Here is a list of documentaries and short films from the 2019 Sundance Film Festival that you, our astute reader, might find interesting and intriguing. There was an embarrassment of riches at the Sundance Film Festival of such films this year, which ended last week. It is a shame that many of these films do not get wider attention and the average film-goer ends up watching the usual crap-load of super-hero/mythology/fantasy movies, all full of the same CGI tricks, inconsequential acting, silly stories and dull cacophonous music.
This is just a small sample of films I found interesting and thought-provoking; they cover a wide range of topics from across the globe. Please take a look at the references for many more of the films from the festival.
The Environment
1. Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, Canada, filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky.
The beautiful film follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group, who, after nearly 10 years of research, are arguing that the evidence shows the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene Epoch in the mid-twentieth century, as a result of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth.
Meet the filmmakers -
2. Honeyland, Macedonia, Directors: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska. Special Jury Award for Impact for Change.
When nomadic beekeepers break Honeyland's basic rule (take half of the honey, but leave half to the bees), the last female beehunter in Europe must save the bees and restore natural balance.
3. Sea of Shadows, Austria, Director: Richard Ladkani. Audience Award.
The vaquita, the world’s smallest whale, is near extinction as its habitat is destroyed by Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia, who harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, the “cocaine of the sea.” Environmental activists, Mexican navy and undercover investigators are fighting back against this illegal multimillion-dollar business.
4. Birds in the Earth, Finland. Director: Marja Helander
Two Sámi ballet students, Birit and Katja Haarla dance their way through the northern landscape. In this space western cultural influences and Sámi traditions continue their eternal dialogue while nature calmly observes. Helander’s film also has a social point to make; human influence poses a threat to the stillness of the area. The Sámi people are the indigenous people of Scandinavia and Russia. Also see www.wearemovingstories.com/...
Social Leaders
5. Knock Down the House, USA. Director: Rachel Lears. Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
A young bartender in the Bronx, a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia, a grieving mother in Nevada and a registered nurse in Missouri build a movement of insurgent candidates challenging powerful incumbents in Congress. One of their races will become the most shocking political upset in recent American history. Cast: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
An early teaser trailer -
6. Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins, USA, Director: Janice Engel
RAISE HELL is the story of Molly Ivins, the outspoken political columnist and Texas maverick who spoke truth to power and gave voice to those that had none. Molly used humor like Mark Twain --- to skewer the powerful, protect the helpless, and to shine a light on bad government. Six-foot tall with flaming red hair, Molly was a fearless reporter who stopped at nothing, not even death threats, to speak truth.
History and Injustice
7. Always in Season, USA. Director: Jacqueline Olive. Special Jury Award for Moral Urgency.
When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother’s search for justice and reconciliation begins as the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.
Fellow kossack WB Reeves played a role in the film. Watch him at the 2:08 mark.
8. Railroad Ties, USA
Six descendants of fugitive slaves and abolitionists come together in Brooklyn to discover more about their lineage. The very human story of the Underground Railroad unfolds through Ancestry records, each discovery revealing the dynamic impact our history has on identity, family and legacy. The film takes a personal look at how understanding our family’s past can influence not just who we are, but how we see ourselves.
This film was produced by SundanceTV and did not compete for awards; the full film is available at the YouTube site below and at www.ancestry.com/...
China and Culture
9. American Factory, USA. Directors: Steven Bognar. Julia Reichert. Directing Award U.S. Documentary
In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America. Acquired by NetFlix.
10. One Child Nation. China, USA. Directors: Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang. U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.
After becoming a mother, a filmmaker uncovers the untold history of China’s one-child policy and the generations of parents and children forever shaped by this social experiment. Acquired by Amazon.
Can’t find a video yet.
Human Rights
11. Gaza. Ireland/Canada. Directors: Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell
This elegantly shot and masterfully crafted portrait of Palestinian life offers a rare chance to be immersed in the heart of Gaza, as we glimpse behind the walls of this misunderstood land to get to know real people who inhabit it. Inside a Gaza City taxi, we meet a teacher, a student, and a barber, who all share their dreams and daily predicaments with the driver, Ahmed, using surprising humor and candor. Ahmed could take them anywhere—except that a decade-old blockade makes it nearly impossible to leave the enclave.
12. Midnight Traveler. USA., Qatar, U.K., Canada. Director: Hassan Fazili. Special Jury Award.
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.
13. Midnight Family. Mexico, USA. Director: Luke Lorentzen
In Mexico City’s wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. As they try to make a living in this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care.
The Human Spirit
14. APOLLO 11, USA. Director: Todd Douglas Miller
A purely archival reconstruction of humanity’s first trip to another world, featuring never-before-seen 70mm footage and never-before-heard audio from the mission.
15. Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements. USA. Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky
A multigenerational exploration of a family living with deafness. The film is a continuation to her 2007 Sundance award-winning documentary Hear and Now, in which Brodsky documented her parents, who both born deaf, as they undergo cochlear implant surgery that would allow them to hear for the first time in over 60 years. This time Brodsky is featuring her son Jonas who she found out soon after the Sundance premiere of Hear and Now, was also losing his hearing as a baby. In this deeply personal and moving film, Brodsky explores the meaning of deafness, loss, and the power of silence as her son discovers his unique voice and her parents confront a new chapter of their lives.
16. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, U.K, Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor. Winner of the 2019 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize.
This is a feature film, not a documentary.
Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine. Young William Kamkwamba lives with his family in rural Malawi, where he attends school regularly and shows great aptitude for his studies. Yet after land development and poor weather lead to a meager harvest, famine strikes the village, alarming the community and forcing William to drop out of school when his father (Chiwetel Ejiofor) can no longer afford the fees. Determined to find a way out of the life-threatening situation his family is facing, William sneaks into the school library to research—and soon conspires to build a windmill pump to irrigate the land. Caught between his father’s close-minded skepticism and the difficulty of creating a machine out of bicycle parts and scrap materials, William races against the clock to fight for his community’s survival.
Netflix plans a streaming launch as well as limited theatrical release on March 1.
Inner Struggles
17. The Disappearance of My Mother, Italy. Director Beniamino Barrese
Benedetta Barzini was a revered Italian model who shattered stereotypes by becoming a journalist and professor and gained notoriety by publicly critiquing the fashion industry’s deep-seated misogyny. But now, in her 70s, Barzini’s distaste for the world of images has deepened into an existential crisis. Quietly and without warning, she packs her belongings and tells her son Beniamino she intends to disappear from the material world forever. Alarmed, Beniamino devises a plan he hopes will allow her to confront—instead of flee—the very thing she most distrusts: the camera. By capturing her on film, he intends to salvage his mother’s true essence and preserve her narrative.
18. Clemency, USA, Nigerian-American writer-director Chinonye Chukwu, U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic.
This is yet another feature film; it received the highest award of the festival.
Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
Hope you enjoy these trailers. I am certainly looking forward to watching these documentaries when they are released later this year. Please share your knowledge of these and other recent documentaries and short films.
Further Reading
- www.sundance.org/…
- Festival program — Sundance award list — www.sundance.org/…
- www.sundance.org/...
- Sundance 2019: Awards Night — www.cinema5d.com/…
- 2019 Sundance Film Festival Recap — www.metacritic.com/…
- 'Clemency': Film Review | Sundance 2019 — www.hollywoodreporter.com/…
- Sundance Documentaries Expose Truths, Both Glorious and Bitter — www.nytimes.com/…
- Searing New Documentary Reveals Lynching is "Always In Season" — www.dailykos.com/… by WB Reeves, who played a role in the film.
P.S. Most of the film descriptions are lifted straight from www.sundance.org/…. with some minor editorial changes.