CW: Pedophilia, underage prostitution Nothing feels out of place when a teenage boy looks less than delighted upon receiving a VR kit from his father. Really, what could be more natural than a disappointed teenager? But writer-director Oskar Willers steadily unsettles his audience as the 12-minute Interstice, or Mellanrum progresses from its innocuous opening seconds. … Continue reading I N T E R S T I C E: Intricately Crafted Brutal Drama
Tag: Documentary Review
High On Heels: Informative Documentary That Walks You Into The World Of Heels
For a master cobbler, it is his craft; for a shoe designer it is his work of art; for a model, it is an accessory; for a podiatrist, it is their number one source of patients’ woes. But for a woman — it is a measure of her self-esteem; or is it? Writers Lola Kayode… Continue reading High On Heels: Informative Documentary That Walks You Into The World Of Heels
Brass: A City Stripped Bare With COVID-19
When writer-director Anuj Jamadagni noticed Victor cleaning the streets at a stoplight, little did he know what the sight truly beheld. With curiosities piqued, he pursued the story. Victor isn’t affiliated with any cleaning agencies or the government. He isn’t on a payroll. Then why would he bother to engage in such selfless exercises? What… Continue reading Brass: A City Stripped Bare With COVID-19
Dirty Business: A Wake Up Call To The Recycling Industry
Yutao Chen’s Dirty Business is an environmental documentary of 12:10-minutes that focuses on Minh Khai, a hamlet in Vietnam that once thrived on its potatoes. Cut to the 21st century, it has found itself on the top of heap – of the garbage dump. Minh Khai houses the large-scale units that recycle the trash from the… Continue reading Dirty Business: A Wake Up Call To The Recycling Industry
Unfinished Lives: The Tragedy Of A Family Recounted
Short documentaries carry challenges of their own. Besides having to offer the compelling narrative of an incident that cannot be fictionalised even for creative pursuits, the story needs to be told or retold in a manner that is convincing, engaging and if possible, hard-hitting. Yucong Chen’s Unfinished Lives succeeds at all of that and more.… Continue reading Unfinished Lives: The Tragedy Of A Family Recounted
Gau Premi (For The Love Of Cow): Unlawful Killing
In a country raked with countless problems within its own borders, here comes another; a fairly recent one, that of cow vigilantism. Straight linked to the rise in the right-wing political party of the country, cow vigilantism has only found to be on the steady rise and director Maitreya Sanghvi’s Gau Premi: For The Love… Continue reading Gau Premi (For The Love Of Cow): Unlawful Killing
Who The F*ck is Jeffrey Gurian?: Energetic Documentary On A Colourful Personality
As much as Derek Brown’s documentary Who The F*ck is Jeffrey Gurian? is about the regrets of dashed hopes, it is brimming with optimism, accumulated over more than two decades by its subject: comedy writer and former dentist, Jeffrey Gurian. If Gurian’s energy is unhesitatingly lively, Brown’s editing spreads and blends that into the documentary… Continue reading Who The F*ck is Jeffrey Gurian?: Energetic Documentary On A Colourful Personality
Back Water: Discovering Wilderness Of A New Kind
Produced by Anne Garrett and Jennilyn Merten, Jonathan Cohrs’s Back Water feels like a personal story; an ode to the planet that has been neglected for far too long. Focusing on the wilderness or the loss of it in New Jersey’s Kensack river, the film is a 1:05:49 minute long documentary on ecology, man-made disasters,… Continue reading Back Water: Discovering Wilderness Of A New Kind
QuaranTEEN: Teenhood In 2020
QuaranTEEN, created by a 15-year old known only by her first name, Sabrina, epitomizes the unique experience of being a school going teenager in the era of COVID-19. Styled as a time capsule interview, the documentary features five teens, including Sabrina, as they recount their experiences staying home, missing school and missing out on key… Continue reading QuaranTEEN: Teenhood In 2020
Vanishing Louisiana: The Emotional Costs Of Climate Change
At the centre of Adam Chitayat’s documentary is the conflict between livelihood and conservation as both sides watch football-field-sized landmasses disappear every hour on average in coastal Louisiana. Vanishing Louisiana presents both sides against the backdrop of a dreaded inevitability: in fifty years, the marshlands will disappear completely, forcing residents to relocate. Chitayat expertly sets… Continue reading Vanishing Louisiana: The Emotional Costs Of Climate Change