Some time around the 31st December 2015, I decided to watch more documentaries. The thought of adding more documentaries to my life had been around for a while at that time. However, for some odd reason it was at that day that I made the decision to take this plan more seriously. I hope to be watching around one doc per week in the future and this is where I’ll be discussing them. So if you too are longing to let the docs out, pick up your reading glasses and follow me on this endeavor.
What Happened, Miss Simone?
One great thing about Netflix is the docs. They have them. Even the rather new, Oscar-nominated ones! (So far, three of this year’s nominees are available on Instant). In fact, the main distributor of What Happened, Miss Simone? was Netflix! The big question that people asked about this film – and usually ask about any biographical doc – is “Do you have to have a lot of background knowledge”?. Now, personally, I have found that the answer to this question is, to some extend, always “no”. Of course, if you’re a fan of a particular person you should definitely see the movie that was made about them and yes, there is a particular sense of enjoyment in recognizing events or footage from a documentary. But it’s also a wonderful thing to be captured by a story that you knew nothing about before – much like that’s the case with historical fiction. I knew a few of Nina Simone’s songs and that she was a revolutionary singer but that was pretty much it – and I really enjoyed this movie! The footage that is shown is incredible and really makes you dive into Simone’s time. The interviews are interesting and the documentary itself doesn’t represent a particular opinion on Nina Simone, her persona or her life. It just shows you what a crazy life she lived, what an amazing talent she had and shows you her best as well as her worst sides. While Amy is a much more inventive, unorthodox documentary about a singer who destroyed herself, What Happened, Miss Simone? deserves the attention it is getting and is recommended to everyone who pays their monthly 8 dollars to an online streaming service.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
Winter on Fire is the third Oscar-nominated documentary that I saw this year and so far I’m not disappointed. War documentaries are always hit or miss with me, they tend to become self-indulgent, too patriotic or simply too unbearably depressing. Winter on Fire manages to stay somewhere in between these extremes, perhaps because it’s more about a revolution than it is about a war. Or a revolution that turned into a war? What’s for sure is that I never knew how serious all this Ukrainian revolution business was and yes you may call me an ignorant teenager, because that’s what I was at the time. It’s shocking that all of this happened so close to me but I never quite got it because I was worried about graduating high school and going to the right parties. It’s amazing to see how the production team was actually in there, with the people of the Maidan and filmed them right there. Yes, a lot of it is other footage and interviews from afterwards, but there are also many snippets from within and interviews with people during Maidan. I don’t think this has a chance of winning the Oscar but it’s definitely worth watching to understand the history that was just recently made by some amazing people. By the way, this is on Netflix too!
Jesus Camp
If you don’t live under a rock, you may have noticed the hashtag #52filmsbywomen somewhere around the social-media-sphere. And if you’ve listened to our own French Toast Sunday podcast, you may have heard people talk about Jesus Camp. Well, since I don’t live under a rock and listen to the podcast, I found out that Jesus Camp was a documentary directed by two women that sounded absolutely intriguing. So I watched it and was… absolutely intrigued! Extreme religion is a very important topic what with the IS trying to kill us all, so it’s a nice change to learn more about radical Christians. Even though this documentary is already 10 years old, my recent experience of living in America for a year has me convinced that there is still a lot radical Christianity in the US (and probably some in Europe, too). This film definitely explores a scene that few of us have had any access to or palpable knowledge of, at least I never even dreamed that priests would tell children not to read Harry Potter! Or drag them into the discussion of pro life vs. pro choice. Maybe I’m just naïve or not American enough. However, it is clear that the movie doesn’t really try to preach (ha!) on you or tries to look down on the people depicted in it. That’s why I didn’t like the occasional clips from a radio show that is against radical evangelism. It’s simply obvious that what is happening in the film is ridiculous and possibly dangerous but I wish they hadn’t spelled it out in those radio show clips. Without those, this movie would have been perfect. Actually, this is a film that I wish had some kind of follow-up, so we could see what these people are up to now. Anyone?