Documentary
Futures in flux at MIT and Harvard documentary film centers as founding leaders step down
The 2020s have been hard on Boston’s documentary film scene. In 2022, the LEF Foundation’s DocYard screening series went on indefinite hiatus; in 2024, the Bright Lights Cinema Series was cancelled after its curator, Anna Feder, was let go in what appeared to be a politically motivated dismissal. In comparison, last month’s leadership transitions at […]
Ross McElwee: Processing pain and grief on film
Ross McElwee, the affable, soft-spoken southern gentleman who bares all in his autobiographical documentaries, has often chronicled personal pain. In his groundbreaking work, “Sherman’s March” (1986), we see a budding young filmmaker’s lost loves and unrealized yearnings. In his latest, “Remake,” he wrestles with the tragic death of his son in 2016. Read more Why […]
Cambridge, Somerville documentary makers make their marquee
Next Wednesday sees screenings from a pair of local documentary filmmakers, one in our backyard, the other a quick car (or bike, or 66 bus) ride away. At the Somerville Museum, filmmaker Anne Continelli debuts her new documentary short “A Matter of Light” (2026), about the artist collective at Somerville’s legendary Vernon Street Studios and […]