About a year ago, I wrote on the 10th anniversary of Thom Andersen‘s Los Angeles Plays Itself and claimed that due to its content it “will never get a legitimate theatrical or home release.” Sometimes it’s great to be wrong. This Tuesday, the once-thought impossible is happening, as the video essay will be available on DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Guild. On the packaging is a quote from Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times declaring the film to be “the best documentary ever made about Los Angeles.” I agree.
It’s not the only great documentary ever made about Los Angeles, though, and so I’d like to use the release and the quote as inspiration for a list of other essentials. As the second-largest city in the United States, an epicenter of American cultural production for over a century, and a cross-section of myriad environments both geological and sociological, L.A. makes for an excellent documentary setting. And a quick overview of docs that have approached the city reveal every kind of nonfiction film there is. The following barely scratches the surface of worthwhile docs made in and about L.A.
Wattstax (1973)
The so-called “Black Woodstock,” the Wattstax music festival was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in August of 1972, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots. In Mel Stuart‘s film of the event (a Golden Globe nominee back when they gave awards to docs), thrilling footage of sets by The Staple Singers, Rufus Thomas and Isaac Hayes alternates with interviews with the residents of Watts and various attendees of the concert. They speak to a variety of issues affecting African Americans, many of which are still sadly relevant. Richard Pryor‘s joke about police shooting black men needs no updating. But this is a film about solidarity and cultural celebration, and it’s one of the best (but underseen) concert films
Read more at Film School Rejects: http://nonfics.com/20-best-documentaries-los-angeles/#ixzz47g89FkQy
Read more at http://nonfics.com/20-best-documentaries-los-angeles/#lKhK3jZokBeZPDc8.99
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