Giving you our points of view on the latest docs in release and on the circuit.
Atsushi Sakahara’s Me and the Cult Leader tells of an encounter between a survivor and a member of the cult that harmed him.
Ouvertures (France/Haiti/UK, 132 min.) Dir. Louis Henderson & Olivier Marboeuf In the opening chapters of Ouvertures, directed by Louis Henderson and Olivier Marboeuf, we are far from Haiti. The overwhelming whiteness of a wintry landscape is interrupted by a lonely Black figure, engulfed by a cold and unwelcoming world. On the soundtrack, brooks babble, and a whispering voice sets the scene of the Haitian revolution. The set-up remains vague and dense. It’s also long, drawn over nearly an entire quarter of the film’s running time. It’s an expression of Haiti existing as a Black nation in a white world and the narrative
A Crime on the Bayou (USA, 89 min.) Dir. Nancy Buirski “I have an ambivalent relationship to the term ‘allies’,” says activist Angela Davis in an archival excerpt in A Crime on the Bayou. “Because when it comes to challenging racism, I think that white people should know that they have as much of a stake in purging the society of racism as people who are the immediate targets.” A Crime on the Bayou explores a fascinating true crime tale that hinges on the power of a strong alliance. Director Nancy Buirski (The Loving Story, The Rape of Recy Taylor) revisits the case
Here is a strange and bitter crop. Billie goes against the grain amid the nostalgic music docs of 2020 with a dark, true-crime exploration of a musical icon
9to5: Story of a Movement is a fiery feminist essay about equality and labour—a fitting mark for Reichert to leave in a career devoted to giving voice to women and unions alike.
The Last Out (USA, 88 min.) Dir. Sami Khan, Michael Gassert With his Oscar-nominated short St. Louis Superman, Sami Khan confirmed that a great character often makes for a great documentary. The film, directed with Smriti Mundhra, followed Ferguson resident Bruce Franks III on his growth from Black Lives Matter activist to state representative. Khan’s first feature doc The Last Out, directed with Michael Gassert, amplifies the number of key characters by three and the formula holds. The Last Out gives sports documentaries a unique spin by chronicling the journey that Cuban athletes take with hopes of securing their dream to play baseball professionally in the USA.
The Two Sights (Canada/UK 87 min.) Dir. Joshua Bonnetta In a 1998 paper entitled The Ghost in the Machine, engineer Vic Tandy drew a line between infrasound and paranormal activity. According to his research, low-frequency sound waves inaudible to humans could inspire a sense of oppression and dread. Remove the source of the sound, and suddenly the haunting disappears. Further research noted that the impact of the low-frequency noise was exasperated by changes in temperature, which could affect the speed of sound waves. In the natural world, infrasound can be produced by storms, seasonal winds and weather patterns and some types
Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President (USA, 93 min.) Dir. Mary Wharton Bill Clinton often gets credit as the USA’s musical President since he plays the sax, but nobody rocked out like Jimmy Carter did. Mary Wharton’s film Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President argues that Carter’s love for music might have clinched the deal for his election. The film offers a rollicking look at the role of rock in shaping Carter’s image, humanising him, and making him accessible to a new demographic of Americans. Wharton’s doc illustrates how Carter used the power of music to break out of the shell of
Outremont and the Hasidim (Canada, 52 min.) Dir. Eric Scott What is the Yiddish word for NIMBY? A quick Google search doesn’t quite yield a perfect translation, but “schmuck” captures the term justly. NIMBYs, or “Not in my backyard” naysayers often cherry pick strange rules to preserve an idealised nature of their communities. Moreover, NIMBYism often entails dynamics of inclusion or exclusion. It flares up when demographics shift in a neighbourhood. NIMBYism, however, doesn’t quite adequately define the situation that Eric Scott observes in Outremont and the Hasidim. As the title suggests, the film chronicles a conflict between a Montreal neighbourhood and a specific
Shared Legacies: The African-American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance (USA, 97 Min.) Dir. Shari Rogers In these divisive times, when political rhetoric has led to a rise in anti-Semitism and hate crimes, director Shari Rogers reminds us of what can be achieved when people come together. If history can provide a roadmap to a better future, then her documentary Shared Legacies: The African-American Jewish Civil Rights Alliance aims to be the GPS that helps society get back on the right path. Focusing on the coalition between the African and Jewish American communities during the Civil Rights era, Rogers’ documentary explores how shared experiences of discrimination
