The Grand Cinema’s First Ever Documentary Week: March 21-27
The Grand Cinema is proud to present their first-ever Documentary Week, March 21-27. The series will showcase seven critically acclaimed, first-run documentaries that will all be screening for the first time in the South Sound. Each film will be screened four or five times each throughout the week.
The seven selections explore a wide variety of subjects including politics and philosophy, music and theater, sailing and exploration, wildlife, and culture and self-expression.
Two of Doc Week’s selections feature iconic personalities who many will be familiar with in philosopher and economist Noam Chomsky (IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY!) and Tony Award Winner Elaine Stritch (ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME). Others will introduce exciting new subjects like the 14-year old Laura Decker who, in the film MAIDENTRIP, attempts to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. (Synopses, trailer links, and showtimes for each film are below.)
“Each year there seems to be more and more extremely well-done documentaries that we believe warrant first-run screenings in Pierce County,” says Philip Cowan, Executive Director of The Grand Cinema.
“We try to fit as many of these top caliber docs as possible into our weekly schedules and Tuesday Film Series, but often we don’t have room for all of them,” Explains Cowan, who led in the programming of Doc Week.
“We’re creating Doc Week to provide space and hopefully also an effective presentation for even more of them.”
Cowan says that if March’s Doc Week is well-received he hopes to program a second installment of the series later in 2014.
In addition to multiple daily screenings, Doc Week will also feature multiple post-film discussions led by local cinephiles.
-Discussion of the film MAIDENTRIP led by Richard Lovering following the 4:15pm screening on Sunday, March 23.
-Discussion of the film IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY? led by Tad Monroe following the 6:30pm screening on Monday, March 24.
-One or two additional discussions will likely be added but are yet to be confirmed.
The Grand Cinema’s “Documentary Week” Selections:
IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY?
A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation. Trailer and Ticket Link
Fri 3.21: 2:00 | Sat 3.22: 8:45 | Mon 3.24: 6:30 | Tue 3.25: 8:45 | Thu 3.27: 4:15
THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE
A cinematic documentary that illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world. Trailer and Ticket Link
Fri 3.21: 4:15 | Sun 3.23: 6:30 | Mon 3.24: 8:45 | Wed 3.26: 6:30
MAIDENTRIP
14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. Trailer and Ticket Link
Sat 3.22: 11:45am | Sun 3.23: 4:15 | Tue 3.25: 2:00 | Thu 3.27: 8:45
ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME
The uncompromising Tony and Emmy Award-winner is showcased both on and off stage via rare archival footage and intimate cinema vérité. Trailer and Ticket Link
Fri 3.21: 8:45 | Sat 3.22: 2:00 | Mon 3.24: 4:15 | Wed 3.26: 2:00 | Thu 3.27: 6:30
CHARLIE VICTOR ROMEO
A stage documentary derived entirely from 'Black Box' transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies. Trailer and Ticket Link
Sat 3.22: 4:15 | Sun 3.23: 2:00 | Tue 3.25: 6:30 | Thu 3.27: 2:00
FIRE IN THE BLOOD
An intricate tale of "medicine, monopoly and malice", FIRE IN THE BLOOD tells the story of how Western pharmaceutical companies and governments blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for the countries of the global south in the years after 1996 - causing ten million or more unnecessary deaths - and the improbable group of people who decided to fight back. Trailer and Ticket Link
Fri 3.21: 6:30 | Sun 3.23: 11:45am | Mon 3.24: 2:00 | Wed 3.26: 4:15
I AM DIVINE
How Divine, aka Harris Glenn Milstead, became John Waters' cinematic muse and an international drag icon. Trailer and Ticket Link
Sat 3.22: 6:30 | Sun 3.23: 8:45 | Tue 3.25: 4:15 | Wed 3.26: 8:45