what (not) to doc

Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, July 18:
INSATIABLE: THE HOMARO CANTU STORY

Director:
Brett A Schwartz

Premiere:
SXSW 2016

Select Festivals:
Seattle, Chicago, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Tallgrass, Newburyport Doc, Napa Valley

About:
A celebration of the acclaimed Chicago chef and innovative molecular gastronomist.

Homaro Cantu emerged from humble roots to become one of the leading figures of Chicago’s culinary scene, working first for the legendary Charlie Trotter and then establishing his own restaurant, Moto, which earned a Michelin star. The young chef’s rise included two additional eateries, where he was able to implement creative experiments in molecular gastronomy while also devoting time to social entrepreneurial causes to combat the obesity epidemic. Despite his success, he committed suicide in 2015. Not likely a household name outside of Chicago or die-hard foodies, Cantu’s passing would be a surprise for most viewers, something Schwartz attempts to take advantage of in the structure of his documentary. At the same time, it becomes obvious fairly quickly that Cantu is no longer alive from the way several interview subjects refer to him, undercutting this strategy and instead leading to an unnecessarily convoluted storytelling chronology. Additionally the focus on Cantu’s personal life results in somewhat shortshrift being paid to his culinary accomplishments, ultimately lessening the project’s appeal.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 14:
BIRTHRIGHT: A WAR STORY

Director:
Civia Tamarkin

Premiere:
theatrical (July 2017)

About:
A wide-ranging look at the impact on women of restrictive abortion laws, religious hospital mergers, and fetal personhood laws.

Tamarkin’s film offers an expansive historical and contemporary look at how women’s rights have been trampled by anti-abortion forces, who have moved beyond simply picketing clinics to infiltrating legislatures and passing increasingly restrictive laws, shifting somewhat from overturning Roe vs Wade to simply bypassing it. Beyond the TRAP laws that films like TRAPPED and JACKSON have already effectively documented, this project also focuses on the history and consequences of the personhood movement – attempts to assign rights to embryos, often at the cost of maternal health, safety, or choice. The influence of anti-abortion forces on sex education, the availability of contraception, and the access of poor women to health care, are also covered, while another thread includes the conversion of secular medical institutions to Catholic hospitals, subject to religious beliefs rather than medical facts, with women not being offered tubal ligation, contraceptive advice, or any assistance when it involves fetal termination. While clearly taking a pro-choice stance, the film notably includes voices from both sides of the abortion debate, and shares often very affecting personal stories. Unfortunately, in addition to casting its net just a bit too wide, the film is also marred by subpar, uncinematic production values that favor a parade of talking heads and manipulative music, making this more geared to small screens.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 14:
THE WRONG LIGHT

Directors:
Josie Swantek Heitz and Dave Adams

Premiere:
Cleveland 2016

Select Festivals:
Montclair, Atlanta, Milwaukee, United Nations Association, Heartland

About:
A profile of a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping sex trafficking victims takes a disturbing turn.

Heitz and Adams began their project as a way to draw attention to the horrific epidemic of child sex trafficking. Learning about the heroic efforts of war photographer-turned-activist Mickey Choothesa to free young girls from sexual slavery in Thailand, the pair set out to profile the work of his organization, COSA (Children’s Organization of Southeast Asia), which serves as a refuge for the girls he saves, offering them food, shelter, education, and love, as one of its residents notes here. The filmmaking duo learned from Choothesa that many of the girls were sold into sexual slavery by their own impoverished families, but that COSA did not believe in punitive measures, even allowing the girls to visit their home villages regularly. But when Heitz and Adams began to interview the girls and their families, they began to uncover inconsistencies, ultimately discovering that much – if not all – of the background Choothesa provided about his charges was fabricated. As the filmmakers try to track down the truth, their film shifts into an investigation into fraud and even more troubling abuse, with not only COSA’s future at stake, but that of the young girls as well. While Heitz serves as an awkward narrator here, her on-camera appearance – together with other members of the crew – is somewhat justifiable given the nature of the story that emerges – one that asks provocative questions about the sometimes dubious motivations behind activism and philanthropy.

Coming to VOD today, Friday, July 14:
GOOD FORTUNE

Directors:
Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell

Premiere:
Zurich 2016

Select Festivals:
Austin, Sedona

About:
A biography of John Paul DeJoria, a self-made billionaire and pioneer of conscious capitalism.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to theatres tomorrow, Friday, July 14:
ALMOST SUNRISE

Director:
Michael Collins

Premiere:
Telluride Mountainfilm 2016

Select Festivals:
Human Rights Watch NYC, AFI Docs, Wisconsin, Waimea Ocean Film Festival, SF Docfest, GI Film Festival

About:
Two suffering veterans cross the country by foot in an attempt to combat the persistent after-effects of war.

Like many veterans, Tom and Anthony returned from several tours of duty as changed men. Suffering from hyper-vigilance, depression, suicidal ideation, and with relationships with loved ones strained, they seem like textbook PTSD cases. But when conventional treatments and self-administered band-aids – prescription drugs and alcohol – yielding little relief, the friends set out on a 2700 mile walking trek across the country to draw attention to the plight of veterans like them. While this element of Collins’ film offers viewers the opportunity to consider the alarming suicide rates among vets, and to meet fellow soldiers and families touched by combat along the pair’s journey, their odyssey itself doesn’t seem to yield much insight. Instead, their exploration of the concept of “moral injury” – distinct from PTSD as it directly addresses the guilt experienced by soldiers for violating entrenched moral codes against killing – seems the real key to their healing. Unfortunately, because the therapy sessions that go to the heart of this reckoning were not allowed to be filmed, their impact is somewhat lessened here. Regardless, both men surprisingly emerge from their pilgrimage and therapy transformed, able to communicate better with their loved ones, and seemingly more at peace than they’d been for several years, making for an uplifting, hopeful film that may very well help others.