Maybe it is because I’m from Chicago, but Kartemquin Films has always been a big deal for me. The Chicago-based documentary company has churned out dozens of fantastic docs in their 50 years, most with a specific eye toward social justice. Even if you don’t recognize the name, it’s likely you’ve seen films they’ve produced—most likely their work with Steve James, including Hoop Dreams and Life Itself. You now have a great opportunity to see many of their great films with their newly announced partnership with Fandor. The streaming service will be the exclusive home for 30 films from throughout Kartemquin’s history, with the first 16 available now. Highlights of the partnership include Kartemquin’s first film, Home for Life, labor struggle film The Last Pullman Car, James’s Grassroots Chicago, and seven-hour immigrant story The New Americans. When you want to take a break from splurging on this new amazing catalog, check out other films new to streaming down below.

Netflix

Starlet [Sean Baker, 2012]

With Sean Baker’s Tangerine garnering great reviews on the indie scene, it’s a great opportunity to check out his last feature. Starlet stars Dree Hemingway and Besedka Johnson as unlikely friends with about 60 years between them. After directionless Jane finds a considerable amount of cashed stored in the thermos she just bought from Sadie’s yard sale, she gets tied up in the old woman’s life. Starlet is a unique film with just a touch of blackly comedic tones over the usually quirky May-December friendship plot. For more on Starlet and Sean Baker, check out our original review of the film and our recent interview with Baker discussing Tangerine.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
Can’t Hardly Wait [Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan, 1998]
Do I Sound Gay? [David Thorpe, 204]
Doomsdays [Eddie Mullins, 2013]
Harry and Tonto [Paul Mazursky, 1974]
Last Days in Vietnam [Rory Kennedy, 2014]
Master of None [Series, Season 1]
Seymour: An Introduction [Ethan Hawke, 2014]
Twinsters [Samantha Futerman & Ryan Miyamoto, 2015]

Fandor

Sembene! [Samba Gadjigo & Jason Silverman, 2015]

Our friends at Fandor have become one of the best places on the internet to check out a number of classic films, but they offer much more than their well-publicized Criterion Picks. As a prime example, now-streaming Sembene! (check out our review) hits Fandor the same week it debuts in limited release. The film is a profile doc of 84-year-old filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, the first director from Africa to find sustained international acclaim. His films Black Girl, Xala and Moolaadé are often recognized as the greatest films ever from the continent, exploring much more than the outsider view we so often see. Chronicling his incredible artistic journey, Sembene! is definitely of interest for fans of world cinema.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
The Grandmother [David Lynch, 1970]
Happy Valley [Amir Bar-Lev, 2014]
The Pearl Button [Patricio Guzmán, 2015]
Watchers of the Sky [Edet Belzberg, 2014]
Zorns Lemma [Hollis Frampton, 1970]

MUBI

If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle [Florin Serban, 2010]

An underseen release from the Romanian New Wave, If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle may have an unwieldy title, but remains a tense drama. The film involves Silviu, a teenage prisoner on the brink of being released. When he finds out that his estranged mother is leaving Romania and taking his beloved young brother, his emotional response threatens his status. This leads to the film’s major dramatic setpiece, an extended hostage situation where Silviu has taken a young social worker with who he has developed a connection. Like most recent Romanian films, If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle is intensely bleak and with high emotional stakes. Director Florin Serban’s following project, Box, sounds like an intriguing puzzle-like thriller, and will most likely come to the West next year. So, in order to catch up, you can check out If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle on MUBI until December 2.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
Aliyah [Elie Wajeman, 2012]
Free Men [Ismaël Ferroukhi, 2011]
Her Name Is Sabine [Sandrine Bonnaire, 2007]
Tu Dors Nicole [Stéphane Lafleur, 2014]
Watchtower [Pelin Esmer, 2012]

Video On-Demand

Inside Out [Pete Docter, 2015]

One of the most loved films of the year and Pixar Studio’s most successful film not named Toy Story 3, Inside Out arrives on Video On-Demand along with its DVD and Blu-ray release. Joy, Sadness, Disgust and the gang’s journey is among the most entertaining, sharp and emotional experiences in the cinema. Perhaps more importantly, after a few relatively mediocre releases, Pixar showed once again that it is the top dog in animation. I am convinced Inside Out will be on a wide variety of end-of-year lists and is an honest contender for major awards outside of animation. Check out our review for more thoughts on the latest masterpiece from the animation juggernaut.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
The Hallow [Corin Hardy, 2015]
Lost in the Sun [Trey Nelson, 2015]
Vacation [John Francis Daley & Jonathan M. Goldstein, 2015]

To anyone with no allegiance to Penn State University, or to those living outside both the college’s immediate area and the greater Philadelphia media market, the school’s 2011 child sex abuse scandal, while devastating and heartbreaking, was a straightforward story. An assistant college football coach was accused of committing heinous acts against children. There was a trial and a conviction, followed by terminations and resignations at the school. The terrible crimes made the news because they were terrible crimes. The news cycle was drawn out because it involved Penn State, a nationally recognized college and extended even further because the story involved Joe Paterno, a head football coach for whom the word “legend” applies. Still, it was a straightforward story.

However, for those connected to the school and for those living in the greater Philadelphia media market, the story wasn’t so straightforward. It still isn’t. Happy Valley, the latest documentary from filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev, not only documents the scandal, it explores the complexity created by the involvement of its participants, and how the proximity to greatness, in both geography and emotion, can cloud the perception of guilt.

The convicted assistant football coach was Jerry Sandusky, and the facts of his crimes are laid out efficiently – and without sensation – throughout the non-linear story. Also made clear by the director is the attitude of the general public, regardless of affiliation or geography, towards Sandusky. While the degrees of venom may vary, the consensus is his crimes were horrible and his punishment was deserved. He was a man who used his position of authority as a local celebrity and as founder of The Second Mile – a children’s charity, of all things – to commit unspeakable acts.

Presenting this story and the facts that fill it is the film’s easy part. The story becomes complicated by the involvement of Joe Paterno.

So larger-than-life was “JoePa,” it’s difficult to fully appreciate, or articulate, what he meant to Penn State and the community, but Bar-Lev captures that well, mostly through media coverage and fan interviews. Also, early in the film, Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt, refers to Paterno as “God,” and that’s about the best way to explain it. The reverence held for Paterno was indeed deity-grade, and shared by players, students, alum, locals, and even the media. That said, though, Bar-Lev makes it clear the coach had no God complex; he was a humble man whose fans held him in such high regard. Bar-Lev’s use of media and his own footage continues to sharply illustrate this in the wake of the scandal and Paterno’s involvement in it.

That involvement? In at least one specific abuse incident, Paterno knew what Sandusky had done but had “only” reported it to college executives. It was that minimum effort that cost the coach his job. His fans said he had done enough and was without culpability, but an independent investigation, as well as a contingent of detractors (one that grew exponentially in relation to the distance removed from the school), alleged that Paterno had an obligation to follow-up on his report and do more than only the bare minimum, especially given the seriousness of the accusation and Paterno’s power and influence within Penn State and the community.

The complexity increased again when Joe Paterno died of lung cancer just two months after being fired. Suddenly, everyone who had become an overnight legal expert would be left to stand by whatever Paterno had already done or said, as well as by the faith of their own convictions. The NCAA whipped the lather further when it levied devastating sanctions against the school.

While less salacious than the accusations against Sandusky, this increasing conflict between (and in some cases among) the Penn State community and others is where Bar-Lev’s doc is strongest and most interesting. Through interviews with Matt Sandusky, Paterno’s sons Scott and Jay and his wife Sue, the head coach’s biographer Joe Posnanski, several fans and community members, as well as others, Bar-Lev shows just how impassioned the community was and how divided it became. There is one terrific scene in particular, that takes place next to Paterno’s statue at the football stadium, that is the perfect example of the strife between those who think Paterno did enough and should be remembered for his coaching and community greatness, and those who think Paterno failed to prevent children from being harmed, something no community or collegiate history can allow forgiveness for.

There is an ongoing father/son theme running through Happy Valley that works well against the backdrop of football. Not only were Paterno and Sandusky regarded as God and Jesus, Sandusky was a father-figure to countless underprivileged children at The Second Mile; Paterno’s sons have stood by their father; Sandusky’s son has taken a very different (and justified) approach to his; and the denizens of State College, PA, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions, regard Paterno … THEIR coach … as the ultimate father figure.

By the end of the film, Bar-Lev leaves the decision up to the viewer as to whether or not Paterno was right, wrong, or somewhere nearer to midfield.