Hot Docs: Monday, May 4

Reviews of screenings from the 2009 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto, Canada.

The One Man Village (Dir: Simon El Habre)

Before the war, the Lebanese village of Aïn el-Halazoun had a church, store, school, oil press and forty or so families. Now, there is one man, Semaan El Habre, a farmer who enjoys the quiet life. Taking its pace from his calm, reflective life, the film follows him, giving us a sense for the feel of the place, and then slowly expands outwards, as we meet some of the town's former inhabitants, who now live elsewhere, but still come to tend to their land. Not only an excellent character study, but a quiet comment on the long aftermath of the displacement of war, this film was one of my faves of the festival so far.

Defamation (Dir: Yoav Shamir)

A first-person investigation into the contemporary faces of antisemitism as well as what might controversially be labeled "the antisemitism industry". Filled with surprising interviews, we meet people who might be good-hearted (but wrong), jerks (but right) or some combination of all the above. Also eye-opening is a thread of the film following a group of Israeli students making the trip to Auschwitz, who are told to expect antisemitism from every corner, and then manage to find it. This is the sort of film that could come with a Q & A session as long as the movie itself — a big subject, but Shamir carves it down into something relevant and meaningful.

Action Boys (Dir: Byung-Gil Jung)

The story of a group of classmates at a Korean school for stuntmen, this was a scattered and uneven work. There were some amusing moments showing them learning the craft, but as we follow some of the characters in and out of the small world of stuntmen, the storytelling became fractured and often confusing. It also had a disorienting made-for-TV feel, with invasive voiceover and manipulative music cues. And then it sort of limped along for the last half hour or so, the film-makers apparently waiting for something with enough gravitas to happen to give the movie a conclusion. Not recommended.

Broke (Dir: Rosie Dransfeld)

Although marred by some technical imperfections (like a wayward boom mike that managed to keep straying into the frame) and a lazy, clichéd music score, this doc still impressed simply by the strength of the characters on screen. Like a one-set play, the film follows Edmonton pawnbroker David Woolfson, a crusty pragmatist, as he deals with a customer base who have no other option than to pawn their goods to him. The film observes without explaining the complicated background of the customers and the strange relationship between Woolfson and Chris Hoard, a sort of voluntary unpaid intern who hangs around the shop. Generally compelling stuff. Paired with the six minute Man Behind the Log, a short portrayal of a homeless Vancouver artist.

Objectified (Dir: Gary Hustwit)

From the maker of past Hot Doc fave Helvetica comes another look at the ubiquitous things around us that we tend to overlook. This time the subject is the much broader idea of "design" itself, and that gives the film a bit of a sense that it has bitten off more than it could chew. Instead of focusing on one thing and using that as a window to broader ideas, this wants to cover everything and left me feeling less satisfied overall. Some of the interview subjects were certainly fascinating people, and the film moved towards some focus in the latter stages in discussing the shift to designers having to accept the environmental consequences of the things they create, but I left the screening feeling less than fully impressed.