20 Days in Mariupol is a vital, unflinching and heartbreaking documentary about the Russian invasion of Mariupol, a.k.a. the Siege of Mariupol, in Ukraine during 2022. A team of journalists, including director Mstyslav Chernov, put their life on the line to film the horrors of the war. The images Chernov captures speak louder than words and will haunt you for quite some time. An older man, for instance, wanders around Mariupol with his belongings after being displaced from his home. He looks weary, hopeless and disoriented. Doctors at a hospital desperately try to save a wounded young child, but the child dies on the operating table. Civilians, including children, gather at a crowded underground shelter. Mariupol looks like the post-apocalypse. Meanwhile, birds-eye view shots of the city display even more of the devastation while also making the film feel quite cinematic and providing it with scope. 20 Days in Mariupol documents the Ukrainians' suffering and serves as proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, of Vlamidmir Putin's war crimes. At a running time of 1 hour and 34 minutes, it opened at Film Forum on July 14th, 2023 via PBD Distribution.

      Apolonia, Apolonia is an engrossing, well-edited and unflinching warts-and-all documentary biopic on Apolonia Sokol, a French figurative painter. Director Lea Glob combines footage from her childhood when she first met her 13 years ago with footage from her teenage years and contemporary footage now that she's in her 20's. Throughout the course of the film, you get to know Apolonia's private life with her family as she lived in poverty, her friendship with Oksana, who becomes her girlfriend, and her burgeoning career as an artist with all of its highs and low. You also learn a lot about her personality and sense of humor. Leo Glob is lucky to have her as her subject because Apolonia comes across as intelligent, warm, talented, brave and stubborn with much more to her than meets the eye. Her candidness and emotional vulnerability adds some depth to the film which elevates it beyond an average documentary. So, Glob wisely avoids turning the documentary into a hagiography or bombarding the audience with talking heads. She finds just the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally as well as intellectually which is the goal of every great documentary. It's not an easy balance to find without a compelling and lively documentary subject and great editing to interweave the footage together. At a running time of 1 hour and 56 minutes, Apolonia, Apolonia opens January 12th, 2024 at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema.



 

      Beyond Utopia is a gripping, heartfelt and unflinching documentary about families who secretly flee the oppressive North Korea with the help of a brave and compassionate pastor, Kim Seongeun. Director Madeleine Gavin first establishes how difficult and dangerous it is for North Koreans to escape the North Korean dictatorship. They put their lives at risk by embarking on a treacherous journey through the mountains of China toward safety. Not everyone makes it out alive. Beyond Utopia, with its pulse-pounding music score, unfolds like a suspense thriller which makes it feel cinematic as well as emotionally engrossing. It's not easy to watch nor should it be because the footage from the North Koreans' journey isn't a reenactment. That, along with the vivid accounts from the survivors, are harrowing and even palpably terrifying at times. Prepare for one of the most edge-of-your-seat and haunting documentaries of the year. It would make for a great double feature with the equally thrilling documentary The Abolitionists.

      Bobi Wine: The People's President is a fascinating and illuminating documentary biopic about Bobi Wine, a musician, activist and political opposition leader in Uganda where President Museveni has been in office since 1986. Co-director Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo find just the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally as well as intellectually. If you're never heard of Bobi Wine before, you'll learn a lot about what makes him so significant to democracy in Uganda. He uses his music to protest against Museveni's regime and to raise awareness among the younger generations of the Ugandan citizens. Unlike Museveni, who, like a true dictator, arrests, tortures and kills those who dare to speak out against him, Bobi Wine uses words as his weapon---a far more powerful and brave tool than the sword. He believes in peace, freedom, truth and democracy, but clearly he's like David fighting many Goliaths. Despite many arrests, he refuses to be silenced. The filmmakers also shed some light on his relationship with his wife without prying into his private life. Just knowing that he became a member of the Ugandan Parliament and hearing the potent words of his songs are worth the price of admission. Museveni isn't that different from Pinochet or Fidel Castro. The film doesn't provide much scope to put Bobi Wine and Museveni in a wider, more global perspective, but the filmmakers trust that you'll use your critical thinking skills to make your own connections and draw your own conclusions.

      Bobi Wine: The People's President ultimately serves as an eye-opening cautionary tale about a dictatorship that could happen anywhere in the world, including the United States. It highlights the importance of questioning the government and fighting for democracy because it's easier to lose democracy than it is to gain it. Bobi Wine: The People's President would make for a great double feature with the recent documentary While We Watched, We Are Many, and What is Democracy?. It's distributed y National Geographic Films.



 

      The Disappearance of Shere Hite is a provocative, illuminating, warts-and-all documentary about Shere Hite, a sexologist, feminist and researcher who wrote about female sexuality. Director Nicole Newnham does a decent job of introducing Shere Hite to audiences who might be unfamiliar with her, so you'll learn about what makes her significant as well as controversial in her research work in female sexuality. She's best known for her book called The Hite Report which came out a few decades after Alfred Kinsey's The Kinsey Report. Her book on male sexuality, The Hite Report on Male Sexuality is lesser known---an audience member on Oprah's show unfairly criticise Hite for not asking men about their sexual life. Hite's controversy arises from the conclusions that she made from her surveys that claimed that women can't always orgasm from penetrative sex. The mass media criticized her study for being unscientific. As the archival footage shows along with interviews with people who knew her, she didn't handle criticism well. To be fair, The Disappearance of Shere Hite follows a conventional, linear approach to chronicling Hite's rise and subsequent fall, so there's nothing exceptional about its style nor its structure. However, it's well-researched with plenty of insights about Hite and her personality without being hagiographic. There are even some surprisingly funny moments like a talk show with her and David Hasselhoff on "The Mike Douglas Show" where she displays her wit and snarkiness. At a running time of 1 hour 56 minutes, The Disappearance of Shere Hite opens November 17th, 2023 at IFC Center via IFC Films.

      The Eternal Memory is a tender, unflinching and profoundly moving story about unconditional love. On the surface, it's a documentary about how Paulina Urrutia deals with her husband's Augusto Gongora battles with Alzheimer's. They've been together for 25 years and he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2014. Since then, she has remained by his side while taking care of him both physically and emotionally. Director Maite Alberdi captures the warmth, compassion and palpable love between Paulina and Augusto. It's painful to watch at times and there's a sense of voyeurism as though you were eavesdropping on the couple's private lives. However, that's a sign of a truly intimate documentary and of Paulina and Augusto's emotional generosity because they allow the cameras to capture them at their emotionally vulnerable moments. Alberdi doesn't dwell on Augusto's suffering, though. You'll learn about how he met his wife and about his accomplishments as a TV journalist. The cinematography and editing are also superb with many small, quiet moments that speak louder than words. The Eternal Memory is a transcendent documentary that can be very useful, enlightening and inspiring for anyone who's taking care of someone with Alzheimer's. At an ideal running time of only 1 hour and 25 minutes, it's distributed by MTV Documentary Films.



 

      Four Daughters is a genuinely heartfelt, unflinching and captivating documentary about a Tunisian mother, Olfa Hamrouni, whose eldest daughters, Ghofrane and Rahma, disappeared one day. Director Kaouther Ben Hania combines talking-head interviews with Olfa and her two remaining daughters, Eya and Tayssir, while using actresses, Ichrak Matar and Nour Karoui, to portray Ghofrane and Rahma. Through the interviews, reenactments and archival footage, you get a sense of what Olfa's family was like before Ghofran and Rahma became radicalized and went missing. Olfa, Eya and Tayssir are very brave for showing their vulnerability in front of the camera and sharing their feelings to the audience. It seems almost like a form of therapy for them as they examine their traumatic memories---after all, the best way to learn and to grow from trauma is to confront it. Director Kaouther Ben Hania also puts the families' experience within the context of Tunisian history, so you'll learn a lot about how women have been treated there, how radicalization can happen to ordinary people, and how it can also tear families apart. Most surprisingly, though, she finds some moments of humor which counterbalances the heavy subject matter. To watch the siblings laughing and expressing their joy together is very heartwarming. Thank you, Kaouther Ben Hania for bringing out the humanity of your documentary subjects. It's great to see people allowing themselves to be humanized in a society and world that's very dehumanizing. Hopefully anyone who, like Olfa and her daughters, is processing trauma can find a glimmer of hope through this film and also through the wise words of poet Pablo Neruda who wrote, "They can cut all of the flowers, but they can't stop the spring from coming." At a running time of 1 hour and 47 minutes, Four Daughters is distributed by Kino Lorber.



 

      Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project is an intimate, illuminating and well-edited documentary biopic about Nikki Giovanni, a poet, author and civil rights activist. Co-directors Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson combine archival footage of Nikki Giovanni with contemporary footage of her as she looks back on her life. She discusses her most recent collection of poems called n A Good Cry: What We Learn From Tears and Laughter. Although she reveals her thoughts and feelings openly, she's candid up to a certain point and there are even some topics that she refuses to discuss. Fortunately, the filmmakers respect her boundaries which she has every right to have and, more importantly, to clearly set. Nikki Giovanni has clearly been through a lot throughout her life and has attained a lot of life wisdom that she generously shares. She comes across as witty, wise, articulate, emotionally mature, and even humble at times, i.e. when someone refers to her as being friendly and she doesn't think that that's an accurate word to describe herself. Throughout this captivating documentary, the filmmakers capture her personality, warmth and charisma so that you get a sense of what she's like as a human being, warts and all. So, bravo to the filmmakers for avoiding hagiography and for humanizing their subject while showing empathy toward her which is a truly remarkable achievement. Poetry is often a protest for or against something, though, so it's inspiring to discover someone who embraces the power of words as a peaceful form of protest. Where does the film's title come from? You'll learn about that within the first ten minutes. At a running time of 1 hour and 36 minutes, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project is distributed by HBO Documentary Films.

      Kokomo City is a spellbinding, engrossing and unflinching glimpse at the lives of four Black trans sex workers, namely, Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver, who reside in Atlanta and New York City. Director D. Smith gets up close and personal with each sex worker as they reveal intimate details about their experiences being trans and as sex workers. They're very brave and emotionally generous for being so candid in front of the camera, especially when they share some of their traumatic memories of how they've been abused by some of their clients or how other trans sex workers were murdered. Kokomo City doesn't delve into how they ended up becoming sex workers nor does it judge them for what they do. Instead, it humanizes them by letting them bare their heart, mind and soul. To be fair, initially, there's a sense of voyeurism while you listen to their intimate revelations as though you were eavesdropping on them, but that wanes as you get to know them better by the end of the film. The glorious black-and-white cinematography accomplishes two things. Firstly, it makes the documentary feel more cinematic. Secondly, it captures the beauty of each of each subject. Everything from the editing to the music and camerawork combine to create an invigorating experience that doesn't have a single dull moment. You'll forget that you're actually watching a documentary which, essentially, is a testament to the power of a truly great documentary that transcends its medium. It would make for an interesting double feature with North Circular, another documentary shot in black and white that's also opening this weekend. At a running time of just 1 hour and 13 minutes, Kokomo City is distributed by Magnolia Pictures.

      Little Richard: I Am Everything is slickly-edited and mildly engaging documentary biopic on the true king of rock'n'roll, Little Richard. Director Lisa Cortes follows a conventional structure without taking any major risks as she blends archival interviews with Little Richard, concert footage and contemporary interviews to chart Little Richard's rise to fame and a little about his personal life---she does go a bit too far, though, by also including anecdotes from his sex life. It should be nobody's business that he hosted orgies or that his father had to sleep in the bathroom because of all of Little Richard's orgies. Although this documentary is broad in scope as it covers many decades of its subject's life and career, it's not very profound or moving like other documentary biopics are, i.e. Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song or Whitney which are transcendent. Yes, the film is stylishly edited which makes it feel less dry and more cinematic, but it never manages to transcend. It's nothing more than a reader's digest glimpse into the life and work of Little Richard, and a hagiographic albeit shallow exploration of what makes him so iconic. At a running time of 1 hour and 41 minutes, Little Richard: I Am Everything is distributed by Magnolia Pictures.



 

      Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is a warm, tender and unflinchingly honest documentary about women who gather in an Estonian smoke sauna in the middle of a forest. Director Anna Hints films them as the women discuss intimate details from their lives, including some painful, traumatic memories. They're each brave women not for being physically naked in front of the camera, but for being emotionally naked and showing their strengths and vulnerability. They bond through laughter and through their candid recollections from their past. There's a voyeuristic aspect to watching Smoke Sauna Sisterhood because you feel like you're sitting with these women and eavesdropping on their private, intimate conversations.

      However, the positive side to that aspect is that when the women open the window into their heart, mind and soul while showing introspection and emotional maturity, they inspire audience to do the same. The camerawork reflects that intimacy because the camera is often very up close to the women while, interestingly, leaving their faces off-camera. It's refreshing to observe people in a place where they feel safe and comfortable enough to be honest with each other without anyone judging them. The conversations wouldn't be as profoundly human if they were to interact through social media instead. In between their conversations, director Anna Hints includes images of billowing smoke which provides the film with visual poetry. At a running time of 1 hour and 29 minutes, Smoke Sauna Sisterhood opens November 24, 2023 at IFC Center via Greenwich Entertainment.



 

      They Shot the Piano Player is a suspenseful, illuminating and engrossing documentary about the mysterious disappearance of Francisco Tenório Júnior, a Brazilian piano player, in 1976. Co-directors Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal frame the documentary around the fictional story of Jeff Harris (Jeff Goldblum), a journalist/author who's researching Bossa Nova for an upcoming book. Upon his research process in Buenos Aires, he stumbles upon the mystery of Francisco Tenório Júnior and, soon enough, changes the topic of his book as he investigates his disappearance. They Shot the Piano Player takes about 30 minutes or so before it dives into the mystery, so until then, it's much lighter, yet just as fascinating. That's when the film begins to kick its suspense and intrigue into full gear while also shedding light on the history of Latin America and the dictatorships during the 1970s---specifically, a political campaign known as Operation Condor. It's unflinching in its details of the torture that prisoners like Júnior endured. Trueba and Mariscal should be commended for their unconventional approach to telling Harris and Júnior's stories by using very lively animation which makes the film feel more cinematic, invigorating and visually stunning. At a running time of 1 hour and 43 minutes, They Shot the Piano Player opens November 24th, 2023 for a one-week Oscar-qualifying run at Village East by Angelika via Sony Pictures Classics.

More reviews coming soon.

______________________________________________________