In brief: Collective (2019) DOC NYC 2020

 One of the current expected Oscar contenders COLLECTIVE concerns the aftermath of the the Collectiv night club fire in Romania. Not only were there no fire exits in the building to get people out. 27 people died that night and 180 were injured. The hospital burn wards being filled. In the weeks that followed another 37 people died in hospital. However they didn't die from their wounds but the infections they got from being in the hospital. The newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor began poking around and they discovered a healthcare system so corrupt it brought down the national government.

Belt in boys and girls this is  one hell of a ride. I paused the film 20 minutes in to Tweet that with over an hour and a half to go the film had reached the point where most other films would end. That's a statement that tells you just how bad things were/are and how much digging had to be done. This is a story that keeps going and going to the very end. I just stared at the screen slack jawed. 

As has been pointed out this is a story of not only a broken system but of entrenched corruption. We hear stories of kickbacks, bribes, cronyism and all sorts of malfeasance that will make your head spin. It is a dire warning to everyone everywhere of what happens when government officials get too close to the private sector as the maker of hospital supplies paid off hospital officials to make sure they used their tainted products. Its a chilling account that mirrors some of what the Trump administration has been trying to do during its term in office. 

I was and still am horrified. I should discuss it more but even with reading reviews on the film I was nt prepared for what I saw. See it for yourself and be punched in gut.

An absolute must see.

COLLECTIVE is currently playing on various VOD platforms after finishing it's festival run

DOC NYC Capsule Reviews LESSONS OF LOVE and SUMMERWAR

 LESSONS OF LOVE
Jola leaves her husband of 45 years and returns to Poland. There she goes about  reestablishing her life and beginning a relationship with a man who is not like her husband. 

A good look at a late life change gives us all hope that maybe we all can find love. How much you love the film will be determined by how you react to Jola who comes off as stern.. I kind of liked her since she reminded me of one of grandmothers who was very similar.

Worth a look.

SUMMERWAR
Scary look at how kids in Ukraine are being indoctrinated into right wing nationalist thinking when they are sent away to a summer camp run by a right wing organization that is helping to fight the Russian incursion into the country.

A good look at how political thought is being spread to the next generation. While it would be nice to think this couldn't happen in the US, it probably could,and probably is with the rise of radical right in the age of Donald Trump. A warning for our times.

The Viewing Booth (2020) DOC NYC 2020

Filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz  asks Maia, an American student (and others) with ties or interest in Israel to look at short film clips of life in the West Bank and discuss them. He is looking to see how people form their opinions  and/or change them.

An interesting experiment didn't rally work for me. While I was interested in the reactions and discussions for a while I found that at a certain point I disengaged and ceased to care. Perhaps its the presentation which is largely  just Maia's face as she watches the videos (Which we see)

While I know this is an important subject, I'm just not certain the execution makes it an important film.

DOC NYC Capsule reviews: ON THE RECORD, FOR THE LOVE OF RUTLAND, and THE LAST OUT

ON THE RECORD
HBO's stunning look at misogyny and sexual harassment and rape in the music business and particular surrounding the Russell Simmons case is playing at DOC NYC and if you've not seen ,it you should. It's a film that is going to make you really think about the subject.

FOR THE LOVE OF RUTLAND

A look at Rutland Vermont. A town that is trying to get itself off life support, Focusing on a young mother named Stacie who is fighting opioid addiction anthe Mayor who agrees to have the town take in 100 Syrian refugees. A good look at small town desperate to come back to life. It has it's own charms but also seems to cover familiar ground. I'm also curious where things are tday since the events chronicled are from 3 and 4 years ago. 

THE LAST OUT

A very good look at a couple of Cuban baseball players who leave Cuba and go to Costa Rica in order to establish residency so that they can have a shot at going to the US and play major league baseball. As a baseball fan this was one of my must sees at DOC NYC. I really enjoyed the film a great deal since it gave me an idea of how s many great players had to journey to come play here.

DOC NYC Capsules: WELCOME TO CHECHNYA, IN MY OWN TIME A PORTRAIT OF KAREN DALTON and OIL WAR

WELCOME TO CHECHNYA
Excellent hopeful and heartbreaking story about the struggle to get members of the LGBT out of Chechnya before they can be tortured and killed. Its a stunning film, one of the most emotional that HBO has ever produced. Its a stunner and if you've never seen it you must.

IN MY OWN TIME A PORTRAIT OF KAREN DALTON
A look at folk singer Karen Dalton, whose voice was similar to Billy Holiday. Dalton influenced a number of singers like Nick Cave, despite only putting out a couple of albums and disappearing after her second one failed.

I kind of liked this film but I kind of didn't. Part of the problem is her voice didn't click with me, though I loved her lyrics. The problem is I don't know if there is enough here to support a feature since some of this feels as though it's been stretched.

I could have passed, your mileage may vary

OIL WAR
Good but  not great look at Andrew Bacevich's take that the US involvement is not a series of wars or interventions but simply one long continuous war.

This is a very good look at the real way things are (it really is one war) that fills in a lot of details for anyone who isn't familiar with the all the events really do tie together. While I like the film a great deal, I find that the premise is not as "shocking" as the filmmakers would have us believe since anyone who is familiar with the work or people like Adam Curtis or who has been paying attention to the long games being played by the US government and some corporations, knows its true.

Recommended

THE DISSIDENT (2020) DOC NYC 2020

This look at the murder of Saudi journalist  Jamal Khashoggi will buckle your knees. While firmly focused on the murder of Khashoggi it spins its net farther afield and paints a chilling portrait of a government racing to unchecked oppression and madness on a grand scale.

THE DISSIDENT wants us to know that things are not well in Saudi Arabia. Things may look bright and wonderful but the men controlling the country have slipped into making it a paranoid dictatorship. Anyone who does not tow the party line is hauled away and murdered. They do not want any free thought and they use intimidation and an army of tech savvy people to try and control the thoughts of the masses. Troubled by the turn of events long time insider  Jamal Khashoggi left the country, even to the point of divorcing the wife he adored, and moving to the US, in order to be able to speak his mind. Khashoggi did just that but the Royal Family wanted him muzzled and when an opportunity to kill kim arose they took it, never expecting it to blow up in their face.

While the murder is the thread that binds the whole film together the film also shows us the cost of the Saudi madness. Paralleling the Khashoggi story is the one of Omar Abdulaziz, a Saudi national who fled the country when his Twitter posts criticizing the Saudi's put him on a list of people to be detained. While he fled to Canada the Saudis still want him dead. They have detained and tortured his brothers in the hope of silencing him and the Saudis have sent hit squads to try and silence him. Its a scary tale that gets scarier when its revealed that they are bugging/hacking the cellphones of anyone and everyone they see as a threat or of interest (like Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who realized something was up when the crown prince was sending him texts about things he had never discussed with him)

This film rocked my world on so many levels I am having a hard time processing it all. Coming at a time when I was all movied and especially documentaried out, THE DISSIDENT  made me sit up and take notice. I didn't do anything during the whole time it was on, not even taking notes. I had to see it right them and there. The only thing I did while watching it was to replay some sections because I had to see them again after I picked my jaw up off the floor.

What makes this film so great is that this is more than just the story of a murder, but it is a story of the cost of that murder, we see the toll it takes on Khashoggi's fiance, Hatice and his friends and acquaintances.  Additionally the film is a stark warning of the madness that some governments may seek to embrace. As someone says about the Saudi government, the people respected the government until they started to crack down on the opposition in an unjustified manner.  It shows how social media is being used to try and win the hearts and minds of the masses. It makes you wonder where will this all lead?

This is a truly great film. Its a stunning timely and important film that speaks volumes about a great many things. 

Highly recommended.

GENERATION 328 (2020) DOC NYC

 

A look at mothers in Belarus whose children have been locked away under the countries draconian antidrug laws- the section of the code is 328.

Bracing portrait of what one mother calls the last dictatorship in Europe. The film is heartbreaking look at mothers who are fighting to just see their kids, as well as keep them safe (we watch one mother call the person to check on her son who is in solitary confinement).

I was moved. Recommended

I would be curious to see more on the subject and Belarus itself.

DOC NYC Capsules EL FATHER PLAYS HIMSELF and PARIS CALLIGRAMS

EL FATHER PLAYS HIMSELF
Filmmaker Mo Scarpelli made a film a film about his father and his wild life and had his father play the lead. The result is a film that mixes reality and fiction blurring the lines  between both.

An interesting idea that works best in bits and pieces. Personally I’m not sure we need the blend of truth and make believe. and I would have just gone for a straight documentary

PARIS CALLIGRAMS
Filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger makes a film about coming her coming to Paris and what happened along the way.

Mixing up clips from films, new footage, diary entries, interview footage and other material  this is a cinematic examination of a life that mirrors the way we pull our own lives and memories together. It’s a meal of a film that has a lot to chew on. At the same time the up and down and very literary nature of the film wears one down making the films 135 minute run time feel longer than it is.

An art film of the truest sense. 

DOC NYC CAPSULES: IN SILICO and STRAY

 IN SILICO
Very good look at Director Noah Hutton spent ten years following the work of Henry Markram. MArkram is trying to make a computer model of the human brain do that it can be manipulated for a better understanding of how we work.

How you react to this film will depend upon how interested in the technical challenges of recreating the brain. While its all explained so that it' simple to follow, there was a point at which I kind of checked out. As good as it was I realized this was not something I needed t know this much about. Don't get me wrong what's here is great,  but just outside my field of interest.

STRAY
While the film is being sold as a portrait of the dog Seytin and the other strays in Istanbul Turkey, the film is also a portrait of the street people he and the other dogs interact with on a daily basis. 

If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be a dog this film is for you. This is a dog's eye view of the world and it is an eye opening experience. I am a dog lover and much of this hit my sweet spot. If there is any complaint, it's the minor one in that the camera gets too close to the dogs and the images become overwhelming. Still it's a minor complaint and if you love dogs this film is for you.

DOC NYC SHORTS: PARKLIFE, WHAT'S IN CHINATOWN, HER NEW YORK, TILL NEXT TRIP and VISELTEAR VIOLINS

 

PARKLIFE
An observational look at life in COlumbus Park in New York's Chinatown where residents of the area hang out and socialize. It's a wonderful slice of life that puts you in the middle of it all.

WHAT'S IN CHINATOWN
Lovely portrait of New York's Chinatown which reveals what it was like in a pre-pandemic summer's day.

HER NEW YORK
Jill Gill remembers the history of New York in stories and paintings of the buildings that were to be destroyed.

TILL NEXT TRIP
Portrait of the filmmaker's father, a NYC bus driver, in the age of Covid. A lovely tribute of a father by a son.

VISELTEAR VIOLINS
A look at violin maker Jason Viseltear. Interesting look as a man who fell into his life's work

Til Kingdom Come (2020) DOC NYC

Deeply troubling look at the alliance between evangelical Christians in the US and groups in Israel linked to the Israeli government. As the Israelis take money for settlements and such in the name of Jewish/Christian brotherhood, the Israelis push for the evangelical agenda in Washington. 

This film made me uneasy. It's not that Christians and Jews shouldn't get along, but more that the end games they are working for are kind of polar opposites. The Israelis want a strong country and the evangelicals want the second coming which means the end of Israel and the conversion or death of the Jewish people (a fact that is pointed out in the film). Outside of supposedly getting their agenda carried out by any means necessary they are really working with people working against them. I know everyone sees it but no one really talks about it, which makes a late in the game talk between an evangelical and a priest in Israel highlighting the differences rather uncomfortable.

I'm truly not certain what I think of all of this. I am deeply bothered by it, largely because I think at some point this can't end well. I'm also a bit saddened by it since the film begins with a pastor talking about how people in Applicachia are looked down upon and then the film does look down upon them and their end days view of the world. We kind of see them taken advantage of by people who want things from them being a vote or money.

There is much to unpack and think about, and frankly I need to see the film again because there is great deal that the film is trying to say.

If you want a heady discussion of religion and political agendas this film is for you.

Recommended

DOC NYC Capsule Reviews: RONNIES and SMOGTOWN

RONNIES
This is a look at musician Ronnie Scott and his legendary jazz club in London. It was and is the place to see anyone who was anyone, with the club playing host to the greats of jazz and other types of music.

Very good look at one man and his club. It is a film full of great stories and great music and is must for jazz fans as well as anyone who likes a good tale.

If I were to quibble it is simply that the film's low key presentation makes the film feel a little too long. However it is far from a real problem because the music and stories just keep coming.

SMOGTOWN
A look at the environmental protection bureau of Langfang, which is outside of Beijing. TH struggle to fight the smog that has enveloped the country.

Interesting but much too low key look at an important subject, that is endangering China and ultimately  the rest of the rest of the country.  I watched, but I never was full engaged

DOC NYC Shorts: DO NOT SPLIT and FLOWER PUNK

 

DO  NOT SPLIT
A look at the protests in Hong Kong that happened when the Chinese government proposed a law that would allow protesters to be extradited to the mainland.
This is a very good film that works best when allowing the protesters to talk about the situation and their feelings. I'm going to leave it there not because it's bad but because I want to discuss the film in regard to other films on the Hong Kong Protests and I don't think that's fair

FLOWER PUNK
Portrait of Azuma Makoto who uses flowers to create art. 
This is a stunning film not only filled with amazing images, but the film also paints a portrait of an amazing artist who sucks us in and makes us a co conspirator. Even when we know how the pictures will turn out his mind blowing pictures of flowers in space or at the bottom of the sea, we are still gobsmacked watching him and his cre pull them off.
Glorious

DOC NYC DUTY FREE and KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

DUTY FREE
Reporter Sian-Pierre Regis makes a film about his mom. Danielle had a life time job as a hotel housekeeper that gave her a home for life and a small paycheck. However as she hit 75 the hotel decided to let her go and evict her. The film charts Regis' efforts to help his mom find a new job as well as show her a world beyond the rooms of a hotel.

A loving portrait of a mother by a son, this film will make you want to go off and hug your parents. However beyond being a lovely portrait, the film is a great look at the problems of growing old. What is like to find your whole world changed? What happens when you suddenly aren't needed? What if you don't want to or can't retire? This film explores those questions and others in a way that not only will make you think during the film but after it as well.

Recommended.

KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
Good portrait of Kenny Scarf one of the big band of graffiti artists who rocked the world at the same time a such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. While one of the more interesting artists working then and today he was largely overshadowed by the superstars who burned bright and then passed away.

A mix of old and new footage the film goes a long way to bringing Scharf into the spotlight. Its a film that really lets us see the full gamut of Scharf's art and fall deeply in love with it. How good is his art? While watching the film I had my brother wander past me and stop because he was intrigued by  the art. He stayed watching for a while before wandering off to look up Scharf on the internet.

Recommended

CHASING CHILDHOOD (2020) DOC NYC 2020

A look at the changing nature of parenting and being a child. It examines the old ways of child rearing where kids were let out to play after school and contrasts it with the modern era of helicoptering parents who regulate every moment of their children’s day.

An intriguing and thought provoking film forces us to wonder what the future holds when many parents are so controlling of their kids lives. What happens when you push kids and don’t let them play and explore on their own? As someone who has watched friends overly regulate their children’s lives I’m glad that someone has taken a serious look at where we are headed and what it all means. I say this because the helicopter parents I know have become bewildered at their children’s inability to do anything for themselves since the parents spent so much time telling them what to do. It is damaging to the kids as well as society in general.

A needed look at a subject that is effecting our future. Recommended

DOC NYC Capsule reviews LANDFALL and THE REASON I JUMP

 

LANDFALL
A look at the people of Puerto Rico as they struggle to survive the destruction of their country at than hands of Hurricane Maria and the removal of the Governor two years later.

This is very good look at a country trying to pull itself together and the forces trying to take advantage of it. We watch farmers, real estate people, regular people, cryptocurrency hustlers and others as they try to  either just survive or get ahead on the backs of the population. Its a bracing look that could be anywhere but for the grace of god.

While I would have liked a little more context for what I was seeing the film still shook me at what Puerto RIco endured while it filled me with hope since the never seemed to truly give up.

Recommended

THE REASON I JUMP
Based on Naoki Higashida's book about being autistic this film is an attempt to explain what it is like to see the world through autistic eyes. It mixes passages from the book with scenes from the lives of some people living with autism.

This film floored me. It kicked the legs out from under me and forced me to see the world from a different perspective. It challenged me in the best sort of a way...

And to be honest I need to see this film again. I need to take time to process the film and find the words to go with the emotions.

This is a stunner and a must see at DOC NYC

DEAR SANTA (2020) DOC NYC 2020

 

A look at Operation Santa which looks to make the wishes of children and families come true during the Christmas season.The film highlights the efforts of the US Postal service to get the letters into the hands of elves who then work to make the magic happen.

Okay holiday film is kind of lacking in real emotion. My initial thought was that seeing the film a few days before Halloween had something to do it it but a second look at the film I find that the film is a bit too scattered in it's presentation. There are simply too many people wandering through the film for it ever to build up momentum. I really think that this film would have been better with narration instead of the occasional title card.

While not really bad this is missing the warmth of the holidays.

LIFT LIKE A GIRL (2020) DOC NYC 2020

Zebiba wants to be a champion weightlifter. Working with Captain Ramadan who trained his own daughter to be a champion, Zebiba slowly her works her way toward being the best.

Following Zebiba over 4 years the film gives us a wonderful slice of life for a young athlete. We are charmed by our heroine and the people around her and we watch how even as she chases her dream of glory she never stops being a young woman. I was entranced.

While this is not going to be all and end all documentary of the year or the festival it is still a small gem and a winner that is worth your time.

DOC NYC Capsule Reviews: WARUS AND THE WHISTLEBLOWER and FIVE YEARS NORTH

WALRUS AND THE WHISTLEBLOWER
A portrait of Phil Demers , a former Marineland employee and now animal rights activist who is fighting to get the animals out of Marineland.

While I tend not to love the animal rights films because they tend to be rather preachy and tend to travel the same paths from start to finish, I liked WALRUS AND THE WHISTLEBLOWER  much more than most because I liked Demers a lot more than other people I've see profiled, largely because he isn't portrayed as overly somber.

This is a solid film and worth seeing.

FIVE YEARS NORTH
This is a look at the problems of illegal immigration in the US from the point of view of some one who has made the long trip from Guatemala as well though the eyes of an ICE agent tasked with tracking down illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Very good look at the issues surrounding a hot button issue. Where the main stream media tends to show things in a cut and dry manor because of the limits of time, this film fully explains that things are not so simple. As a result we are forced to reflect more deeply than a 20 minute 60 Minutes piece.

Definitely worth a look. 

A brief look at THE PLACE THAT MAKES US (2020) DOC NYC 2020

 

A look at the efforts to revitalize Youngstown Ohio which was devastated when the mills closed down leaving the town without a means of support. As the population left and the city decayed only a few remained behind. Now a new generation of people are trying to make a stand and bring it all back through rebuilding abandoned homes and buildings (they are working to fix a community center on the south side).

This is a very good and hopeful look at people trying to make a difference. Sure it’s a little corner of the world, but it’s the place they and their families call home and to them it is worth fighting for.

Worth a look