Category Archives: documentary

“Cold Case Hammarskjold” Documentary

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Danish director Mads Brügger and Swedish private investigator Göran Björkdahl attempt and solve the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjöld. In 1961, United Nations secretary-general Dag Hammarskjöld’s plane mysteriously crashed, killing Hammarskjöld and all of the crew. The documentary offers the possibility of the assassination of the outspoken dignitary. 

During their investigation, they uncover a crime far worse than killing the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Though the documentary might sound appealing, it is long and arduous to get through because the filmmaker lacks substance to make the movie enjoyable. 

However, Cold Case Hammarskjold had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and is the winner of the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award. 

The documentary uses two black women as secretaries, typing Brugger’s script or narrative. For the audience, this is quite confusing because the timeline is convoluted with two different typists. The filmmaker doesn’t explain why he does this until the end of the movie.

He tries to add humor to dire situations, which fall flat and add no meaning to the story. 

Around midnight on September 18, 1961, a small plane flying over a remote part of Central Africa crashed, killing all 16 people on board, including then-U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld who was en route to negotiations for a cease-fire in the ongoing Congo Crisis. 

The accident was officially blamed on pilot error. However, rumors have persisted for decades that it was a well-planned assassination. But who wanted Hammarskjöld dead, and why? 

Swedish private investigator Göran Björkdahl and Mads Brügger

With the twists and turns of an elegantly plotted murder mystery and the intrigue of an international espionage thriller, Cold Case Hammarskjöld winds its way through three continents and almost seven years of investigative reporting. Director Mads Brügger and his colleague, private investigator Göran Björkdahl, follow a series of ever-more-startling leads, red herrings, misdirection, and dead ends. They uncover evidence that puts them on the trail of a story more bizarre than they ever imagined. 

From Zambia and South Africa to the U.K., the U.S., Russia, Spain, and beyond, Brügger conducted an estimated 50 interviews with witnesses both central and peripheral to the tale, leading him into a continually widening maze. Known for his offbeat journalistic style, the filmmaker deadpans, “At first, I just enjoyed the idea of two middle-aged Scandinavian men setting out to uncover a conspiracy to kill the Secretary-General of the United Nations. What could go wrong there?”Using vintage news footage and photos as well as exclusive interviews and archival documents, Brügger unveils a journey in which answers only create more questions. What is the meaning of the mysterious playing card found intact on Hammarskjöld’s partially scorched body? Why was an unassuming young marine biologist murdered? What did witnesses see in the sky that night? Could it all be an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an eccentric, highly skilled propagandist? 

Danish director Mads Brügger with a local

 “For me, Dag Hammarskjöld was most of all a ticket to all the things I really enjoy,” Brügger admits in the film. “Tracking down Belgian mercenaries, telling tales of evil men who dress in white, the ace of spades found at crime scenes, rumors about secret societies. This is why I went along for the ride, not really knowing where it would lead. For almost seven years, Göran and I worked a murder case. But we never dreamed that we were on the verge of discovering a kind of horror that would put my shenanigans to shame.” 

Their discovery mildly shocking but has enough push to keep you interested in the movie without giving all the details of the storyline. The documentary falls flat in the end because the story doesn’t seem to arch fully but stays flat throughout the movie. Perhaps, South Africans will find this movie more exciting.

“The Gospel According to Andre” Defies Fashion Boundaries

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Directed by Kate Novack, the documentary The Gospel According to Andre is about Andre Leon Talley life. A fixture in the world of fashion for so long, it’s difficult to imagine a time when he wasn’t defining the boundaries of great style.

I found the movie as an intimate portrait that took me on an emotional journey from Andre’s roots growing up in the segregated Jim Crow South to become one of the most influential fashion and trend curators of our times.

Novack’s movie is fascinating as she explores between the elegance of André’s beloved grandmother and the Black Church of his youth and his work at publications like Women’s Wear Daily, W, and Vogue. The documentary shares a wealth of archival footage from moments in fashion history while noting André’s life and career.

Novack’s grandfather was in the dress business, and she visited his factory in Lowell, Massachusetts. “So, fashion was kind of in my DNA. I’d seen Andre in so many fashion documentaries—I think that my last count was fourteen. And he wasn’t just in them. He had these scene-stealing roles. But they always had the feel of a performance.”

“Andre talks about a hymn that he always loved in church, that still brings him to tears, called ‘Precious Memories.’ I listened to that song, and it was so moving. It’s about the way that memory can act as a sustaining force. That was really the entry point and the vision, and that song now plays a prominent role in the film.”

The Gospel According to Andre is Novack’s first attempt at solo directing. “It just felt like the right story at the right moment. It felt like a moment where the story of this African American man—because, in many ways, I view the movie as being as much about one African American man’s experience in America as it is about fashion—was important and urgent. There’s a line from Eboni at the beginning of the movie about how Andre is a legend in mainstream culture, and he’s also a tall Black man in America from the American South and that there would always be great tension there. That really became an organizing principle in the film.”

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Dustin Pittman/Penske Media/REX/Shutterstock (6905689a) Paloma Picasso and Rafael Lopez-Sanchez talk to Andre Leon Talley in the front row during a benefit runway show of Chloe by Karl Lagerfeld for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, held at Christies. Chloe Benefit Fashion Show at Christies, New York

Andre saw the movie, and his first impression was elation, being with friends and viewing images. “Kate threaded the narratives through the sophisticated research she had done. Her research is phenomenal! She had gone back and researched, contextually, my life story from its humble beginnings all the way to Brown, my theses and reviews from when I went to Paris and the great shows of Yves Saint Laurent in 1978.”

Andre explains how it “was an enchantment, but, at the same time, an experience that I would consider—I’m not a vain person—microscopic.”

Mandatory Credit: Photo by John Bright/Penske Media/REX/Shutterstock (6906729e) Singer and actress Diana Ross in a full ruffled skirt dancing with Andre Leon Talley at a New Year’s Eve party at Studio 54 in New York New Year’s Eve at Studio 54, New York

“A documentary is meant to be truthful, and it is Kate’s story, it is definitely her story, but, being so creative in my life, and an editor, I would have, in hindsight, made a contract to have a full make-up artist on hand at all times. Having come from the world of Vogue, part of the armor is that you are professionally groomed and, on a cold, bitter morning in North Carolina, that was just me coming out and I… would have had a makeup artist.”

Despite showing Andre without makeup meant he is who he is. “I opened my heart, and I opened my life, and I opened my home, and I opened my history and opened all my friends. The people that are in the doc are the people that are of great value to my life.”

“Tickle” an Uncanny Documentary

documentary

Co-directed by David Farrier and Dylan Reeves, the documentary Tickled formulated when Farrier stumbled upon a bizarre “competitive endurance tickling” video online. He saw young men paid to be tied up and tickled.

As a reporter, Farrier reached out and requested a story about the company. He receives a staggering replay where he is mocked about his sexual orientation and threatened extreme legal action if he digs any deeper into the company.

Unlike most journalists, he decides not to confront the issue, circumvents, and travels to the hidden tickling facilities in Los Angeles. There he uncovers a vast empire, known for harassing and harming the lives of those who protest their involvement in these films.

© 2015 A Ticklish Tale Limited

The more he investigates, the stranger it gets. He discovers secret identities and criminal activity. It becomes an obsession for him where he must discover the truth, despite increasingly malevolent threats and warnings.

Keeping with the humor of the situation and determination, Farrier and co-director Reeve gather all the resources available to get to the bottom of this tickling instances.

Recently, Farrier shared his story, “It started as most stories start: A friend emailed me a link to something interesting on the Internet. In this case: Competitive Endurance Tickling. It was strange from the outset, but as I began talking with the organizers, things rapidly spiraled out of control. A whole new world opened up in front of me – a world of tickling and laughter, but also lawsuits and danger.”

Farrier came under attack including private investigators and lawyers in New Zealand and the United States. “I soon came to realize this wasn’t just a story about tickling: It was about power and control.”

© 2015 A Ticklish Tale Limited

On his journey to uncover the truth, “I met characters I could hardly believe were real.”

Farrier refers to the cheerful professional who tickles others as a full-time job, the obsessed journalist who dedicated years of his life to uncovering the truth, and the young athlete who had his life derailed by a force he never saw coming. “Like me, these individuals all stumbled into the world of tickling with a slight naivety, but came to understand its complexity first-hand.”

Co-director Reeve tells his story of why he became involved in the documentary. He describes how he first saw David’s strange interaction with Jane O’Brien Media on Facebook. “My attention was grabbed. It was an unbelievable response to a very tame interview request, and clearly, something just wasn’t right.”

Reeve is referring to online bullying. “As we started to see evidence of the campaigns of harassment and abuse, I felt that we had no choice but to expose what was happening.”

© 2015 A Ticklish Tale Limited

They used the power of storytelling as the weapon to go against the bullying. “It was something I felt strongly that we had to do, whatever the consequences may be. Although at that stage I still had no idea what would come,” explains Reeve.

“The twists and turns we uncovered in chasing the story were at times exciting, alarming, surprising, scary and hilarious. We never quite knew what was real and what was fake. Were we being played? Was that car following us? Did Jane know where we were? Were we going to end up in court? We never quite knew what was around the corner.”

The end result is something both directors feel proud to have made. “I hope that is both informative and entertaining, but above all, I hope that it can actually make a difference – that the film might prevent further harassment in the future for guys who’ve done nothing wrong,” concludes Reeve.

The Last Race Ain’t Over Yet

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Directed by Michael Dweck, The Last Race is a documentary about Long Island’s last stock car race track, and its 87-year-old owners struggle to maintain the racing tradition. The last race track out of the original forty the owners face a real estate development boom. The track located prime property is worth at least 10 million.

The documentary is slow with not a lot happening unless you are a NASCAR fan. There is a fire that seems underplayed. I am not a race car fan of any kind, so I couldn’t relate to what happens in the movie. The end of the race where the camera is on the winner is memorable. A surge of understanding comes to light as I see the winner’s invigoration.

The movie is filled with vignettes and sound in a unique as a narrative form to draw the viewer into the world of essential racing culture and begrudgingly explores an about the blue-collar American identity. The movie is without suits and ties. We are talking jeans and t-shirts smeared with grease.

I learned about stock car racing. Long Island is the birthplace of American stock car racing. At its peak, there were over forty racetracks on Long Island, but today, only one remains. Riverhead Raceway is a quarter-mile track somehow managed to stay with the transformation of Long Island. The track, built in 1949, is where it settled on the edge of a small country road surrounded on every side by miles of farmland. Years later, the country road expanded into a highway and eventually the steady flow of traffic from the rest of the island made it a prime location for an outlet mall, and as the outlet mall grew, big retail followed.

Today, Riverhead Raceway is the only piece of land on the commercial strip of Old Country Road not developed. The land value is well over ten million dollars.

Money generates through ticket sales on summer weekends. It is barely enough to keep the lights on. The fact that the Riverhead Raceway remains open defies the laws of capitalism, and the only thing standing in the way of the bulldozers are 87-year-old Barbara and Jim Cromarty. Barbara and Jim bought the track in 1977, and they continue to run it even as multi-million dollar offers roll in, tempting them toward a well-deserved retirement. Barbara and Jim fight to keep it open because they understand that Riverhead carries the burden of being the last stock car racing on Long Island. When Riverhead is gone, it’s all over.

In the early days, Riverhead Raceway grew within a community that valued the desire to go fast. It started with old wrecks racing around a dirt oval in an empty field.

After spectators started turning up for the races, someone decided to lay down asphalt. The stands followed, and eventually, the Cromartys started charging admission and selling hot dogs and tee shirts.

As I watched the documentary, I get a sense that it more than racing. It’s a “lodge” of brethren blue-collar workers. They build racing machines and live for speed and the craziness associated with the chaos of the race and the drama of the pits. They are competitors and adrenaline enthusiasts. Like any competition, people have a reason to live and celebrate the victories or simple the stories of yesteryear of racing on Long Island.

Dweck said the racetrack buyout sure to happen, but it never happened in the movie. The last race is yet to be. The new owners run the same operation and continue the races each summer.

Dweck foresees the closing of Riverhead despite the new owners, “Riverhead Raceway is the last track on the Island. It’s only a matter of time before the bulldozers move in and Riverhead goes the way of other tracks before it, replaced by a shopping mall, or some other piece of disposable architecture. That’s what people want, and that’s okay.  But when it goes, something will be lost.”

Dweck bulldozing point of view comes from his shared interest in stock car racing as a young boy. He grew up to witness the shutting down and bulldozing of his favorite childhood pastime – Freeport Stadium on Long Island. The last gasp of his youth turning into a shopping mall or boxed store.

His first feature-length film, Dweck craft for telling a story falls flat but in a good way. The Riverhead is still hosting stock car races, and stock car race fans will appreciate the nostalgia of competitive racing with a homespun feeling.

The attitude and look of the winner of the last race sponsored by the Cromartys are worth watching. Hitherto, I understand the glory, nostalgia, or hype of being a race car winner.

Spiral: Anti-Semitism in France

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Directed by Laura Fairrie, Spiral is a documentary exposing the fact that over the last two decades, a rise in physical attacks and verbal assaults on Jews documented in many countries across Europe. Particularly, Jews in France are forced into a ghetto living condition, while some, are driven to leave France and immigrate to Israel.

At the same time an increasingly fractured world has exposed deep political, social, and racial division, especially in France. The documentary is about how a cycle of fear, hatred, and violence has taken hold.

I am not a fan of documentaries because they easily create an image or vision that twists or skews the facts or truth of a situation. Spiral seems to be a movie about bigotry with an anti-religious (anti-Semitism) happening in France. Apparently, the government is doing nothing about it.

According to a conversation with Fairrie, she was approach by John Battsek, produced One Day In September, with the idea of investigating widespread reports of rising attacks and abuse against Jewish people in Europe.

“After an intensive research period I wrote a detailed document outlining my creative vision and the ournalism at the heart of the film. Once Cohen Media committed to financing the film,” says Fairrie.

The documentary is about the resurgence of anti-Semitism in France. The feel throughout the movie is fear with undercurrents of dread and distrust.  Yet, the scenes with the teacher, François, changed the rhythm of the documentary. He understood the tensions on all sides. Like he was an insider and knew the cause and effect of anti-Semitism.

Fairrie, somehow, obtained access to Dieudonné, who is a French anti-Semitist comedian. He is well-known entertainer of African descent, disreputable for mockery of the Holocaust while jabbing with anti-Semitism in general. Fairrie got him to talk about his point of view in the matter.  I was happy to hear in the movie that a legal team is prosecuting him.

Some of the stories of hatred are hard to believe, and it’s hard to confront such a situation in beautiful France. If one religion is being attacked, then all religions are being attacked. Religious freedom!

The documentary is primarily in French with English subtitles. The cinematography by Jean-Louis Schuller is beautiful at times and works with the story of Jewish people in terrible situations. The movie is not entertaining. The information is disheartening and without a sound resolution.

Japanese Artist: Kusama: Infinity Documentary Transcends Imagery

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Directed by Heather Lenz, I discovered Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in the documentary Kusama: Infinity. The movie is a spotlight on the celebrated artist, according to the New York Times the documentary is “illuminating access to an artist’s way of thinking and working,” and I agree.

Kusama accounts her journey, the well-crafted documentary encounters her journey into the world of art. It starts with her conservative family in Japan to the milestones and triumphs that evolved her career.

The documentary shows a rare, but emotional, glimpse into Kusama’s six-decade career. Lenz captures the critical moments that led to her success, though some were hard to believe. What I didn’t know was she penned a letter to renowned artist Georgia O’Keeffe for guidance. O’Keeffe wrote back and recommended Kusama risk everything to move to New York City.

Kusama decided to make a name for herself in NYC based on O’Keeffe’s letter. The young Kusama hit the streets of the art world by a boom. Captivating art aficionados with her signature polka dots, she brought light to the industry, and at the same time, shook up the conventional norms.

Today, she is the top-selling female artist in the world. The story amazes me how Kusama prevail over terrible odds to bring her radical artistic vision to the art scene. For years and years, she pushed her work, going beyond the boundaries that often alienated her from both her peers and those in power in the art world.

The documentary is about an underdog, who never had a chance, but made it happen despite the trauma of growing up in Japan during World War II.  Her life in a dysfunctional family that discouraged her creative ambitions, sexism, and racism in the art establishment, and emotional turmoil in a culture where that was predominantly shameful. She continued to pursue her career as a full-time artist at the point of her 90s.

In spite of it all, Kusama has endured and has created a legacy of artwork that spans the disciplines of painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, poetry, and literary fiction. After working as an artist for over six decades, people around the globe are experiencing her installation Infinity Mirrored Rooms in record numbers, as Kusama continues to create new work every day.

I still think about this documentary and hope others are inspired. Her work is spiritual and transcending. One negative aspect about the movie is how quick people like Lenz are to pigeon hole an artist as mentally ill when all they are is being themselves and living life to create their art form.

Life, Career of Beloved Comedienne Gilda Radner

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Lisa D’Apolito directed the Love, Gilda documentary. The movie boasts “In her own words…” I am quick to differ. Like most documentaries today, the directors skewed them to generate a message based on the director’s proactive. Sure. The movie shows her journals with words, but the director takes them out of context. 

Tender with personal interviews while highlighting Radner’s talent, but the movie needed to share more of her happiness and successes. We are all human and have problems. The director skews the fact that when she visits the doctor, she is not responsible. But clearly, she is being responsible for going to the doctor. It is how she handles those problems that make her a survivor.  

In her journals, the director pulls out passages from comedienne Gilda Radner reflections on her life and career. Weaving together her recently discovered audiotapes and rare home movies, Love, Gilda shares a side of Radner that is honest and whimsical. Portions of her diary read by well-known comedians. Each inspired by Radner’s talent and vivaciousness, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Cecily Strong read in awe sharing her story.

The documentary includes interviews with original “Saturday Night Live” cast and crew, such as Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Paul Shaffer and longtime friend, Martin Short. Throughout the movie photos of the younger cast and crew are spliced within the story. With photos of the young cast, all looking healthy and vibrant is worth watching the documentary. 

Her adventures before SNL have her marrying a sculpture, moving to Canada, and divorcing. She meets her boyfriend and longtime friend, Martin Short.  She receives a phone call from John Belushi and tells her “We need a girl.” Off Radner goes to Chicago, being the token girl for Second City comedy group. The photographs show young Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis. 

Gilda Radner puts a smile on the faces of people who remember watching her as one of the original cast members of SNL where she created and portrayed now-classic comic characters such as Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella, and Lisa Loopner. She rose to fame winning an Emmy, starring in movies and on Broadway. 

Though the director uses Radner’s words and her voice by working with the Radner Estate, D’Apolito picks her favorites from a collection of diaries and personal audio and videotapes.  Documenting her childhood, her comedy career, her life with Gene Wilder and her struggle with cancer, the D’Apolito allows Radner to voice her story through laughter and tears. The never-before-seen footage and journal entries form the narrative spine of the documentary. Again, D’Apolito spins a tale of Radner trying to get Wilder to marry her. Yet, I distinctly recall, Wilder in interviews saying of how much he loved Radner and missed her so much after her death from cancer. Anyone who watches this documentary will see the love Wilder shared with Radner.

My favorite words from Radner, which I am paraphrasing, is how she mentions she just did what she loved to do, kept taking jobs, and ended up famous. 

“Dust 2 Glory” SCORE Baja 1000 Desert Race

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Dana Brown helmed the documentary Dust 2 Glory, as an incredible comprehensive journey of the SCORE Baja 1000 desert race. The desert race takes place in Mexico on the Baja California Peninsula. It is one of the most celebrated off-road races in the world. Contestants come from all over the world to compete, but predominantly they come from the US. The importance of this race is because it is the final round of a four-race annual series.

Brown is well-known for his Dust to Glory documentary in 2005. The first to capture the landscape of motor sports in a documentary and present the best of off-road racing challenges.

Dust 2 Glory grabbed my heart at the beginning of the movie. I never saw the first documentary, so seeing the off-roading experience in Brown’s second documentary sparked my interest in this kind of world.  Otherwise, I would never have known about it.

The display of the race captured my interest from a standpoint of being in the racer’s shoes.  The movie educated me on the race itself. I discovered the race takes place on the Baja California Peninsula since 1967.

SCORE Baja 1000 is the finale of a round of four-race annual series. The people who take part push themselves to the limit and beyond. They are skilled and dedicated drivers, and I felt as if I was riding right along with them in the race. I cheered for them, and I felt their torment with each defeat.

Brown doesn’t just make a movie about extreme sports, he immerses the audience, so they are a part of the extreme sport with all the passion and glory.

The Blu-ray special featurettes seem limited but worth a look, which includes “Bruce Brown’s Last Interview” and “Dana Brown’s Interview.”

I wanted to share footage with you, but the distributors or producers block the footage given by the promotional company. With that, if anyone is into racing, they will like this movie.

Danny Says

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Directed by Brendan Toller, Danny Says is a documentary that will send you into the world of Danny Fields.  Fields was a groundbreaking publicist and manager who worked with countless legends such as The Doors, Lou Reed, Judy Collins and The Ramones.

The film is guided by Fields’ voice and with tons of interviews, photographs, and audiocassettes. Just an amazing body of work if you are familiar with the legends he promoted in Rock n’ Roll history.

The guy is viewed as weird, twirling, frenzied waves of the late 60’s to the Bowery punk scene. Here are some names in the documentary that most people will recognize from the Lizard King, Iggy, and the Stooges, to Patti Smith.

The point is Fields dominated the scene with his eye for the art of the rhythmically irreverent. Since 1966, Danny Fields has played a pivotal role in music and culture of the late 20th century. The movie follows Fields from Harvard Law dropout, to the Warhol Silver Factory, to Director of Publicity at Elektra Records, to “punk pioneer” and beyond. Danny’s taste and opinion once deemed defiant and radical have turned out to have knowledge of events before they take place. It’s unreal in so many ways.  The guy knew the trends.

Danny Says is a story of marginal turning mainstream, Avant Garde turning prophetic, as the movie showed Fields looking to the next generation I was in awe watching this documentary. The amazing stories are literally whimsical. I found myself in wonderment of the way his life and career influenced so much of the kind of freak culture that became popular. The line-drawing animations enchantingly illustrate some of the stories in a rapid pace worthy of so much information to be viewed.

If you are a lover of the scene behind the rock n’ roll, then you must see this documentary.

Lo and Behold: Reveries of The Connected World

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loandbeholdDirected by Werner Herzog, Oscar-nominated documentarian, Lo and Behold: Reveries of The Connected World chronicles the virtual world from its origins to its outermost reaches, exploring the digital landscape with the same curiosity and imagination Herzog does with all his movies.

In his other movies like Lo and Behold, Herzog set his camera on destinations as disparate as the Amazon, the Sahara, the South Pole and the Australian outback. Now, he leads us on a journey through a series of provocative conversations that reveal the ways in which the online world has transformed how virtually everything in the real world works – from business to education, space travel to healthcare, and the very heart of how society conducts our personal relationships.

Lo and Behold: Reveries of The Connected World features interviews with well-known internet pioneers and visionaries including Bob Kahn (Co-Inventor of Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol), Elon Musk (Founder and CEO of SpaceX) and Kevin Mitnick (Hacker, Author and Computer Security Consultant).

The movie holds a tremendous amount of intellect and honesty. Herzog’s calculation about the future of the Internet is eye-opening if not kind of daunting. The Internet is only 25 years old with nothing ever like it before in human history. Society has become very dependent on our technological advances. As a result, society would be lost without it.  If a lasting interruption happened today, saying chaos would ensue is being gentle. Most people would not be able to survive. Then, there would be those that do survive, but not on the strata they do now. The movie says billions would succumb, which is scary to imagine – life without the Internet and other technologies.

All in all, the movie’s message is something society needs to know. But, the flow of the movie is a bit disjointed with the pros and cons of the internet being presented in a way that lacked uniformity. I got lost a few times where is seemed like Herzog threw out ideas that were unrelated but important.