Category Archives: Film

Coming to NYC’s Maysles Cinema today, Monday, September 16: PRICE OF GOLD

Sven Zellner’s look at the dangerous world of Mongolian gold miners made its world premiere at Hot Docs last year. It went on to screen at the Brooklyn Film Festival, Belgrade’s Beldocs, Filmfest München, and DocuWest, among others.

For the past decade, Mongolian gold-digging nomads – colloquially known as “ninjas” – have sidestepped laws and their personal beliefs to seek what little profit they can from the Gobi Desert. Mineral rights have long ago been sold to and exploited by foreign companies, and the work locally is viewed as taboo, but in a region with few other opportunities, these rough-and-ready men find no choice but to subject themselves to the degraded and dangerous work, which takes months and involves toxic mercury and dynamite. Resigned to their fate, these men – only one woman is present, a put-upon cook – are followed for months by Zellner as they risk their lives for negligible profits, his camera impressively allowing viewers to experience the claustrophobic conditions they face. While the ambivalence and shame the ninjas express about their activities is intriguing, this is never explored in much depth, leaving the film without a strong enough impact beyond its exposure of an unusual and desperate practice.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, September 13: MONEY FOR NOTHING: INSIDE THE FEDERAL RESERVE

Jim Bruce’s illuminating look at the impact of America’s monetary policy debuted at IDFA last Fall. Since then, it has screened at Biografilm, It’s All True, Vancouver, and Nantucket, among others.

Aiming to understand the factors that led to the ongoing financial crisis, Bruce explores an institution that remains little understood by the average American – the US Federal Reserve, the central banking system created a century ago, largely as a response to the bank panic of 1907. Through narration and a series of interviews with past and present Fed employees, the film details the functions of the system, the mechanisms its chairmen have used to try to encourage longterm growth and employment, and its expanding reach over time that has led to the cycles of booms and busts that have cost the average citizen a great deal – and threaten to do so again in the future due to what appears to be hubris and resultant mismanagement. While very conventional in approach, Bruce’s film provides a thorough overview that helps contextualize the Fed’s role for the viewer, making it worthwhile viewing that could help mobilize support for some of the practical changes, both on an institutional and personal level, that are suggested to prevent further crises.

Coming to VOD tomorrow, Friday, September 13: BRONIES: THE EXTREMELY UNEXPECTED ADULT FANS OF MY LITTLE PONY

Laurent Malaquais’ survey of the subculture around what is ostensibly a show for little girls made its debut at LA’s Equestria convention last November. It went on to screen at the Kansas City FilmFest, and was released on DVD this past February. FilmBuff now makes the doc available on Amazon, PlayStation, and Xbox.

For those who have not stumbled upon the phenomenon before, bronies are adult males who are obsessed with the cartoon MY LITTLE PONY: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC, the latest iteration of the children’s show/toy tie-in series geared to pre-adolescent girls. Malaquais’ film, which notably made five times its goal via Kickstarter, profiles a number of men and boys involved in the subculture, from Daniel, a Brit with Asperger’s, and Alex, from a small town in North Carolina, to brony DJs The Living Tombstone from Israel and LaserPon3 from the Netherlands, as they attend various brony fan conventions. Other bronies, as well as creators and performers associated with the TV show, reflect on why the series has resonated with adults, including the supposedly strong writing and music, as well as the somewhat simplistic idea that the show’s moral lessons reconnect adults with their childhood. While it’s clear that bronies appreciate the camaraderie and positivity that is encouraged by their shared interest, the talking heads heavy (and hopelessly overscored) doc as a whole fails to sufficiently or convincingly explain why this show has generated the interest it has, and seems unlikely to connect with the unconverted – even if there are some nice moments, such as the response the deposed show’s creator Lauren Faust receives at the main US convention. But beyond this, one main sticking point should be addressed: the aspect that apparently makes the brony phenomenon “extremely unexpected,” as per this doc’s title, is that they are predominantly heterosexual – belying the general assumption, repeated many times here, that one would have to be gay to be a fan of a cartoon about magical girl ponies. This unfortunately generates an undercurrent of low-grade homophobia throughout the doc – subjects, or their non-brony family or friends, constantly allude to the apparently worrying idea that bronies might be gay or perceived as gay, and, aside from asserting that they are not gay, the bronies never call out the homophobia that would make it a problem if they were. Aside from the inclusion of interview subject Purple Tinker, the founder of BronyCon, who is transgender (though if it’s mentioned here, I missed it), LGBT bronies are conspicuously avoided, suggesting a fear that even acknowledging that they exist might somehow besmirch the rest of the subculture. For a group that is predicated on the idea of friendship and positivity, this pointed exclusion is decidedly troublesome.