Doc Days 2019: Day 1

The inaugural Doc Days festival was my favorite festival experience of 2018, so I’m heading into the second installment with high hopes. Last year, The Sentence and Minding the Gap finished #5 and #6 in my top films of the year list. The Austin Film Society hosts the four-day event and culls acclaimed documentaries from other festivals such as Sundance and True/False. Check out a screening or two if you’re in Austin this weekend.

Unlike the clusterfucks of SXSW and the Austin Film Festival, Doc Days screens all its films at the same location, creating a calmer environment. The count increased from seven to ten films this year, and I’m going to try to write a recap article for each of the festival’s four days. Opening night started out slowly with just a single film, allowing attendees to ease into things before the weekend hits.

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
As one would expect from the title, this film documents the life and career of legendary jazz musician Miles Davis. It begins in the 1920s with Miles’ childhood in Jim Crow-era Missouri and ends with his death via stroke in 1991. Over that time, the film chronicles Davis’ musical innovations and his struggles with depression and substance abuse.

I’m generally not a huge fan of this type of documentary. The movie is chiefly composed of interviews with Davis’ contemporaries fawning over his greatness. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t typically create a very interesting narrative. It’s educational, and it made me want to listen to Davis’ albums, which seems to be its main goal. The film is at its best when it steps back and lets the music take center stage. I think I would really enjoy a Miles Davis concert film a la the recent Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace, but that’s not what this movie is trying to be. It’s your standard documentary fare. I’ve seen this film dozens of times about dozens of different historical figures, and the tired structure struggled to capture my interest.

Tune in for more Doc Days coverage over the coming days. Hopefully this exercise will prove to be less exhausting than blogging every day of SXSW.

Michael Dixon is a mild mannered accountant by day and a mild mannered movie watcher by night. He will not do your taxes for you. He lives in Austin, Texas with his lovely television and collection of fine whiskies. You can’t purchase his book anywhere because it doesn’t exist.