Category: Hot Docs

Runners High (USA, 2006, Directors: Justine Jacob and Alan D. Da Silva, 85 minutes): I am a total sucker for the inspirational sports doc, and every year I seem to gush about at least one of them. But even though this follows a tried-and-true formula, I never cease to be amazed at what teenagers can do when they’re motivated and given a little help from some caring adults.

The film tells the story of four teens involved in a program called Students Run Oakland, which recruits “at-risk” high-schoolers to join a four-month training program to run the Los Angeles Marathon. There’s a lot of sweat and tough love and in the end, no real surprises, but I still felt a huge rush of emotion watching these kids actually make it to Los Angeles to join 25,000 other runners. And I wasn’t alone. The audience burst into spontaneous applause several times near the end of the film. There was some great use of sound; for instance, after all the hoopla at the start of the marathon, when the runners are out there at mile 18 or something, all they can hear are the sounds of their shoes hitting the pavement, their laboured breathing, and the pounding of their hearts. I haven’t run a full marathon, but have run a lot of shorter races, and this felt true to my experience. Running is monotonous, it’s lonely, but when you accomplish something, there really is a “runner’s high.”

Visit the film’s web site

(10/10)

Beyond Beats: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs In On Manhood In Hip-Hop Culture (USA, 2006, Director: Byron Hurt, 62 minutes): Byron Hurt is a former college quarterback and a huge hip-hop fan. But after he begins a job as a college counselor conducting programs for men about violence against women, he begins to look at his beloved music in a new light. This film is a record of his attempt to understand why hip-hop is so obsessed with images of violence, misogyny and homophobia. Hurt uses the metaphor of a box to describe the narrow image of masculinity in which black men are trapped, and he backs this up with numerous interviews with academics, hip-hop artists, and fans. Also interesting (and actually hilarious) are his deconstructions of rap videos, which are filled with the same ridiculous cliches repeated again and again.

I applaud him for trying to take on so many controversial issues in rap music, but it was discouraging to see so many people unwilling or unable to engage him on these subjects. When he brings up the issue of homophobia with Busta Rhymes, for instance, the rapper gets up and leaves. An executive from BET refuses to answer his questions, and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons gives him only evasive answers. All in all, it’s clear that most people don’t see these issues as problems, especially when rap music is making them all so much money.

The only flaw in this film is that it was too short. I’d love to see a longer version, or even better, a longer series about these issues where the filmmaker could pursue some answers over an extended period. Gadflies like Byron Hurt will need to be patient if they want to see anything change, and I hope that he can document the process even more comprehensively. It’s definitely worth watching.

Visit the director’s web site

(9/10)

NOW Toronto: NNN (out of 5) (review)
EYE Weekly: ***** (out of 5) (review)

Heavy Metal Jr. (Scotland, 2005, Director: Chris Waitt, 24 minutes): Hatred are a heavy metal band from Scotland. And they’re all under 13 years old. This hilarious film follows the band as they prepare for their first ever live performance. In the weeks before their show, their bassist quits, and they have to write some original songs to perform. One of the best parts of the film was watching their manager (the drummer’s father) show them some showbiz moves of his own. Along the way, we get some insight into band dynamics that wouldn’t seem out of place in a film like This Is Spinal Tap, except with parents as stand-ins for managers and girlfriends.

By the end, though, I was really pulling for the lads, and watching them perform their three original songs (including a catchy little ditty entitled “Satan Rocks”) in front of an audience of pensioners and teenyboppers dressed in pink was actually heartwarming. The sight of them signing autographs afterward just reinforced for me why all boys get into rock bands anyway: for the chicks.

(8/10)

The Railroad All Stars (Spain, 2006, Director: Chema Rodriguez, 91 minutes): The film tells the story of an unlikely soccer team made up of Guatemalan prostitutes, formed to draw attention to the constant harassment and violence they suffer. Although this sounds desperately sad, the film was filled with moments of humour and even joy. Shot on a tiny budget, the actual soccer scenes were hard to watch, both for the jerky camera movements and the necessity of watching subtitles. But this film was filled with memorable characters, from Marina, the one-eyed ex-prostitute alcoholic and her devoted husband, to Valeria, the beauty with the gang member boyfriend in prison for murder.

La Linea is the railway line that runs through their poor neighbourhood, and so they name their team Estrellas de la Linea and begin taking on teams all over the country, including a team of female police officers. The whole idea of these women forming a unified group is remarkable in itself, since the very nature of their work makes them rivals with each other. And indeed the team and its political program is short-lived, but we do get a sense that many of these women want to change their lives.

Unfortunately, the situation in Guatemala remains bad, with violence against women (especially prostitutes) continuing to rise. The hope for real change is dim, but at least in the lives of these particular women, we see some rays of light.

PDF and link to story from The Global Game from November 2004

NPR story from January 2005 on the team

(8/10)

NOW Toronto: NNN (out of 5) (review)
EYE Weekly: *** (out of 5) (review)

I think this is my third year attending the Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival. I like it because in comparison to the huge Toronto International Film Festival, it’s cheap, accessible, ego-free and consciousness-expanding. So once again, I’m off to see a bunch of real-life true stories (beware the following links: they’re to popup pages that have no navigation back to the Hot Docs site):

• The Railroad All Stars
• Beyond Beats: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs In On Manhood In Hip-Hop Culture
• Heavy Metal Jr.
• Runners High
• Raised To Be Heroes
• They Chose China
• Darkon
• His Big White Self
• The World According To Sesame Street
• F*ck
• Shadow Company
• Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos
• In A Soldier’s Footsteps

The festival takes place from April 28-May 7, and right in the middle of that is the huge wine tasting that I help organize every year. I am a crazy person.

You might notice that I’ve picked a couple of sports documentaries, two about soccer and one about running. In addition to those, in anticipation of the upcoming FIFA World Cup, the Goethe Institut is screening a series of films whose subject is soccer (football). In Toronto, they’re screening on Mondays during April and May, and I’m going to try to make it to a few of those as well. Good times.

P.S. I feel compelled to note that fellow GTABloggers Brett Lamb and Rannie Turingan are involved in Hot Docs as well. Brett seems to be in charge of all the print advertising, and this year, he recruited Rannie to take some great photos of directors that ended up on the poster. Excellent work, guys!