Hot Docs Review Roundup

Do Donkeys Act?

The daily life of abused donkeys recovering in a sanctuary is narrated with poetic zeal by Willem Defoe in David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s Do Donkeys Act? The beautifully photographed documentary relies almost entirely on its four-legged subjects for entertainment, watching them calmly as they go about their lives of donkey stuff, from braying and grunting, to eating, to giving birth. Overseen carefully but a crew of dedicated (and silent) veterinarians, farriers and farmers, observing the daily life of the animals slowly, and imperceptibly becomes something akin to a meditative act. Maybe it’s the soothing, word-smoothies delivered by Defoe. Maybe it’s the environmental soundscapes of scuffling hooves in barns, and chirping birds in pastures. But by the end Do Donkeys Act feels like a profound experience. Of course what you really did is just watch donkeys for 90 minutes, but somehow the film makes you reexamine what it means to be human, what it is to be conscious, and how the way we treat other living things on this planet is the ultimate judge of ourselves. Or something like that…those donkeys sure are cool though.

Let There Be Light

In the middle of the French countryside, a collection of scientists from around the world are attempting to build an artificial sun. That’s the – perhaps overly – dramatic synopsis for Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko’s detailed look at the global quest to unlock the enormous potential of fusion power. Following a collection of delightfully geeky physicists, engineers and mathematicians, Let There Be Light provides an illuminating and thoroughly engrossing crash course on the history of fusion power. Though the insides of power plants and university labs aren’t the most visually stimulating locations, the Canadian directors supplement the footage with beautiful animations, which take us into the past, following the development of fusion through fun-sounding machines like the tokomak, the stellarator and the enormous ITER. Science geeks are going to love the film, but it’s very accessible to us laymen as well, translating the hard science into easy-to-understand concepts that give you enough of an understanding to keep up. Outside of the rare examples (Mythbusters, Bill Nye) scientists aren’t usually known as the most charismatic bunch, however the highlight of Let There Be Light is the cast of eccentric characters at its core. You can’t help but be inspired by their enthusiasm as – like the cathedral builders of old – they strive to create something they themselves will likely never see finished. It’s an optimistic and inspirational portrait of global cooperation in the name of humanity’s greater good.

School Life

An aging boarding school in the Irish countryside is captured in all it’s eclectic charm in Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane’s School Life. Headfort is a centuries old school for children between the ages of 7 and 12; and it’s crumbling buildings match the two aging educators at the film’s core. John and Amanda Leyden have been teachers at the school for 46 years and the pair have seen generations of students pass through, some of whom now work alongside them. Headfort itself is like a Roald Dahl creation come to life, and anyone who grew up in a brick-walled public school will seethe with jealousy over the DIY, punk-rock teaching philosophy of its eccentric staff. However despite the grand history of the school, little attention is paid to its past. This is a documentary fixed firmly in the present, carefully observing educators and their students as they go about their daily lives. Chianáin and Rane don’t shoehorn a narrative into their footage, but simply allow the viewer to live alongside the students as they experience the lessons, conflicts and adventures of life at a boarding school. The result is a quiet, unassuming and utterly captivating documentary experience.

Tokyo Idols

While the worship of youth and beauty are present in cultures worldwide, they take a very specific, and disturbing form in Kyoko Miyake’s Tokyo Idols. The film follows Rio, a 19 year old aspiring singer who is in the twilight of her career as an “idol”; a profession that attracts young girls into competitive singing and dancing groups that perform for crowds of (mostly) lonely, middle-aged men. One of those men is Kijo, an electronics salesman by day, and obsessive fan of Rio by night, spending his time organizing a group of similarly devoted men (known as “otaku”) in concert sing alongs and fundraising efforts. Though the filmmakers are careful to avoid judgement, they do include a number of outside commentators who provide context and criticism regarding this culture of male fantasy fulfillment. It’s difficult to turn off your North American sensibilities while viewing the film (we prefer our obsessions indulged-in behind closed doors) but it’s also very hard not to cringe as you watch crowds of adult men reach levels of fervour normally reserved for a Pentecostal church over the musically dubious performances of teenage girls. Despite the creep factor however, Miyake’s film tells two achingly personal stories, captured honestly and with the empathy of a master documentarian. It is these stories that provide an accessible gateway into a cultural phenomenon that you may otherwise dismiss as perverted or deranged.

Pecking Order

Forget all you think you know about competitive poultry pageantry! Slavko Martinov’s Pecking Order is a goofy and endearing look at the Christchurch Poultry, Bantam and Pigeon Club in New Zealand, and the strange cast of characters who take the poultry arts very, very seriously. The filmmaker travels the South Island profiling the people passionate about poultry, who raise an assortment of fowl with the dream of earning Best Bird In Show at the National Poultry Show. While it feels like a spiritual sequel to Christopher Guest’s Best In Show, it of course cannot match the hilarity of that film due to the fact that these people are real…if a little eccentric in their love of chickens. Also the film suffers under the filmmakers attempts to get us invested in the leadership coup happening in the Christchurch club, which is never as interesting as the filmmakers, or subjects, seem to think. Nevertheless, as a light-hearted and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny look at a strange segment of Kiwi hobbyists, Pecking Order is a very fun watch and is a great palate cleanser in a festival often filled with serious and emotionally draining films.