Review
CLEAN HANDS – The Review
CLEAN HANDS, a riveting documentary by director Michael Dominic, takes a close look into the lives of a poverty-stricken family from Central America as they are moved from a one-room shack to a farmhouse. Will the nurturing help from a philanthropist help them to thrive, or will the habits of their former lifestyle hold them back?
I first saw CLEAN HANDS at the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival in May, where it won the Grand Jury Award for Best International Documentary, and it blew me away. Since then, the film has been traveling around the world through the festival circuit and has won several awards, including Best Documentary at HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival. Dominic shows respect for his subjects while still keeping distant so that his presence interferes as little as possible with their everyday life, which is just one of the reasons why this film is so compelling.
The film starts off following the Lopez family, comprised of Blanca (mother), Javier (father), their four children, and his mother as they navigate their way through La Chureca, the largest garbage dump in Central America (over 4 square miles). It is reported that 1,000 people currently live there, and 50% of them are under 18 years of age. The Lopez family uses the land, just as the others do, for food, clothing and other resources they need to survive. Their tiny shack is also made of trash from the land. The children are shown picking up leftover chicken off of the ground, plucking what remains off of the bones and eating it as they wade through the garbage.
Despite their living conditions, the children seem happy and upbeat. They have never attended school because their job is to scavenge for the family every day. What started as a film covering the lives and living conditions of this family soon evolved into another story thanks to American philanthropist Mary Ellen, and Dominic went along for the ride. He ended up filming the progression of the Lopez family for seven years.
Once Mary Ellen became privy of the family and their plight, she did what she could to help. She built them a small house in the country with plenty of land for the kids to play and the family to farm. The only condition was that the children must all attend school.
Interestingly, the film develops a nature vs. nurture theme. As the family adapts to their new home, Blanca finds it hard to change her old ways. After a horrific upbringing, her new life proves to be too much for her. The abuse towards her husband and children seems to escalate until she finally leaves. Zulemita, their only daughter, also finds her new life difficult as she struggles in school. Meanwhile, Javier and the three boys begin to thrive in their new environment. Capturing not only the evolution of their tale, but moments where they feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts and backstory help to connect some of the dots, and are a testament to the directors’ dedication and keen eye.
CLEAN HANDS is not an easy film to watch. As I mentioned earlier, Dominic did an incredible job of interfering as little as possible to capture the struggles and successes of the Lopez family. To be as true to the content as possible, unfortunately, that means letting the audience witness the full mess of drinking, abandonment, physical and mental abuse without putting the camera down and stepping in.
There are several things that the viewer can take away from this film, but instead of just focusing on the chaos of this family as they try to evolve, I beg you to dig deeper. Can an entire family change their way of life together? How can some thrive while others fall back into old habits? How does this relate to past traumas? Not to mention the films ability to spread awareness about how others live. Not many of us get the chance to be a fly on the wall and see just how others live. While most of us are reading (writing) this from the comfort of our homes or on our smartphones, others are living in/off of garbage dumps. Gives you a bit of perspective, huh?
OVERALL RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
To find out more about CLEAN HANDS or check for upcoming screenings in your area, click HERE.
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