OVID’s October Releases: Allen Ginsberg (Restored), Mia Hansen-Love, How to Save Mother Earth x 2 & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in October 2023.
On Spectacle Theater’s Collaborations with Icarus Films
An essay by Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer
OVID’s September Releases: Natalia Almada’s “Users,” Mark Cousins’ 15-hour+ odyssey through cinema’s sprawling global history, shorts by Jean-Luc Godard, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s epic war trilogy & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in September 2023.
Member Movement through 31 July 2023
It’s been a while since we posted this chart of our membership (subscriber) movements. As you can see it’s a mixed bag: It’s slow going, and the number of paying members have been fairly flat the past couple of months. But—they haven’t gone down, and, in fact, we did hit an all-time high just before […]
OVID’s August Releases: Afrobeat subcultures, legendary Brit-pop band Pulp, a frightening Tunisian horror film, fascinating trans stories & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in August 2023.
J. Hoberman on What is a “Political Film,” Anyway?
La Commune, Peter Watkins (2000)
Alain Kassanda on the road, music, Africa, and “Trouble Sleep”
Video credit: Visions du Réel
OVID’s July Releases: Vitaly Mansky’s harrowing Ukrainian war documentary “Eastern Front,” Kelly Reichardt’s debut “River of Grass,” Jacques Rivette’s star-studded “Fool’s Mate” & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in July 2023.
Kyle Turner discusses “Gay USA” on OVID’s “Author Selects” series
Author and critic Kyle Turner on Arthur J. Bressan's "Gay USA"
OVID’s June Releases: Celebrate Pride Month with a Stonewall doc and stories of gay liberation. Plus Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s mesmeric trash odyssey, films by Werner Herzog, John Cameron Mitchell, Jean Rouch & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in June 2023.
Pema Tseden: 1969–2023
Pema Tseden on the set of THARLO (image courtesy of the dGenerate Collection)
On “militant cinema”
Inside the Red Brick Wall, dir. Hong Kong Documentary Filmmakers (2021)
OVID’s May Releases: Two powerful documentaries from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activist collective, Qiu Jiongjiong’s acclaimed “A New Old Play”, plus sumptuous restorations of shorts by François Reichenbach and Agnès Varda & so much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in May 2023.
Jessa Crispin discusses “Penance” on OVID’s “Author Selects” series
Critic, author, and feminist Jessa Crispin on Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Penance"
Mama said there’d be days like this: Diving into “The Midnight Swim”
An essay by Michael Barrett
OVID’s April Releases: Marlene Dietrich as you’ve never seen her before in “Martin Roumagnac,” a French community stakes its economic future on documentary films in the new series “The Village,” sex work on film (analyzed by real sex workers) & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in April 2023.
Norwegian black metal and “Until the Light Takes Us”
"The more we got into it, the more obsessed we became."
OVID’s March Lineup Presents 29 Titles and 13 SVOD Exclusives, with three early works from Jane Campion, guerilla filmmaking at its boldest in “Myanmar Diaries”, arthouse genre fare from Yellow Veil Pictures, and so much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in March 2023.
Hungry Like the Wolf: Nicolette Krebitz’s “Wild”
An essay by Michael Barrett
Ryan Douglass on “Author Selects”
Bookseller, art handler and writer Ryan Douglass on "Arguing the World"
OVID’s February Lineup Presents 32 Titles and 18 SVOD Exclusives Jia Zhang-ke’s “Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue,” a racial reckoning in Boston, a truly unique rom-com from South Africa, and more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in February 2023.
“The Wobblies”, 1979-2023 – The Past is Present Again
Award-winning filmmaker and co-director of "The Wobblies" Deborah Shaffer on the making of the film.
Adventures in Lefty Cinema (or How I Learned That Films About the Past are Often Also About the Present)
An essay by SACCO AND VANZETTI and THE INTERNATIONALE filmmaker Peter Miller
OVID Subscriber Favorites – 2022 Edition
Read on for the most-watched films of 2022!
OVID’s January Releases: The world streaming premiere of Patricio Guzmán’s “My Imaginary Country”, the groundbreaking labor doc “The Wobblies”, Rock Hudson and Jean Seberg like you’ve never seen them before, Susannah York and Glenda Jackson in the unforgettable Jean Genet adaptation “The Maids” & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in January 2023.
SVOD Pricing Comparison
In 2022, OVID’s subscription numbers grew by 40%, and we added over 300 films to the collection. We are very proud of this, and prouder still that we have managed to grow without raising our prices and caving to the ad-supported streaming trend. We took a moment to run the numbers and see how OVID […]
As she opens her eyes and ours: Leyla Bouzid’s “As I Open My Eyes” and “A Tale of Love and Desire”
An essay by Michael Barrett
OVID’s December Releases: Leyla Bouzid’s “As I Open My Eyes,” the untold story of moviemaking in Communist-era Afghanistan, a stunning experimental documentary from Lesotho, Lynn Shelton’s debut feature, acclaimed arthouse hit “Ballet Russes” & much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in December 2022.
Coming-of-Age Rituals and “Ham on Rye”
Video credit: Marcato Productions LLC
Member Movement through 31 October 2022
OVID subscriptions are up 6.5% in the month of October! The increase of paid subscriptions is 144, the most of any one month this year, even beating January which was our previous best. The total amount of paid subscriptions is now up to 36% for the year; last year, the total for 12 months was up 35%.
In a new podcast interview, OVID’s managing director reveals all
Not pictured: Jonathan Miller
OVID’s November Releases: The seductive and strange arthouse hits “Ham on Rye” and “Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time,” season 2 of “Maison Close,” Michel Gondry’s dysfunctional family doc “The Thorn in the Heart,” the unforgettable “Embrace of the Serpent” & much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in November 2022.
Anand Patwardhan at IDA’s Getting Real ’22 Conference
Video credit: International Documentary Association (IDA)
The Strange Powers of Stephin Merritt
"The light reflecting off the mirror ball looks like a thousand swirling eyes..."
OVID’s October Releases: The world streaming premiere of Hot Docs winner “Blue Island,” films from Lynne Ramsay and Alex Ross Perry, “The 3 Rooms of Melancholia,” six classic docs from DCTV, Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, & much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in October 2022.
Jason Bailey on “Author Selects”
In our second installment, we hear from an expert on New York City cinema.
Existential Crises, the State of Streaming, and OVID
Level Five, Chris Marker (1997)
OVID’s September Releases: Our biggest slate ever, with Costa-Gavras, a landmark documentary about trans lives, Ingmar Bergman and Peter Greenaway, art and architecture, the birth of Mumblecore & so much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in September 2022.
Abortion, Kansas, and What Lies Ahead
Photo credit: Kit Doyle, Religion News Service
OVID’s 2nd Annual Doc Month Presents 22 Titles with 22 SVOD Exclusives
Religion and politics, love and death, animal psychics, and more!
Introducing “Author Selects”
In our first episode, we are joined by a renowned horror scholar.
Richard Brody on “The Sorrow and the Pity”
"Its main story is that France has been telling itself a story."
OVID’s July Releases: Howard Zinn’s alternate history of the United States, Paz Vega’s electrifying debut “Sex and Lucia,” Denys Arcand’s “The Decline of the American Empire,” the racy secret history of erotic art & much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in July 2022.
Father’s Day, Juneteenth, and some music
Sunday is Juneteenth, a day to honor the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and to celebrate African American culture. While Juneteenth has been celebrated in the United States since 1865, it was not until 2021 that Juneteenth was formally recognized as a federal holiday. If you are looking for something to watch this weekend, OVID’s […]
Donal Foreman on “The Image You Missed”
"Your nationality starts to feel like a more important part of you when you’re away from home.”
OVID’s June Releases: Celebrating Pride, Michael Palin, Eric Idle and Terry Jones in “Do Not Adjust Your Set,” Adrian Lyne’s “Lolita,” a miniseries from Japan’s master of the macabre & much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in June 2022.
Conversion and Churn through March 2022
Monthly conversion and churn rates from August 2022 through March 2022.
Two Films by Lina Wertmüller
Two films from an iconoclast and proud cinematic outlaw.
OVID’s May Releases: John Cleese and Graham Chapman before they were Pythons, the epic history of the working class, two by Lina Wertmüller, “Nowhere in Africa” & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in May 2022.
Watch this weekend: “This Is Our Land”
A drama inspired by Marine Le Pen's brand of French nationalism.
OVID’s April Releases: Three new films for Earth Day, Man Ray and Picasso, two by Feng Xiaogang, a classic French noir, and much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in April 2022.
Film Comment on “The Wandering Soap Opera”
Learn more about Raúl Ruiz's funny, beguiling final film.
Watch this weekend: “Putin’s Witnesses”
Get an up-close look at the early days of the regime in "Putin's Witnesses."
OVID’s March Releases: Eight films from Cinema Guild, our first animation festival, films by Alain Resnais and Luchino Visconti, and much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in March 2022.
Seymour Wishman: 1942 – 2022
It is with heavy heart that we share that founding OVID member and First Run Features president, Seymour Wishman has died at age 79.
Five more films by Lynne Sachs!
Five more films by Lynne Sachs are now available on OVID.
Lynne Sachs on “Oll About OVID!”
Join the OLL ABOUT OVID podcast for part one of two conversations with Lynne Sachs!
OVID’s February Releases: Five French cinema classics, acclaimed Asian cinema, films by Charles Burnett and Shirley Clarke, and much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in February 2022.
OVID Premieres Five Classic French Films, from Marc Allégret and Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
Just in time for Valentine's Day, OVID.tv is proud to premiere five classic French films in February. All five films will be exclusively available on OVID.
OVID in 2021: An End of Year Report
As year 2021 comes to a close and our numbers have finalized, I thought I ought to sum up in one place the main quantifiable changes in key areas of OVID’s development, taking the opportunity to double-down on one of our founding principles: radical transparency.
New Drama Series on OVID: The Returned, Maison Close, and Generation War
Three international drama series—two French and one German—come to OVID.tv!
OVID’s January Releases: Three films by legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui, a deep dive into French cinema history, eight Academy Award-winning shorts from Canada & much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in January 2022.
Radu Jude on “I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians”
An interview with Radu Jude on his film "I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians," now available on OVID.
Catching up with “Oll About OVID!”
Join the OLL ABOUT OVID podcast for an illuminating discussion about the life and work of Hu Bo.
OVID’s December Releases: Charlotte Gainsbourg in “Suzanna Andler,” New York Film Festival hit “All About My Sisters,” Jan Svankmajer, Abbas Kiarostami, and more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in December.
Now Streaming: OVID’s First Ever Food Week Is Here!
Just in time for Thanksgiving, OVID is celebrating its first-ever "Food Week" with a new collection of seventeen mouthwatering films celebrating food and drink. Read on for more details, and eat, drink, and be merry!
Wayne Wang discusses “Soul of a Banquet”
Wayne Wang's interview with PBS about his film "Soul of a Banquet."
Member Movement & Conversion and Churn through 9 November 2021
After several months of little change in numbers, the long-awaited upward movement started up again and held steady over the past six weeks or so.
OVID’s November Releases: Wayne Wang’s “Soul of a Banquet,” German drama series “Generation War,” the strange world of Jim Finn, and much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in November.
Four Films by Jim Finn!
Four "Utopian comedies" by Jim Finn premiere today on OVID!
Master List of Films on OVID
We've updated our master list of films currently on OVID, through October 1, 2021—wonder how many?
“Tharlo” Music Video!
Today, Pema Tseden's acclaimed drama Old Dog premieres on OVID.tv! In honor of the occasion, we have something special to show you.
OVID’s October Releases: Marguerite Duras’ “Le Navire Night,” Mario Ruspoli retrospective, documentaries exploring the Jewish diaspora, Jim Finn’s indescribable “Utopian comedies” & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in October.
Shu Lea Cheang in BOMB Magazine
Shu Lea Cheang speaks in 1996 about Fresh Kill. [Image credit: Glenn Halvorson for BOMB Magazine]
John Akomfrah in The New York Times
John Akomfrah reflects on his career and latest work. [Image credit: Adama Jalloh for The New York Times]
Popular This Week on OVID: Inside Mila Turajlić’s “The Other Side of Everything”, two films by Vitaly Mansky & more
Our viewer's top picks for the month of August, available to stream now on OVID.tv.
OVID’s September Releases: Spotlight on Chilean Filmmaker Ignacio Agüero, 2K Restoration of Painted Landscapes of the Times & much more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in September.
Richard Brody on “Bontoc Eulogy,” Debuts on OVID today!
Richard Brody on our newest selection, "Bontoc Eulogy."
OVID’s August Releases: Our First Ever DOC MONTH Featuring 30 Documentaries Including 24 Exclusive Streaming Premieres!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in August.
Laura Mulvey in Discussion
Today Laura Mulvey's RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX begins exclusively streaming on OVID. In this companion video, Mulvey discusses her feminist manifesto "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" along with filmmakers Joanna Hogg and Isaac Julien as well as academics John David Rhodes, Tamar Garb, Mandy Merck and Emma Wilson.
A New Podcast *Just* on OVID!
Check-out OLL ABOUT OVID, a film podcast, where hosts B Peterson and Witney Seibold take a deep dive into the OVID catalog. Look for The Screen's Margins wherever you listen to podcasts.
Popular This Week on OVID: Celebrating Pride with “So Pretty”, Carlos Reygadas’ “Our Time” and more
Our viewer's top picks for the month of June, available to stream now on OVID.tv.
OVID’s July Releases: Celebrating Maya Deren, Yury Grigorovich, Derek Jarman, Pablo Larrain, Chris Marker, Jim McBride, Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen, Kevin Rafferty, Malick Sidibe, Andrei Tarkovsky & many more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in July.
A Discussion with Dominga Sotomayor
A discussion with Chilean filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor moderated by Carlos A. Gutierrez, the co-founder of Cinema Tropical.
OVID’s June Releases: Carlos Reygadas’ “Our Time,” 6 Films by Chilean Director Dominga Sotomayor, Streaming Premiere of Dieudo Hamadi’s “Downstream to Kinshasa” & 3 films from Sentient Art Film
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in June.
Panel Discussion with Anand Patwardhan and Distinguished Professors
Academic streamer Docuseek hosted a live panel discussion and Q&A with award-winning filmmaker Patwardhan and distinguished professors to discuss the state of India and Patwardhan's films, which Screen Slate calls "pivotal as playbooks for fighting back, as both histories and vehicles of resistance."
Member Movement & Conversion and Churn through 20 May 2021
The last time I wrote a note about our membership numbers, it was early March, right after the end of Black History Month, and indeed OVID enjoyed a nice uptick in sign-ups throughout February. Unfortunately, many good things come to an end, and it seems like a higher than usual percentage of those new people then canceled their subscriptions in March.
Eugenio Polgovsky on Art and Fear
Eugenio Polgovsky delivers a talk about art and fear in his work.
Sukhdev Sandhu on Eugenio Polgovsky
Sukhdev Sandhu on Mexican filmmaker Eugenio Polgovsky. Kindly made available to the public by Sight & Sound | The International Film Magazine
A Statement by Eugenio Polgovsky
Starting on Thursday, May 13th, OVID will present six works by Mexican filmmaker Eugenio Polgovksy.
Popular This Week on OVID: Bettie Page Reveals All, Rachel Weisz and French Rebellions
Our viewer's top picks for the month of May, available to stream now on OVID.tv.
OVID’s May Releases: Jill Li’s “Lost Course,” Marco Bellocchio’s “Devil in the Flesh,” Resnais & Schoendoerffer Restorations, the Films of Eugenio Polgovsky, Dance Camera West Festival… & more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, announces its wide-ranging selection of films coming in May.
Peter Watkins on Problems with the Contemporary Media Landscape
An Interview with Peter Watkins about how the contemporary media landscape limits opportunities for critical thought.
OVID Presents the Dance Camera West Film Festival
We're excited to announce that we'll be hosting the Dance Camera West film festival on OVID!
OVID’s April Releases: Peter Watkins’ “La Commune (Paris, 1871)” & more!
OVID, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films, announces its wide-ranging selection of 34 films coming in April. Many of the films are premieres and available only on OVID.tv.
Popular This Week on OVID: Film Festival Favorites Including a Chilean Coming-of-Age Story and an Italian Comedy
Our viewer's top picks for the month of April, available to stream now on OVID.tv.
On the Hidden Beauty of Art: An Interview with Patrick Wang
Patrick Wang is a filmmaker living in New York. His latest feature A Bread Factory explores the role of art in everyday life and has been hailed as "a major new work by a singular American artist” (New York Times).
Anand Patwardhan on Religious Violence and Filmmaking
An Interview with Anand Patwardhan about religious violence and filmmaking.
Anand Patwardhan on Testing the Limits of Freedom of Expression
Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan's entire career has been about testing the limits. The documentary filmmaker, known for his unflinching gaze on issues that lie at the crux of modern India, has made 12 films over the past 40 years.
Anand Patwardhan in Conversation with Orwa Nyrabia at IDFA
A talk between IDFA’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia and filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, after the European premiere of "Reason" at IDFA 2018.
OVID.tv Member Statistics through February 2021
An update on OVID’s membership (subscriber) growth through February 2021… The last time we posted this chart, we showed our member statistics with figures through the end of 2020. While the numbers were still increasing at the time, they were doing so quite slowly and were likely to flatten out soon because the “top level” number (of users including free trials) had not moved for several weeks.
More Than Movie Theaters: Why Aren’t We Talking About Exhibition?
The impulse of nostalgia, for a return to normal, is what I hear most these days, dominating Zoom meetings, indie film panels, business articles in the trades. Forced to address the sudden and severe disruption of distribution and exhibition, the conversational focus often drifts to ... movie theaters and whether audiences will go back. What I hear industry vets say, repeatedly, is that the theatrical business will rebound but the window (the time before the film hits VOD) will shorten. Yes, this has been true for 15 years. And there is so much more we should be talking about. I’m writing th
Discover India’s Leading Documentarian Anand Patwardhan
Starting on Friday, March 5th, OVID will present the complete filmography of Anand Patwardhan, for almost 50 years India’s most important – and to some, controversial – documentary filmmaker. Read the New York Times Magazine's recent piece on Anand Patwardhan.
Under the Hood of a Subscription Streaming Service
Two of the metrics that we look at to see how well OVID is doing—to get a sense of whether we’re moving in the right direction, or have a chance of surviving—are Conversions and Churn. This information is generally closely held in the SVOD business. In fact, we are not aware of any other streaming service which has released this data.
John Akomfrah in Conversation with Francine Stock at Sheffield Doc/Fest
A seminal figure of activist and 'engaged' cinema, British filmmaker John Akomfrah discusses his remarkable career.
Zeng Jinyan on China’s Working Women
In her keynote address at IDA's 2020 Getting Real Documentary Conference, Zeng Jinyan, the producer and director behind the films We the Workers (2017) and Outcry and Whisper (2020), provides her point of view on working women in China.
On Film Programming: An Interview with Inney Prakash
A film programmer at Maysles Documentary Center and several film festivals including his own, Prismatic Ground, Inney Prakash has had the experience of turning his curatorial eye from in-person events to online programming reaching an international audience. During our conversation, he dives into his career path, a few of the films that have shaped his worldview, and the role of curation in social justice movements.
OVID’s February Releases: Exclusives/SVOD Premieres, Includes “False Confessions” Starring Isabelle Huppert, Tsai Ming-liang’s “Rebels of the Neon God” and “The Hole” & many more!
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, is adding 30 incredible films in February to its growing roster, most of which are exclusives and premiering for the first time on SVOD.
Popular This Week on OVID: French Courtroom Dramas, Dogs in Outer Space, Jacques Rivette, and More!
Our viewer's top picks for the month of January, available to stream now on OVID.tv.
The Importance of “Travels in the Congo”
The scholar Paul Henley has published one of the best reviews of André Gide and Marc Allégret's film Travels in the Congo: "Travels in the Congo, first released in France in 1927 as Voyage au Congo, is without doubt the masterwork of French ethnographic cinema in Africa prior to World War II. And yet, in the literature on ethnographic film and the history of documentary cinema more generally, it has been strangely neglected. It does not feature, for example, in the extensive UNESCO catalog, Films ethnographiques de l’Afrique noire, edited by Jean Rouch and published in 1967. Although Rouch
Towards A Thriving Film Culture
On the occasion of the streaming release of two landmark Chinese independent films – Wen Hai and Zeng Jinyan’s Outcry and Whisper and Hu Bo‘s An Elephant Sitting Still – the good folks at Ovid asked me to share some thoughts. If you watch only two Chinese films this year, watch these two. I stand in awe of both films. Taken together, they form as deep, complex and varied a portrait as possible of contemporary China. Neither film should exist. Yet, they do. Beautifully. Miraculously. Brazenly. The producer and writer of Outcry and Whisper survived years of house arrest. The director o
Happy New Year from OVID.tv
As we enter the new year, it seems appropriate that I report on aspects of how OVID is doing. I also want to point you in the direction of two interesting articles which I think contextualize what OVID is all about. First, we’ve updated our searchable Master List of Films on OVID. We added about 30 titles over the past two months—we took a break over the holidays—so as of December 31, 2020, we are now at 982 titles. Of course we do continue to add more films every week. We have 18 titles lined up for January, and will be sharing each coming month’s schedule here on metafilm.
OVID’s January Releases: Films by Alain Resnais, the Lupita Nyong’o Recommended Doc “Softie” & More
OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, rings in 2021 with an extraordinary lineup of films. Explore the 18 new titles across eight days in January below.
Popular This Week on OVID: Lav Diaz, Bill Morrison, shorts by Rohmer, Rouch and Godard, and more!
Our most popular titles so far in December, from Kino Lorber, Grasshopper Film, First Run Features, and Icarus Films. All available to stream now on OVID.tv.
Guy Debord’s “The Society of the Spectacle”
On OVID, we have two versions of Guy Debord’s classic film The Society of the Spectacle: the French original with commentary by Guy Debord himself, and one with an English voiceover. When we first received the restored film from Films du Losange, we noticed that Guy Debord’s French voiceover layered with English subtitles was overwhelming to viewers if they weren’t fluent in French. Luckily, Ed Halter and Thomas Beard of Light Industry, a venue for film and electronic art in Brooklyn, had produced a bootleg English copy with Paul Chan a few years ago and posted it online. With their per
A Film on Hate Speech and Hope
Nancy Cooperstein Charney Who's Next? examines how the lives of Muslim-Americans have been affected in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In one way or another, all of them have been targeted by federal agencies, hate groups, and even former friends solely on the basis of their religious beliefs. This Hanukkah, the film encourages us all to choose knowledge over ignorance, take action to prevent hate speech, and to welcome strangers into our lives so that the challenges of marginalized co
An Introduction to Madeline Anderson
According to the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Madeline Anderson (b. 1927) was the first African-American woman to have directed a documentary film. Hard as it is to believe—as the history of cinema goes back over 120 years—it was only in 1960 when Anderson directed her first film Integration Report 1.
On Respecting Your Subject: An Interview with Jethro Waters
Filmmaker Jethro Waters has a background in cinematography and an ear for music. He tackles the biopic of master photographer Burk Uzzle without ever making you feel like you’re doing homework. There is energy in his work and a true respect for his subject. Though it’s hard to witness how little America has progressed in terms of racial justice since Uzzle began working seven decades ago, the film vibrates with hope that good things might yet still come. We sat down over Zoom to discuss his film “F11 and Be There” and some of the influences that contributed to its creation.
An Open Letter from OVID Director and Icarus Films President Jonathan Miller, on the Launch of OVID.tv: metafilm
In September, 2019 I wrote to everyone on the Icarus Films email list about how I saw the media landscape, particularly for independent films, documentaries and global cinema, and why – in that context – we launched OVID.tv. Not to belabor the obvious but a lot has changed since then.
Popular This Week on OVID: Patricio Guzmán, Claire Denis, Raúl Ruiz, Abderrahmane Sissako, and Marshall Curry
Five of our most popular titles for the last week in November, from Oscilloscope, Grasshopper Film, Music Box Films, and Icarus Films. Enjoy!
Prologue to Robert Kramer’s ROUTE ONE/USA
In 1988, nearly a decade after leaving the US for France, renegade filmmaker Robert Kramer returns. “Back,” he emphasizes. Not “home.” To try to understand the contemporary United States, he decides to travel the entire length of Route 1, from the Canadian border to Key West, filming all the way for five months. ROUTE ONE/USA was shot more than 30 years ago, but it feels remarkably contemporary in its portrayal of many of the racial, social, and economic challenges America continues to face.
OVID.tv Member Statistics, 28 September to 23 November
One of the founding principles of OVID is a commitment to openness and transparency. For any number of reasons we believe that it is high-time for the film and media industries to open the books and share with both our members (subscribers, customers, viewers) and our filmmaking, producing, and distribution partners, the real numbers and metrics and dollars and cents of the business. We’d be happy to enter into a discussion with our colleagues, distributors, and other VOD and SVOD services about this idea and why information such as that shown here is generally so closely held.
French New Wave Classic SIX IN PARIS on OVID.tv
OVID is pleased to premiere and present exclusively in the United States, the restored version of the French New Wave’s classic omnibus film, Six in Paris (Paris vu par…). And taking advantage of a capability in our platform, OVID is able to present Six in Paris in both its original feature-length version, and as the six separate short films […]
Madeline Anderson in Conversation with Orlando Bagwell at BAMPFA
Madeline Anderson discusses working with Shirley Clarke on The Cool World (1963).
Filmmaker, Mother, Activist: Madeline Anderson, in Her Own Words
I first learned about Madeline Anderson (b. 1927), primarily through her work on the public affairs news program Black Journal, when I was a graduate student conducting research on African-American cultural production. As I recall, her name was a footnote in an essay; there was not much information beyond a credit line. At the time, I was seeking to identify pioneering female filmmakers since the field of study is often so male-dominated. I was determined to find out if there were women working behind the camera as well. As my research expanded, I learned about Zora Neale Hurston’s anthropol
OXHIDE’s Narrative of Refraction and the Dreamy Daze of “Winter Vacation”
Jiayin Liu’s Oxhide (2005) is composed of 23 static shots, inside of a small, claustrophobic apartment in Beijing, China. Within each shot are only pieces of the apartment, along with only pieces of Liu, her mother and her father. She commits to a narrative refraction of an only child in a family of bag makers with a non-fictional rigor that eschews any kind of objective context for a Western spectator. Distinctions between the film’s events and Liu’s real life cannot be accounted for. Her presentation operates with biblical fervor, awash in every frame, are individual moments that are p
Mothers and Daughters and the Chaos of Relationships: A Review of “Girls Always Happy”
Mothers and daughters have incredibly complicated relationships but few have been so thoroughly dissected with a gaze simultaneously affectionate and unforgiving. The raw and beautiful nature of this fundamental relationship evolves and twists in Yang Mingming’s character-driven debut feature. Originally premiering in the prestigious Berlin Panorama in 2018, the ironically titled “Girls Always Happy” is directed, written and edited by Yang, who also stars.
Defeating the Notion of a Coherent Path to Mastery: Wang Bing’s “Dead Souls”
The immersive, unforgiving documentaries of Wang Bing are often described in terms that would have their director as the Olympic marathoner of the contemporary cinema pantheon. Not only do his films appear monumental by virtue of their long running times, but Wang, even when his voice and image are effaced from his films, is no less present, evidently matching as best he can the intense physical dem