BROOKLYN FILM FESTIVAL, INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, HOSTING ANIMATED SHORTS, DOCUMENTARIES AND MORE.
The Brooklyn Film Festival hosted a myriad of films this year. The three movies reviewed below share a common thread of exploring the full spectrum of the human condition. From joy and grief, these films show that difficult tribulations are inevitable, and in some cases, necessary to move forward.
WEREE
Weree, directed by Tal Amiran, centers around Johnson Weree: an artist who fled the Liberian Civil and found himself in the Netherlands. A self-taught talent, it seems that he also taught himself what it means to be human. His body is a complete vessel to his soul which is showcased in this documentary short with Weree’s own words. He quotes his birth as “sudden”; he was all of a sudden just there. Then, a sudden war he must flee to survive. He then gains a sudden realization to draw, that he must… and he does. The drawings included in this film are astounding. They exude a childlike essence while also holding such detail that one must look intensely to see everything. Weree was the perfect subject for a fifteen-minute documentary and leaves the viewer yearning for more on the subject wrapped tight in this film.
ALL WE CARRY
This film covers over two years of this family’s life as they flee Honduras to escape a violent ending. All We Carry is a beautiful documentary that allowed itself to breathe through each scene which is necessary. Cady Vogue (the director, cinematographer, and producer) did an outstanding job capturing not only the action of the circumstances, but the feelings caused by each one. There are some things that cannot be said but can be felt. The still shots without dialogue were most important and added much context to the entire picture that no word would suffice. Their environments were characters themselves, and near the end of the film, as questions from their final hearing play over the image of their house, the intensity of the life they have lived is conveyed through this simple and effective imagery. There is always hope for not only the future, but a better one. All We Carry is productive viewing, giving insight into grief, joy, fear, and love from a different perspective.
ATIKAMEKW SUNS
The fictional narrative that screens as a memory inside of a dream, reflects how times have not changed. Atikamekw Suns follows the tragedy of five Atikamekws found dead in their own vehicle and the impact it has on their family and community. Taking place in 1977, Manawan, a Native reservation in Canada, the cause of the Atikamekws deaths are considered an accident when all signs lead to the two white men that invited them out drinking. This film could easily be mistaken for a documentary as the director, Chloe Leriche, blends reality and the visualization of memories. The real family members of the victims are cast as interviewees, younger relatives to play those who had passed, and the younger versions of those who remember that night. There is a set truth in the exploration of justice and injustice. Which one do you remember? From beginning to end, this film sheds a light on what the medium of film can be used for and how to go about it. For such a tragic subject, Chloe Leriche handled the topic with care and executed the project with immense grace. Every emotion under the sun has seeped itself into every frame.
These three films showcase the honesty of what it means to be alive. Not every moment is expected, not every moment is remembered, but every moment is a blessing whether it is painful or painless. Film is important in conveying our past, present, and future. There is hope found within the films that stories like these will continue to be explored.
Article by Seana Watson, Contributor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
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