The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony is a documentary about a group of girls in Machar Colony, located in Pakistan, who form a gymnastics team and compete for their colony at the National Women’s Gymnastics Competition. Director Habiba Nosheen follows some of the girls from the team along with their coach, Furqan Raja, and a human rights lawyer, Tahera Hasan, as the team members prepare for the competition. This is essentially a by-the-numbers and mildly engaging documentary that's limited in scope, but nonetheless inspirational. Nosheen captures the girls' determination and hard work. It's not a fly-on-the-wall doc, but at the same time it doesn't stop to get to know the girls with much depth. Spellbound remains the best example of a documentary about a competition with children that's equally moving, well-shot, profound, captivating and even suspenseful at times. The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony doesn't manage to reach those heights, to be fair, and squanders its opportunity to generate suspense during the gymnastics competition or during moments leading up to it. At a running time of 1 hour and 33 minutes, The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony opens at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema.
Number of times I checked my watch: 2
Making Marie Antoinette, directed by Eleanor Coppola, is a mildly engaging and occasionally amusing, but somewhat shallow and undercooked glimpse behind the scenes of the film production of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. It's shot by her mother, Eleanor, and narrated by Diane Lane who reads parts of Eleanor's journals. She managed to finish the production on time and on-budget, but it came with a lot of struggle, frustrations and even had bronchitis during which she questioned whether or not she was doing a good job of being a leader. Her cast and crew rave about how she's calm, polite and not domineering like other directors tend to be.
If you're expecting something insightful, revealing or surprising here, you'll be disappointed. There are glimpses of what this doc could've been, e.g. when Sofia complains that she'll never make a big budget movie again---it would've been more illuminating if Sofia were to delve deeper and expand that statement. Ultimately, Making Marie Antoinette won't change the way you look at the film, but it will help you to realize how much hard work and sleep deprivation went into making it. At a running time of 1 hour and 26 minutes, Making Marie Antoinette opens at Quad Cinema via MUBI.
Number of times I checked my watch: 3
