Giving you our points of view on the latest docs in release and on the circuit.
Objector tells the story of Atalya Ben-Abba, who was jailed at 19 years of age when she refused to enlist in the Israeli army. Although Ben-Abba is the dominant voice in the documentary, she represents a growing number of young Israelis who are conscientious objectors.
Into the Light brings discussions about domestic violence in Canada’s immigrant communities into the open and refreshingly destigmatises the act of speaking out.
Despite all the odds, Zappa’s work provides a soundtrack that continues to resonate for those with open ears. Its refusal to die remains laudable, and Winter’s Zappa provides just the kind of electroshock boost needed to keep its beat ticking for years to come.
Night Shot (Visión Nocturna) (Chile, 80 min.) Dir. Carolina Moscoso “I’m very sorry about the situation,” a participant writes, “but I hope your wounds heal outside the law.” This message appears among the intertitles that contextualise Carolina Moscoso’s Night Shot. It arrives late in the film and relatively far in the director’s story, but one senses that the disappointing news is the impetus for Moscoso’s thoughtful odyssey. The experimental Night Shot is a meditation on grief and trauma that eviscerates the broken system that protects aggressors while leaving survivors of sexual assault to their own devices. One senses that this
The Grocer’s Son, the Mayor, the Village and the World (France, 111 min.) Dir. Claire Simon Against the backdrop of Lussas, a small rural community in France, Tënk has been born. Tënk, a new streaming platform, envisions uplifting independent documentary filmmakers streaming on their format, which, down the line, would also help fund new projects. In The Grocer’s Son, the Mayor, the Village and the World, Claire Simon investigates the project’s evolution from its earliest moments to its launch. More than just a portrait of a streaming platform, Claire Simon’s film quickly becomes a portrait of the changing faces of
Netflix doc Shawn Mendes: In Wonder doesn’t play strictly for fans, but his core followers will most appreciate this backstage glimpse of his 2019 concert tour and look at his forthcoming album Wonder.
At the time of this writing, with an intransigent President refusing to leave office and a legal team for the same leader spewing lies about vote manipulation and liberal conspiracy supposedly all under the control of the titular character in this documentary, Soros remains as divisive and important a figure as any.
Connecting the Dots (Canada, 54 min.) Dir. Noemí Weis Spending an hour listening to stories about pain, despair, loneliness, and depression might not be atop everyone’s list during this pandemic. Everyone is feeling down and alone, and there seems to be no light at the end of the social distancing tunnel. Between the high-level anxiety caused by coronavirus and ensuing lockdowns, the stressful images (and even more stressful reality) of systemic racism and protests in response to it, and the crazy train of Donald Trump, this year hasn’t been easy. (Let’s not even add the stress of keeping up with
The Plastic House (Australia, 45 min.) Dir. Allison Chhorn For a film that emphasizes isolation, viewed during a prolonged period of isolation, The Plastic House conveys a remarkable sense of communion. This largely silent slice of slow cinema from director Allison Chhorn delivers a melancholy study in grief and meaning. Chhorn saturates the film in loneliness. However, the film evokes its sense of mourning quite palpably through the power of images and ambient sounds. The Plastic House implies a great sense of longing as Chhorn invites viewers to enter her world and experience her sense of walls closing in. Chhorn pulls double duty as
The Donut King sees a passing of the crown as a new generation stakes its claim on an empire. Besides fatty foods, what is more American than that?
