Rowan Sullivan, Author at FilmRoot

326

The Pearl of Africa (Uganda) – A Documentary of Illegal Love

The Pearl of Africa Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you think it’s easy being yourself, you should watch The Pearl of Africa. You’ll meet Cleo, a transgender woman, struggling for acceptance within an country where it’s illegal for her to be herself. In fact, for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ she could be executed. Find out how she manages to live by watching this documentary on Netflix.

Image result for the pearl africa

Why Watch The Pearl of Africa?

To find out how hard it is for some people to be themselves
Meet the LGBT movement in Uganda, fighting for human rights
Learn a bit about the sex reassignment surgery process
Meet one of the most supportive partners there is

The Breakdown

We first meet Cleo lying half conscious on a hospital bed. It’s not clear what has happened. However, the stop motion animations of one figure punching another figure in high heels leads us to assume that she has been abused.

Uganda is a country with so much diversity, but there still lingers so much prejudice. Whilst different languages and religions coexist, homosexuality has been outlawed. Cleo and her boyfriend would get life imprisonment for a single homosexual act, and would face execution for ‘aggravated homosexuality.’ Simply put, it’s illegal for them to exist.

The director intentionally alternates between the news footage of angry protestors protesting against homosexuality and the serene relationship between Cleo and Nelson. On the one hand you have people protesting a sexual orientation they think is not normal. Then on the other hand you have Cleo and Nelson, a happy couple in love. Juxtaposing the two scenes makes the protestors position appear even more absurd as it shows they are directly protesting against happiness and love.

Conclusion & What to Watch Next

The Pearl of Africa shows you just how hard it is for some people to be themselves. Cleo is forced to leave the country to simply be the person she is. However, this is also a documentary of the strength of love. You’ll see how Cleo and Nelson struggle together to overcome their illegality.

To watch more check out God Loves Uganda which explores the role of American religious extremists in establishing anti-homosexuality in Uganda.

If you want to watch more African film which highlight social issues check out the fun Africa United, Beauty and the Dogs, and Black Girl. All are great film.

327

The Trader (Georgia) – Get a Glimpse of Life in Rural Georgia

The Trader Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Ever thought about going to Georgia? If you haven’t, you probably should (especially if you like hiking). In the meantime check out The Trader on Netflix. It will give you a 25 minute glimpse of life in a rural Georgian town connected to modernity by a ‘back of the van’ trader from the city.

Image result for the trader netflix

Why Watch The Trader?

Everyone has time to watch it AND it’s available to watch on Netflix
To get a glimpse of rural Georgia
It won the top short-documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival
To witness the power of potatoes – they’re food and currency!

The Breakdown

First we’re introduced to Gela as he browses the stocks of various shops in the city he’s from. He’s looking for items to fill his van (his moving shop) before he drives into the country to sell them. As a trader, his aim is to pick any items his customers are likely to need or want, which he can then trade for a portion of the year’s latest potato crop.

It might sound simple, but it’s not. The village he drives to appears half deserted. The grey corrugated iron roofs match the grey skies and compliments the brown dirt ground. It doesn’t look like a place where you’d expect to make any sales. However, sure enough, a few residents and their kids gather round Gela and his shop (the back of his van) and start haggling with him for a few of his wares. After 2 days at the village, he ends up with a few kilos of potatoes to take home. Not a great crop.

But it could be worse, he could be one of the residents living in the remote village. He could be like the old man who regrets never getting an education. Or he could be like the young boy who has absolutely no idea of what he wants to be when he grows up, even after his mum prompts him to say ‘a journalist’. The place is completely devoid of dreams and full of regret.

Is the Trader to Blame?

Hard to say. Gela, the trader, is the only connection for this community to modernity. He is the only one who appears to make the trip to this remote village and give the population a market to sell their excess potatoes.

However, the market is tilted in his favour. The village community have to accept all the goods he brings to sell even if it is a load of useless rubbish. If they keep their excess potatoes they’ll only go rotten as it doesn’t look like they’ll have another opportunity to sell. Therefore they have to accept whatever Gela offers. So they’ll continue to buy second rate goods and as a result, their village never progresses as far as the contents of Gela’s van.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

If a picture tells a thousand words, The Trader packs enough into it’s 25 minutes to constitute a few essays. Not because it’s complex, but because the dialogue and images so concisely document life in rural Georgia and the importance of one man, the trader.

If the rural town in this film struck you, I recommend checking out Kazakhstan’s The Wounded Angel, also set in a remote, hopeless town. If you’re into more arty film, there’s also Lav Diaz’s From What is Before which charts the effects of a dictatorship on a remote rural town in the Philippines.

Or, if you’re after more great documentaries, I strongly recommend you check out Makala. It follows the complete process of a charcoal maker from cutting down a tree 3 days walk from the nearest city to selling the final product (after walking for 3 days) in said city. It won Cannes Critic Week because it’s one of the most beautifully captured films you’ll ever see.

328

Waar (Pakistan) – The Pakistani Answer to The Expendables

Waar Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you love melodramatic action movies with loads of clichéd characters, you’ve got to watch Waar. It’s the Pakistani answer to the narco-peliculas (genre drug war films) of Mexico. Instead of drug cartels and undercover cops trying to assassinate the head capos you’ll see special forces trying to stop terrorists. Check it out here on Netflix if cheesy one liners are your thing!

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Why Watch Waar?

You love cheesy action movies such as The Expendables or Rambo: First Blood Part 2 with loads of hilarious one-liners
It’s ready for you to watch on Netflix
If you want to see a Pakistani film
For the melodrama – it’s on a par with the home-made drug cartel film you’ll find all across Mexico

The Breakdown

The good thing about Waar is that you know exactly what kind of film it is going to be from the opening minutes.

The film starts in a dimly lit interrogation room. One man smoking a cigarette sits opposite two men handcuffed to their chairs – it’s obvious who’s interrogating who. Then one of the prisoners says “we are not afraid of dying”. The interrogator responds by grabbing the speakers hand and firing a bullet into the back of it.

The interrogator is not there to mess around, and with this opening Waar:

Grabs our attention
Sets the scene for an action driven genre film

What else makes this film cheesy? Other than the one-liners, one-dimensional antagonist, and clichéd characters? Answer: the music. You’ll notice it when we are introduced to this ex-special forces agent who is accompanied by wailing singing as he arrives at the graves of his dead wife and son. You’ll also notice it when heavy metal music starts playing in the action films. Is the music necessary? No. But it does add to it’s cheesy action film credentials, a lot like the narco corridos (drug songs) that randomly interrupt the Mexican drug-genre films.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

Unless you’re a big cult/genre action film fan or you love watching serious action movies for laughs, you might find Waar a bit too melodramatic.

If you’re looking for an action film with a better narrative and a bit less cheese I’d recommend checking out Drug War from China and Elite Squad from Brazil. Both are action films like Waar, but they both exclude the irrationally evil villain and melodrama.

Or if you love cheesy action films, go check out Rambo: First Blood, Predator, Die Hard, or most things with Sylvester Stallone, JCVD, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Jason Statham.

Please also send all you’re Pakistani film recommendations to rowan@filmroot.com

329

Play (Sweden) – Cowardice, Social Boundaries, and Controversy

Play Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

In the late 2000s a group of black boys aged 12-14 robbed other children’s phones on around 70 occasions in Gothenberg. This film tracks one of their robbery scams to see how they did it whilst cleverly making the victims (and the audience) look (and feel) helpless. Watch it here (Amazon).

Why Watch Play?

It’s controversial but clever
It will make you feel uneasy and helpless
If you’ve seen Force Majeure (Amazon) or Cannes winner The Square and want to see more from director Ruben Ostlund
To experience mall culture in Sweden

The Breakdown

Play starts with a still shot of the centre of a shopping mall. Two 10 year old white boys enter the middle of the frame talking about what they need to buy next. Then, the camera slowly pans to the left, settling on a group of 5 black kids. They’ve spotted the two white kids and play rock, paper, scissors to decide who is going to go rob them.

Turns out, their trick is a lot longer than you might expect. One of the black boys asks one of the white boys for the time. Then when the white kid pulls out his phone, the black kid tells him that his phone looks just like the one that was robbed from his little brother. Cue a tour around town to find his ‘little brother’ to verify if the phone is the one that was robbed from him.

The race and class separation between the two groups is obvious. One group, with two white kids and one Asian kid, is obviously more well off than the group of black kids that rob them. They are in the mall shopping for new clothes and video games. In contrast, the black kids are just messing around. They’re not there to spend money, they’re there because they have nothing else to do. Robbing the richer kids is their entertainment. It gives them something to do and gets them enough funds to afford dinner.

For more on the identity dynamics, I recommend reading IndieWire’s review of Play here.

How the Director uses static images to convey helplessness

First of all, the bystanders in this film are pretty useless. Every time they see the group of kids in trouble, they refuse to help and just carry on with their own lives instead. The static frames make the bystanders look even more useless. Instead of cutting between close-up shots of the victims and antagonists, the static frame shows us their surroundings. You can see bystanders sitting or standing at the edge of the screen, pretending to be oblivious to the action. Their cowardice makes us question ourselves: would we be like them and just ignore kids being bullied near us?

The static frames also convey the victims helplessness. Once the victims enter the frame they’re stuck. They can leave the screen, but they will always return to it. Similarly, the audience is forced to watch the victims being bullied and robbed. There are short breaks from the main narrative, such as a group of Native Americans singing in the street, but our focus will always be diverted back to the kids being bullied. It’s as if the director wants us to feel helpless whilst trying to show us enough bullying to encourage us to help the helpless.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

Play is brilliantly daring. It’s controversial and clever – it highlights cowardice and staunch social boundaries (class and race) and provokes debate. However, one word of advice, just like a lot of other controversial art (gangsta rap) you’ve got to look deeper than the surface.

For a funnier but even more awkward film from Ruben Ostlund, I strongly recommend Academy Award Nominee, Force Majeure (Amazon).

I’d also strongly recommend watching both Girlhood and La Haine. They’re two more films that focus on underprivileged kids looking for their way in life in societies where they’re marginalised.

Or, if you’re looking for more Swedish film, you must check out anything by Ingmar Bergman. Start with Wild Stawberries or The Seventh Seal (Amazon).

330

Atlantiques (Senegal) – Get to Grips with the Perils of Illegal Immigration

Atlantiques Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Have you ever met someone who has crossed an Ocean/Sea in a canoe to find work? Here’s your chance to find out more about why some choose to migrate illegally, and about the perilous journey’s they take to find work. Watch Atlantiques for free here (Amazon – link may expire by 22.04.18).

Image result for atlantiques film

Why Watch Atlantiques?

Learn why some people choose to illegally migrate to Europe
Hear about the perilous journeys some immigrants take
To put yourself in the shoes of an immigrant and question what you might do if you had nothing to eat
It’s a short film directed by a female director!

The Breakdown

One day, Serigne chose to board a pirogue (a big canoe, often with sails) to travel from Senegal to Europe. The journey almost killed him. Waves as high as multi-story buildings whipped the pirogue that he was on making him feel like he was in a building that was tumbling to the ground. Simply put, the journey illegal immigrants undertake is often not pleasant.

Plus, the journey isn’t always the worst part…

You could reach your destination after a perilous and often expensive journey and immediately getting deported.
You have to say goodbye to your family, not knowing if you’ll ever come back home and see them again.

So why do so many people try and migrate every year? Serigne migrated because he had nothing but dust in his pockets and his family didn’t have anything to eat. Migrating was his attempt to put himself in a position to be able to feed his starving family.

How Mati Diop uses setting to bring the character’s and audience closer together

Most of the film is shot around a camp fire where Serigne and his friends debate migration and tell each other their experiences. It’s an intimate setting which draws us closer into their conversation and closer to their thoughts and experiences. Mati Diop deliberately chooses this setting because it brings the audience closer to the characters and to illegal immigration. By introducing us to Serigne (an illegal immigrant) in an intimate setting, we are more likely to sympathise with him and his experience, rather than judge him and illegal immigration without trying to understand it.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

For more Senegalese film, check out the brilliant Black Girl , the story of one Senegalese girl brought to France to work for a French family. It’s full of injustice and currently available to watch here on YouTube.

If you’re interested in seeing more films about illegal immigration, check out the Central American thriller Sin Nombre. Also check out the brilliant Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and the family friendly Paddington (Amazon) for films about the migrant experience.