40th Annual International Documentary Awards - 2024
Reviews are posted alphabetically by film. Features are listed first, shorts are below.
Review by Cinephile Mike
Agent of Happiness
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Film Production Companies: Match Frame Productions and Sound Pictures
Rating: TBD / Run Time: 93 minutes
Language: Dzongkha, Nepali and English with English subtitles
Director(s): Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó
Writer(s): Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó
Starring: Amber Kumar Gurung and Guna Raj Kuikel
“Our state of mind is constantly revolving.”
The age old question of, “Are we ever happy?” is at the forefront of this documentary directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó. In Agent of Happiness, we follow two Bhutanese bureaucrats, Amber Kumar Gurung and Guna Raj Kuikel as they travel around the country and interview a variety of individuals to determine their happiness levels. In order to do this, they ask each participant 148 questions that span nine different categories. From this, they are able to determine an individuals’ happiness level. As we progress through the different individuals who are interviewed, we see parts of their happiness indexes projected on the screen. Amongst many of the different elements that are asked about, we see they reference things as basic as number of TVs, tractors or rice mill sets, hours spent on things such as sleep per night or mediation per week and senses of varied factors both positive go and negative such as contentment, karma, fear, worry, depression and loneliness. As each individual featured in the documentary shares their answers, we are then treated to more of their internal thoughts about the circumstances that they are in, and we see that the answers to the questions may not necessarily match the feelings inside. We see a variety of individuals including a wealthy man who has three wives, a transgender performer and their mother, and a young teenage girl who struggles living with her mother who has a drinking problem. On top of this, we also get to see the happiness of one of our census workers, Gurung, who believes he can reach happiness if he is able to get married. We get some coverage of this story, but it gets sidelined a bit as the focus primarily lies on the subjects of the census.
As Bhattarai and Zurbó follow Gurung and Kuikel from person to person, we are treated to some absolutely gorgeous cinematography and sweeping shots of Bhutan. Even the simple lives of some of the subjects of the documentary are gloriously shot which adds an interesting layer to the topic covered in the documentary. One has to wonder what made them choose the subjects that they chose. Without spoiling too much, there is an interesting post script that says the percentage of people, according to the Gross National Happiness score, has risen 3.3% from the previous year, and that number was unusually high based on some of what we see. One has to wonder, how high does the number need to be to determine one’s happiness. At one point, we hear a voiceover that says, “No matter what pain you have, you have to learn to be happy,” but how can this be when you have to bear so much pain as some of the subjects seem to have. It raises an interesting philosophical question as to what makes us happy. Bhattarai and Zurbó don’t provide any answers, but will make you reflect. The use of spy footage as opposed to more traditional interviews is a nice touch, and shooting from a distance gives us the viewers enough distance to let things play out as we are also shared with a variety of almost still life shots as we see the subject staring blankly into the camera as their happiness index data is flashed across the screen.
All in all, a self-reflective piece of art that lands its message and makes one hopeful for what will come. You may ask yourself, on a scale of 1-10, how happy are you?
Review by Cinephile Mike
Black Box Diaries
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Film Production Companies: Cineric Creative, Hanashi Films, Star Sands and Spark Features
Distributed by: MTV Documentary Films
Rating: TBD / Run Time: 103 minutes
Language: Japanese and English with English subtitles
Director: Shiori Itō
Writer: Shiori Itō
Starring: Shiori Itō
“Every time I speak, I feel like I’m standing naked.”
Shiori Itō, a journalist, documents and presents us with the harrowing situation she went through where she was sexually assaulted by a high-positioned individual, and when she sought justice, this was not the easiest to pursue. The film chronicles four years starting with the assault which occurred in 2015, the publication of her book in 2017, and then the aftermath into 2019. In 2015, Itō reported that Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a high-profile television journalist, and friend of then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Upon reporting this, the officials inform her that her case is a black box, meaning that it is unprosecutable, as in, not necessarily enough evidence. This inspired Itō to not only make her voice heard, but to investigate the systemic problem with sexual assault in Japan. She decides to publish her story in a new book called Black Box, named for the case she presented. As she uncovers information, she learns that sometimes up to 70% of victims do not want to go public, and getting them to the correct support system is problematic. Itō, not wanting to paint herself as just another victim, uses her platform to ask the tough questions as she goes to interview different governmental officials, at least those who grant her an audience, as well as popping up unexpectedly on select individuals who are complicit with her case not moving forward the way it should. As she prepares to publish, she is warned that while using newspapers and magazines could be one way to get information out, the challenge with the book is that it could be challenged and banned, and we will follow through as we get to the hearing that really sparked the #MeToo movement in Japan.
Itō uses a variety of footage to chronicle her story including cell phone footage, almost home movie type footage following her around at home with friends as she preps her book and even searches her own home for wiretaps she fears may have been planted. She also includes live spy footage, such as one scene where she and her associates, including the cameraman, run after a police investigator down the street. Nothing will stop Itō from acquiring her justice. She bravely lets the camera capture everything from all of the disappointments, of which there are many, as well as the victories, few and far between. She reflects on the challenges of bringing this story to the front because she realizes the danger this will put her and her loved ones in the path of. There are times she breaks down and shows the raw side of the emotional response to the circumstances she is in. By controlling the film, as she does with the investigation and the publication of her book, Itō doesn’t allow her story to be spun any differently than she wants it to be told. Itō’s editor, Ema Ryan Yamazaki, works with all of the footage and gives us in many ways, an enticing suspense film as we follow Itō’s four year journey. Also, she smartly doesn’t use a lot of music to underscore the film, only in a few moments, instead letting us hear all the background sounds, whether it is the cars driving by outside her window, or the beeping of the wiretap detector. Cinematographers Hanna Aqvilin and Yuta Okamura keep their distance as they capture the entire story, and it unfolds at a proper speed to tell this story.
All in all, this is a powerful film that will add much to the conversation about reclaiming victimhood and making forward strides to change the systemic issues prevalent in many countries around the world in relation to assault.
Review by Cinephile Mike
Dahomey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Film Production Companies: Le Films du Bal, Fanta Sy and Arte France Cinema
Distributed by: Mubi
Rating: TBD / Run Time: 68 minutes
Language: Fon and French with English subtitles
Director: Mati Diop
Writer: Mati Diop and Malkenzy Orcel
“They have named me 26. Not 24. Not 30. Just 26.”
During the invasion of the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1892 by French Colonial troops, thousands of royal treasures and artifacts were taken back to France. There they remained for over 100 years. In 2021, after a campaign by the Beninese, the French returns 26 of the thousands of artifacts stored in museums to Benin. At the start of the film, we are just given some exterior shots of France, before we are swept into the basement of a Parisian museum, and then thrust into black as a haunting voice, think a slightly deeper Thanos in a pit, where we hear the inner thoughts of one of the pieces of artwork. In the less-commonly spoken language of Fon, we learn that these are the supposed thoughts of King Gezo, one of the rulers of Dahomey in the 1800s. After this voice over, we see the statue of King Gezo being carefully prepared and packaged, and worth mentioning, face down, into a crate to be sent back. Thrust into darkness again, we follow Gezo and the other 25 pieces back to Benin where they are put on display in a local museum. Once there, we then follow to a local college where students debate the return of these pieces and what this both means and doesn’t mean for them as a people. As this occurs, and we hear the various viewpoints, we are treated to images of the 26 treasures in the exhibit.
Diop crafts a very short but impactful history lesson that veers towards the fantastical. Shot primarily in a spy shot style, there are no talking head interviews or “staged” moments, we watch the events play out. The constant narration by Gezo, his disembodied voice provided by Makenzy Orcel, is almost where the film veers from documentary to narrative as we are hearing the thoughts of an individual who is reliving their past and also frustrated at how they are being treated now. He even references, “They have named me 26…don’t they know my name?” The sound team, led by designer Nicolas Becker give an impactful character in the way they transpose Orcel’s voice as our narrator. The whole approach is interesting and only capitalized on when we get to the debate amongst the college students. While organized by Diop, it makes no less of an impact when the students share their views as to whether or not what has happened is the best option with the works, and how it doesn’t really correct all of the issues of the past. As we see from the art shared, and learn of additional history, there is a darkness to this that Diop’s documentary only scratches the surface of at 68 minutes, and makes for an interesting prelude to a deeper historical dig.
All in all, history fans will be enticed by these debates of the students and Diop leaves you wanting more of the knowledge of this time in history as well as provoking thoughts of how can we correct the wrongs of our ancestors.
Review by Cinephile Mike
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Film Production Companies: Warboy Films, Onomatopee Films and Zap-O-Matik
Distributed by: Kino Lorber
Rating: TBD / Run Time: 150 minutes
Language: French, Dutch, Russian and English with English subtitles
Director: Johan Grimonprez
Writer: Johan Grimonprez
“I think music can create the initial change in the thinking of the people.”
Patrice Lumumba more than made his impact on the world when he served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. So much so, that he only held the position for less than a year before he was assassinated. This is the unspooling of what Gimonprez’ film unpacks for us, not only the rise and fall of this man, but the multiple players that were embroiled in this often undiscussed chapter of the Cold War era, and the controversy behind it. Told in a non-linear story, Gimonprez fills the screens with archival footage and some readings of various texts to tell the story of this time. We get a look at the fraught tensions behind the shift in the United Nations when newly independent African countries are allowed to join, and begin to shift alliances away from traditional colonial powers. New alliances are formed as the arms race is on and materials are vast and limited to certain parts of the world. As this is going on, many prominent musicians of the time, primarily those Black musicians who have worldwide acclaim, are brought into the fold to broker peace and show the general public that things are OK. We will see how many artists, such as Louis Armstrong, were sent to Africa as goodwill ambassadors to quell the fear and concerns, meanwhile, other agenda items are turning that they are unaware of. The smoke and mirrors approach is at times called out by voices such as Malcolm X, Dizzy Gillespie and even Congo-based writer In Koli Jean Bofane, whose book Congo, Inc. provides some of the context as he wrote about his time living and witnessing these events.
This film is both fascinating and frustrating. It is fascinating because the history behind all of this is quite a spectacle to behold, and there is so much that you want to invest the time to get the basics understood, especially if you are unfamiliar with it. And therein lies the frustration, Grimonprez assumes the audience will have more than a basic passing understanding with the history and throws pockets of information on top of other pockets that the film almost plays like a jazz composition, to say nothing of the soundtrack of songs we hear from the likes of Armstrong, Gillespie, Nina Simone and Miles Davis. This is where it is a little alienating because you are trying to understand the role Lumumba played, while also looking at what is happening at the UN, also trying to understand how these musicians served a role. Soundtrack’s editor Rik Chaubet has HOURS of footage to work with, and one might wonder if the whole piece wouldn’t have been better served as a mini series as opposed to a long feature film that at times moves along and keeping you up with the story, and then going very slow and dragging with some images and archival footage. There is some levity of the absurd when we see some footage involving such historical figures such as Nikita Khrushchev and Dag Hammarskjöld, but, these are mere interludes as we try to follow the next beat, which just might be that of a drum being played by one of the many impresarios we have the joy to hear.
All in all, this is a fascinating lesson that unfortunately gets a little lost in the editing with too much information to get through. It attempts to get the audience to think, and we see some of these struggles are just as relevant today, but may raise more questions.
