What director Araque Blanco hopes to achieve through his 9:54-minute long documentary is to let his audience know that there is a way to understand the system without truly being at its epicentre. That, at times it’s the over-the-fence view that lets one have a proper, nuanced take of what’s truly brewing within an organisation.… Continue reading The (Other) 700 Club: A Documentary That Lets You Peek Into A Sidelined Community
Tag: Documentary Review
Folded Whispers: A Body of Work Spanning Fifteen Years
Mark Anthony Thomas, Jordon Rooney, and Shane McFarland’s Folded Whispers is a 25-minute documentary on Thomas’s first performance as a poet in fifteen years. Featuring a collection of seventeen poems, the documentary interweaves the performance with its impact on the live audience and sound bytes from Thomas. The camera is trained on Thomas for large… Continue reading Folded Whispers: A Body of Work Spanning Fifteen Years
Turtle Game: A Way to Address Social & Political Failure
EJ Moonshot’s Turtle Game is a 36-minute documentary dealing with contemporary American issues and the proposal of a solution. Given a foundation of human interest, the documentary lays out the director’s own personal story as a segue into its subject. This might be an eye-opener for those unaware of the American socio-cultural-political structure. But, for… Continue reading Turtle Game: A Way to Address Social & Political Failure
Joined by Fate: The Meeting of Intersecting Paths
Christina S. Sledge’s Joined by Fate is a 39-minute documentary narrating the story of her romance and marriage to her spouse. Employing a talking heads style, the subjects trace their journey from childhood to marriage, dotted with a series of coincidences that look like fate in retrospect. The narrative alternates between Edward and Christina, the… Continue reading Joined by Fate: The Meeting of Intersecting Paths
A Letter From Home: In Search of Family, Saving and Purpose
Spencer LeGros and Alexander Hinsch’s A Letter From Home delves into the life of trauma that war veterans return to, and a program whose modest efforts have the potential to make significant change. Mainly featuring the program founder Jason Graven, the documentary portrays the founding of Task Force 20 as the culmination of a series… Continue reading A Letter From Home: In Search of Family, Saving and Purpose
Waiting in the Wings: Post-Pandemic Resuscitation of Theatre and Life Around It
Josie Andrews’ Waiting in the Wings is a documentary celebrating theatre not only as an artform, but one that brings meaning and purpose to everyday life. The 24-minute long film divides its time between two local theatres in LA–Teatro Frida Kahlo and Five Star Theatricals. The pandemic is, of course, a pervasive presence in the… Continue reading Waiting in the Wings: Post-Pandemic Resuscitation of Theatre and Life Around It
A Wake Up Call: What Legislation Can Do For The Marginalized
Focusing on hate crimes committed against LGBTQ+ people, Jennifer Fearnley’s documentary A Wake Up Call, made for the Human Dignity Trust, calls on Commonwealth countries to correctly recognize hate crimes. The 9-minute film is an effort to illustrate the significance of legislation in protecting marginalized people. The documentary uses interviews with experts and laymen to… Continue reading A Wake Up Call: What Legislation Can Do For The Marginalized
Say Their Names: A Turning Of Tables On The Public
Christian Heiche’s Say Their Names is a documentary, a tribute with righteous anger, to victims of systemic racism manifesting through police brutality. Set to Nina Simone, the film uses three minutes to pay respect to some of the many who lost their lives, while turning them from the viewed to the viewer. Ten victims—Atatiana Jefferson,… Continue reading Say Their Names: A Turning Of Tables On The Public
Love, Laugh, Doom, Tears: A Memoir Of Violence And Trauma
Nhung Nguyen’s 25-minute Love, Laugh, Doom, Tears is a reenacted documentary that chronicles the events leading up to and after a traumatic experience. Nguyen has created the narrative using a form of emotional realism, where her internal world is brought out and made the lens through which her experience is depicted and understood. The film… Continue reading Love, Laugh, Doom, Tears: A Memoir Of Violence And Trauma
Disparity: On the True Nature of Poverty
Renu Mehta’s expansive documentary on the politics of extreme wealth inequality, Disparity serves as a comprehensive resource for a beginner. Featuring interviews of Nobel laureates, scholars, activists, and billionaire philanthropists (as well as voiceover narration by Sir Ben Kingsley), the documentary explains the issues surrounding poverty and foreign aid; and while it dissects the issues… Continue reading Disparity: On the True Nature of Poverty