Documentaries on Day 6 of the LFF

During the BFI London Film Festival, DocGeeks will present you every day with a bite-size oversight of the documentaries screening at the various festival locations.

On the sixth day of the festival the BFI presents us with eight documentaries:

At the Odeon West End at 12.30pm, Marilyn Monroe reveals, in her own words, the depth and frailty of her intelligence, as well as the degree to which she was the architect of her own success in Love, Marilyn.

The fascinating story of Ginger Baker; the world’s greatest drummer, though a complex human being, will be told in Beware of Mr. Baker at the BFI Southbank at 1pm.

At the ICA at 2pm you can see Room 237 by director Rodney Ascher. This documentary examines the question: When Stanley Kubrick released The Shining, what did it mean?
You might think this to be a simple question, however, in over 30 years since its release, the cult following that the film has garnered includes a large number of people who insist that Kubrick was trying to do something other than just make a scary movie. A bizarre, humorous and original film is the result.

If you crave a bit more drama, then perhaps The Summit, screening at the VUE at 3.15pm, is something for you. In August 2008, 22 climbers from a number of international expeditions reached the High Camp of K2, the final stop before reaching the peak of the mountain, on an expedition renowned among adventurers as extremely dangerous to attempt. Only 11 would make it down from there. The Summit is a feature-length documentary about the deadliest day in modern mountain climbing history.

Ken and Sarah Burns’ recent project, The Central Park Five, covers the wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of five men accused of raping and beating a woman in Central Park. You can catch this thrilling feature doc at the VUE at 6pm. — This film will also be screening at the Renoir on 20 October at 4pm.

The much praised documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners is an authoritative and gripping documentary portrait by Shola Lynch in which she depicts the tale of one of the most significant figures of the American civil rights movement; Angela Davis. The documentary will screen at the Ritzy at 6.30pm.

Also at 6.30pm, at the RichMix cinema, Jamie Kastner’s documentary The Secret Disco Revolution challenges the perception of disco as the height of kitsch, celebrating it as the soundtrack for social change.

Back at the festival’s home of the BFI Southbank at 6.30pm you can catch My Amityville Horror, a documentary about Daniel Lutz, who was 10 years old when his parents fled the infamous 112 Ocean Drive after living there less than a month, claiming to have endured an onslaught of poltergeist activity. Filmmaker Eric Walter doesn’t need to explain every supposedly occurrence, but instead digs deep to uncover a sad and strange tale of a dysfunctional family.

Tickets can be ordered on the BFI London Film Festival website.