Hi there follow doc-freaks and huge thanks to the kind people at the Documentary Channel for not only their hard work and dedication to this art form, but also for the opportunity to allow me to post stuff on their blog as a representative of the Belcourt Theatre here in Nashville. I plan on posting relevant stuff in the world of documentary but allow me first to post about a few things that we have in the hopper over here at the Belcourt for October, which really is right around the corner.

OCTOBER 6-12:?Ǭ†?Ǭ† First is Aaron Russo’s AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM, an exercise that began as a simple question: What law states that we are required to pay the federal income tax? Of course, one thinks that there MUST be a law somewhere or we wouldn’t have folks like sweet old Willie Nelson finding themselves largely indebted to the IRS and facing certain jail time while other less famous folk still serve sentences for tax evasion. Ah, but the revelation that many states in the union never actually RATIFIED that law is only where this thing starts. The message seems to be striking a nerve:?Ǭ† We’re getting calls for tickets from such rampant tax havens as Brevard, NC and Decatur, AL.

OCTOBER 13-19:?Ǭ† Up next is one of the most entertaining films to come out of the ‘06 Sundance Film Festival, and I’m glad to have made it part of our series. THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED is two films. One part interviews and clip comparisons of NC-17 films and their R-rated counterparts as so deemed by the shadowy organization known as the MPAA. It asks why violence is given so much more leniency in the rating system then…hold your breath…SEX!?Ǭ† Not just sex, but things that we all have, like…pubic hair!?Ǭ† Is a brief glimpse of Maria Bello’s pubes so much more offensive then the unbelievable violence inherent in recent films like Sin City??Ǭ† The other part of the film is pure muck-raking journalism. Who are these people that make these decisions and why does the head of the MPAA keep their identities secret??Ǭ† The answers combine these two films into one riotous conclusion. DO NOT MISS this.

Same week, but three days only!!: October 15-17: BLACK GOLD, also part of our Sundance series, was supported by the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Lab. Filmed over 3 years, the film follows Tadesse Maskela, the General Manager of a coffee grower’s union in Ethiopia who travels the world’s coffee conventions promoting fair trade coffee. The film poses many questions about the processes whereby a sale tantamount to pennies turns into a $3 cup of coffee at Starbucks. But there’s an added treat: Nashville’s Bob Bernstein, better known as the owner of Bongo Java Roasting Company and its tentacle coffee shops Bongo Java, Bongo East, and Belcourt neighbor Fido, is flying in Mr. Maskela for a Q&A on Sunday night, October 15 after the 7:00 show. I slid Bob a copy of the film to check out, knowing that he’s a supporter of fair trade coffee. Imagine my surprise when he said that he visited Ethiopia in 2002 and traveled for 2 weeks with the subject of the film!!

So there’s something to chew on for the next few weeks. We’re planning a panel night for THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED, but nothing is solid. I’ll post when I know more.

Thanks again for the soapbox, DC folks…Toby Leonard, Belcourt Theatre