Screen Time is your curated weekly guide to excellent documentaries and nonfiction programs that you can watch at home.
Premiering March 18 on POV, 306 Hollywood, from Jonathan and Elan Bogarin, is a magical realist documentary of two siblings who undertake an archaeological excavation of their late grandmother's house. They embark on a journey from her home in New Jersey to ancient Rome, from fashion to physics, in search of what life remains in the objects we leave behind.
Barbara Hammer, renowned as an indefatigable trailblazer in both LGBTQ and experimental cinema, passed away this past weekend after a long battle with ovarian cancer; she was 79. We salute her by directing you to her Vimeo site, which includes 34 of her shorts. And here’s an interview with her on documentary.org, when she was nominated for an IDA Documentary Award for Best Short for Maya Deren’s Sink.
Now streaming on Field of Vision, Libre, from Anna Barson, follows two New Yorkers who sought help with immigration bail from a for-profit company and got more than they bargained for. The price for assistance from Libre by Nexus can exceed the initial bond amount and include wearing a GPS ankle monitor every day.
Premiering March 18 on HBO and streaming on HBO GO and HBO Now, Alex Gibney’s The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley tells the tale of one of the biggest frauds in recent years. Theranos, hyped by its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, as a company that would transform the healthcare industry, attracted scores of high-profile investors and earned a $9 billion valuation. But everything collapsed in the wake of rigged test results, denial and opacity on the part of Holmes and increasing scrutiny from the press and from regulators.
Coming March 20 on Mubi, Red Hollywood, from Thom Andersen and Noel Burch, examines the cinematic work by those blacklisted during the McCarthy era in the 1940s and ‘50s The film offers a critical take on one of the most turbulent periods in the history of Hollywood.