hot docs

Hot Docs Review: Oil Sands Karaoke [2013, Charles Wilkinson]

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Paul in Hot Docs | Leave a comment
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At one point in Oil Sands Karaoke, one of the subjects speaks of the unifying nature of karaoke, how he would see people coming together at the bar who otherwise wouldn’t have anything to do with one another. In a sense, this is probably the key message behind this film, a portrait of Fort McMurray, home of the oil sands, and the residents who take great pleasure in the simple joy of singing and the escape that it offers.

While the oil sands are undoubtedly a controversial issue, the film doesn’t really dwell on the issue other than to basically say that there are no easy answers and that while it has it’s drawbacks, it’s also an industry that the community relies upon.  Where the film really comes alive is in the scenes at the karaoke bar, the heart of the town in many ways.  Many but not all of the participants are involved in the oil sands and it really does seem to be a release for them.  All have a back story as to what brought them to this point, one of the more interesting being Massey Whiteknife, who performs karaoke in drag as his alter ego Iceis.  I imagine that this was not a commonly seen sight in Fort McMurray before Iceis came along.

While the film was entertaining enough and an interesting portrait of the town and it’s people, I kind of feel like it was trying to be two things at once, which doesn’t entirely work.  The issue of the oil sands isn’t really dealt with in any deep or meaningful way and so when a bunch of statistics scroll across the screen at the end related to the oil sands, it just seems kind of disconnected from the more personal focus of the majority of the film.  And while the film probably wasn’t meant to offer up any deeper analysis or solutions to the problem, the times when it is discussed, it almost feels shoehorned in.  Still, if you’re a fan of karaoke, you’ll probably find something to relate to here.

Sat, May 4 @ Scotiabank Theatre

Hot Docs Review: Big Men [2013, Rachel Boynton]

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Ricky in Hot Docs | Leave a comment

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I’ve seen enough documentaries to realize and accept the fact that most filmmakers lean towards the left when it comes to telling stories. So imagine my surprise when I saw how well balanced Rachel Boynton’s Big Men was.

A tale about resource exploitation and the people behind it, Big Men starts with the discover of oil off of Ghana’s coast. As one would imagine, the discovery of oil has major financial implications and we are introduced to plenty of players who wish to benefit from it. Among them include Ghana officials, money lenders in New York and activists. Primarily though, the documentary follows Kosmos industries, a small Dallas firm that first discovered the oil. The access to Kosmos is almost limitless and we see the company struggle to maintain their hold on the oil industry in Ghana as other players use both economical and political means to get their piece of the pie. I for one, am surprised a supposedly giant evil Oil company would allow as much access as Kosmos did, but I guess at the time it was just a little group of people out of Dallas.

Spanning a range of five years, we follow these players from the inaugural discovery to some major milestones. With an amazing amount of access to basically everywhere including rebel militant groups in Nigeria. You will literally get goosebumps as you watch the fully armed, full masked rebels go do disruptive things. With this much access, Rachel Boynton is able to capture first hand opinions and motives behind most groups that are effected by the oil. While it’s hard to empathize with the million and billionaires that are involved, you can kind of understand their motives and logic behind what they do. It was also interesting to see political figures as they start off with the best intentions and then slowly have the billions of dollars involved start to sway them. I really enjoyed how the director laid out the cards on the table and showed perspective from all sides of the equation. It all makes for a fascinating film about one of the most controversial topics in the world today.

Big Men plays:
Thu, May 2 9:00 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
Fri, May 3 8:00 PM at Hart House Theatre
Sun, May 5 11:00 AM at Isabel Bader Theatre

Hot Docs: The Defector: Escape From North Korea [2013, Ann Shin]

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Ricky in Hot Docs | Leave a comment

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An intense and gripping affair, The Defector follows a group of North Korean defectors as they try to make the 3000+ kilometer journey to escape out of China on their way to claiming refugee status.

Directed by Ann Shin, we are quickly thrown into a world of safe houses, secret meetings, hidden cameras and a particularly mysterious broker named Dragon. The man is responsible for guiding the defectors to freedom but seems morally ambiguous (he is still, running a business). Dragon’s methods and actual motivations are constantly in question and as such is of great stress for both the crew and defectors. Among the defectors we meet are Sook-Ja and Yong-Heem two North Korean ladies who have already suffered through a lifetime of hardships in both North Korea and China. Yong-Hee was instantly sold to a China businessmen to be his wife when she arrived in China while Sook-Ja has not heard from her sister (who also defected) in seven years.

At 70 minutes, this documentary moves ahead at the pace of an action packed television show. Computer graphics and staged scene shots are used to move the story along so at times, the slickness of it all might seem a bit too stylized at times but doesn’t take anything away from the film. Being an illegal operation, all the people involved had to have their identity hidden but it was done in a tasteful way as not be too much if a distraction throughout the film. As we follow the group from Yanji to Xian to their final destination, the constant threat of detection by Chinese officials looms large with everyone (including the film crew, who probably would have been screwed if they were discover) and that constant threat weighs on everyone and makes the documentary that much more engaging. I would have liked to hear some opinions from Chinese officials on the matter, but obviously, that wasn’t going to happen.

An entertaining, informative and beautifully shot film on human smuggling and the life and dangers that face North Koreans in and out of their country every day. Recommended.

Hot Docs: 15 Reasons to Live [2013, Alan Zweig]

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Ricky in Hot Docs | Leave a comment

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15 Reasons To live is the latest documentary from Toronto filmmaker Alan Zweig. In this film, we meet a series of characters, all of whom have found happiness – whether it is was temporary or sustained and their stories are relayed (and some might be re-enacted) in the documentary.

Based on the work of Ray Robertson, the film takes us through fifteen stories from a variety of people in all swaths of life. They have all found happiness at some point. These stories are have been categorized under broad terms such as “love”, “home” and “intoxication” for example. Some stories are particularly strong (a wife allows her husband to walk around the world for ten years, strangers team up to save a whale) and some seem rather odd (mother abandons her kids for hours at a time to go to a mall) but maybe the point of it is that everyone is different, and everyone finds happiness in different things. I am glad that some of the stories Zweig chose had archival footage, otherwise it would have been a series of talking heads followed by shots of the subjects walking around in random Toronto neighborhoods. As much as I like pointing out what places are during the film, it might not have provided for the most interesting visual experience for non-Toronto people. Zweig’s interviewing style for some of these stories is interesting, as he tends to talk about himself during the subject’s story (especially the introverted girl/boating story). I guess it’s his documentary and he can do whatever he wants.

While all the stories are just very loosely connected, the message of the film is clear. Everyone in the world can have happiness, it might come in odd shape and sizes, but it’s up to you to choose to find it. A pretty good message.

Sat, Apr 27 6:30 PM @ TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
Mon, Apr 29 1:30 PM @ Isabel Bader Theatre
Sun, May 5 1:30 PM @ TIFF Bell Lightbox 3

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