Bad Axe (film)

Last updated

Bad Axe
Directed byDavid Siev
Produced by
CinematographyDavid Siev
Edited by
  • Rosie Walunas
  • Peter Wagner
Music byStephanie Kowal
Production
companies
Distributed by IFC Films
Release dates
  • March 14, 2022 (2022-03-14)(SXSW)
  • November 18, 2022 (2022-11-18)(United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$20,696 [1]

Bad Axe is a 2022 American documentary film directed by David Siev in his feature debut.

Contents

Synopsis

In Bad Axe, Michigan, David Siev's Asian-American family struggles to keep their local restaurant afloat amidst racial tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Release

The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 14, 2022. [2] In April, IFC Films acquired the distribution rights. [3] It was released in theaters and via video on demand on November 18, 2022. [4]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 43 reviews are positive. [5] At South by Southwest, the film won the Audience Award and received Special Jury Recognition for Exceptional Intimacy in Storytelling in the Documentary Feature Competition. [3] The film made the short list for the Oscars short list for best documentary feature. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Marjoe</i> 1972 documentary film

Marjoe is a 1972 American documentary film produced and directed by Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan about the life of Pentecostal preacher Marjoe Gortner. It won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Stephenson (filmmaker)</span> American actor and filmmaker

Michael Stephenson, known professionally as Michael Paul Stephenson, is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing the critically acclaimed documentaries Best Worst Movie and The American Scream. Michael made his narrative feature debut with Girlfriend’s Day, starring Bob Odenkirk. Michael's latest film, Attack of the Murder Hornets, is an original documentary that he directed and produced for Discovery+. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippe Falardeau</span> French-Canadian film director and screenwriter

Philippe Falardeau is a Canadian film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Curry</span> American film director (born 1970)

Marshall Curry is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).

<i>Undefeated</i> (2011 film) 2011 American film

Undefeated is a 2011 American documentary film directed by Daniel Lindsay and T. J. Martin. The film documents the struggles of a high school football team, the Manassas Tigers of Memphis, as they attempt a winning season after years of losses. The team is turned around by coach Bill Courtney, who helps form a group of young men into an academic and athletic team.

<i>20 Feet from Stardom</i> 2013 US documentary film by Morgan Neville

20 Feet from Stardom is a 2013 American documentary film directed by documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville and produced by Gil Friesen, a music industry executive whose curiosity to know more about the lives of background singers inspired the making of the film. Using archival footage and new interviews, it details the behind-the-scenes experiences of such backup singers as Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, Jo Lawry, Claudia Lennear, and Tata Vega. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards, 23 years after In the Shadow of the Stars (1991), a similar documentary that focused on the members of an opera chorus, won the same award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Donahue (filmmaker)</span> American film director and producer

Tom Donahue is an American film director, producer, and co-showrunner. His work as writer, director, and showrunner includes the Paramount Plus Original docuseries Murder of God's Banker and the upcoming six-part docuseries Mafia Spies, based on the 2019 book by Thomas Maier about the CIA-Mafia assassination plots against Fidel Castro.

<i>Before I Disappear</i> 2014 film

Before I Disappear is a 2014 American drama film directed by Shawn Christensen. The film is a feature-length adaptation of his 2012 Oscar-winning short film, Curfew. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest Film on March 10, 2014. The film was acquired for distribution by IFC Films on August 5, 2014, and released on November 28, 2014.

<i>Seymour: An Introduction</i> (film) 2014 American film

Seymour: An Introduction is a 2014 American documentary film. Directed by Ethan Hawke, the film documents the career of Seymour Bernstein, a classical pianist who abandoned his rising career as a concert pianist at age 50 to retreat to a more modest, private life as a music educator and composer. The film premiered at the 2014 Telluride Film Festival, and was released on March 13, 2015, by IFC Films. As of May 2023, it has a 100% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

<i>Documentary Now!</i> American mockumentary television series on IFC

Documentary Now! is an American mockumentary television series, created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas, that premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC. Armisen and Hader star in many episodes, and Thomas and Alex Buono co-direct most episodes. Hosted by Helen Mirren, the series spoofs celebrated documentary films by parodying the style of each documentary with a similar, but fictitious, subject. The third season premiered on February 20, 2019. On April 8, 2019, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on October 19, 2022 and was also released on AMC+.

<i>American Factory</i> 2019 documentary film

American Factory is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, about Chinese company Fuyao's factory in Moraine, a city near Dayton, Ohio, that occupies Moraine Assembly, a shuttered General Motors plant. The film had its festival premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It is distributed by Netflix and is the first film acquired by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground Productions. It won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

<i>For Sama</i> 2019 film by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts

For Sama is a 2019 documentary film produced and narrated by Waad Al-Kateab, and directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts. The film focuses on Waad Al-Kateab's journey as a journalist and rebel in the Syrian uprising. Her husband is Hamza al-Kateab, one of the few doctors left in Aleppo, and they raise their daughter Sama Al-Kateab during the Syrian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Workman</span> American filmmaker and editor

Jeremy Workman is an American filmmaker and editor. His documentary films frequently focus on artists, eccentrics, outsiders, and those with extreme passions. His acclaimed films include Secret Mall Apartment, Deciding Vote,Lily Topples The World, The World Before Your Feet, Magical Universe, and Who Is Henry Jaglom? In many of his films, Workman serves as the director, cinematographer, and editor.

<i>The Nowhere Inn</i> 2020 American film

The Nowhere Inn is a 2020 American mockumentary psychological thriller-comedy film directed by Bill Benz from a screenplay by Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein. It stars Clark, Brownstein and Dakota Johnson.

<i>Time</i> (2020 film) 2020 American film

Time is an Academy Award-nominated 2020 American documentary film produced and directed by Garrett Bradley. It follows Sibil Fox Richardson and her fight for the release of her husband, Rob, who was serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery.

Diane Moy Quon is an American film producer. She has produced Minding the Gap (2018), for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Finding Yingyang (2020), Bad Axe (2022), Breaking the News, (2023), The Taste of Mango (2023), and AKA Mr. Chow (2023).

<i>Lily Topples the World</i> 2021 American documentary film

Lily Topples the World is a 2021 American documentary film, which follows acclaimed domino toppler Lily Hevesh as she rises as an artist, role model, and young woman. Directed by Jeremy Workman, the film also marks the producing debut of actress Kelly Marie Tran.

<i>AlphaGo</i> (film) 2017 American film

AlphaGo is a 2017 documentary directed by Greg Kohs about the Google DeepMind Challenge Match with top-ranked Go player Lee Sedol.

<i>Fire of Love</i> (2022 film) 2022 film

Fire of Love is a 2022 independent documentary film about the lives and careers of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. Directed, written, and produced by Sara Dosa, the film had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2022, where it won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award. It was released on July 6, 2022, by National Geographic Documentary Films and Neon. It received acclaim from critics, and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 95th Academy Awards.

<i>The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile</i> 2022 American film

The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile is an 2022 American documentary film, directed and produced by Kathlyn Horan. It follows Tanya Tucker returning to the studio to record her first album in 10 years, While I'm Livin', collaborating with Brandi Carlile.

References

  1. "Bad Axe (2022)". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  2. "Bad Axe". South by Southwest . Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Lang, Brent (April 13, 2022). "IFC Films Buys SXSW Award Winner Bad Axe (Exclusive)". Variety . Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  4. Carey, Matthew (September 27, 2022). "IFC Films Unveils Trailer For Award-Winning Documentary 'Bad Axe' As Daniel Dae Kim Joins As EP". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  5. "Bad Axe". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved May 3, 2022.
  6. Coonan, Sheryl (January 11, 2023). "Nationally acclaimed 'Bad Axe' film on Oscars short list". ABC12 . Retrieved January 13, 2023.