I really, really love documentaries. Even when they aren't particularly well-done, I have to admit that I still enjoy watching them. It made for a really fantastic afternoon to sit through 5 superb documentaries. I didn't realize that the short format category included movies that were up to 40 minutes long. I was thinking that they'd be more in the 10-20 minute range. Nope! It was a Long. Ass. Screening.
So, for those of you who are placing Oscar bets with your friends, here are my thoughts about the nominees:
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
This documentary told the story of several residents of the Kings Point senior apartments in Florida. Hilarious stories were told of love, dating, loss and survival among these aging former New Yorkers. This movie made me think deeply about the fragile unpredictability and life, and our need for our fellow human beings. It was truly moving and had some really great laughs. This is my choice as runner up for the Oscar. It could easily win, and would totally deserve it. It was really excellent.
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
I call this movie "The One We Cried All The Way Through." It is an astonishingly intimate portrait of women with breast cancer who participate in a day of beauty that the Racine salon provides for women with cancer. With none of the "fighting disease" rhetoric that usually accompanies movies about women with cancer, this short showed the vulnerability and emotional complexity of a women's sense of self. This movie showed all of the women involved as whole humans struggling with their mortality and their relationships with others. It was truly moving. This is my pick for the Oscar.
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
This was a slick, touching portrait of Teen Artist Inocente, who also happens to be homeless. Highlighting the A.R.T.S. program in San Diego, and shining a light on the issue of child homelessness in the US, this documentary short was hopeful, inspiring, and at times heartbreaking. Clearly aimed at an MTV audience, this short felt like it was the most commercial of the nominees.
4. Redemption
Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
This movie is a look into the world of unemployed New Yorkers who have taken up bottle and can collection as full-time work. Following around several "canners" ranging from those you may perceive as "typical," to an elderly Jewish Woman retired from the Computer Programming industry, this movie looks at how the recession has trickled down, leaving those who were unstably employed to fend for themselves a bottle or can at a time. One thing I really liked about this movie was that it showed a nice cultural cross section of people. There was a white male, a Jamaican male, a Jewish-american female, a man from Egypt, a woman from China, a man from Japan, a woman from Vietnam, a man from Cuba, a family from Guatemala, and several others. It really showed the melting pot in action (sometimes the cultures clashed in a positive way, and sometimes they did not!), and it showed how the economy really impacts those already on the fringes of society. This is the wild-card pick for the Oscar. It was less emotionally-driven than the other shorts, but with the Economy being such a hot-button political issue right now, this one might sneak in and steal it.
5. Open Heart
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
This movie was about 8 Rwandan children with Rheumatic Heart Disease traveling to a medical center in Sudan for free heart surgery. Under a backdrop of a part of the world that I think Americans find to be frightening, this movie showed average Rwandans dealing with the stress of having a sick family member, or friend. Frustrations about hospital funding came out, and we even got to see a scene with Sudanese President and accused genocide engineer Omar Al-Bashir in a meeting discussing possible avenues for funding of the free hospital.
People who throw around snide comments about their "first world problems" (Which is a GIANT pet-peeve of mine) should watch more movies like this. People have all different kinds of problems, regardless of their location on earth. And just because some people have kinged themselves as the "first" world, doesn't mean that people in underdeveloped countries don't also have complex thoughts about problems, small or large. We all go through similar fears and worries when we or our family members are sick. Watching this movie after having just seen stories of illness and mortality in more developed parts of the world was a nice highlight of how much we all have in common. The diseases were different, but the humanity was the same.
Overall, these movies were outstanding. I highly recommend watching all of them if you get the chance.
Peggy's Rating: Five out of Five stars!
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