Despite the fact that the three documentaries under review here have already been shown at the Hot Docs Film Festival that ran from Apr. 23 to May 3 in Toronto, they deserve your attention since there is every possibility that they will be shown at other festivals and—best of all—receive distribution at finer movie theaters. As is so often the case, the documentary is a worthy alternative to the rancid feature films churned out by Hollywood if for no other reason that they are grounded in reality and as such tend to engage with the sort of issues that engage my readers. To wit, “Peace Officer” is about the militarization of police departments in Utah; “A Sinner in Mecca” is about a gay Muslim on a hajj; and “Speed Sisters” is about three young Palestinian women who have become famous for racing cars in the West Bank and elsewhere. Not only are these three films penetrating looks at social reality, they are entertaining especially for their ability to tell stories about remarkable individuals—a task that commercial filmmaking subordinated long ago to special effects and cheesy formulas geared to the adolescent mind.
full: http://louisproyect.org/2015/05/12/three-hot-docs-films/ _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
