Tag: Documentary

THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES – Review

A scene from the documentary THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES.
Courtesy of Capelight Pictures, MPI Media Group and Fusion Entertainment.

A walk in the woods is a lovely thing but when it is nature tour is led by the deeply-knowledgeable, infectiously-enthusiastic Peter Wohlleben, a renowned forester with 25-years experience in forests and deep knowledge of the biology and ecology of trees, it is an entry into a secret world where trees communicate with each other and work together to benefit the whole.

It has a magical ring to it but Peter Wohlleben’s lessons are rooted firmly in science – plant biology and ecology – and his years of experience tending forests. Wohlleben is the author of the 2015 non-fiction book “The Hidden Life Of Trees,” the basis of this documentary of the same name. The non-fiction book, an international bestseller, presents scientific fact in the form of an accessible tale of the secret, social lives of trees. The documentary offers Wohlleben narrating immersive tours of the forests, along with generous excerpts from his non-fiction book presented by a narrator, footage of Wohlleben teaching classes that introduce lay audiences to what plant science knows about how trees interact with each other and their environment, and Wohlleben interacting with loggers, gently making the case for sustainable practices and imparting his knowledge of forests in a friendly, respectful way, drawing on his standing as someone with years of expertise in forestry to strengthen his points.

When looking at animals, we are never surprised to learn that they are social or that they have ways of communicating with others in their group. But people have a different perception of plants. Because they don’t get up and run around, and do not vocalize, it is easy to think of them as being like rocks. But as any student of plant biology quickly learns in class, plants do indeed move, but more slowly and in more subtle ways, something the documentary points out. Actually, it makes sense that a living thing that is rooted to one spot like a tree, which cannot get up and flee from threats, might have other ways to defend itself, and moreover, might want to help out others of its species survive as well. Such examples are all over the animal kingdom, but Wohlleben reveals how they exist in plants as well, specifically trees. Trees release chemicals into their cells and structure to discourage predators, such as insects and deer, and they also disperse chemical signals on the air to warn others of their species, to let them prepare for the threat.

The documentary has a good deal of such scientific information but Wohlleben, natural storyteller, always presents it in an accessible, even entertaining way. We cannot help but be caught up in his enthusiasm for trees and forests, as the charming, upbeat forester takes us on a tour of the woods – several woods, in fact – in his native Germany as well as Poland, Sweden and Canada. In his affable but clear way, he introduces us to the ways in which trees communicate and cooperate with others of their species, shelter and nurture young offspring trees, and form partnerships with other species like fungi for mutual benefit.

Director/writer Jorg Adolph avoids the usual documentary structure of talking head interviews and archival still and footage. Instead, we get lots of cinematographers Jan Haft’s and Daniel Schonauer’s immersive, beautiful photography of leafy forests, combined with imaginative graphics, making the documentary a visual delight. There is just the right amount of scientific detail, so the audience feels informed but not overwhelmed. Part of the documentary is Wohlleben’s nature walks, where he points out aspects of forest, and contrasts the health of old growth natural forests with mono-culture tree plantations of species not native to the region. Another part is sections of his non-fiction book, read by a narrator over images of trees and forests. A third part is Wohlleben talking about how to sustain forests, and people’s ability to use them, and visiting various location to talk with people who work with forests.

He also gently but persuasively presents the case for sustainable forest management to loggers, and to us in the audience, noting that conventional forestry is like putting a butcher in charge of animal care. Such an approach to forest management has a particular focus, which is not the benefit the trees or forest health. But Wohlleben is no unreasoning purist; he makes clear he is someone who enjoys wood products and understands the use of forests, and the people who work in them, from lifelong professional experience. That background gives him standing and credibility that other ecologists might lack, when he talks to those who make their living with trees. Wohlleben thinks people should be allowed to use forests, to harvest trees, but in a more sustainable way. His focus is on sustainability for people more than nature.

As an example of sustainable logging, the documentary presents footage as logger selectively harvests large trees, leaving the smaller ones to grow into the space now opened, and then instead of using heavy machinery, the weight of compacts soil, hauls the log out by heavy draft horse, a traditional method that leaves the forest floor intact and logging to continue with the next generation. In fairness, the documentary also lets other loggers have their say about their methods, and costs, although Wohlleben notes that one needs to look at the whole expense of growing and harvesting trees, not just a portion.

Wohlleben, always upbeat and informative, also visits sites in Sweden to see a tree believed to be the world’s oldest, carbon-dated to 10,000 years old, and a site in Germany where locals are trying to preserve a beloved local forest from development. He visits the site of a forest fire in a stand of non-native pines farmed for timber, to access re-growth and natural regeneration versus replanting. He talks about the hazards of cultivating non-native species of trees and threats like wood-boring beetles. He also goes to a site on Vancouver Island in Canada, where a small tribe of indigenous people are asking for more of a say in what happens in the forest of their traditional lands. It is a pretty wide-ranging documentary but always focused on trees and forests in temperate climates.

“THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES” is both an informative and enjoyable science-based nature documentary, elevated by fine forest photography and the charismatic, positive presence of its knowledgeable leader of our adventure among the trees, forester Peter Wohlleben. If you have not yet read Wohlleben’s fascinating book, this first-rate documentary may prompt you to seek it out – along with a nice walk in the woods.

THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES, in English and German with English subtitles, opens Friday, July 16, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and other theaters nationally.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

THE LONELIEST WHALE: THE SEARCH FOR 52 – Review

A shot from the documentary THE LONELIEST WHALE: THE SEARCH FOR 52. Courtesy of Bleecker Street

A whale, apparently the only one of its kind, wandering the Pacific and persistently calling with no answer, is the subject of Joshua Zeman’s documentary THE LONELIEST WHALE: THE SEARCH FOR 52, or more precisely, a search for the whale no one had ever seen. That search of the seas aboard a ship named Truth is the framing devise, but director Zeman also examines at the human response to the whale’s plight, anthropomorphized reaction reflecting at a time when people were talking about social media and loneliness, as well as a brief exploration of humankind’s history with whales. Aboard a ship named Truth It adds up to a mix of sea-going adventure,

In 2004, the New Times posted an article about a whale that struck a chord with many people. “For many years, a whale had been cruising the Pacific from central California to the Aleutians, calling out with a voice unlike any other whale’s, and getting no response,” Andrew Revkin wrote in his New York Times article. The story was based on a scientific research article, “Twelve Years of Tracking 52-Hz Whale Calls From a Unique Source in the North Pacific,” in which Dr. William Watkins and other scientists detailed their 12-year study of the whale as it roamed the Pacific Ocean. The sound was first picked up in 1989 by a naval surveillance sound array, a unique repeating 52 Hertz sound like no other, just above a tuba’s lowest note but well above the range of other whale calls. Whales are highly social animals who communicate largely through sound, and this seemed to be a single whale, unable to communicate with other whales, perhaps the first of its species – or the last.

By the time filmmaker Josh Zeman heard about the 52 Hertz Whale from scientist Dr. Vint Virga, there were memes, poems, paintings, songs, sculptures, even a play about the loneliest whale. Clearly it had tapped into a deep well of feeling in the era of social media’s physical isolation and virtual connection. The heartbreaking story had quickly spread through social media, the sad story of the loneliest whale and his persistent unanswered calls resonating with so many.

Zeman was hooked, and began to wonder, naively, if he could find the 52 Hertz Whale, known to scientists as Watkin’s Whale or just 52. The documentary THE LONELIEST WHALE: THE SEARCH FOR 52 follows Zeman’s search. offering is a mix of mystery tale and high seas adventure, with a nice science slant, as the director enlists the help of a team of scientists to find 52. While the scientists hunt for the 52 Whale, the documentary serves up details on whale biology, whale songs and whale behavior, the history of underwater sound detection, a musicologist’s look at whale songs, a bit of meditation on the psycho-social meaning of the world wide response to this haunting tale of the lonely whale, and mankind’s long bloody history of whale hunting.

Tracking of the 52 Whale stopped in 2004 with the death of researcher Bill Watkins, and no one knew where the whale was now. Whales are long lived but more than a decade had passed, so no one even knew if the whale was still alive. Zeman approach several scientists about searching for 52, and got the same response: “a needle in a haystack.” Whales may be large but the ocean is vast, and finding a single whale was an impossible task.. Some scientists laughed when Zeman told them what he wanted to do, and when he said, “no, I’m serious,” laughed some more. Still, the idea intrigued some of the scientists, people who love a good puzzle and a challenge.

So Zeman turned the problem the other way. He asked several whale scientists to search their records for the sound of 52 – and gets a hit. The 52 Hertz sound had been recorded just a few years back and, conveniently, off the coast of California. The hunt was on, and it turned into a quest for Zeman, which he described as “Ahab-ian,” referencing obsessed captain of “Moby Dick” but without his bloody intent.

The documentary is packed with marvelous underwater photography, exciting footage of the search at rolling sea, and is filled with the infectious enthusiasm of the scientists Zeman recruited for the quest.

The search teamed Dr. John Hildebrand, a professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who specializes in whale sounds, with John Calambokidis, a research biologist and co-founder of Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, Washington, who is an expert in the field work to identify whales. “In terms of a person who actually gets out in the field and does work with large whales, he’s the guy, ” Hildebrand said in the documentary. This scientific whale dream team and director Zeman embarked on a search for 52, starting with the last known location of the California coast, with Hildebrand’s team in tracking whales by sound and Calambokidis and his team chasing them by boat, taking skin samples and tagging them with tracking devices, so they would know when that particular whale would pass by that particular hydrophone singing.

Obviously, there is a lot of adventure in a seagoing quest, for a whale that many have heard but that no one has every seen. The hunt has the feel of adventure tale, and the scientists are all-in on the quest, heightening the documentary’s energy. There is plenty of excitement, gorgeous high seas photography, whale sightings and close encounters. Quest is full of tension and excitement but it does not follow the expected path. While there are startling discoveries but does not lead to a simple resolution.

Zeman mixes the sea-going search footage with wide-ranging background materials, including interviews and archival stills and footage. When not on the sea, the documentary presents a host of experts on whales ans whale song. When the Navy built its Sound Surveillance System ( SOSUS ) in the Cold War early 1950s, they were listening for Russian submarines. “No one knew there was whale sound underwater,” Dr David Rothenberg, musician, professor and author of “Thousand-Mile Song: Whale Music in a Sea of Sound.” While sailors long were aware of some whale sounds above the surface, no one knew the sounds traveled so far underwater. When a record of the haunting calls of humpback whales was released in 1970, it sparked the “save the whales” movement to end whale hunting, and a fascination with whales and their songs.

THE LONELIEST WHALE: THE SEARCH FOR 52 quest for 52 does not end as neatly as one might wish but what it does uncover is intriguing and raises new questions, in a coda at the film’s end. This is an enjoyable and well-made documentary with a wonderful underwater photography and satisfying scientific ocean adventure, and makes a fine pairing with another science-based whale documentary FATHOM released earlier this summer. Fans of whales, the ocean, or science will enjoy the adventure, for this is a whale of an outing.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION – Review

Tennessee Williams at his desk. Courtesy of Harry Ransom Center. The University of Texas at Austin. Courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams were literary giants of the mid-20th century but they were also friends. TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION is more a tandem biography of these legendary authors than a conversation, but the documentary’s use of only the authors’ own words, read by actors Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto, does give it a conversational feel at times. However that conversation is not between the two great authors but rather with us, the listeners, as they discuss their lives and their work. Truman and Tennessee talk about each other, rather than to each other, as this excellent, insightful and entertaining documentary explores their lives and work through the lens of their long friendship.

It was a friendship had its ups and downs, but it was a long connection. Novelist Truman might be best remembered now for “In Cold Blood,” his “non-fiction novel” about a real crime told as if it were a fictional story, and his novella “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Tennessee Williams’ plays are still performed, including “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Both Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams were known for their sharp minds, witty remarks and biting humor, making them favorites of the media and the wealthy. TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE is directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland, whose previous film was a biography of her husband’s grandmother, fashion design icon Diana Vreeland. The film features still photos, archival footage, images of books covers, playbills and scripts of the many film adaptions of the work of both. There are also several clips of the film adaptations of their works, featuring stars such as Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh, Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.

The two writers had a striking number of things in common, including links to St. Louis and New Orleans. Both were considered literary geniuses in their lifetimes, among the best of their time, and their works still are read and performed. Both were Southerners, gay, and used names other than the one they were given at birth. Both had difficult, wandering childhoods and distant or absent parents. Both knew they wanted to be writers early in life and were driven to make their work the bast they could.

The surprising number of things they shared in common are fascinating, revealed throughout this well-made, thoroughly researched documentary, The film starts with when the young Truman met the older Tennessee, starting a long friendship despite the 12-year gap in their ages. Although they were both gay, they were never lovers but had a bond built on mutual admiration and their common profession.

There is footage of interviews, with both men, with famous TV talk show hosts Dick Cavett or David Frost, which are featured several times in the documentary. Sometimes we hear the voices of the authors themselves and sometimes their comments, on life, love, friendship, writing or each other, are read by Jim Parsons as Truman Capote and Zachary Quinto as Tennessee Williams.

This wide-ranging documentary follows a chronological track but it covers quite a broad field to topics, and alternates between the two authors. The men each reveal their views on fame, love, and the process of writing. Both had concerns about the many film adaptations of their works, and concerns that the movie versions would be how many remembered their work. They reveal worries and pressures in their careers, and struggles with alcohol and drugs. And they talk about each other – sometimes in admiring terms and sometimes with bitchy dishing.

The resulting documentary is both informative and entertaining, with hardly a dull second. One of the nice things about this well-research documentary is the exhaustive list of sources included in the end credits, which has to be a boon to serious fans of either writer.

Fun and fascinating, TRUMAN AND TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION opens Friday, June 25, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and streaming through KinoMarquee.com.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

FATHOM – Review

Dr. Ellen Garland listens to a whale song near the islands of French Polynesia in the south Pacific, in the documentary FATHOM.
Courtesy of Apple TV+

Fathom is a word that can mean a measurement of sea depth or a struggle to understand a difficult or enigmatic subject. Both meanings apply in FATHOM, visually beautiful documentary about scientists trying to understand whales’ songs, filled with stunning images of rolling seas, rocky shores, and solitary scientists lit by the glow of a screen as they pour over their data.

There is a sense of being immersed in the scientists’ world of whale research, more like in a mystery film than a documentary. Director/cinematographer Drew Xanthopoulos’ FATHOM is shot in a style more typical of a narrative film, perhaps even mystery, with partially-shaded lighting, artistic framing and warm tones. This visual style gives the documentary a uniqueness, as well as immediately drawing us into the and work of the two women scientists, Dr. Ellen Garland and Dr. Michelle Fournet, who are the focus of the film. They are separately researching humpback whale sounds, but different aspects of them, and the film follows them out into the ocean where they are doing field research projects. Appropriately, haunting whale songs provide much of the soundtrack.

Fournet is researching humpback whale communication in Alaska while Garland is based in Scotland. These scenic locations are put to good use as we follow the two scientists, who are preparing for field research to test their hypotheses. Besides humpback whale songs, which carry over long distances, these behemoths make other sounds which seem to be for communication, although their meaning, like the purpose of their songs, are still unknown. Fournet is researching those other sounds, trying to “start a conversation” with a humpback whale as a way to tease out their meaning. Garland studies whale songs and is tracking the progress of one song as it is passed along through humpback whale groups across the Pacific.

Fournet is planning to do her field research off the Alaskan shore, using a sound called a “whup,” which may be a kind of whale “hello, my name is/” Garland is traveling from Scotland to the south Pacific, to French Polynesia, for her field research, to determine if the same song that started near Australia is turning up at this location further east.

The open ocean around French Polynesia provides director/cinematographer Drew Xanthopoulos with another very scenic location for the documentary’s lovely photography. The documentary alternates between the two scientists as they prepare for and then embark on their field research. One of the great strengths of this film, besides its gorgeous cinematography, is its thoughtful, accurate presentation of the scientists’ work, in a fashion that is clear and involving without dumbing it down.

Fournet and Garland narrate parts of the documentary, explaining their work and giving fascinating background on whales. At other times, we seems to tag along, following them as they prepare for their field work, interact with others assisting them, until we then go out into the field with them, the most bracing and thrilling part of the film, as well as its largest section. We also get glimpses into their personal lives and gain insights on the particular challenges faced by women scientists.

The documentary also gives just enough intriguing background on whales, delving into their evolution, big brains and social nature. It notes they evolved social brains and social culture before humans even walked upright, and have brains even more advanced for social life than our own. Among the intriguing facts noted is the merging of the senses of sight and sound in whales, adapting to communicate in their dim environment.

Part of the brilliance of this film is its choice of the two scientists. It was pure inspiration to choose two women scientists but Fournet and Garland are particularly good choices. Both are excellent at explaining their work clearly to a lay audience, as well as being charismatic and photogenic. That latter factor might sound odd, but film is a visual medium, and this is not the first time scientific nature documentaries have used that to hold audiences’ attention – think of the young Jane Goodall in early National Geographic documentaries.

Curiosity is an basic trait of all scientists, and this film gives us a sense of that, capturing the drive to uncover facts like solving a mystery. We also get a look at the difficulties of life in the field work, but also a taste of the kind of fun researchers might have in off-task time, blowing off steam.

The unexpected awaits in any field expedition, and Garland and Fournet encounter both dangers and research challenges once out on the sea with the whales. Fournet notes that she has had years when she sighted no whales but has the opposite condition this time, while Garland, accustomed to plentiful whales this time of year, finds herself searching for them. Both surprise conditions force them to adapt their research protocol and offer unforeseen new knowledge. There are moments of drama, tensions and hints of danger, framed by rolling seas, breaching whales, and misty shores.

FATHOM is an excellent documentary on humpback whales, a stand-out mix of science and nature documentary with the extra bonus of a showcase for women scientists. Featuring marvelous photography and a style that gives it the feel of a narrative adventure, this documentary works all levels. Although fellow scientists and science buffs might wish for a little more detail on the science and nature film buffs might want a little more whale footage, it gives enough of both to satisfy, while opening the door for the curious to learn more.

FATHOM opens Friday, June 25, streaming on Apple TV+.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

BREAKING BREAD – JFF Review

A scene from the Israeli documentary BREAKING BREAD, one of the films at the 2021 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival. Courtesy of the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival

The Israeli documentary BREAKING BREAD, which is part of the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival, June 5-13, begins with a quote from Anthony Bourdain, “Food may not be the answer to world peace, but it’s a start.”

“Breaking bread,” or sharing a meal, has been a way to bring people together throughout time. This documentary focuses on a unique food festival in Haifa, Israel, which aims to bring together Jewish Israelis and Muslim Arabs over food. The festival was founded by Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel, a woman who was the first Muslim Arab to win Israel’s Top Chef contest. The food festival she founded pairs Jewish and Arab chefs to cook traditional fare from the Levant, the area that includes Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. The festival is called the “A-sham Food Festival,” using the Arab term for the Levant, and diners wander through 35 restaurants, sampling traditional Arab dishes on the area. Atamna-Ismaeel chooses less-common Arab dishes from the area, rather than familiar ones, to entice Arab as well as Jewish diners to try them. The idea is to bring people together over something delicious, and focus on the person, not politics or religion.

BREAKING BREAD is a film hope-filled, engrossing film, that is packed with mouth-watering shots of food and entertaining personalities, showcasing the surprising diversity of views and peoples in Israel. But it is really about more than food, it is about crossing cultural divides through cooking – and enjoying delicious dishes. The documentary focuses Nof Atamna-Ismaeel herself, who explains her reasons for founding the festival, and on three sets of chefs, in this case three Arab chefs in the restaurants of three Jewish chefs, as they figure out how to prepare these dishes and build friendships, all culminating the the festival. The documentary covers more than food, and is divided into sections where the participants discuss such topics as variations in dishes, such as hummus and a chopped salad that some menus call “Arab salad” and others call “Israeli salad,” language barriers, cultural differences, and inevitably, politics.

Note that the documentary says Arab, not Palestinian, because some of the Muslim chefs are not Palestinian but from other Arab countries. It is part of the diversity the film highlights, which is true of the Jewish side as well. One restaurant owner is third-generation in his family restaurant, which serves traditional Jewish dishes of Europe. Others serves cutting-edge new Israeli cuisine. Another restaurant is owned by a husband and wife team, where he is Muslim and she is Jewish.

One of the things Atamna-Ismaeel and others in the documentary note is that the area around Haifa is different than Jerusalem and other areas of Israel, in that Jewish Israeli and Arab Muslims live in closer proximity and have more interactions, which makes it easier for this festival. Atamna-Ismaeel herself is an Israeli citizen, and speaks both Arabic and Hebrew, something she wishes both sides did more often.

BREAKING BREAD is a wonderful film, filled with surprising insights on the cultures of the region, packed with delightful, interesting people determined to bridge the divide between them, and mouth-watering dishes that seem to waft off the screen. All come together to bring people to together to break bread in hope of peace.

The St. Louis Jewish Film Festival 2021 is being held virtually again this year, and while it runs Sunday, June 6, and runs through Sunday, June 13, BREAKING BREAD is only available to view June 6-8. Tickets are $14 per film, or an All-Access Pass for all 13 festival films, plus a bonus short, is $95. Tickets and passes give viewing access to all members of a household. All other films and discussions can be viewed anytime during the festival but some have geographical limits, so check the festival program or website if you are outside of Missouri or Illinois. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit the festival website at stljewishfilmfestival.org.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

THE HUMAN FACTOR – Review

Left to right: Ehud Barak, Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat at Camp David, in July 2000.
Photo credit: William J. Clinton Presidential Library. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most intractable the world has seen. THE HUMAN FACTOR focuses on the effort to bring a resolution to that conflict through negotiations mediated by the U.S., but particularly on the human side, the human factor, in that effort. Interestingly, it is also presented from the viewpoint of the guys in the middle, the American mediators, rather than the two sides in the conflict. The result is an engrossing, surprisingly gripping documentary that makes one ache for what might have been.

THE HUMAN FACTOR is also a revealing documentary about the long-running effort to resolve the conflict, that offers up remarkable insights, some unexpected humorous moments, and many fascinating details about the process and the personalities involved. The decades-long peace negotiations spanned two presidents from different political parties, two secretaries of state, and three Israeli prime ministers, and a process actually begun under another American president and another Israeli prime minister. The focus on the human factor gets beyond any dry historical facts, and burrows into the people and the process that came so close, more than once, to a promise for peace in the Middle East.

Directed by Dror Moreh, an Israeli director and cinematographer, whose previous 2012 documentary, THE GATEKEEPERS, took an insightful look back at Shin Bet, Israel’s secret security organization, a documentary that was nominated for an Oscar and numerous other awards. THE HUMAN FACTOR likewise is garnering nominations as it makes its way around the film festival circuit.

Like in Moreh’s previous documentary THE GATEKEEPERS, THE HUMAN FACTOR focuses on the people involved in the process, bringing out a depth that burrows far beneath the familiar history, revealing remarkable insights and unexpected details. The documentary spans the efforts begun under President George H.W. Bush and his Secretary of State James Baker, following President Jimmy Carter’s successful peace negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and continues through President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Warren Christopher’s efforts the bring together Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and three very different Israeli prime ministers, Yitzhak Rabin, Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. But who knew James Baker, secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, was such crackling personality and master arm-twister, with a sometimes-salty tongue? Or that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was such a “kisser?” Such little personal details and quirks provide a way in to the role the interpersonal plays in high-stakes negotiations. The documentary’s human-focus approach gives us a different way into this knotty issue, and taking the viewpoint of the mediators gives a fresh perspective that avoids simply re-arguing the two sides’ viewpoints. It is about the process and whether these two can agree on a way through the conflict.

The writer/director got unprecedented access to the people directly involved in the negotiations, the diplomats on the ground on a daily basis rather than the famous names in the headlines. Many of the famous names are gone anyway, although the diplomats offer many insights on them as well as the process. The interviewees, who speak frankly, even emotionally, include American diplomat Dennis Ross, Egyptian-born Coptic-American interpreter Gamal Helal, British-born American Middle East analyst Martin Indyk, and American-born fellow Middle East analyst Aaron D. Miller, whose pointed observations are among the most revealing. The interviews give us a fresh behind-the-curtain and in-depth view of both the negotiations, the issues, influential contemporary events, and the personalities involved. This perspective brings new insights into the missteps and near misses along the way, the quirks of the people at the top, and a heartbreaking understanding of just how close they came to succeeding.

The documentary is visually dynamic, which is not surprising given that Moreh is also a cinematographer. Moreh skillfully mixes archival footage and stills, in black and white and color, with the present-day interviews. Mostly, Moreh lets his subjects talk, perhaps asking one question, which allows them to delve into unsuspected background, and focuses on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that never made it into the papers, as well as offering historical context of other events taking place concurrently.

THE HUMAN FACTOR is a fascinating, beautifully-constructed documentary, emotionally-involving even for audiences who are less familiar with the history of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. It is as illuminating a documentary as could be made on the human side of negotiating and diplomacy, not just for this particular negotiation, about the intangibles of the process, the finesse and the delicate touch needed , and the deeply human side of negotiating a thorny, difficult issue, with the hope for lasting resolution and peace. THE HUMAN FACTOR is a must-see, a tantalizing look at what might have been for the Middle East.

THE HUMAN FACTOR opens Friday, May 7, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS – Review

Angelo Gagliardi in THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS.
Image by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS opens with a camera slowly zooming in on a wooded hill side, with trees twinged with autumn colors as bird sounds filled the air. As we get closer, we see a dog, then two, and finally a man struggling up the steep hill. Their quarry? Truffles.

The poetic, idyllic start sets the tone for THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS, an enchanting, unnarrated documentary directed and photographed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, about older traditional Italian men who have spent their long lives in the forests with their dogs, hunting this culinary delicacy, It is also about the high prices this this fragrant and delicious fungi commands and the growing hunger of the world’s elite for truffles. But it is mostly an immersive descent into a fairy-tale world, a vanishing one of magical forests where dogs with their owners joyfully tramp those woods in search of a rare treasure.

The white Alba truffle, a fragrant fungi that is highly prized as a culinary delicacy, has resisted all efforts to cultivate it, and so must be sought in the wild. The rarity of this delicious fungi and the skill needed to find them are part of the high prices they command, along with growing international demand by restaurants and gourmands, and the shrinking supply of truffles. The white truffle only grows in a small area, mostly in Northern Italy, and including the Piedmont region of where this film was shot. They grow underground only at the foot of certain oak trees and only during certain months. Climate change, particularly drying, and deforestation has diminished the supply of the fungi, at the same time that increasing numbers of people are hunting them and demand for them keeps growing.

The forces of high-powered commerce and the traditions of the truffles hunters clash in this winning, contemplative documentary.

The traditional world of the truffle hunter is a secretive one, where hunters do not even tell their closest friends, even their children or wives, their secret hunting places, and where the dogs that help find them are prized and beloved. Those who live in the Midwest may see parallels to morel mushroom hunters, another fungi that is a highly-prized culinary treat that cannot be cultivated and only grows in certain spots, and whose hunters also jealously guard the locations of their favorite hunting spots and are not above misdirecting fellow mushroom hunters. However, all that is taken to a much higher level by the international demand and astronomical prices truffles command.

The photography is beautiful, and the film is a visual feast, with carefully-composed, painterly scenes taking us through the Piedmont forests, along with lovely images of the truffle hunters at home. The photographic techniques used, combined with the lack of narration, immerses us fully in this vanishing world. Long shots take in the full view of the forest, while interactions between people, or the truffle hunters and their dogs, are often static single shots that allow us to forget the camera and concentrate on people and conversations. In contrast, the scenes of truffle hunting itself are kinetic, as we follow the truffle hunters and their dogs through the woods. At one point, the directors put the camera on the dog, so we can see the hunt up close, at nose-level, which makes for a wild, invigorating experience.

Directors Dweck and Kershaw gave careful attention to sound design as well. Sometimes sounds even dominate over the images, with the ambient sounds of the forest, the snap of a twig or the crackle of a wood stove, foremost. The music helps set the mood too, mostly opera, folk tunes and Italian older popular tunes, plus some haunting original music composed by Ed Cortes

The documentary focuses on four highly skilled truffle hunters, all older men ranging in age from late 60s to late 80s, who hunt truffles according to age-old traditions. All live in small rural villages in the Piedmont area of Italy, and have lives steeped in tradition that seem frozen in time and apart from the modern world. The three oldest men seem to hunt more for the thrill, like sport fishing, than for the money, while the youngest of them seems more focused on truffle hunting as a livelihood, but all are committed to the traditions of the hunt and the joys of days in the field with their dogs.

Truffle hunting is a partnership between dog and hunter, and the bond these men share with their beloved dogs is part of the film’s charm. In some ways, the film is really more about dogs than truffles, and the passionate affection these men have for their dogs and their shared joy out in the woods.

Mischievous and secretive are good words for these unique men. Each is a charmingly eccentric personality in his own way, which makes the film fun as well as insightful. For some of the men, their closest bonds are with their beloved dogs. Funny, lively Aurelio, 84, has no wife and no children but dotes on his beloved dog Birba, whom he feeds from his own plate while he worries who will care for her when he is gone. 88-year-old Carlo has his beloved dog Titina, and despite the pleas of his wife Maria, sneaks out at night to go truffle hunting in the dark with his dog. Sergio, the youngest of the group at 68, goes out to his hunting spots in his beat-up old four-wheel drive truck and his four dogs, including Fiona, and returns home with truffles, singing along with Fiona, to play his drum set to relax. Long-legged, rail-thin Angelo, a poet and a one-time acrobat, is the most staunch traditionalist. A highly skilled truffle hunter who owns prime truffle hunting land and a prized dog, he insists he will no longer hunt truffles, outraged and disgusted over the way money has come to dominate over everything about truffle hunting, and the disregard for tradition.

The dogs are highly-trained, highly-prized, and much beloved. One truffle hunter rejects an offer to buy his dog, as if someone were trying to buy his child. A constant worry for all of them is the people who poison dogs, whether to reduce competition or to keep the truffle hunters off their land.

While the primary focus of the film is on these aging traditional truffle hunters, the film also gives a full picture of the world of truffles, includes the commercial side of truffle hunting. There are scenes with the men who buy the truffles and sell them to the every-growing, wealthy clients in the international market, and an auction for truffles that has parallels to an art or wine auction.

Touches of humor add to the documentary’s appeal, like one scene at an auction of large white truffles, where a string of potential buyers, or even just the curious, walk by and sniff the fragrant but lumpy truffle in the foreground. A truffle buyer/broker haggling with a truffle hunter, who is selling his finds on a deserted street in the dark of night, looks like a drug deal but adds a layer of insight on this hidden secretive world. Earlier, we saw the broker on the phone, under pressure as he tries to meet the demand for truffles from world leaders and other elites. In another scene, a man who judges truffles to set their price for auction, argues with truffle brokers about the value of their wares, rejecting truffles he deems inferior, and the same judge is later shown enjoying a plate of eggs over which a waiter has generously grated his truffle, a scene of pure culinary decadence.

The directors spent three years getting to know the people in this secretive, traditional world and that investment of time pays off, as the subjects are very relaxed in front of the camera, giving us great insight into this hidden world.

THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS is a magical, enchanting film that takes us inside an appealing but vanishing world of forests, age-old traditions, and dogs with their owners in pursuit of an elusive culinary treasure.

THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS opens Friday, April 16, at the Hi-Pointe Theater.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

THE PHENOMENON (2020) – Review

By Marc Butterfield

If you aren’t disturbed after you watch this documentary, you weren’t paying attention. You will WANT to pay attention to this information. The new documentary THE PHENOMENON, directed by James Fox, starts off like any of a hundred other UFO documentaries, cataloguing eyewitness testimonies, all of whom seem credible, but in most cases, a testimony is all you get, or some sketchy photographs that could be fake, particularly in an era of pretty convincing Photoshop. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still important to pay attention even at the beginning, as what you see is not just some dry documentary, but a case being built for what’s to come.  The information flow is important, and so by the time we get to the now famous recordings taken directly from US Navy fighter planes, you aren’t surprised at the footage, but at what the implications are because of it.

After decades of denial and dismissal, the government of the United States just…stops denying and dismissing, and you’re left wondering “what does it all mean”?  The slow, deliberate build up brings up questions as to what was real and what was fake in the preceding decades of denial and misdirection. Even when we had recordings of pilots on commercial jets, it took the audio and video of Navy pilots not just discussing what they were looking at in firm disbelief, but the video of their HUDS while they attempted to get target lock, and a clear view of what they were seeing.  And not just one or two.

And the thing that strikes me more than what we’ve seen from the recent footage, but how much it makes you wonder which clips from the past that we had previously blown off are actually real. Oh, and the minor point that this information has been slowly making it to the view of the public eye since 2015, and as of 2017 was FULLY in view, but was met (so far) with a collective yawn from the public. Why?

The thing I’m left wondering is while we now know that they (whoever “they” are) are out there, we still have no idea what they want, where they’re from, what they are doing. here at all. There is the one thing that this documentary can say that it does: removes doubt. There can be no further discussion about ‘if’ they are out there. We now know that they do, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

If you only see one documentary this year, THE PHENOMENON movie is the one.

4 out of 4 stars

https://geni.us/ThePhenomenon Available digitally worldwide on October 6th from 1091 Pictures. 

ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY – Review

ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY

Voting is central to a democracy, or a democratic republic. The more all citizens are able to vote, the greater the chance the government reflects the will of the people. The timely documentary ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY focuses on rising concerns about voter suppression, but also presents a fascinating overview of the right to vote in this country.

Timely indeed, with a looming election that promises to be one of the most contentious ever. In this well-crafted documentary, directors Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes alternate between throwing a spotlight on contemporary voter suppression efforts and sections that look at the history of the right to vote in this country. These sections are lively and informative glimpses of history, featuring plenty of “I didn’t know that” moments along with reminders other aspects of history that bring the topic into focus. Along with all the historical facts are sprinkled moving personal stories from the eras.

This history of voting ranges from tidbits like when the country was first founded, only white men who owned property were allowed to vote, a mere six percent of the population. Using a mix of archival stills and footage, newspaper headlines and telling illustrations, and dignified animation sequences, it covers the fight for voting rights for Blacks, women and Native Americans. It covers the expansion of voting, and the number of elected officials, among Blacks in Reconstruction and its contraction in the Jim Crow era that followed, then the women’s suffrage movement, and the Civil Rights era. The documentary covers, in engrossing fashion, the various tactics used to limit voting, poll taxes and “literacy tests,” and direct violence like the KKK and lynching. The documentary gives a particularly telling look at the “literacy test,” which was not a test of reading ability as it sounds, but a test of often arcane knowledge of state government, a test so difficult that a law professor featured in the documentary notes that his third year law students could not pass it.

In the contemporary sections, the documentary features an array of experts speaking on camera. One prominently featured is Stacey Abrams, who lost a close election for governor of Georgia amid a new voter ID law. Abrams is featured, along with a host of other political experts and academics in a section follows voter registration drives, including among Latinx communities, while also looking at the myriad ways, often innocent sounding, that voters can be blocked from the ballot box. As an example, the documentary highlights how older African Americans in the South, who have voted for years, can suddenly be blocked from voting by requiring a birth certificate, something that many lack if they were born in the Jim Crow era when they were excluded from whites-only hospitals. Other topics that impact voting, such as gerrymandering, are touched on as well.

The right to vote is a fundamental one but one can be vulnerable to attack, as this excellent documentary illustrates so well. The documentary also pairs with a non-partisan effort by Amazon to promote voting, #ALLINFORVOTING. The documentary ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY is a technically-polished, effectively spot-on look at the history and current state of voting rights, making it a must-see in this critical time. ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY is available to stream on Amazon Prime and in selected theaters in selected markets.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

HUMAN NATURE – Review

Dr. Jennifer Doudna, in the documentary HUMAN NATURE, in her lab at the Innovative Genomics Institute in Berkeley, CA. Doudna has tried to call public attention to the ethical implications of the CRISPR technology she helped invent. Photo courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment.

The documentary HUMAN NATURE, which is available on Amazon Prime, offers an accessible, accurate explanation of CRISPR, the molecular biology discovery that gives scientists a way to correct and cure genetic diseases, among other potential uses, but acting like molecular scissors to cut out and replace defective genes. The beautifully shot, well-researched HUMAN NATURE presents a mostly balanced picture of this groundbreaking discovery.

CRISPR is often called “molecular scissors” for its ability to alter DNA sequences, even down to changing a single base pair, the “letters” of the DNA alphabet, a level of precision never before possible. HUMAN NATURE does an excellent job of covering the basics of DNA and describing what CRISPR is and why it is such a game-changer, with enormous potential for the treatment of genetic diseases and even cancer. But the documentary stumbles a bit into bias when it later discusses its potential for its misuse, not sufficiently clarifying what risks are specific to CRISPR and which are inherent in other genetic techniques such as in-vitro fertilization and genetically modification of organisms.

Director Adam Bolt presents the topic in a straight-forward way without oversimplifying. The topic was inherently of interest to me personally, as I have a degree in genetics, but this is an important topic that should interest everyone, because the discovery of CRISPR has the potential to change medicine and many things about our world is that great. The information is clearly and accurately presented and the presence of a great number of well-respected authorities adds to the depth of the information. Yet HUMAN NATURE is an engaging film, drawing the viewer in and presenting both the science and the historical context in an lively, visually strong fashion.

It does a good job of balancing interview sequences with other footage, keeping a brisk enough pace to keep the audience involved. The material it presents in describing the science and both the promise and questions it poses for society are well crafted and edited. Among the experts who speak are Jennifer Doudna, one of the developers of the CRISPR technology, and David Baltimore, a Nobel Prize winner and leader in the field of molecular biology. Unlike many documentaries about science, it is clear that scientists played a big part in creating this film, which is one greatest of its strengths.

Where HUMAN NATURE does best is in its first half, covering what CRISPR is and why it is so revolutionary. It does an outstanding job to conveying how remarkable and game-changing this new technique really is. The documentary has just the right amount of information to give audiences an understanding of genetics and DNA without getting too sidetracked into detail to take the focus off the central topic. It describes how CRISPR works in a clear but scientific manner, letting scientists and doctors speak, but also focusing on patients with genetic diseases, the people it has the potential to help. It does an outstanding job to conveying how remarkable and game-changing this new technique really is.

HUMAN NATURE does an excellent job in this first portion where it examines what CRISPR is and its great promise for humankind. One of the strongest voices in this first segment, and actually throughout the documentary, is a teen suffering from Sickle Cell Disease. He is a well spoken, well-grounded and personable young man who is both likable and wise beyond his years. The documentary uses the sickle cell as a example for many of the points it makes about the potential good in CRISPR and some of the questions it raises. When someone inherits two copies of the gene, the result is Sickle Cell Disease, in which misshapened red blood cells cause painful and sometimes life-threatening symptoms, but when an individual inherits a single copy of the gene, there is evidence that it confers some resistance to malaria. The genetic trait is common in Africa and some areas around the Mediterranean.

Where the documentary falters a bit is in the second portion where it turns to potential dangers. Like every tool, CRISPR has the potential for misuse in the wrong hands or if used without ethical or legal guidelines. The guiding principle here, for CRISPR or any powerful tools, is that old saying “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

However, what the documentary does not make clear is that most of the dangers it presents are already with us, largely from the already on-going use of in-vitro fertilization and the unknowns in genetic modification of organisms (a subject the documentary does not even touch on). The risk for unscrupulous use already exists with IVF, which can be used to select for one gender over the other, or for height or eye color, or eliminate embryos with genetic diseases or any trait the user might deem “undesirable.” While research scientists follow rules of ethical behavior that are enforced by peer-reviewed journals and some countries ban some actions, their is no international rule on this. A debate on it is underway in academic circles but less so in governmental ones. The risk comes less from academic research, which operates under ethical constraints, but from private companies, where the profit motive drives decisions and the ultimate constraints are legal. While most scientists agree on what is ethical use, the legal rules vary country to country, with some things banned in some countries but allowed in others. With or without CRISPR, the documentary is right to call for some international rules for ethical use of the genetic manipulation, particularly when a powerful technique like CRISPR moves from a pure-research setting to a commercial one.

CRISPR is indeed a powerful advance, and there is one aspect to CRISPR that presents a unique risk: its potential to change the germ line. meaning its changes would be inherited by the next generation. CRISPR gives scientists the potential to not only cure someone with a genetic disease, such as the boy with sickle cell, but to ensure that the trait is not passed down to his offspring. The documentary is right to sound the alarm on this aspect, as the law of unintended consequences looms large when one begins to manipulate the evolution of humankind.

HUMAN NATURE presents a fairly good discussion of this danger, focusing on the fact that there is still much that is unknown about human genetics. While eliminating human suffering by getting rid of a genetic disease like Huntington’s or a cancer is enormous appealing, there is considerable risk of long-term unknown results. We do not know if we might accidentally eliminate another trait, such as musical talent, at the same time we eliminate a defective gene, because there are too many unknowns about the influence of one gene on another.

That danger argues for a go-slow approach and much more research. The documentary presents an informative and engaging discussion on this double-edged sword aspect of CRISPR, although it makes some strange choices on what the filmmakers see as risky. For example, it focuses with alarm on a researcher with an interest recreating Ice Age mammoths, which might be possible, and repopulating the steppe with them, which seems unlikely to happen. On the other hand, the film shows us a start-up company already trying to use CRISPR to grow organs for human transplants in pigs, by replacing large sections of pig DNA with human DNA to create a pig-human hybrid organism. The filmmakers seems less worried about this commercial operation, despite the many more red flags it seems to raise.

Overall, HUMAN NATURE is a polished, well-researched and informative film about a groundbreaking discovery that has enormous promise for the human species, but viewers need to give careful consideration to the questions raised about it so as to neither “throw the baby out with the bathwater” nor plunge ahead into a brave new world of unintended consequences. As in most things, the middle way is best.

Although it is not a flawless film, HUMAN NATURE is a lively, visually colorful, engaging documentary that respects the audience’s intelligence. It is a breathe of fresh air in a world where reporters rarely cover science well and too many anti-science voices dominate.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars