Tag: journalism

SHE SAID – Review

(from left) Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) in She Said, directed by Maria Schrader. Courtesy of Universal.

Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star in the engrossing true-story drama SHE SAID, which throws a spotlight on the two New York Times women journalists whose investigation helped spark the “Me Too” movement.

SHE SAID evokes the classic ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN but this surprisingly kinetic, compellingly watchable investigative journalism drama at times feels a bit like a tense mystery-thriller. The film keeps the two investigative journalists, Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), at the center of the story but it also gives a remarkably realistic picture of how journalism is done. SHE SAID’s storytelling highlights the importance of investigative journalism itself, the kind of reporting that uncovers wrongdoing and starts the process to hold the guilty responsible, the kind of vitally-important journalism in a democracy that is most at risk of being lost in the current news industry crisis.

Director Maria Schrader crafts a firecracker of a drama, one that is surprisingly restless and kinetic as well as deeply involving. SHE SAID is based on the New York Times investigation by reporters Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett, and Kantor and Twohey’s book “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.” Patricia Clarkson plays editor Rebecca Corbett, managing the story from the newsroom, but the major focus is on the pair of investigative reporters pounding the pavement.

Carey Mulligan, who was so powerful in A PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, plays Megan Twohey, a hard-hitting seasoned journalist who also gives birth while working on this ground-breaking story. She shares this investigation with another, less experienced New Times journalist, Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan). At first, the story does not look like something groundbreaking, as the two work on an investigation into work-place sexual harassment in larger corporations, but a tip shifts the focus to a new industry. With its liberal reputation, the journalists are surprised by the tip about harassment and abuse in the movie industry, and the trail quickly points to one person in particular, powerful producer Harvey Weinstein.

Others had tried and failed to break this story over the years, not just about this one man but others as well, but had hit a wall of silence that shut things down. There were lots of stories and rumors about Weinstein but frustratingly no one who wants to go on record or even name names. As Kantor and Twohey dig deeper, they go down a rabbit hole of leads that uncovers a hidden network of cover-ups, secrecy and fear, that soon sparks a paranoid feeling of being watched by a shadowy, powerful and well-connected force.

Carey Mulligan, who was so remarkable in A PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, plays Megan Twohey, a hard-hitting New Times journalist who starts this investigation shortly before giving birth and rejoins it on returning to work. It is the kind of personal, refreshingly real, slice of life detail that gives depth to both characters. Twohey shares this investigation with Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan), a less-seasoned journalist and a woman who is already a parent, giving a nice personal counter-balance to their professional relationship. We are used to seeing Kazan in more comedic roles in films like THE BIG SICK but she does very well here in this more serious part, where she creates a character who is driven in her work but warm on a personal level.

As the two journalists, peel back the layers concealing the abuse, SHE SAID builds suspense, with the reporters hit barrier after barrier and tracking down leads that seem to go to dead ends. This well-written drama crafts a strikingly realistic picture of how journalism is actually done, but it also takes us into these reporters’ private lives, giving us warm glimpses into their family lives and painting a portrait of striving for work/life balance.

Rather than a drama that unfolds mostly in the newsroom, as we might expect, director Maria Schrader and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz open up the story by sending the two reporters out into the streets and into the homes of sources and possible abuse victims. The two women are often headed in divergent directions, which creates a restlessness and kinetic sense, with Twohey and Kantor frequently in motion, racing place to place, even country to country as they pursue the story. That restless energy is thanks in part to excellent editing but also the director’s choice in how she presents the work of these two hard-working women journalists. The camera follows them as they walk and travel, periodically bringing them back together to share findings or back to the newsroom to confer with editors about next steps.

This collaborative partnership between the tough, more experienced Twohey and the eager, newer reporter Kantor is one of the delights of the film, and Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are wonderful together. The script balances their professional relationship with scenes of home life for both, as they care for children and as Twohey struggles with post-partum depression.

As the journalists follow their leads, the biggest challenge is the lack of sources willing to go on record. They hear chilling stories but tying names to events is hard. Time and again, a new lead ends with a person gagged by a non-disclosure agreement or just fear of professional suicide. Lurking behind it, increasingly, is a single figure, one name.

Editors Rebecca Corbett (Patricia Clarkson) and Dean Baquet (Andre Braugher) provide strong support and guidance, even approving funds to travel to distant places. Andre Braugher’s Baquet provides advice on dealing with Harvey Weinstein in particular, someone with whom he has had dealings, which leads to some intriguing scenes where he speaks with him by phone or in person.

Director Schrader cleverly handles scenes with famous people, such as Weinstein and Donald Trump, by shooting actors playing them from behind. An exception is Ashley Judd, who plays herself, mirroring her role as a crucial voice in breaking this story and sparking the movement that followed.

But most of the people the reporters interview are not famous, and we are surprising time in again by familiar faces in some of these roles. Seeing these gifted actors, including Samantha Morton and Jennifer Ehle, adds a extra level of enjoyment and moments of surprise to this excellent film.

SHE SAID is top contender for awards. It is a compelling true story drama focused on both the two women whose dogged reporting blew open a long hidden secret, and the story they uncovered that helped launch a movement. In a way, the film itself is a triumph of exactly the kind of talented women being held down by the abuse the reporters revealed. SHE SAID is a brilliantly directed and written women-helmed film with a strong women-centric true story with outstanding, rounded female performances, making it both a story about women finding their voices and example of what women film-makers can accomplish.

SHE SAID opens Friday, Nov. 18, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

WRITING WITH FIRE – Review

One of the Dalit women journalists of Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’), India’s only women-led news outlet, reporting a story, in the Oscar-nominated documentary WRITING WITH FIRE. Courtesy of Music Box Films.

WRITING WITH FIRE, a nominee for this year’s Best Documentary Oscar, is about India’s only women-run newspaper, a news source that has gone in digital since its founding in 2002, and one that covers stories overlooked by other news outlets, particularly on abuse, rape and corruption, with hard-hitting reporting and high journalistic standards. That is astonishing enough but the fact that all the women are also Dalits, the cast formerly known as untouchables, makes this news source seem nearly miraculous. But this is not fiction: these hard-working female reporters are the real thing.

WRITING WITH FIRE is one of two documentaries this past year about small news outlets doing journalism right, covering stories larger outlets won’t cover and serving their community and its right to know. The other one, STORM LAKE, tells an admirable story about an award-winning small town newspaper in the American heartland that is doing everything right, in a way so many larger news outlets no longer are. There is something hopeful in having two such uplifting documentaries, about the triumph of the “little guy,” in a year dominated by so much grimness.

In many ways, filmmakers Rintu Thomas’ and Sushmit Ghosh’s documentary WRITING WITH FIRE is the more amazing story. In 2002, a group of women in India established a women-run newspaper, Khabar Lahariya (‘Waves of News’). That is astonishing enough in a country where men dominate the news industry, and much of life generally. More amazing is that this group of women were also Dalits, the people once called “untouchables” who exist beyond the lowest level of India’s caste system. No one expected their newspaper to survive, yet it did. It still remains the only women-run paper in India.

Documentarians Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh follow these women as they engage in a fearless kind of journalism, reporting abuses and corruption no one else covers. Led by journalist Meera Devi, they investigate and report, but also train and encourage other Dali women who want to join them in doing what journalism is supposed to do: speaking truth to power. And they do that while battling both sexism and caste discrimination every day.

The title refers to several things, including the fiery devotion these women have to the mission of their news outlet for truth-telling, and their determination to covering stories that are too hot, too incendiary, for most other Indian media outlets. Often these are issues of particularly concern to women or to Dalits generally, who face prejudice and often live at the lowest rung of the economic ladder. But the title might also refer to their fierce commitment to each other.

These women journalists are committed to reporting untold stories with courage, but the whole operation serves another purpose: to encourage women who otherwise have little power to take control of their lives. The news outlet welcomes any woman who wants to join their effort, training them in reporting and giving them educational and job skills they never had before. All the staff work as a team, with a commitment to uplifting and supporting women like themselves. At the time the documentary was shot, the news outlet was actively embracing new media, arming their female reporters with smartphones for their work, women who have never owned a cell phone and might have little formal education. And it is impressive what these women can achieve with those tools and that encouragement.

The documentary follows the women journalists as they report on a series of stories, including one of serial rapes that have been ignored by both other media and the police. By digging deep and by dogged persistence, the reporters force both other media to recognize the crime and authorities to address it. The film also follows several individual stories, including one new young recruit with no education who discovers a self-confidence and ability she didn’t know she had before. Another thread focuses on a young woman who becomes a star reporter, and with eyes newly opened to life’s possibilities, embarks on higher education. Watching Meera Devi’s devotion to high journalistic standards and to covering the stories others won’t, combined with her skill and warmth as a mentor, is truly inspiring. The women are not only hard working but joyful in their work and fellowship with each other.

If you need a dose of uplift, in the face of all the negative things happening in the world now, WRITING WITH FIRE delivers that, just as these female reporters deliver the news their community needs. WRITING WITH FIRE, in Hindi with English subtitles, debuts on VOD on all major digital platforms on Mar. 22, and will have its TV debut on PBS’s “Independent Lens” on Mar. 28.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

THE FRENCH DISPATCH – Review

(From L-R): Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Fisher Stevens and Griffin Dunne in the film THE FRENCH DISPATCH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

After heading off to distant worlds in DUNE (transported via the “cinema starship”), how about a visit to another faraway world? Well, it feels and looks pretty similar to our own, but with some major differences. If only our Earth had as much wit, charm, and whimsy, though both have Bill Murray, one of a galaxy of stars. I’m talking about the wondrous world of Wes Anderson, who effortlessly mixes nostalgia, literate language, and modern film tech to create a place that evokes a magical past, but feels fresh and new. And, he’s gifted movie lovers with a pretty wrapped early holiday present. Oh, it’s a gift subscription to the supplement magazine to the Liberty Kansas Evening Sun, THE FRENCH DISPATCH.


The film begins, much like many periodicals, with a brief publishing history and a table of contents, introducing us to the various editors. Its office on the top floor of a small building in the French metropolis of Ennui-sur-Blase is run by longtime editor Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Murray) until his sudden death in 1975. As his longtime staff gathers for a memorial in his private office, the narrator (Angelica Huston) presents several articles from the supplement’s long run. First is a bicycle tour of the streets of Ennui by writer Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson). The pages turn to the art section as J.K.L. Beensen (Tilda Swinton), tells the story of painter Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio Del Toro) to a rapt audience. Moses was producing abstract paintings of his muse/guard Simone (Lea Seydoux) while serving a lengthy sentence for multiple murders (though he’s clearly disturbed). This attracts the attention of art dealer/hustler Julian Cadazio (Adrian Brody) whose gallery promotes the work of Moses. Though unable to get the artist a pardon, Julian prods him into creating a masterpiece for the owner of the Evening Sun. From there we’re off to the “current events” section as writer Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) examines the student uprisings of the late 60s as she focuses on the young leader of the movement, the charismatic Zefferelli (Timothee Chalamet). Rounding out this “best of” edition is a food article by Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright). Guesting on an early 70s TV talk show he relates the story to its host (Liev Schrieber), one that begins as an examination of “police cuisine” by sharing a meal with the police commissioner (Mathieu Amalric). But the entrees are set aside when the commissioner’s son is kidnapped by ruthless criminals led by his chauffer (Edward Norton) and his showgirl/moll (Saoirse Ronan). This prompts a harrowing chase and a police dragnet of the city. At its conclusion, the story resumes back in Howitzer’s office as the staff prepares for an uncertain future.

As with many Anderson projects, there are no clear “lead roles’, but the cast, many in his unofficial “reparatory company” get ample time to ‘shine’ in several small roles. Murray is the perfect father figure/supervisor as the soft-spoken Howitzer. Wilson balances his laconic line delivery with some nifty slapstick as our cycling guide (look out for the subway entrance…). One of the movies’ most versatile “chameleons” adds another eccentric role to her repertoire as the awkward, toothy art expert who’s not as witty as she believes. Del Toro is funny and dangerous as the animal-like art savant and is matched by Tony Revolori as his younger self. He makes for a good counterpart in his scenes with Brody as the intense, motor-mouthed “artist exploiter” Julian. Seydoux is the ultimate deadpan seductress as the prison’s model/muscle. McDormand is “all business” as the investigating journalist who gets far too close with Chalamet, who’s his usual youthful charmer (and capable of cultivating a much better mustache, I’d think). As the new writer in town, Wright has a melancholy dignity as he conquers the challenges of the time (though many barriers he faced are still in place). Amalric is a most efficient “crimebuster”, always in control despite the danger to his youngster. His personal chef, Nescaffier juggles policework and epicurial accument is played with grace and subtlety by Stephen Park. And though they’re given few lines, it’s great to see Elizabeth Moss, Fisher Stevens, and Griffin Dunne huddled in the editor’s office. Oh, and who’s that next to Anderson stalwart Bob Balaban? Could it be our beloved Fonz, Henry Winkler? Exactamundo’!

As you’ve no doubt surmised, this is an anthology film, with segments clearly delineated by article headings and even page numbers (Pg. 14-53, etc.). And with that format, some stories are stronger than others. It was wise for Anderson to bookend the (to be kind) less riveting of the stories (the student protests) in the middle, between the delightful prison artist and police dinner sequences. The script from Anderson and co-writers Roman Coppola and Hugo Guinness is full of wit and acerbic commentary (“no crying” is written above Howitzer’s door). And then there are the exquisite visuals. Each moment is designed and framed like a classic illustration or photo essay from a bygone era. Happily, Anderson has the look of the film constantly changing, popping from black and white to color, from widescreen to standard “square” ratio, and going from rapid editing “chops” to superb “slo-mo”. Plus there’s a nod to “old school” effects with some delicate miniatures (love the “cross-section” airplanes) along with classic “hand-drawn” style “2D” animation (the a”artist renderings” are in the style of the FD covers created by the staff artist Hermes Jones played by Jason Schwartzman). It’s all engaging “eye candy’ for adults (though all ages should be fascinated). Here’s another qurky, endearing literary “love letter” from one of our most imaginative film “voices”. It’s a shame we can’t all subscribe to THE FRENCH DISPATCH, but this delight is the next best thing.

3.5 Out of 4

THE FRENCH DISPATCH is playing in select theatres

MR JONES – Review

James Norton as Gareth Jones in MR JONES. Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films

In the early ’30s, a young Welsh journalist named Jones uncovers a secret famine in Stalin’s Soviet Union, a revelation that helps inspire George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” The fact-based MR JONES is a gripping biographical historical political thriller about the little-remembered courageous Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (James Norton), but in a way, it is also a haunting tale of the critical importance of independent investigative journalists committed to truth.

Acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Holland (IN DARKNESS, EUROPA EUROPA) helms the English-language MR JONES, a powerful portrait of courage in truth-telling, inspired by the real-life Welsh journalist Gareth Jones. The drama features a script by Andrea Chalupa and co-stars Peter Sargaard. Interestingly, this film is a reversal of the usual pattern of a men making a film about a courageous woman. Director Holland puts a spotlight on the now little-known Gareth Jones, who also scored an interview with Hitler shortly after he became chancellor of Germany and tried to raise the alarm about Hitler, before traveling to the Soviet Union with the intention of interviewing Stalin but ends up exposing the Holodomor, the infamous man-made famine in Ukraine.

Hard to believe now, but in 1932 and 1933, the political and business leaders of Europe and the U.S. believed both that Stalin had created a “workers’ paradise” in a prosperous but still-new Soviet Union, and that Hitler, the new chancellor of Germany, would not take that country to war. Jones also believed the image Stalin created but what he saw in Moscow and Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, leads to reporting that stripped away both propaganda facades, revealing the ugly truth that no one wanted to hear, and which powerful forces tried to cover up.

The film actually starts not with Gareth Jones but author George Orwell (Joseph Mawle), working on his novel “Animal Farm” in a rural cottage surrounded by wheat fields. It then switches to the young Gareth Jones, although Orwell will return later. Having just garnered wide-spread public attention for being the first Western journalist to interview the new German chancellor, Adolph Hitler, Jones then tries to warn British and other leaders about Hitler’s true intentions. Although many are impressed with Jones’s feat in interviewing Hitler, his warning falls on deaf ears, even those of his boss, former British prime minister David Lloyd George (Kenneth Cranham), a fellow Welshman for whom Jones works as a foreign affairs advisor.

Undeterred, Jones focuses on the Soviet Union as a potential ally in the coming war. Like many others, Jones is impressed with the seeming success of the Soviet Union, although he is puzzled where Stalin is getting the money to pay for his impressive industrial advances. Determined to interview Stalin, Jones makes his way to Moscow, where he finds a strange and contradictory world, where questions are dangerous. He seeks out the New York Times’ Moscow bureau chief, Walter Duranty (Peter Sarsgaard), a battle-scarred Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, for help. He also meets Ada Brooks (Vanessa Kirby), a young journalist working for Duranty. Eventually, Jones travels to Ukraine, where he makes his shocking discovery.

MR JONES may not be the definitive biographical film on Jones, and dramatic license has been taken (this is a narrative film, not a documentary) but it is still a worthy effort to put a spotlight on a courageous but largely-forgotten investigative journalist, as well as to remind us of the Ukraine famine known as the Holodomor.

The world’s leaders were cool to Jones’s warning about Hitler, in part because they did not want to believe it. The same can be said of his later revelations about Stalin, although worries about Hitler might have contributed to the efforts of leaders to discredit what Jones reported on the Ukraine famine of 1932-1933. Also at stake were the interests of businessmen who were in profitable partnerships with Stalin’s Soviet Union.

Director Agnieszka Holland brilliantly brings out these forgotten facts, in an low-key but devastatingly effective way. In the notes for the film, the director says she initially intended only to revive the memory of the courageous, determined Gareth Jones but as filming was underway, the connections to the importance of independent, fearless journalists in the present time became increasingly apparent.

The masterful skill Holland showed in layered, complicated films like IN DARKNESS is on full display here as well. Holland’s drama puts us in the midst of murky, tense, complex situations with complicated people but where the political and human reality of what is happening is crystal clear. The story unfolds slowly but the impact is devastating.

Brilliantly photographed by Tomasz Naumiuk, MR JONES is filled with atmospheric period mood, as the script by Andrea Chalupa slowly builds into a tense political thriller, taking us from brightly-lit rooms in Britain and Berlin, to shadowy, snowy Moscow, where the bright lights inside hotel rooms contrast with the dark secrets everyone avoids. This devastating, true-story based drama moves from biography and history to haunting observations about truth-telling and truth-tellers that hit close to home.

The key to much of the film’s impact is first-rate performance by James Norton as Gareth Jones. Norton is a bit old for the role, as Jones was about 27 at the time, but Norton’s boyish face and energetic performance easily overcome that. Courage and persistence are key aspects of Norton’s young Gareth Jones. At the start, Jones is an innocent, bright young man with a promising future, serving as foreign affairs advisor, a personal assistant really, to Lloyd George, but he is changed by what he experiences in Moscow, and then Ukraine, transforming into a toughened warrior for the truth.

The rest of the cast add greatly to this well-acted drama that pointedly focuses on the choices of individuals. These characters are not simple black-and-white figures, but real people – complex, nuanced and fully-rounded – and what happens depends on their decisions that could easily have gone another way. Peter Sarsgaard plays Walter Duranty, the New York Times bureau chief in Moscow, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist that Jones turns to as soon as he arrives in Moscow, after learning that his Moscow contact and journalism mentor has been killed. At first, Duranty seems like an ally but Jones finds that nothing is either clear or straight-forward in Moscow, a shadowy world of secrets and forbidden questions where journalists live in comfort but are forbidden to leave Moscow and are constantly trailed by minders. Sarsgaard’s Duranty is a complex, layered, ever-shifting character, one of the actor’s best performances. Vanessa Kirby as fellow journalist Ada Brooks (Vanessa Kirby), forms a bond with Jones but finds herself caught in a difficult place, torn between a wish to report the truth and great fear.

Unable to get the answers he is hoping for in Moscow, Jones travels to Ukraine, and slipping way from his minder, risks his life as he finds starving people while the wheat grown in the area is shipped to Moscow. Thoughts of the Irish famine are inescapable. Back in Germany, a toughened Jones is committed to truth-telling and releases a statement to the press about the famine, Stalin and what he found in the Soviet Union. Jones is introduced to George Orwell, who is devastated by what Jones has revealed, which influences his novel “Animal Farm.” Jones’ discovery reveals the truth about Stalin but Western leaders, focused instead on what was happening in Germany, push to cover up the truth about Stalin.

This is a historical drama, not a documentary, so there are points where the film departs from history. As an example, at one point, Jones gives as his reason for wanting to visit the Ukraine as a wish to see the place where his mother taught. Jones, who spoke several languages, did have a mother who worked in Russia as a teacher for the family of a British industrialist based in Ukraine but by 1933, when this story takes place, Jones had already visited the area. Other details are changed but the larger story, the important point of the drama, is true, and it is a remarkable, moving portrait of personal courage and persistence in pursuit of the truth.

MR JONES is admirable film, an often low-key but powerful portrait of courage, a moving, worthy drama that both revives the memory of nearly forgotten independent journalist Gareth Jones, and a timely reminder of the importance of truth-telling in these fraught and difficult times. MR JONES is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, and Fandango Now starting June 19.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

DARK MONEY – Review

Investigative journalist John S. Adams in the Montana Capitol building, in a scene from the documentary DARK MONEY, a PBS Distribution release.

Director Kimberly Reed’s documentary DARK MONEY is a cautionary tale on the risks to a democratic republic from hidden money funding political campaign ads. This engrossing documentary is a chilling but fascinating look at the way money from secret out-of-state and even foreign government sources can be used to influence or disrupt state-level political races in this country, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. To illustrate the issue, Reed focuses a state legislature race in Montana as an example, where out-of-state organizations use dark money to fund an effort to gain control of its legislature and direct public policy for those special interests.

Montana is a good example, as a conservative state that is traditionally Republican but which has both an independent streak and a tradition of grassroots community in politics. Although the specific example is Montana, it it is a clear illustration of the power of unlimited hidden money to influence local elections in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, a cautionary tale for other states also being targeted for similar efforts. Recently in Missouri, when the “right-to-work” proposition, Prop A, was on the ballot, pro-“right-to-work” political mailers and ads appeared on local television and in mailboxes, a campaign funded by one of the groups featured in this documentary, Americans for Prosperity, a “dark money” organization founded by one of the Koch brothers and Karl Rove.

Montana, as the documentary points out, is unique in some ways. Montana has low population but abundant natural resources. The state has had lots of experience with outside interests trying to control and exploit their resources, and then leaving residents of the state to clean up or live with the consequences or mess. That history has made Montanans both more wary, and skilled, in dealing with outsider corporations and individuals. The state also has a history of citizen politicians, who hold jobs besides their political ones and stay part of the community, as well as their tradition of community involvement.

As the documentary notes, this is not a Democrats versus Republicans fight, or conservative versus liberals, but a battle for local control of elections and public policy. Voters on both sides of the political aisle have railed against political ads funded by “out-of-state” interests. In this documentary, the Republican party is the target of this well-funded “dark money” effort to direct public policy in Montana on which Reed’s documentary focuses. One particular state senate race gets a lot of attention, but the documentary extends its focus to include other examples within the state and the national picture.

The key to this is dark money, the money funneled through non-profit 501c4 organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. “Follow the money” is an old phrase in newspapers but dark money thwarts the public’s right to know.  It prevents the public from finding out who is funding public efforts like direct mailings or political ads, information that can reveal motivations behind those political or public policy efforts, and who benefits from them. Legally, these campaigns are not supposed to coordinate with the politicians’ campaign, but the use of multiple organizations funded by dark money’s hidden donors can mask that coordination.

Director Kimberly Reed follows the story from multiple viewpoints, including journalists covering the Montana capital, various Republican citizen politicians, and the tiny Montana government agency tasked with overseeing their elections.

We also hear from a former member of the Federal Election Commission, the FEC, the national organization that is supposed enforce election laws, which reveals that lack of oversight is a national problem, and one spanning more than one presidential administration or party. The documentary takes a look at how 501c4 organizations through which dark money is funneled, such as Western Tradition Partnership, also known as American Tradition Partnership, and the National Right to Work campaign, which aims to get rid of unions. As one speaker notes, organizations like these aim to influence the outcome of elections because it “doesn’t want to lobby them (politicians) – it wants to own them right from the beginning.”

Reed does a masterful job pulling this all together, letting the people in Montana speak, and allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions about the national problem. Anyone who values democracy in this country should take a look at this revealing documentary.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

CITY OF GHOSTS (2017) – Review

A scene from Matthew Heineman’s CITY OF GHOSTS. Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios / A&E IndieFilms / IFC Films. (c)

In March 2014, the military group calling itself the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, took over the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, and declared it the capital of their caliphate. Journalists were no longer able to enter the city to report on events, and ISIS began releasing a series of propaganda videos painting a rosy picture of the city, as a recruiting tool. But a group of young pro-democracy activists stepped in as journalists, reporting on what was really happening in Raqqa. While ISIS’ slick Hollywood-style media campaign presented Raqqa as a peaceful, fully functioning city, the citizen journalists of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) told the world what as really taking place, with eye-witness reports and footage of the chaos, dysfunction and violence gripping the city.

Documentarian Mathew Heineman (CARTEL LAND) shines a spotlight on Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) in the moving, heart-breaking CITY OF GHOSTS. Heineman was nominated for an Oscar for CARTEL LAND, a remarkable documentary that took the filmmaker and viewers inside a Mexican drug cartel.

The documentary opens in 2015 as Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently is being honored for its journalistic contributions by the nonprofit group the Committee to Protect Journalists. Heineman serves as director, cameraman, producer and co-editor in this often personal documentary. Like in CARTEL LAND, Heineman embedded himself with the subjects of his documentary, which gave him remarkable access and a kind of fly-on-the-wall view of events. The filmmaker made contact with the members of RBSS in Turkey, where they had fled after things became too heated in Syria. Even on the other side of the border, their work continued, as they posted video and reports received from contacts still in Raqqa.

The film focuses on four members – Aziz, Hamoud, Hassam, and Mohamad. None of the four men were journalists originally but brought an array of skills to the mission. Aziz’s mastery of English made him the spokesman, drawing attention to the information on the website, while the others served as cameraman, technical expert, and reporter respectively. Most were college students in their twenties, and one, Mohamad, a former math teacher in his thirties, who had been inspired by the Arab Spring. When ISIS took over their city and declared it the capital of their caliphate, they were appalled the awful conditions that quickly arose as well as by ISIS’ slickly-made propaganda campaign. Along with other Syrians using social media, they exposed ISIS’ lies and misinformation on their website, counteracting ISIS’ recruiting efforts and drawing their ire.

One cannot help but be moved by the bravery, resourcefulness and drive of the people behind Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, who endured painful personal losses in their work. They worked in secret in Raqqa, on the run, and then in exile, to get out the truth of what is happening in their city. The documentary gives a close-up view of the daily lives of the members of RBSS. The film is strongest when it lets the subjects speak, to tell their own story, which it frequently does. The film is light on details of the men’s personal backgrounds and the group’s methods, probably to protect them from ISIS.

The first half of the film is inspiring, thrilling even, as the members of RBSS out-think and outmaneuver ISIS assassins, posting footage and reports while in hiding and on the move. The documentary also offers samples of ISIS’ Hollywood-style propaganda videos. After ISIS took over Raqqa, it switched from amateur videos promoting their cause to more polished, professional ones which borrowed Hollywood techniques and look like action movies, which created a powerful recruiting tool.

Some of the man-in-the-street footage RBSS gathered and posted is also included in the documentary. Some of this material, including public executions, is shockingly graphic, well beyond what might be seen on American media. Coupled with the regular reports of ISIS’ assassinations of RBSS members and even their families, it creates a visceral reaction.

The film is often deeply personal, presenting detailing their personal sacrifices and costs. When ISIS closes in on them in Syria and kills some members, the leaders flee to Turkey to continue their reporting, publishing material sent to them despite ISIS’ efforts to shut down all means of communication. When ISIS assassins reach into Turkey, the team flees to Europe.

Up to this point, the film has the driving heroic energy of a fictional film, a narrative arc that makes the audience hope for an ending where these brave souls win their battle over ISIS. But this is not a Hollywood movie, this is reality, where the battle in Syria is still unfolding and the ending unclear.

Once it Europe, the mission becomes more difficult with communication lines stretched thin. The tone changes and the film loses some steam, The work becomes harder, getting information out becomes difficult, and ISIS becomes more effective at tracking down their reporters and it is impossible to add more reporters in Syria. In this more distant place, Syria starts to feel far off, and personal lives are changing as these mostly young men grow into more adult lives. One member and his wife welcome their first child. At the same time, the leaders of RBSS are confronted with anti-immigrant protesters in Germany, who ironically seem unable to distinguish them from the forces they are fighting. When the threat of assassination reaches out again, they are faced with a choice: hide or risk death to continue their work.

The documentary shifts from RBSS’ reporting to the personal lives of its members as it progresses. The film is revealing and moving, but does not have a strong resolution because the fight in Syria is still going on. Still, the film is worth seeing for its personal stories and its realism, because real life rarely has the neat endings of fiction. Their work goes on, as their lives go on, adjusting to a new life in Europe, wondering if they will ever return to their homeland and families. One of the subjects sums it up, in a comment: “Either we win or they kill us all.”

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars