Facing The Wind (2024) DOC NYC 2024

Portrait of a group of women who come together to support each other as their partners slip away to dementia and Alzheimer’s.

This is a solid at what it’s like at ground zero for a those living with a terrible disease. I love that the film gives us a view of a community of women is hopeful. We really get a sense of there being people out there who can help them cope and get by. Too often we see similar stories but it’s always focused on one brave family fighting on.

My only complaint is that this could have been longer than an hour because I would have loved to have spent more time with these wonderful people.

Recommended.

The Dog (2024) Hollyshorts 2024

A vet who has put down one pet too many considers ending her own life.

People forget that vets love their charges. That they have to face the ending the lives of beloved creatures regularly takes its toll. People don't realize how high the suicide rate is for veterinarians. Director Danielle Baynes does and made this film to g et word out.

This is a moving short film. A brief series of moments this film gets the head space that many vets find themselves in. Its a film that grabs us and reels us in. It makes us understand what these caring people encounter.

Definitely worth tracking down.

PLASTIC PEOPLE (2024) SXSW 2024

If you are easily rattled don’t watch PLASTIC PEOPLE. This look at how plastics are poisoning us and our environment is going to scare the living snot out of you.  This is not a slow burn terror, but one that comes in the opening minutes when the film where we are told about how microplastics are now everywhere including inside of us. It also shows how animals are dying in an alarming rate because they are eating more and more plastics that their bodies can’t purge.

Who needs make believe horror when you can have the real thing? This is a truly frightening film that will make you think twice about everything we do with plastics…which is pretty much everything.

As good as the film is I fear that many people will avoid this film. They don’t want to know about how our plastic waste is killing and changing the planet for the worse. They are going to simply want to continue to suck down their waters and eat their foods out of plastic containers.

If the film feels like overkill, it really isn’t, since the film simply is telling it like it is without embellishment.

This is one of the most important films you’ll see in 2024.

All In My Power (2021) Queens World Film Festival 2021

 

Nine weeks into the lock down 12 healthcare workers in New York sat down and told their story.  ALL IM MY POWER is the record of what they have to say.

Make no mistake -ALL IN MY POWER is a great film. It’s a film that will suck you and move you with stories of people who found out that were in wildly over their head but kept plugging along because they didn’t know better.  It is also an important film as well since it records what was happening in the words of the people on the front line of the global health crisis as it was happening. Its better in many ways than the little reports we saw everyday on the news simply because while it is telling the same stories it gave the people explaining what was  happening the room to step back and ponder what they were living through.

As some one who doesn’t want to see another pandemic film of any sort, I found myself moved. I was touched by the frankness of the discussions and by the sudden welling up of emotion as several of the people being interviewed were overcome by their experiences.

In all seriousness this is a great film and an important record of what happened.

The question is will you like the film. If you are willing to go with it and willing to relive the early days of the covid pandemic you will absolutely eat this film up. I know I was hesitant to see the film because I’m so covided out. On the other hand its easy to see that this is a great film  and even if you can’t catch the film tomorrow at the Queens World Film Festival do you yourself a favor and put it on your list as a film to see down the road when you can consider current events from a less emotional place.

Recommended

ALL IN MY POWER plays the July 1 at the Queens World Film Festival at 7:00pm at the Queens Theater (14 United Nations Ave S, Queens, NY) Buy tickets here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5142038

Steve on THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL US (2021) Tribeca 2021

 

While it is rough in a couple of places and a bit over long They’re Trying to Kill Us is one of the most important films playing at Tribeca. The film is a look at how the African American communities are essentially being targeted with stores that only sell processed food or foods that are bad for human being. Yes the food tastes good but the cheap crap they sell at many of the stores is responsible for the various health problems that are affecting the majority of the people living in the depressed communities.

You have to applaud filmmakers Keegan Kuhn and John Lewis for making one hell of a film. It beautifully lays out how African Americans are essentially eating them selves to death. It’s a frightening tale that makes it clear that what is available to many families is killing them. Where the film scores is not just in its saying the food is bad but in how it explains why it happened and more importantly why it doesn’t need to happen. The argument that eating good food costs more is put to rest as we see how it is possible to eat better and save money too.

What I love about the film is that while the film is focused on the African American community the film lifts itself up by speaking to any economically depressed community. All across America there are poor of all races who are not eating well and if they watched They’re trying To Kill Us there is a good chance that they could get healthier.

One of the most important films of Tribeca and of the year.

Ariela Rubin on THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL US (2021) Tribeca 2021

 

"Poor diets kill more blacks than pistols"

They're Trying to Kill Us is a documentary that explores food injustices in the Black & Native American communities. The leading cause of death among African Americans isn't guns like many might believe, but it's heart disease, cancer, strokes, and diabetes.  They're Trying to Kill Us connects the dots between what we eat, disease, poverty, and racism.

The documentary discusses how poor neighborhoods have different food options. These neighborhoods mostly have corner stores consisting of cheap and unhealthy foods. Some have no grocery stores at all. There are more gun dealerships than grocery stores in the US and they're more distributed in black neighborhoods. Fast food restaurants too are mostly all owned by white people, but they target black neighborhoods.

The film also talks about how many of the foods that black people commonly eat started in slavery and then became a tradition. However, the traditional food in West Africa were whole grains, whole foods, mostly plant foods.

They're Trying to Kill us discusses how much the government is involved in what people eat as well. For instance, they push dairy on people even though most people are lactose intolerant and that's because they get money from the dairy industry. The film also touches on how corrupt the pharmaceutical world is. All of these organizations work together: fast food makes people sick, drug companies keep people sick. Many of the same board members and CEO's etc are in both industries, which was wild to learn.

The documentary uses a lot of statistics and facts. It features many black hip-hop and R&B artists, influencers, politicians, professional athletes, and many doctors giving their input. I hope that having all of these people in the film helps to influence and inspire people to make a change.

The film did feel a little long, but it was very educational. It will make you angry and sad. I think it's an extremely important film that I believe everyone should watch! 

Explant (2021) Tribeca 2021

EXPLANT is the story of the problems with breast implants. The industry swears they are safe but women are getting sick as the materials in them are leaching out and infecting the bodies of the women who have them.

Focusing on the case of Michelle Visage who is probably best known as judge on Ru Paul Drag Race, the film beautifully puts a face to the problem that is harming millions of women, whether they know it or not.

While there have been other films on this subject, I believe at least one other film has played Tribeca in the last couple of years,  this I probably the most accessible of the bunch thanks to ----. Thanks to her boisterous personality this is the film that is going to get the subject noticed because almost instantly the film stops being about a subject that is effecting other people but its about a friend.

Seriously this is a great film because it brings all the information together in such away that it may actually make the illness taken seriously.

Recommended

Not Going Quietly (2020) Tribeca 2021

Ady Barkan is a n activist who developed ALS. Watching as Congress under Trump sought to cut health benefits for people like him, he went on the attack and spoke to congress. When he was on the same flight as Jeff Flake he asked him why Flake was looking for him to die. A video of the meeting went viral and put Bakan in the fore front of the fight to keep funding for healthcare

This is a good portrait of Barkan and his families fight for lives of not only of themselves but millions of other Americans. Its an important fight that needs to be fought. The film is also a very good portarit of Barkan and his family. W get a good sense of the man before he was sticken and how his family and friends circled around him.

Definitely worth a look if the subject interests you.

Brief thoughts on Doin' My Drugs (2020)

DOIN MY DRUGS is a look at Danish musician Thomas Muchimba Buttenschøn and his crusade to use his music to wipe out the AIDS epidemic in his native Zambia. It's a look at a county that doesn't really want to deal with its health crisis.

A good look at a health crisis we don't focus on any more. The big bugaboo that AIDS was in the 1980's and 90's has kind of died away in  many places because we now have drugs to control it. However in Zambia and in other places in Africa it is still ravaging the population because of fear and stigmas attached to the the disease.

To be honest the non-musical portion of the film is good but a bit too scattershot. There is a a lot of very serious discussions going on, but the trouble is that the it's not always as focused as it should be . More than once things seem to drift a little bit and interest. It's not bad but it keeps this just a good film instead of a great one.

What is great is the music. DOIN MY DRUGS is full of great music not just from Buttenschøn but also St. Maiko and Mwiza Zulu (the Zulu family), Brian Bwembya, John Chiti, Danny Kaya and B-Flow. If an album of the music contained in the film wasn't being released as well I would have demanded one. Even if you don't want to see talk of AIDS, you will want to hear the great music.

Releasing on VOD on December 1 and World AIDS Day, DOIN MY DRUGS is worth a look

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

DOC NYC Capsule revews: SELF PORTRAIT and UNAPOLOGETIC

Two feature films being mentioned as possible Oscar contenders 

SELF PORTRAIT
Portrait of the late photographer Lene Marie Fossen who recently died from the Anorexia which was frequently the subject of her art.

A moving biography of a young woman, she was only 33 when she died, who managed to find beauty in everything, even her own diseased body. The film is  full of both beautiful and shocking images as we see what the terrible disease does to a person.

UNAPOLOGETIC
A look at Bella and Janae who are working to get the community to challenge to power structure in Chicago, particularly the police. It is the story of two young black women fighting go for what they know is right and hoping to change the world.

Very good look at two women who are using different means to get their voices heard. Yes they are marching and protesting but they are putting a spin on things that make you sit up and take notice. Their spirit and slightly atypical ways make this film some thing more than all the other films about protest. Their voices cut through the sameness that has enveloped the protests in the media and are actually making a difference.

Recommended.

BEDLAM (2020) Closes the Reelabilities Film Festival NYC Monday night

Excellent look at the state of mental health care in the united states. Covering the history of treatment for patients as well as taking a hard look at the state of things, the film is an eye opener for any one who has had to deal with the system either themselves or for a loved one. It is a film that left me shaking my head and pondering what we need to do to be able to be better.

While the film can be faulted, slightly, for trying to do too much in too a much too short two hour run time, it does open many avenues for the viewer to explore on their own.This is an important film and a must see.

Highly recommended.

For details on the Reelabilities screening which will be followed by a virtual Q+A with producer Peter Miller and additional guests go here

BEDLAM will screen on  PBS on April 13. For information on that screening go here.

Ariela Rubin on THE GAME CHANGERS (2019)

The Game Changers is a documentary that profiles athletes who are vegan. The documentary mainly revolves around James Wilks, a former UFC fighter, who now trains people in the military. He gets a knee injury, and decides to research what he can do to speed up his recovery. His path turns towards veganism. He actually finds research that shows that the bones of Roman gladiators were mostly vegetarian. On Wilks journey we meet vegan super athletes like Olympic cyclist Dotsie Baush, Scott Jurek, who ran the Appalachian Trail faster than anyone, and German strongman, Patrik Baboumian. We meet athletes who say they got stronger and faster after switching to a vegan diet. Game Changers also has doctors on screen explaining vegan protein myths and how not eating meat for even a day can change your blood (for the better). Arnold Schwarzenegger is even in it, and he explains how meat consumption was really pushed on him in his bodybuilding days. He has since switched to a mostly vegan diet. He says his cholesterol is now lower than it ever has been in his life.

I really enjoyed this documentary. I found that it really was educational, and explained things well. It was very thorough. There was a lot of research done, and they used easy concepts to understand. It was also entertaining. I do hope and feel that as the title suggests that it will be a game changer. I think it will have a lot of impact on current and future athletes, as well as your regular gym goer, or anyone trying to be healthier. A must see.

The Game Changers plays a country wide single screening tonight, then opens Friday in New York and the following week in LA

Mr Toilet: The World's #2 Man (2019) Hot Docs 2019

Portrait of Jack Sim an entrepreneur from Singapore who has made it his life's cause to promote toilets as a means of stopping the spread of disease. 40% of the world doesn't have access to toilets and as a result disease runs rampant. While Sim normally doesn't get involved with more than promoting the idea he get sucked into an initiative in India where most people defecate on the side of the road or wherever they can. This practice has been tied to all sorts of problems including rape.

Amusing and seemingly light weight film has a heavy edge to it. The struggle to provide sanitation to billions of people is a struggle that most people are not aware of. Sim's single minded quest may come off as a funny but its a battle that is deadly serious. Sim understands that the only way to get attention for such an important issue is through humor and he isn't afraid to use it.

I was kind of knocked back on my heels by the film. I thought this was going to be a funny little film about a "silly subject" but instead the film I got a funny little film that made me think much more than most more serious films. The issues Sim raises maybe funny but they are also life and death.

What makes the film work is Sim himself. He is a grand character. Looking a little like a bespectacled Jackie Chan he is the sort of person you'll want to hang out with because he is just so damn fun. I've been watching a lot of docs that are portraits of this person or that and Sim is one of the few that I wanted to spend more time with.

MR TOILET is a great film and highly recommended.