As the M.V. Film Center’s website says about its powerful offerings for this year’s Doc Week film festival, “Documentary films have become the conscience of the nation, providing a deeper study of contemporary, and often unnoticed, social issues.” Running from July 27 to August 1, the series features a Q and A after each film, giving audiences additional insight into the documentary. M.V. Film Society founder and executive director Richard Paradise explains, “The opportunity to have the filmmakers join us is very important.”
On opening night, director Ivy Meeropol will appear after her inspiring documentary, “Ask E. Jean,” on Monday, July 27, at 7:30 pm. Of late, E. Jean Carroll is best known for winning not one but two court cases against Donald Trump for sexual assault in 1996 and for subsequent defamation, in which he called her a liar and insisted, “She’s not my type.” Meeropol interweaves multiple layers throughout her film. We meet Carroll today, still as feisty and irreverent as she was at the height of her fame 25 years ago, when she was a trailblazing contributing editor at “Esquire,” an advice columnist at “Elle,” and host of her own wildly popular “Ask E. Jean” television show, where she championed women. Asked why she didn’t speak up at the time, Carroll candidly tells us that she was part of the generation that swept things under the rug and gritted their teeth, but after the Me Too movement, she knew she had to take a stance. While deeply personal, “Ask E. Jean” examines the societal hurdles women face when confronting predatory men and their lies, highlighting the power of truth to combat gaslighting.
Tuesday, July 28, at 7:30 pm, the immensely powerful documentary “When a Witness Recants” is followed by a Q and A with film director Dawn Porter. It exposes the life-altering havoc caused by one teenager’s lie under police pressure. In 1983, author Ta-Nehisi Coates learned that a 14-year-old boy had been murdered at his Baltimore middle school. Revisiting the case, Coates uncovers the truth: Three innocent teenagers were wrongfully convicted and spent 36 years in prison — leaving a lasting impact on the accused, the witnesses, and their community.
Wednesday evening, July 29, at 7:30 pm brings us “Behind the Lines,” followed by a Q and A with film director and writer John B. Benitz and book author Andrew Carroll. The documentary follows renowned historian Andrew Carroll on his decades-long global mission to track down roughly 200,000 pieces of correspondence written by active military personnel, veterans, and civilians caught in the crossfire, from the American Revolution to the present day. Instead of standard voiceovers, the film brings these historical records to life using live performances and dramatic readings by actors such as Laura Dern, Annette Bening, Michael C. Hall, and Gary Cole.
Featuring interviews with Paul McCartney, Carole King, and other musicians, “Peter Asher: Everywhere Man” screens Thursday, July 30, at 7:30 pm, followed by a Q and A with the filmmakers, Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine. Asher’s extraordinary life has intersected with some of the greatest artists and musical moments of the past six decades. A child actor who became a British Invasion pop star (Peter & Gordon), head of Apple Records, and a defining architect of the American singer-songwriter era as a producer for the likes of James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, he is a Zelig-like figure who remains a vital creative force to this day.
Amy Goodman is an awardwinning investigative journalist, author, and host and executive producer of ”Democracy Now!” which airs on more than 1,500 public television and radio stations worldwide. She is the subject of “Steal This Story, Please!” screening on Friday, July 31, at 7:30 pm, followed by a Q and A with Goodman and film directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. The documentary features 30 years of archival footage showing Goodman facing down armed soldiers, politicians, and riot police in global conflict zones ranging from East Timor and Nigeria to indigenous protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline. Set against the backdrop of shrinking newsrooms and deliberately eroded public trust, “Steal This Story, Please!” frames independent journalism as an essential pillar of a functioning democracy.
“Seized,” screening on Saturday, August 1, at 7:30 pm, will be followed by a discussion with director Sharon Liese and Charles Sennott, MV Times publisher. The gripping documentary investigates the controversial August 2023 police raid on the Marion County Record, a small-town newspaper in Marion, Kan. Through surveillance tapes and police body cameras, we are immediately dropped into the raid on the paper’s office and on the home of editor and co-owner Eric Meyer. The stress of the latter raid contributed to the death of Meyer’s 98-year-old mother, who was home at the time and was a former longtime editor and co-owner of the paper. The documentary explores how a local dispute, in part over the driving records of a woman with whom the police chief was romantically involved, exploded into a national constitutional crisis over press freedom and police overreach. Sundance Institute says, “‘Seized’ asks difficult questions about power, accountability, and where journalism fits inside a community that doesn’t always want to be scrutinized. Who’s right? The paper or the town? Liese is smart enough to leave that question unresolved. The beauty of the film is that it trusts the audience to sit with the discomfort — and decide for themselves.”
Paradise says about his hopes for the festival, “Like with all the films we show at the center, I hope that the audience will be educated or enlightened on a subject or individual, and that they will be entertained. Some of the most powerful documentaries are the ones you’ll be thinking about many days after seeing them.”
For tickets and more information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.