Author Archives: basiltsiokos

Coming to select theatres and to virtual cinemas today, Friday, September 11:
SPACE DOGS

Directors:
Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter

World Premiere:
Locarno 2019

Select Festivals:
RIDM, DOK Leipzig, Torino, Tallinn Black Nights, Mar del Plata, Sao Paolo, Reykjavik, Vienna

About:
A meditation on the fate of the Soviet Union’s animal cosmonauts.

In 1957, the Soviet Union scored a scientific and publicity victory by successfully launching the first mammal into space. Laika, a dog from the streets of Moscow, made history, and entered the public consciousness as a fairly benign image of the space race. Filmmakers Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter tear away at those innocent associations, revealing the poor mutt’s sad fate in its opening scene, and then weaving an increasingly downbeat story of other hapless animal cosmonauts – complete with fascinating but disturbing archival footage of the various tests and bodily modifications forced upon them to make them space-ready – paired with the present-day adventures of Moscow street dogs. If the footage of the animal testing isn’t hard enough, the filmmakers include a truly challenging scene that details the aftermath of a confrontation between the canines and a poor cat, and later reveals the heartbreaking fate of a litter of stray puppies in its closing scene. While very well made, it’s a cruel and provocative film, and while that’s its point, it makes for a decidedly difficult watch.

New to Peacock this week:
BLACK BOYS

Director:
Sonia Lowman

World Premiere:
Toronto Black 2020

Select Festivals:
Bentonville, American Black, Montreal Black, Chagrin Falls Doc

About:
An exploration of the stacked deck against black boys in American society.

Loosely split into four titled chapters, filmmaker Sonia Lowman’s well-intentioned film attempts to explore the way black males are stereotyped and perceived in American society and the detriment this has on the self-image and aspirations of black boys. The film covers an expansive range of topics – from the objectification of the black male body and the double consciousness black boys develop in order to navigate a white society that fears them, to the negative and traumatic history they are taught about black history and the disproportionate treatment they are subjected to in school – but takes a survey approach that results in a talking heads fest. Despite the importance and timeliness of the topic, however, the film is fundamentally flawed. Lowman, who is white, is not the right filmmaker to be telling this story. While she appears on camera to acknowledge her privilege and to try to justify her perspective, it remains an awkward and ill fit. Yes, white people need to question their biases and implicit racism, but the power dynamic in having a white filmmaker take the lead here remains problematic and ultimately undermines the project as a whole.

New to OVID.tv this week:
HEIMAT IS A SPACE IN TIME

Director:
Thomas Heise

World Premiere:
Berlin 2019

Select Festivals:
Toronto, IDFA, New York, Visions du Réel, RIDM, Jeonju, Torino

About:
An essay film exploring German history through three generations of the filmmaker’s family.

I previously wrote about the doc here.