AFI DOCS, the acclaimed documentary festival formerly known as Silverdocs, looks like it will hit yet another bullseye in 2014. As a bonus, this year could come with a subtitle: Women in Film. Nearly half of the movies Washington City Paper reviewed in advance of this year’s fest were directed or co-directed by a woman. And unlike most mainstream films, many also have female protagonists at their center. If you’d like to learn about a recent and miraculous advance in medicine, see the “Face the Music” series of shorts for Beyond Recognition, whose subject, a woman named Carmen, is undeniably brave. You can catch the contagious optimism of Abbie, an 18-year-old with a rare and deadly skin disease, in Butterfly Girl. Or get acquainted with FEMEN, a feminist protest group—and its unlikely leader—in Ukraine Is Not a Brothel.
Of course, this fest isn’t all about the grrls. Despite AFI DOCS’ ostensible repositioning as a more Washington-appropriate, policy-centric event, the documentaries’ subjects and approaches are diverse. Political controversies both old and new (1971; The Newburgh Sting), drug addiction and homelessness (The Fix; The Homestretch), and controversial artistry (Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus; Art and Craft) are included in a buffet that nearly everyone can find satisfaction in sampling. Film itself is even a subject in Point and Shoot, about a Baltimorean adventure documentarian-turned-Libyan revolutionary, and Life Itself, the closing-night film, about the late movie critic Roger Ebert. It’s a fitting choice to close out a festival that is, as Ebert was, a reliable and discerning champion of the art.
—Tricia Olszewski
For more, read our essay on the state of the festival, Ctrl + Alt + Doc: A Year After Hitting Reset, AFI DOCS Is Still in Transition.
AFI Docs takes place from June 18 to 22 at the AFI Silver Theatre, Goethe-Institut, the National Portrait Gallery, the Naval Heritage Center, and the Newseum. Tickets to individual movies range from $11 to $14. For a full schedule and information on festival passes, visit afi.com/afidocs.
Thursday, June 19
Openings
Schedule (Openings marked with **)
“Face the Music” (shorts series)** | 1:15 p.m. | AFI Silver |
“Gone Hollywood” (shorts series)** | 1:30 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
1971** | 1:30 p.m. | National Portrait Gallery |
Silenced** | 1:30 p.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
“Odds and Ends” (shorts series)** | 1:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Agreement** | 3:45 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
The Dog** | 3:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Newburgh Sting** | 4 p.m. | National Portrait Gallery |
Ukraine Is Not a Brothel** | 4:15 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Fix** | 6:15 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Dior And I** | 6:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Homestretch** | 6:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Internet’s Own Boy** | 7:15 p.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
Alfred and Jakobine** | 8:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Virunga** | 9 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Possibilities are Endless** | 9:15 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Friday, June 20
Openings
Schedule (Openings marked with **)
The Homestretch | 11 a.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
“Gone Hollywood” (shorts series) | 11:15 a.m. | AFI Silver |
“Odds and Ends” (shorts series) | noon | AFI Silver |
Apollonian Story** | 2:15 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
The Possibilities are Endless | 2:15 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Alfred and Jakobine | 2:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Misconception** | 4:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Back on Board** | 4:45 p.m. | National Portrait Gallery |
The Hand That Feeds** | 4:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
112 Weddings** | 6:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus** | 7 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Butterfly Girl** | 7 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
Point and Shoot** | 7:15 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Supreme Price** | 9 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Art and Craft** | 9 p.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
Virunga | 9:15 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
Heaven Adores You** | 9:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Saturday, June 21
Openings
Schedule (Openings marked with **)
Slaying the Badger** | 11 a.m. | AFI Silver |
Bronx Obama** | 11 a.m. | National Portrait Gallery |
The Special Need** | 11 a.m. | Goethe-Institut |
1971 | 11:15 a.m. | AFI Silver |
The Agreement | 11:30 a.m. | AFI Silver |
112 Weddings | 1:15 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story** | 1:45 p.m. | National Portrait Gallery |
Back on Board | 1:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Butterfly Girl | 2 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Internet’s Own Boy | 3:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Hand That Feeds | 3:45 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
The Newburgh Sting | 4:15 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Dior And I | 4:30 p.m. | National Portrait Gallery |
Heaven Adores You | 6:15 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
SlingShot** | 6:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Silenced | 7 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Overnighters** | 7:30 p.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
Life Itself** | 7:30 p.m. | National Portrait Gallery |
Ukraine Is Not a Brothel | 9 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
Sunday, June 22
Openings
Schedule (Openings marked with **)
“Face the Music” (shorts series) | 11 a.m. | Goethe-Institut |
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story | 11 a.m. | AFI Silver |
Art and Craft | 1 p.m. | AFI Silver |
The Overnighters | 1:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
SlingShot | 1:30 p.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
The Special Need | 2 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Bronx Obama | 3:30 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Slaying the Badger | 4 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
Freedom Summer** | 4:15 p.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
The Supreme Price | 6 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Apollonian Story | 6:45 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Misconception | 7:30 p.m. | Naval Heritage Center |
Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus | 8:30 p.m. | Goethe-Institut |
The Dog | 9 p.m. | AFI Silver |
Don't go away!
Just 0.4% of our readers support our work, so we're counting on you. Members make the story you just read, and everything we publish, possible. Will you support local news in 2021?