Mother

A tribute to Czechoslovak poet, art historian, and Communist dissident Věra Jirousová.

Link to video

‘Taking the piss’ out of Amazon

Oobah Butler finds an audacious way to highlight the inability of Amazon drivers to take proper bathroom breaks in this clip from his new Channel 4 documentary The Great Amazon Heist.

Link to video

RIP Daniel Ellsberg

From the NPR obit:

Ellsberg never ran for office and only occasionally appeared on TV. But he altered the course of U.S. history in a way few private citizens ever have.

From a piece that Ellsberg wrote in 2014, recollecting a particularly odd moment during his trial:

[W]hen I finally heard my lawyer ask the prearranged question in direct examination – Why did you copy the Pentagon Papers? – I was silenced before I could begin to answer. The government prosecutor objected – irrelevant – and the judge sustained. My lawyer, exasperated, said he “had never heard of a case where a defendant was not permitted to tell the jury why he did what he did.” The judge responded: well, you're hearing one now.

From The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers: “We were the wrong side”

Guardians of Art as Artists

An outstanding 3 minute documentary that gives a peek into the inspiration and lives of a rather unique group of artists: art museum guards. 

Link to video

The Story of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’

A splendid 22 minute Vice documentary.

Link to video

Soldiers Without Guns (2019)

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW

In 1997, New Zealand led a four-nation peacekeeping force that would be instrumental in bringing to an end the Bougainville Civil War in Papua New Guinea- probably the most violent and deadly conflict in the Pacific since the Second World War.  The conflict had been going on for 10 years and there had been more than a dozen failed attempts to broker peace.  One of the remarkable things about this initiative was that the peacekeeping force was unarmed. How this operation came about is the story at the heart of this documentary.

There are two things that particularly stood out for me.  The first is the clarity with which it presents its narrative, notably the history and the nature of this complex conflict. The second is the wealth of footage that has been compiled.  I found it astonishing in itself that such footage existed- given the time and place, and the nature of what is captured.

Here’s a link to the documentary.

Collective (2020)

This is an observational documentary that captures events leading from a fire at a Bucharest nightclub in October 2015.  The fire resulted in 27 people dying and 180 being injured.  Inexplicably, then, over the next four months, 37 of the injured died in hospitals.  Collective gives us a front row seat to what really happened.

It follows a team of journalists at a sports newspaper, with a track record of investigative reporting.  They took it upon themselves to uncover the truth behind the hospital deaths.   Collective is largely made up of footage from sustained live access to those journalists: you see their investigations as they unfold.

It is a documentary of exceptional power, and one that plays out like a tense thriller.  It is a gripping testimony to what fearless investigative journalism can accomplish. It is also a chilling reminder of the fragility of a democracy, and what callousness, corruption, and lack of government accountability can lead to.

Here’s a link to the trailer.

Dark Waters (2019)

Dark Waters tells the story of lawyer Rob Bilott’s multi-decade fight with DuPont over dumping toxic waste in water supplies across the United States.  If you’re not familiar with the case, I suggest first seeing the 2018 documentary, The Devil We Know.  While Dark Waters covers the same events over roughly the same timeline, I think it works better as a companion piece: a character study of the lead lawyer on the case, someone who the New York Times described as “DuPont’s worst nightmare”.

Here’s a link to the trailer of The Devil We Know.

Here’s a link to a trailer of Dark Waters.

Honeyland (2019)

This 2019 documentary is a mesmerizing portrait of a female beekeeper living in a remote mountain region of North Macedonia.  It also doubles as a fable with a strong environmental message.  And as with many documentaries, it has a fascinating back story.

It started off while the filmmakers were on an assignment to make an ecological documentary in that region.  It seems they stumbled upon handmade beehives in the middle of nowhere.  That led them to the 50 something Hatidze Muratova who, it turned out, was the last remaining beekeeper from a clan that had been harvesting honey for generations in a specific sustainable manner. 

They didn’t speak her language and so the communication was limited, but they were drawn to her native charisma and her spartan way of life.  They got her to agree to be filmed.  One thing led to another, and the filming continued intermittently over 3 years.  But it was only during the editing process, once the audio had been translated, that they had a real sense of the profoundness of what they had accomplished.  Sure enough, the final product is, to quote one reviewer, “a work of staggering beauty and a priceless encounter with an exceptional human.”

Alongside For Sama and American Factory, both of which I reviewed earlier, it is one of the nominees for the best documentary feature at the Oscars tomorrow.  What’s more, it is also in line for the best foreign film Oscar and is in fact, the first documentary ever to secure both nominations.

Here’s a link to the trailer.

Here’s a link to a 14 minute feature of an interaction with the star of Honeyland.

American Factory (2019)

I just got around to seeing this Netflix documentary and while it has been widely praised, I am on the fence on this. To be clear, it is well made and is worth seeing.  I found the individual reflections, conversations and scenes to be mostly compelling.  It’s just that, overall, it felt a bit underwhelming.

It depicts life in a US factory that was abandoned by General Motors, then acquired and retro-fitted by a Chinese billionaire.  On one level, the documentary presents what the change has meant for those working in the plant.  But for the most part, it showcases the differences between the American workers, the Chinese workers, and the Chinese owner, especially in their expectations of each other.

The contrasts are fascinating and are presented mostly in an even-handed manner.  Every view point is shown to have its merits.  What also comes out clearly is that their expectations- especially those of many (maybe, most) American workers and the Chinese owner are hard to reconcile.  The documentary benefits immensely from the fact that the filmmakers had access to candid conversations within and across groups, and some very heartfelt reflections by the owner.

Which brings me to my fundamental issue: the documentary doesn’t give me a sense of where that leaves everyone.  Is there any hope for reconciliation?  If yes, how might it be accomplished?  Is there anything to take away for other owner-investors and workers considering being part of such an experiment?  To be fair, answering these questions may not have been the objective of the filmmakers.  In one interview they said that their hope was that film would spark conversations about “the future of work”.  I believe that the film would have been much more impactful (and satisfying) if it had presented some clear opinions on these questions.

For some reason, the trailer of the documentary struck me as being somewhat glossed up.  I would rather suggest checking out this 6 minute Vice report on the factory and its owner, released three years ago.

For Sama (2019)

For Sama will be the single most heart-wrenchingly honest film you have ever seen. No amount of acting, elite accolades or story manipulation will ever compare to the genuine truth captured by a woman with a camera in Syria. It is truly an honor and a privilege to see this film.

Chuck Foster, Film Threat

This feature-length documentary is an extraordinary account of the war in Syria in general, and the siege of Aleppo in particular.  It was carved from over 500 hours of footage, filmed by the director out of a compulsive need to document what she saw and went through.  As much as it is about the turbulence and turmoil, it is also a deeply personal account.  It spans her transition from student to revolutionary to journalist, and her experience of kinship, love, and motherhood.  What stands out is her ability to coherently capture all of that.

It is a rare war documentary in which you don’t see the frontline or any guns going off.  There are a few bombings, and you frequently see the ravages up close, but the focus is clearly on what the civilians are going through.  You sense their fears and tensions, you see their grief and agony, but all throughout, you also see the strong undercurrent of resilience and hope that drives them forward and is their biggest uniting force.

Here’s a link to the trailer.

Here’s a link to a 3 minute introduction to this film from Channel 4 News, along with links to where this can be streamed.  I also noticed a reddit post with additional upload links.

Shadow Commander: Iran’s Military Mastermind

I stumbled upon this on BBC: a gripping one hour documentary on Qasem Soleimani.  This is not a new documentary, pieced together after his killing: this was first screened around a year ago.  Thus it offers an excellent context to his killing without being encumbered by the need to do so.  It also spotlights a number of little known or forgotten aspects of the US-Iran relationship over the past two decades. 

I am not sure when this will next be screened but for anyone who’s interested, I noticed a reddit post with upload links.

As a prelude or a companion piece with additional footage, I would recommend checking out this 7 minute BBC Newsnight report from 2014.

To Catch A Serial Killer

If you’ve seen ITV’s recent, superb real-life crime drama, A Confession, you would certainly know who Steve Fulcher is. For those who don’t, he was a Detective Superintendent of Police in Wiltshire county, in England, who was in the spotlight in a missing girl’s investigation in 2011, and the subsequent trial.  Without giving away too much, that investigation threw up uneasy questions about what should be the boundaries of ‘due process’ in the arrest and questioning of a suspect, and how much flexibility is it fair to accord to an investigating officer.  To be clear, I’m not alluding to torture- just plain questioning.

It’s a thought provoking case.  For those who are interested, especially those who can’t see A Confession anytime soon, or are simply short on time, I recommend a 2018 ITV documentary, To Catch A Serial Killer (not to be confused with the very different, CNN documentary of the same name).  In some ways, it’s a better introduction to the case than A Confession.

Alternative link

Free Solo

Free Solo is a 2018 documentary that was originally intended to be a straightforward profile of rock climber, Alex Honnold, who is one of the leading practitioners of free solo climbing (i.e. climbing alone without ropes, harnesses, or any protective equipment).  Somewhere along the way, the project needed serious rethinking, after Honnold suggested that he be filmed doing an unprecedented free solo climb of the ~3,000 feet El Capitan rock wall in Yosemite National Park.  Eventually, the project was back on track, with that attempted climb becoming a key focus of the documentary.

Knowing this background should make one wonder about how the filmmakers looked at the ethics and hazards of making a film in which there is the risk that the main subject could die.  It’s an issue that they talk about in the film, and have also addressed in subsequent interviews.

This apart, there are three things about Free Solo that stand out for me. 

The first is the choice of Alex Honnold as the subject of the documentary.  Like a magnet, he instantly draws you in, making you want to know more about him.  For someone who is an extraordinary achiever in an extraordinary vocation, he comes across as extremely down-to-earth.  Furthermore, as the film quickly establishes, he is not a thrill seeker.  He is someone in pursuit of perfection in a sport where, falling the slightest bit short of perfection, could be fatal.  Not only is he acutely aware of this, he is clear, articulate and upfront about why he does what he does. 

The second is the verite footage that takes you up close into Honnold’s spartan lifestyle, and  his rigorous planning process.  The footage also captures poignant moments with the people around Honnold that show what they think about his choices in general, and this climb, in particular. 

The third is the way that the climb is filmed.  It involved an elite crew of climbers-cum-cinematographers, either perched upon the rock wall, or moving with Honnold as he did his climb.  It gives the climb a very intimate feel, especially when it comes to highlighting the key obstacles that Honnold faces.  And it greatly adds to the suspense of the outcome (even for those who know what the eventual outcome was).

Here is a link to the spoiler-free trailer.

A History of the Kashmir Conflict

I have no real opinion on the so-called ‘Kashmir conflict’ other than that I regard what has happened over my adult lifetime to be messy, and a colossal tragedy.  I have no idea on how to apportion blame and no sense of how the recent developments will help or hinder matters.  But I have been keen to understand how this mess came about.  Unfortunately, whatever stuff I have thus far read or watched, has been a bit too dense for me. 

Early this week, someone shared a link to a documentary made by Times Now last year, Kashmir: The Story.  It tells the history of Jammu & Kashmir, and offers some historical context on the crisis, with a bit of commentary.  Frankly, I didn’t expect Times Now (or any Indian news channel, for that matter) to present a reasonably unbiased narrative.  Still, I must admit that, compared to anything else that I have read or watched, this gave me a clearer (and hopefully accurate) picture of the key events that have led to the present situation.

Bobby Fischer’s Detention in Japan

Last week, I came across a piece on Bobby Fischer and it set me on a path to revisit what I remembered about him, and fill in any gaps.  Of course, a large part of his life was out of the public gaze and I wasn’t expecting to gain any insights on that.  It turned out that my memory was especially fuzzy about his detention in Japan over 2004-05.  It’s an important and thought provoking episode in which the actions of the US and Japanese governments don’t stand up well to scrutiny.  Unfortunately, most of the mainstream media coverage was lacklustre.  Thankfully, I could latch on to stuff that shone some light on what happened.  

• Bobby Fischer's strangest endgame, Salon, July 2004
• The Fischer defence, The Telegraph, August 2004

But both of these pale in comparison to the incredibly detailed and sustained coverage on ChessBase.

In addition, I was able to locate a collection of footage bundled together as part of a documentary, Me and Bobby Fischer.  It is told from the point of view of Saemundur Palsson, who was Fischer’s bodyguard during the 1972 title championship, and with whom Fischer struck up a friendship.  While Fischer was apparently unhappy over how the documentary was put together, it needs to be seen for its astonishing footage of the team that worked on Fischer’s release.

PS: Unrelated to the above, I chanced upon this beautiful clip of Garry Kasparov’s visit to Fischer’s grave on what would have been Fischer’s 71st birthday.