I t’s a Wo n de r f u l “L i f e D ay”

worked on it, and it was just another thing that came through. If you were 45 when this came out, you didn’t care about Star Wars, and they didn’t.”

This is probably the most important insight in the documentary: it’s not that the Star Wars Holiday Special is all that strange; the phenomenon of Star Wars itself is strange. Since 1977, the first Star Wars film has been elevated by critics and fans into some kind of untouchable pop culture masterpiece. But one year after the movie came out, it was just a movie.

In 1978, Star Wars was almost ruined. Or was it? A Disturbance in the Force sets the record straight.

On November 17, 1978, Princess Leia sang these lyrics to the melody of John Williams’ Star Wars theme: “We celebrate a day of peace/A day of harmony/A day of joy we can all share/Together joyously.” It’s a rough moment in Star Wars history, and certainly, even the children of 1978 were uneasy about putting words to that iconic music. Chewbacca was wearing a red robe, Luke Skywalker had a haircut that didn’t make him seem like Luke at all, and Han Solo looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. This was the ending of the Star Wars Holiday Special—a bizarre TV event that aired only once. And, when Star Wars blossomed into a lasting and serious cultural phenomenon, George Lucas tried to make it seem like it had never happened.

“You can’t blame the people who were just doing their jobs,” says Jeremy Coon. He’s the co-director of a new documentary called A Disturbance in the Force: How the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened. Along with Steve Kozak, Coon keeps this documentary away from any kind of fan outrage and firmly focuses on answering that question in the doc’s subtitle: How?

A Disturbance in the Force doesn’t aim so much to debunk the myths surrounding the holiday special, but to push back against the collective mood. The delightful film—which

BY RYAN BRITT

debuts at SXSW—isn’t trying to make some outrageous claim that the holiday special is somehow secretly brilliant. “I don’t find it very enjoyable to watch,” Coon says with a laugh.

“When I first set off to do this, I was like, ‘Oh Disney, those jerks, they should release this.’ But I’ve actually

For those of us who came of age in an era in which Star Wars has always been on VHS or DVD, it’s important to remember things used to feel very different. If something was on TV and nobody was around to record it, it basically didn’t happen. For Coon, this kind of ephemera is of specific interest. Along with Tim Skousen, he directed Raiders!, the 2015 doc that told the story of a 1989 shot-for-shot fan recreation of the first Indiana Jones film.

“I like the idea of going back in the past,” Coon says. “There’s so much video out there that’s just forgotten. Until 2002, I thought the Star Wars Holiday Special was an urban myth because it’s so hard to find.” come around to the other side. I understand their position because you can’t watch the special out of context.”

The legacy of the Star Wars Holiday Special is still with us. As Coon points out, the special includes a wonderful cartoon interlude that introduces Boba Fett a full three years before his first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, the rifle used by the title character in The Mandalorian season one was a direct homage to Boba Fett’s weapon in the holiday special, even if George Lucas didn’t care.

That context is 1970s TV. In order to understand the holiday special, A Disturbance in the Force places it in the correct pantheon of its peers: other weird ’70s random TV specials, such as Wayne Newton at SeaWorld or The Brady Bunch Variety Show

“The Star Wars Holiday Special was a product of its time,” Coons explains. “We tracked down almost everyone who worked on it who’s still alive. And a lot of them were older when they

Hilariously, A Disturbance in the Force reminds us that the creator of Star Wars doesn’t even want to talk about the good things from the holiday special. But even if Lucas wants to pretend like he had nothing to do with it, there’s a paper trail proving that’s not true, including a five-page treatment written by Lucas himself.

“I feel for him because at the time he’s in his 30s and he’s made the biggest film ever,” Coon explains. “He’s getting these things thrown at him, and he’s getting ready to do The Empire Strikes Back. You can’t really blame him.”

BY RICHARD JORDAN DOCUMENTARIES

Another Body

The rise of the scarily convincing, AI-led technology known as deepfakes—otherwise known as “the 21st century’s answer to Photoshop”— is all well and good when it’s used for amusing viral videos of, say, Jim Carrey replacing Jack Nicholson in The Shining. But what about when it’s used for something more sinister? That’s the concept behind Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn’s Another Body, which documents a college student’s fight for justice after discovering deepfake pornography of herself circulating on the internet.

THE NEW AMERICANS: GAMING A REVOLUTION

Sundance award-winning documentary veteran Ondi Timoner (director of celebrated music wars doc Dig! and dot.com dissection We Live in Public) orchestrates this self-styled “meme-ified punk rock manifesto,” which examines how online culture and social media have fanned the flames of modern “revolutions” such as the GameStop squeeze and the Jan. 6 insurrection. Timoner promises a “wild meme-driven ride” that asks the important (and terrifying) question: Are algorithms amplifying our worst impulses and threatening the very foundations of our democracy?

Being Mary Tyler Moore

American sweetheart Mary Tyler Moore is the subject of this definitive doc from director James Adolphus, who uses impressive access to the actor and advocate’s friends, family, and colleagues—alongside archival footage—to paint a picture of a complex and compassionate icon. The Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Ordinary People, Moore revolutionized the portrayal of women in media and redefined their roles in Hollywood—and the significance of her on and off-screen work is celebrated here.

Queendom

Sundance-backed filmmaker Agniia Galdanova brings us a fascinating and relevant portrait of Russian artist Gena Marvin, whose bold, surreal work has taken TikTok by storm and brought queer activism to Moscow. Born and raised on the harsh streets of Magadan, a small town in Russia, 21-year-old Gena now stages radical public performance art that brings attention to LGBTQ+ harassment in her notoriously homophobic homeland. But her bravery comes at a price—one that puts her life in danger.

Join Or Die

What’s the best way to fix America’s current democratic crisis? Joining a club, reckons Robert Putnam. The legendary scientist behind the seminal “Bowling Alone” research, Putnam explores the concept of social capital and the dangers of its decline in this glossy documentary, which looks at how a focus on community and “connections with other people” can make democracy work again. Directed by brother/sister duo Pete and Rebecca Davis, Join or Die also features big names like Hillary Clinton and Pete Buttigieg.

Riders On The Storm

Sporting glory meets political turmoil in this Afghanistan-set doc, which captures a pivotal moment in the country’s recent history through the lens of buzkashi: an ancient and celebrated national game in which teams of horse riders battle for control of—and to score goals with—a headless goat carcass. The film follows horseman Khaiber Akbarzada, who rises through the ranks to become one of the sport’s star players. Success proves to be a doubleedged sword, though, as Akbarzada’s new-found fame makes him a target for the Taliban militants who are about to seize control. Jason Motlagh, who co-directed with Mark Oltmanns, says that they wanted to bring the “raw intensity” of buzkashi to the screen and a unique insight into a rarely seen subculture that “inspires hope and awe among a war-weary population.”

You Can Call Me Bill

Billed (no pun intended) as an “intimate portrait of William Shatner’s personal journey across nine decades of a boldly lived and fully realized life,” this love letter to the man behind Captain James T. Kirk is one of the most anticipated docs at the fest. In fact, so beloved is the Star Trek and spoken word legend that this crowdfunded project made $790,000 in just four days, turning thousands of fans into shareholders.

BLACK BARBIE: A DOCUMENTARY

With the release of Greta Gerwig’s big-budget Barbie movie, starring Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie, scheduled for this summer, the iconic figure is back in the spotlight. So what better time for someone to tell the story behind the first Black Barbie? That someone is director Lagueria Davis, whose charismatic aunt, Beulah Mae Mitchell, worked on the Mattel assembly line in the ’70s and asked her boss, Barbie creator Ruth Handler, “Why isn’t there a doll that looks like me?” Davis uses her aunt’s story to anchor a broader look at the importance of representation.

From fronting one of the world’s biggest sci-fi franchises to making a literal—and historic—trip to space last year, the “91-years-young” actor’s stellar experience and maverick personality make him the perfect subject. So why has it taken so long? Shatner says he turned down numerous offers because they weren’t the “right fit,” but production company Legion M’s funding model won him over. “Fans have been responsible for my career,” he says. “It only seems right that they should own this doc.”