what (not) to doc

Coming to PBS’ American Experience and to DVD next Tuesday, February 28: THE AMISH

David Belton’s in-depth examination of an historically very private community premieres simultaneously on PBS and on DVD next week.

Because of general Amish restrictions on being filmed or photographed, the majority of the practicing Amish featured in the film are represented largely through audio interviews, though the film’s cinematography captures their rural environment quite beautifully. The doc presents the Amish way of life from their own perspective, supplemented with on-camera interviews with historians and other academics, as well as individuals who left the Amish community for various reasons. The result is a remarkably well-rounded portrait of a distinct community with its own social structures, traditions, history, and beliefs, contextualizing the misperceptions the outside world often has, while also providing critical insight from those whose disparate beliefs led them to leave the flock. Though widely understood to reject modern technology and educational advancement, the film succinctly explains their reasoning as a means to literally keep their community close lest modern advances encourage followers to stray, and to keep the focus on what God provides, not on what men make. Most intriguingly, Belton’s film shows how the Amish have had to adapt to larger changes in society, such as the lack of farmland in the regions they have typically lived, necessitating a shift from farming to operating small businesses; venturing outside of their community to find work in factories that mixes them with the “English” (aka non-Amish); or, more radically, settling new communities out West in places like Colorado where farmland is cheaper and more plentiful.

Coming to NYC’s reRun Gstropub Theater for a one-week run this Friday, February 24: HOW TO START A REVOLUTION

Ruaridh Arrow’s portrait of Nobel Prize winner Gene Sharp had its world premiere in Sharp’s hometown at the Boston Film Festival last Fall, where it claimed Best Documentary. It has gone on to screen at a number of other fests, including Raindance (another Best Doc win), CPH:DOX, SF Documentary, and the United Nations Association Film Festival, among others. It has also been screened by various Occupy movements in recent months.

I profiled the film while in post-production right after its successful Kickstarter campaign here. The finished film successfully balances Sharp’s story with those of various nonviolent struggles around the globe that were influenced by his writings, including the widely disseminated and translated FROM DICTATORSHIP TO DEMOCRACY. Split into seven lessons, from “Plan a strategy” to “Don’t give up,” the doc explores in parallel the work Sharp and his collaborators, Vietnam veteran Robert Helvey and Afghani refugee Jamila Raqib, do as part of the Albert Einstein Institution, and the efforts of revolutionaries in diverse places like the Ukraine and Serbia to free their countries from tyranny. Sharp emerges as a thoughtful man of principles, clearly nonplussed by notions of personal fame or accusations that he has taken credit for successful revolutionary movements – instead, he presents himself as committed to helping provide information and tactics that have been proven alternatives to violent uprisings. While the film has a tendency of being overscored and talking heads heavy, its message transcends these minor issues, and provides powerful testimony that deserves a wide audience.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, February 21: EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE

Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler’s definitive portrait of the alternative LA rock band made its debut at the LA Film Festival in 2010. In addition to further appearances on the festival circuit, the film also enjoyed a limited theatrical release last fall, and was included in this month’s AfroPoP season on PBS.

I included the doc in my coverage of SXSW last year here.