Documentaries

The documentaries that are nominated every year absolutely gut me. By and large, this category is crammed with heavy, serious, depressing topics. Hard though they are to digest, I am always glad I get a chance to feel empathy for a new human experience and connect to the humanity of people who may or may not have anything in common with me.


Life, Animated - First of all, this film has illustrations by Mac Guff. (Don't get excited! There is no "r" in that name; it turns out it is not MacGruff, the crime dog!) This film is about an autistic boy's fascination with Disney's animated movies and how his parents used that to build a framework through which he could interact with the world. His mother describes losing him into autism and wanting to keep him so close and hug him so hard that whatever it was would go away! Ugh! So much truth in that. What mom or dad hasn't wanted to hug away all the ills that threaten the peace of our children? Ultimately, this is a pretty (cautiously) optimistic film.

13th - (Trigger Warning: Trump, violence) - Ava DuVernay's study of the criminalization of being black in America. It is moving, tough to watch, well put together and perfectly argued, in my opinion. I wish I could force half of America to watch this film with an open mind. At one point I openly wept at the juxtaposition of historical racial violence and modern day politics. Utter f*&king heart break.

I Am Not Your Negro - Another tough look at the racial history of America and the legacy of slavery. James Baldwin, an author and witness of the times, shares his views on the damage the white man has done to himself and his brothers with particular attention paid to his friends, Medgar Evars, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Malcolm X. This documentary is compiled of James Baldwin's readings and recorded appearances, with his written word performed admirably by Samuel Jackson. Assembling this sort of documentary is a tougher job. Its not easy to structure an argument and make clear points when you are restricted to the material you have from that one individual. It wanders a bit compared to the straight arrow of reasoning you receive in 13th, but its impact is no less disturbing or great.

Fire At Sea - There were two different movies going on. One was the quiet, traditional people of Lampudesa, a small fishing village of an island located between Sicily and Africa. The other movie was about the military ships stationed on Lampudesa who spend their days fishing refugees out of the ocean and the island doctor who tries to care for them. One would think that the refugee presence would have an impact on the residents but the viewer is never privy to it. I wish the juxtaposition of the two worlds paid off better. I also got no info about what happens to the refugees after they arrive here? Are they processed and moved on? Do they live here in camps? I left with a lot of questions. This one will probably win!

OJ: Made in America - This is a documentary series! It is seven and a half hours long. Techinically, they released it to a few theatre screenings first, making it eligible for Oscar nomination. I would prefer that they don't do this to me in the future! This challenge is taxing enough, people! It's hard to measure a weekly series against single sitting documentaries. This doc was comprehensive, for sure. It added a little context for me that I was less aware of, however, I watched the OJ trial in the 90s so there wasn't much that was new here for me.