Category: Documentary

By Joe Bendel. Until the Yanukovych’s regime’s brutal assault on the peaceful Maidan protests, St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery had not rung all its bells simultaneously since the Mongol invasion of 1240. Of course, this fact comes with an asterisk. Technically, the Soviets destroyed the Kiev landmark in the 1930s, but it was subsequently rebuilt following independence. Appropriately, the working Orthodox monastery played a significant role in the events that unfolded on and around Maidan Square. Russian-Israeli filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky captured history in real time, documenting step by step how the demonstrations evolved into a revolution. Rightfully considered an Oscar contender, Afineevsky’s Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom screens during the San Francisco Film Society’s Doc Stories—and also streams on Netflix.

The Euro-Maidan movement and its supporters have been well documented by filmmakers such as Sergei Loznitsa, Andrew Tkach, and Dmitriy Khavin, yet the Western media still gives credence to Soviet propaganda claiming the popular uprising was merely a prolonged tantrum thrown by skinheads and neo-National Socialists. However, with the exposure granted by Netflix’s platform, those lies should finally be permanently put to rest.

In fact, one of the big “scoops” of Afineevsky’s film is the extent to which Kiev’s Major Orthodox Archbishop, Catholic Archbishop, and the Islamic Mufti of Religious Administration supported the Maidan activists. Their early blessings (literally) were important, but it is impossible to overstate the leadership of His Eminence, Agapit, the Vicar of St. Michael’s and Bishop of Vyshgorod. It was he who approved the tolling of the bells and gave shelter to protestors fleeing from steel truncheon-wielding of agents of the Berkut, Yanukovych’s personal shock troops, who were truly the barbarians at the gates.

Unlike Loznitsa’s film, Afineevsky takes the time to single out individual protestors. While this gives the film greater emotional resonance, it is also necessary in some respects, for viewers to fully understand the dynamics in play. One such protestor we meet is the popular but self-effacing Serhiy Nigoyan, whom many fellow Maidan activists identified through social media as an inspirational figure for them all. When Nigoyan became the Berkut’s first gunshot fatally, his face began appearing on makeshift shields across the Square.

Working with twenty-eight credited cinematographers, Afineevsky captures just about everything that transpired, including the savagery Yanukovych and his Russian puppet-master so strenuously denied to the world media. Viewers should be warned, Afineevsky will introduce them to Ukrainians who will be murdered in the ensuing assaults and sniped attacks. Yet, he and editor Will Znidaric whittled and stitched the voluminous raw footage into a tight, cogent, and cohesive narrative.

Another aspect of the Euro-Maidan that comes through more clearly in Winter than prior documentaries is the genuine grassroots nature of the revolution. It was truly bottom-up rather than top-down. In fact, opposition leaders (including Vitali Klitschko) are often seen trailing after movement, earning jeers for their parliamentary caution. It is probably the most cinematic document of the Maidan protests to-date and perhaps also the most damning of the Yanukovych regime (and the big boss Putin, by extension). Very highly recommended (especially for Academy members), Winter on Fire screens this Thursday (11/5) as part of the SFFS’s Doc Stories.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on November 3rd, 2015 at 6:45pm.

By Joe Bendel. For a while, Ousmane Sembene was a Senegalese B. Traven. While working on the docks in Marseilles, the expat became of a self-taught novelist and radicalized Communist Party member. Although his early films reflect those prejudices, Sembene would become the leading critic of the Islamization of Africa. His cinematic legacy is particularly challenging to fully digest and analyze, so Samba Gadjigo & Jason Silverman mostly hit his career high notes in Sembene!, which opens this Friday in New York.

Having long-admired Sembene’s films and novels, Gadjigo eventually became his assistant, protégé, companion, and spiritual son. He assisted the auteur on his later pictures and now oversees efforts to restore and promote Sembene’s oeuvre. Much like Quincey Troupe’s work as Miles Davis’s biographer, Gadjigo’s story will become fundamentally intertwined with Sembene’s, at least while he is doing the telling. While that might not make for the most objective documentary filmmaking, it gives viewers an emotionally resonant relationship to grab hold of.

However, when it comes to surveying Sembene’s work, Sembene! (with the Broadway-style exclamation point) mostly relies on film clips and archival interview footage, proceeding forward in an orderly film-by-film manner. Still, what we see of Ceddo is undeniably intriguing. Chronicling a village’s forced conversion to Islam, it was duly banned by Socialist president Leopold Senghor’s government. Decades later, it is easy to see it as an eerie predecessor to Abderrahmane Sissako’s devastating Timbuktu. If all that is not interesting enough, it also has an original score performed by Manu Dibango.

Gadjigo & Silverman probably devote the most time to Sembene’s final film, Moolaadé, which makes sense considering Gadjigo helmed the “making of” documentary. It was also one of Sembene’s most controversial works, directly attacking the practice of female genital mutilation. The mere fact he was helming an eventual Cannes award-winner while losing his eye-sight is also rather dramatic.

Throughout the documentary, Gadjigo & Silverman emphasize Sembene’s stature as a pan-African icon, but hint at his increasing frustration with the corruption and brutality of the newly independent African states. Yet, they are obviously treading on eggshells whenever addressing this tension. As a result, Sembene! often feels too sanitized and not nearly messy enough. Still, there are not a lot of feature length profiles of Sembene out there. Gadjigo & Silverman give viewers a solid survey and leave them wanting to see more, which probably constitutes a mission accomplished, given their plans to restore and re-release Sembene’s work. Recommended for Sembene’s fans and film snobs looking for the Cliff Notes on the Senegalese filmmaker, Sembene! opens this Friday (11/6) in New York, at the Lincoln Plaza.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on November 3rd, 2015 at 6:45pm.

By Joe Bendel. Korla Pandit’s stage persona was sort of a weird combination of Sun Ra and Liberace, but he predated them both. In fact, Pandit somewhat resented the latter for moving in on his act, with some justification. He was the musical prodigy son of a Brahmin priest and a French opera singer, who found fame on American television combining his keyboard wizardry with his seductive stare—except, maybe he wasn’t. So who the heck was he? The truth will be revealed in John Turner & Eric Christensen’s Korla, which screens this Thursday and Saturday at the Smith Rafael Film Center.

Even if you know Pandit’s secret, it is still fascinating to watch Turner & Christensen chronicle his career and competing narratives. The story is already in the public record thanks to journalist RJ Smith, who covered Pandit extensively in the Los Angeles press and touched on his strange but true biography in the terrific book The Great Black Way, a history of the Central Avenue music scene. Smith will be our primary guide through this tale, but we will not spoil it prematurely for those uninitiated in Panditry.

Frankly, it seems astounding today that LA’s KTLA would program fifteen minutes of music from Pandit every weekday afternoon, with absolutely no talking. Apparently, the station manager lacked confidence in Pandit’s voice, so he had to do all his talking with his eyes. Clearly, it worked, because Pandit became a major celebrity. Unfortunately, that Liberace kid eventually took over his time slot, thus commencing the classic show business cycle of ups and downs.

Still, Pandit hung on pretty darn well. He recorded extensively for Fantasy Records during its Dave Brubeck-Cal Tjader glory years and became something of a spiritual guru in his own right. In fact, one can easily imagine how his slightly World Music-ish keyboard stylings might have contributed to the rise of the various New Age movements that took root in California (and were so memorably parodied in Serial). Yet, there is much, much more to the story.

To their credit, Turner & Christensen understand Pandit’s assumed backstory is just as important as his true history. After all, he clearly did his best to become the Korla Pandit we thought we knew. However, they also fully explore the significance of who he really was and why he felt compelled to make certain choices. Despite his Indian identity, there is indeed something classically American about his drive to reinvent himself. They also give his music all due respect, celebrating the “exotic” in exotica, rather than trying to score snarky points at his expense.

Pandit’s story is absolutely fascinating and the assembled archival film clips, audio recordings, and still photos of the unclassifiable musician represent the essence of retro-cool. Any documentary about Pandit would be wildly cinematic, because how could it not be? However, Turner & Christensen and Smith tell his narratives with appropriate sensitivity and rigorously researched authority. They did right by their subject, because viewers will come to understand where he came from and want to hear more of his unique sound. Enthusiastically recommended, Korla screens this Thursday (10/29) and Saturday (10/31) at the Smith Rafael Film Center, with further screenings scheduled across the country, including the St. Louis International Film Festival on November 15^th.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on October 29th, 2015 at 2:52pm.

By Joe Bendel. For the better part of the Twentieth Century, the Soviet Union gave the Baltic States the Blues. Lithuanians responded by singing their traditional folks songs—and engaging in armed resistance. Sibling filmmakers Aldona and Julian Watts journeyed to their grandmother’s Lithuanian homeland, to record the Dainava region’s folksongs for posterity in Land of Songs, which screened during the 2015 Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History.

The Dainava ladies might be getting on in years, but they are no shrinking violets – and they join together in song remarkably harmoniously. As in Estonia, Lithuanian folk songs played a major role in the revolution against Communism, but unlike the massive Laulupidu song festival in Tallinn, which remains a hugely significant national cultural event, the folk singing tradition appears to be falling out of favor with younger Lithuanians.

There are some eerily evocative performances by the distinguished ladies of the Ethnographic Ensemble of Puvočiai that seem to harken back to some mystical time before time. However, they cannot match the triumphant emotional crescendo of the massive Laulipidu performances. Still, the film really starts to come together when they link the Dainava folk songs with the Forest Brothers resistance movement. It is pretty significant to watch and listen to the Partisan veteran code-named “Tiger” singing some of their patriotic anthems in the bunker that was once his home. The Watts (director Aldona & cinematographer-co-producer Julian) also incorporate some wonderfully striking archival photos of their subjects that really give viewers a sense of the dramatic sweep of their lives.

Land of Songs is a lovely film that captures the idyllic beauty of the Dainava region (a.k.a. “The Land of Songs”) and the sly humor of its residents. It offers some solid history and accessible ethnomusicology. Frankly, Land really deserves to be picked up for a national audience on PBS stations (and with its sixty minute running time, the film could easily accommodate their broadcast schedules), but for now, look for it on the festival circuit. Highly recommended, Land of Songs screened this Friday afternoon (10/23) with the short doc The Ladies, as part of the AMNH’s Margaret Mead Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on October 23rd, 2015 at 11:35pm.

By Joe Bendel. They were spryer, but the 100,000 man-strong volunteer defense force of traditional Mexican charro rodeo riders were about as unlikely a fighting force as Dad’s Army. Of course, it was all for show. Oaxaca Congressman and National Charro Association president Antolin Jimenez was the showman behind it. He was also filmmaker Fernando Llanos’s grandfather. Despite his prominence, Llanos’s family never really talked about the old man, so he conducts a personal investigation into his family history in Matria, which screens during the 2015 Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History.

Jimenez was about as colorful as you can get. As a young man, he quickly rose to become one of Pancho Villa’s most trusted lieutenants. However, he could see the writing on the wall and therefore proactively planned his exit strategy. Basically, he sold out for a government position and gold. He did well for himself, eventually representing Oaxaca in congress on three separate occasions. He also became the leader of the charros, even though he was personally all hat and no cattle. However, he was a cold, distant person, so many in his family still have trouble dealing with his legacy. In fact, that is true of both his families.

Regardless of Llanos’s personal issues (Jimenez died soon after his birth), it is impossible to get bored with his grandfather’s roguishly eventful life. Considering the film really started as his journey of discovery, Llanos mostly takes himself out of the picture, rather conscientiously. Viewers certainly get a sense of what opportunities were available for an ethically flexible adventurer in early Twentieth Century Mexico. Llanos even finds a way to shoehorn in a performance from Lila Downs (a veteran of the Oaxaca music scene), who sounds lovely as ever.

Llanos balances the tension between the angst of his family drama and the Flashman-like appeal of Jimenez’s exploits relatively well. In the process, he gives us a perspective on bourgeoisie Mexico that we rarely get to see. Along with Llanos, we do come to appreciate Jimenez for all his flaws. In fact, it is easy to believe things would be better if he were still representing Oaxaca and cutting political deals. Even though it is just over an hour in length, the pacing is a tad inconsistent (and Llanos is bizarrely preoccupied with Jimenez’s Masonic membership), but the charro leader’s story is still intriguing enough to pull viewers through. Recommended for those fascinated by strange but true history, Matria screens this Sunday (10/25), as part of the AMNH’s Margaret Mead Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on October 23rd, 2015 at 11:32pm.

By Joe Bendel. There is no pathway to citizenship in China, but there are plenty of immigrants. For instance, Guangzhou is now known as the center of China’s West African expat population. While many work as traders, shipping clothes and consumer electronics back to their clients for a small commission, some enterprising African hip hop musicians have found success catering to this growing market. Yet, despite their superior hipness, they face the same legal barriers. Melissa Lefkowitz & Dorian Carli-Jones follow three such performers as they go about their lives and business in China Remix, which screens during the 2015 Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History.

Dibaocha, Flame Ramadan, and Ivan Manivoo have all found varying degrees of success in Guangzhou. The former two artists already have a number of releases to their credit. Dibaocha is particularly well-established, as both the godfather of the local hip hop scene and the father of two, with his Chinese wife, Cherrish (yes, with two r’s). Yet, Manivoo a student leader as well as a rapper and an all-purpose wheeler-dealer, probably has the brightest future. Yet, their music careers are all essentially off-the-books.

Clearly, Dibaocha has put down roots, but he still must go to great lengths to renew his visa. As a result, he is by far the most vocal in his criticism of Chinese immigration policies. Of course, anyone hoping the CP will loosen up is delusional, especially when their internal Hukou system of residency permits forbids native born rural Chinese from legally working in big cities.

Indeed, if one thing comes shining through China Remix with crystal clarity it is the spectacular class stratifications and disparities of contemporary China. If you doubt it, take a gander at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show produced to celebrate the opening of a luxury condo high-rise in Guangzhou. Manivoo certainly seems to enjoy the gig when hired to rap as the models strut down the runway, but it constitutes conspicuous commercialism, even by Manhattan standards.

Since it clocks in just under thirty minutes, China Remix can hardly be exhaustive, but it dives into its subjects’ world with both feet. We get a sense of the energy of the Guangzhou hip hop and African music scenes, as well as the attitudes of the immigrant community. Lefkowitz & Carli-Jones keep the pace brisk and give viewers a good taste of the music in question, which the performers would probably appreciate. Well worth seeing, China Remix screens this Friday (10/23) with Double Happiness, as part of this year’s Margaret Mead Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on October 21st, 2015 at 10:56pm.