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My Pick for best documentary 2019

I’ve been able to watch four of the five Oscar-nominated documentaries. I’ll update this post if I happen to get a chance to see the fifth nominated documentary before this weekend.

American Factory

This film is about a Chinese automotive glass company called Fuyao and their efforts to build and run a factory here in the US. It’s also a window into the cultural differences between China and the US. Read my review here. (Netflix)

The Edge of Democracy

This timely film looks behind the scenes of Brazil’s politics the past few years, which included the imprisonment of one former president and the impeachment of another. In some ways, it is a warning of where things are headed here in the US. The film exposes the negative effect of dark money into politics and the need for campaign finance reform. I remember at the time when reading about some of the events described here that it was all about corruption. I learned it had more to do with the backstabbing and corruption of the people bringing the charges. (Amazon Prime)

For Sama

For Sama is a brutally honest look at what it was like to live in Aleppo during the bombings by Syrian and Russian forces. The film graphically shows what happens under dictatorial leadership. In between moments of laughter and happiness, there is death and destruction.

It is a sad commentary when small children know more about cluster bombs than about fairytales. (Amazon Prime)

Honeyland

This film looks at the life of a woman whose primary source of income is the honey she sells from a collection of hives. It covers a wide range of tangential subjects such as healthcare, poverty, race, class, and greed. It’s hard to believe that there are people still living without running water and electricity. Tossed into this mix of isolation, struggle, and despair are the neighbors from hell. (Amazon Prime Rental)

The Cave

This film tells the story of a hospital in Syria. Unfortunately, it is not available for rent. I haven’t been able to catch this one.

Before I get to my pick for the Oscar in the documentary category, I suggest you take a look at my best of 2019 post. There are several documentary films that I feel should have been nominated. My favorite from last year was the film The Devil We Know. Additionally, I feel that there needs to be a separate category for documentary series.

My pick to win the Oscar is The Edge of Democracy.

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Review of Don’t F**K With Cats

Review of Don’t F**K WIth Cats written and directed by Mark Lewis
Rating *****

I was first drawn to this docuseries by the premise: a group of individuals forms a Facebook group to track down and identify the perpetrator of an animal cruelty video. What transpires over three episodes is a compelling story full of twists and turns that I did not see coming.

I’ve read or heard about other stories involving people using the Internet to help solve crimes and locate missing people. I have used the Internet myself to track down people I wanted to interview. In one case, I had the help of a Facebook pro who helped me locate someone who had no digital footprint. This person found who I was looking for by tracking down the man’s son. In another case, I was the subject of some Internet sleuths. It turns out that I had a close connection to an individual arrested for murder.

So, I had a keen interest in hearing how these people went about their digital detective work. The internet sleuths first dissect the video looking for clues. Despite the perpetrator’s efforts to conceal his identity, the videos he uploads contain clues: a wall socket, a vacuum cleaner, posters, a blanket. Each piece of evidence leads them closer to their target. They are a determined bunch. Just when you think the story is going one way, there is a revelation that takes the story in a whole other direction.

The filmmakers tell their story through a combination of interviews, computer graphics, Google map images, surveillance videos, and, eventually, videos of the subject in question. It’s fast-paced, suspenseful, and as compelling as it gets.

There is one part of this story, though, that I felt could have used a little more investigating. It has to do with Manny. The filmmakers cover this topic and conclude that he is a fabrication. I have some doubts about that conclusion. There are three clues concerning Manny that I believe are unresolved. One, the first video clearly shows that a second person was present during the filming. The surveillance video of Luka walking out of his apartment shows him holding what looks like a video cartridge. And lastly, there is the episode involving Luka being beaten and left naked on the beach. Is it plausible that he spent a year-and-a-half setting up this fictional Manny so he could bring him out at some future date?

Don’t miss this one.

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Review of The Devil Next Door

Directed by Yossi Bloch and Daniel Silvan
Rating *****

Was John Demjanjuk the murderous Ivan the Terrible, who worked the gas chambers at the Nazi death camp Treblinka, or was he a victim of misidentification? That’s the question at the center of this five-part Netflix documentary series.

Demjanjuk was a retired autoworker living in Cleveland, Ohio, when first identified as a former Nazi. American authorities handed him over to Israel to stand trial. The trial itself took a year. There was plenty of evidence both for and against his guilt. But the story doesn’t end with the verdict.

As someone who writes about wrongful convictions, I found myself wavering on Demjanjuk’s guilt or innocence. Treblinka survivors were adamant in their identification. But the defense was able to offer compelling evidence pointing toward his innocence.

Later in the series, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there is compelling evidence pointing to Demjanjuk’s innocence. But a closer examination of that evidence convinced me that he was indeed Ivan the Terrible. You can make up your mind yourself.

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Review of Inside Bill’s Brain

Review of Inside Bill’s Brain Neflix *****

I’m currently reading a book called Dark Money, which is about how a few wealthy individuals have used their money to promote their nefarious self-interests. This documentary shows how Bill Gates, one of the wealthiest people in the world, has used his money and the money of other like-minded individuals to promote benefits to humanity.

It all starts with an article about children dying of diarrhea. That is the launching point for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill first identifies the problem, then he sets out to find solutions. Since this is an area that Bill has no expertise in, he enlists the help of others to find the answers. He creates a competition that will eventually lead to improved toilets and water treatment plants.

The next episode in this three-episode Netflix docuseries deals with Bill and Melinda’s time at Microsoft and their efforts to eradicate polio. I grew up during the dawn of computers. I watched Microsoft grow and dominate. I also witnessed Microsoft make one of the biggest marketing blunders of all time. It happened under Bill and Steve Ballmer’s tenure. And that is the failure of Windows Mobile Phone. There is absolutely no reason that there aren’t three mobile operating systems: Apple, Android, and Windows. But that story is for another day, and it’s not a subject covered in this documentary.

I found the last episode to be the most impactful. I’m a green energy promoter. We need to move away from fossil fuels as soon as possible. One solution that hasn’t received enough attention is nuclear power. Bill Gates uses his money and influence to enlist the help of others to rethink nuclear energy. They tackle the major obstacles – old technology, public perception, risk, waste – and come up with a new reactor that addresses all of the perceived problems. Their plans go awry due to the trade war with China, which was to be the launching point of their first full-scale reactor. It’s such a great solution that I don’t understand why they can’t find partners here in the U.S. or elsewhere like France.

I admire the work Bill and Melinda are doing through their foundation. I have just one word of advice for Bill Gates. You don’t have to carry around a shopping bag full of books everywhere you go. They’ve come up with this new technology called eBooks. Give it some thought.

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American Factory Quick Take

American Factory Directors Steven Bognar and Julia Rechert
Rating *****

This documentary is jammed pack with relevant content: the decline of factory jobs, culture differences between China and America, an argument for unions, and the role of automation in job replacement.

This is the first film from the Obamas Netflix deal. It’s not political except to point out the many complexities facing world economies and trade deals.

The film starts out with the impact that a GM plant closing has on the workers and the surrounding community of Dayton, Ohio. After eight plus years of blight, hope appears in the form of a Chines automotive glass company called Fuyao. The CEO of the company promises to revitalize the community with jobs. Thousands of workers are hired. They are trained by Chinese employees from a sister plant in China.

The Chinese managers and Fuyao CEO quickly form an impression of American Workers as lazy and hard to manage. The American workers, on the other hand, soon realize that the promised jobs pay only $12 an hour, more than half what they earned with GM. The work is tedious and in some cases unsafe.

To help expedite the training, a number of American workers fly to China to see how the workers there perform the same jobs. This is where the stark differences between China and America stand out. The Chinese employees work 12 hour days with only two days off a month. They work in unsafe conditions. They sing songs about the company and march as if they are in the military as opposed to working for a company.

This is life in a communist country. Children grow up with absentee parents. Workers have no voice. Industry pollutes the air, water, and land with impunity.

I belong to a union. This film shows the important role unions play in a worker’s pay, benefits, and working conditions. Unions give workers a voice.

The answer the Chinese find for their hard to manage American workers is to fire union organizers, then replace as many as possible with automation.

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Review of the Free Meek Docuseries

Rating *****

Meek Mill attends the world premiere of Amazon Prime Video’s “Free Meek” limited documentary series at the Ziegfeld Ballroom on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Invision/AP)

You do not have to be a fan of Rap music to enjoy this compelling expose of our broken criminal justice system. For all the ” he got what he deserves” critics out there, you have no clue what you’re talking about.

I was aware of some of the facts surrounding this story. I knew that Meek Mill was a rapper imprisoned due to a technical violation of his probation. I didn’t know the details of his original conviction or the story of his eleven-year odyssey. This excellent five-part docuseries fills in the gaps while also exposing issues such as mass incarceration, problems with the probations system, plea deals, inequities with the bail system, ineffective counsel, and crooked cops.

I had planned on watching each episode over a series of nights. I ended up binging on all five. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger.

One of the most glaring anomalies about Meek’s case is the actions of Judge Genece Brinkley. This one-woman wrecking ball is the poster- child for injustice. The only rationale I could come up with for her mean-spirited decisions is that she was infatuated with Meek Mills. She certainly wasn’t motivated by a sense of fairness. How many other poor souls are wasting away because of her decisions?

When the tables are finally turned on Judge Genece Brinkley and the detectives that started the whole mess, there is a sense of redemption, even though the saga is not entirely over for Meek Mills.

My only complaint is that the filmmakers glossed over one crucial fact. The case against Meek Mills starts with the suspicion of drug activity at the house were Meek Mills was staying with extended family. The detectives involved were allegedly not so much interested in disrupting drug activity as they were in robbing suspected drug dealers of money. According to Meek’s cousins, the detectives found some thirty-thousand dollars in cash at the residence, which they did not report. The filmmakers did not explain how and why there were thirty-thousand dollars in a home in a poor neighborhood stashed away in plastic bags.

Not everyone has the resources and support that Meek Mill had. Still, his case highlights the need for criminal justice reform. The reality is that there are millions of people caught up in a system that wants to penalize people indefinitely.

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