Waiting for the film to start (the crack in my camera lens says hi).
This is just going to be a short recap of the Docpoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival I went to last week. I watched five documentaries, which was quite effortless as it was spread across five days. Let me go through them one by one real quick (and I mean that).
Tokyo Uber Blues – Young Japanese film director graduate takes up a food delivery job in pandemic hit Tokyo. Decent, but surprisingly thin with insights of the industry. There was even a bizzare comparison between Tokyo being bombed flat during World War II and now again under the pandemic. Bombs and viruses are not the same.
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years – Old classic from 1988, looking into the LA heavy (hair) metal scene with lots of interviews from known and unknown band members. Shame that the scene that got most laughs where Ozzy spills his orange juice while talking about recovering from drug addiction was faked. Glad I saw it though, essential music documentary.
Danger Zone – Documentary that follows war zone tourists in Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria. Felt a bit too staged, but there were bizarre scenes where the tourists hand out money and toys to devastated children. Like that will solve their lives and justify their visit.
Tehtävänä Paratiisi (A Plan for Paradise) – This documentary of Finnish architects planning a whole new city in Nepal was interesting in concept, but short on material. Most of the conversations acted for the documentary were too plain to see. Must have been hard to film genuine moments on such a long office project. At least the footage of the streets of Nepal was okay.
Total Trust – Documentary that followed the tormented lives of human rights activists in China. Nothing really new here, Orwell’s 1984 surveillance dystopia moving ahead out there.
Overall I was satisfied with what I saw, even if a few of them were a bit meh. Better than sitting at home playing some video game at least.