Bombay Beach

Directed by Alma Har'el this documentary follows three residents living in Bombay Beach, Salton Sea, California. This accidental artificial lake became an American Dream, the in scene for wealthy holiday goers and a development scheme boom peaking in the late 1950's. After this it slowly declined to a scene of old, weathered and warn out buildings, with a community of largely poor, working class and retired misfits. Alma Har'el brings us the life of three males living in Bombay Beach, one young child, one teenager and one retired old man. Bringing together three essential parts of manhood in a place that has seemed to have been left behind in the dust for many years, with this you start to understand what has happened to the American Dream and how the people left behind cope with day to day lives during a severely bad economic climate. What makes this documentary stand out from others is the way Alma Har'el has filmed it. With artful photography, dreaklike choreographed dance scenes, juxtapositions of outcasts and oddballs in beautiful scenes rich in the light of sunset and sunrise and moments of uplifting humanity and moments that create a bleak look on reality, this film stands out as a new breed of documentary film making. 

Gun Culture

Lately guns have been part of the headlines on the other side of the pond. With the recent shooting in Aurora, Colorado and just a few days ago Oak Creek, Wisconsin hitting the British News Channels. I don't know enough about the gun laws in America to be able to argue whether the laws need rethinking or not and that's not what this post about. It is however got me thinking about the projects and documentary films I have looked at over the years. Two that stand out for me as defining the gun culture in America are Zed Nelson Gun Nation and Michael Moore Bowling For Columbine. Zed Nelsons project doesn't delve into the stereotypes expected from documentary essays on guns and gun culture in the States, there is no gang-banger flaunting his stash of weapons, no white supremacist in camouflage in a field doing combat training or a lost teen bullied and influenced by violent video games. Instead Zed Nelson looks at the commercial side of fire arms, the NRA and the law abiding citizens that own a range of weapons. The series delves into how something that is seen as a symbol of freedom is also something that is out of control with around 28,000 people losing their lives to fire arms a year[1] The essay makes you sit back and try and understand Americas fascination with such a deadly item. Michael Moores award winning documentary Bowling For Columbine on the other hand questions the need for fire arms and why people can get their hands on them with ease. In one scene Mr Moore walks into a bank and acquires a rifle for just setting up a bank account with said bank. The film came about when Columbine High School, the teachers and students fell victim to a shooting spree and massacre by two of its very own students on April 20th 1999. Both projects are worth having a look over if you haven't all ready as they will broaden your mind on gun culture in the States and bring you away from the stereotypes we are used to seeing and hearing about.

[1] http://www.americanfirearms.org/images/Chart__big.gif 

Armadillo

I have been watching a lot of documentaries films as of late, partly due to the fact I wouldn't mind venturing down the route of becoming a documentary film maker as well as the a photographer. I also have been watching a fair few documentaries on the war in Afghanistan, such as Restrepo which I have talked a little about already, Armadillo was the next one on my list to watch, and I finally got round to watching it today. 

The feature-length follows the men of Guard Hussars Regiment of the Danish Army, on their first mission in Helmand Province, at the Forward Operating Base Armadillo. Instead of showing the day to day chores of the soldiers, it shows the psychological effect on the soldiers after certain events throughout their six month stay in Afghanistan, each having their own reaction and ways of coping with these events. As mentioned before the men of the Guard Hussars are Danish and I think this makes the documentary even more interesting as people relate the war in Afghanistan to America and British armed forces and it is nice to see the war from another countries point of view.

Once again the trailer is available by clicking on the image below.

The Interrupters

The Interrupters is a  multi-award winning feature-length documentary film by director Steve James and producer Alex Kotlowitz. It follows three Violence Interrupters from Chicago trying to stop the ever growing violence and death in their neighbourhood, they have all once come from a gang related background and this enables them get close and personal with the troubled youths of their community and try and help them change.

The filming does not show any violence and death except twice through out the two hours but with interviews and various establishing and detailed shots you get a clear look at just how bad the area has become for people of all ages. I feel the whole film was shot in a fantastic way and without the three main characters being able to go where many people are unable to we get a true insight in what is going on in Chicago and the rest of America with youth and gang culture within African-America and Latino communities.

This is a truly remarkable documentary that makes your feel for the communities caught up with in the crossfire as well as the people committing these violent acts and the Interrupters for doing what they can to try and prevent the violence.

Click on the picture below to watch the trailer and more information on The Interrupters website.

Restrepo

I finally got round to watching Restrepo by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington. The documentary follows the men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team of the U.S Army and their stay at Out Post Restrepo in the Korengal Valley, showing how the platoon cope with the day to day life in Afghanistan, and in one of the most dangerous areas for the U.S Military to be based. For me this feature-length was a great insight into military life on the front-line, the way the documentary is filmed immerses the audience into the combat, hard labour and chores of the solders, making the viewer feel as if they have been with the men from the start, seeing their blood, sweat and tears, which I think makes this an award winning documentary film. 

The image below has a link to the Restrepo website where there is more information on the film, the solders involved and an extensive selection of interviews to watch over, while you wait for your DVD to arrive in the post.

Life In A Day

Last week I found out that Life In A Day was available to watch in full on its dedicated Youtube channel. The documentary was filmed all on one day on July 24th, 2010. People filmed their lives and uploaded them to Youtube, where the team behind this film had to filter through around 4500 hours of footage from 192 countries from around 80,000 submission. The historic film shows the beauty, horrors and day to day life of people from every corner of the world. A truly beautiful film that makes you laugh, cry and smile all with in ninety minutes, it opens your eyes to some great people and some beautiful scenes. The film shows our connection to one another even with so many things that make us different from everyone else. You see different cultures coming together, different places of the world, and see how people live their lives. 

Click on the poster to watch the full length feature film. 

Documentary Films

Lately I have been watching a fair few documentary films, these are partly the reason my political, economical and environmental views, opinions and interest has become stronger than ever before. As you can see from the DVD covers and posters below, they haven't been films that slightly prod the issue but they go head first into the issue, showing the true colours of some people, sometimes grim and horrible, sometimes destructive and greedy.

The images below each have link to the trailer for the film.