic sketchbook that blended Tamil politics, art school punk, hip-hop beats and the unwavering, ultra-confident voice of a burgeoning multicultural youth. Never one to compromise on her vision, Maya kept her camera rolling throughout. Mating/Maya/M.I.A. provides unparalleled, intimate access to the artist in her battles with the music industry and mainstream media as her success and fame explodes, becoming one of the most recognizable, outspoken and provocative voices in music today.
Living in the Future's Past
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.
Summary: Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges presents this beautifully photographed 4K tour de force of original thinking on who we are and the life challenges we face. Bridges, alongside prominent scientists and authors, weaves evolution, emergence, entropy, dark ecology, and what some are calling the end of nature, into a story that helps us understand our place among the species of Earth’s household. The film upends our previous conceived notions and provides original insights into our subconscious motivations, the unintended consequences, and how our fundamental nature influences our future as humankind.
Soufra
Thursday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Summary: Soufra follows the unlikely and wildly inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur, Mariam Shaar – a generational refugee who has spent her entire life in the Burj El Barajneh refugee camp just south of Beirut, Lebanon. The film follows Mariam as she sets out against all odds to change her fate by launching a successful catering company, “Soufra,” and then expand it into a food truck business with a diverse team of fellow refugee woman who now share this camp as their home. An audience discussion about refugees will follow the screening.
Rodents of Unusual Size
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m.
Summary: Hard headed Louisiana fisherman Thomas Gonzales doesn't know what will hit him next. After decades of hurricanes and oil spills he faces a new threat — hordes of monstrous 20 pound swamp rats. Known as "nutria," these invasive South American rodents breed faster than the roving squads of hunters can control them. And with their orange teeth and voracious appetite they are eating up the coastal wetlands that protects Thomas and his town of Delacroix Island from hurricanes. But the people who have lived here for generations are not the type of folks who will give up without a fight. Thomas and a pack of lively bounty hunters are hellbent on saving Louisiana before it dissolves beneath their feet. It is man vs. rodent. May the best mammal win. A Q&A with director Chris Metzler will follow the screening.
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