by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Six films that had their world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year took viewers on journeys both intimate and universal. Three documentaries chronicled fisherman in India, the impact of photography on our culture, and whatever happened to the amazing collection of a former NYC video store. A trio of features depicted women in Spain, Great Britain, and Fremont, CA who were displaced in one way or another, and trying to find their way in the world. 

Against the Tide
Directed by Sarvnik Kaur

Against The Tide is an observational documentary from India, where Rakesh and Ganesh fish for their livelihoods. “Mother sea, protect my son,” is heard in the opening moments as these men are Koli fisherman in an ancestral business. But each man has a different approach to their work, which is growing tougher every day. Ganesh, who hustles at the bustling fish market, considers using LED lights, which are illegal (and if caught, their boats are confiscated). He worries that if he does this, he will have bad karma. But the benefit of using the LED lights will allow him to net big deep-sea hauls, rather than scrape by with small catches and little money, as Rakesh does. Ganesh tries to persuade Rakesh, a traditionalist who has a newborn baby with a medical condition, but Rakesh resists. Meanwhile, Ganesh’s wife is pregnant and financial stresses loom. Against the Tide is best depicting the relationship between these two friends, and the scenes of them on (and under) the water, and in each fisherman’s respective boats—especially an episode of night fishing—give viewers a real sense of being there. This compelling documentary sheds light on lives that might otherwise go unseen. 

Against The Tide will be available to watch online January 24 via Sundance, tickets available here.

Fantastic Machine
Directed by Axel Danielson and Maxmilien Van Aert Ryck

Fantastic Machine deftly chronicles the process, meaning, authenticity, and value of image-making. People certainly marvel at the camera obscura, and Eadweard Muybridge used photographs to capture (and create) a moving image. Yet Fantastic Machine asks, what does an image actually reveal, especially when they can be manipulated? (See: Green Screens). A photograph of a victim from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti has different meanings when seen from a different perspective, and Leni Riefenstahl used influential editing to create propaganda films for Hitler. More importantly, the filmmakers explore how viewers react to images—be that in the form of TV ratings, which help advertisers sell products to consumers, and the digital revolution where Netflix algorithms are designed to appeal to viewers’ taste, and YouTubers are monetizing their content. This fascinating documentary features hundreds of photographs and film clips to make these and other, related, relevant points, while it holds a mirror up to society about our own self-consciousness. Is there really any difference between an Indigenous man, who has never seen a photograph staring at a picture of himself for 20 minutes, a chimp scrolling through Instagram, or a livestreaming influencer posing for their subscribers? Fantastic Machine reveals the cynical answer.  

Fantastic Machine will be available to watch online January 24 via Sundance, tickets available here.

Fremont
Written by Carolina Cavalli and Babak Jalali
Directed by Babak Jalai

Fremont is shot in black and white, but this entire, melancholic film feels gray. The deliberately passive tone is emblematic of Donya’s (Anaita Wali Zada) depressed state. A young Afghan woman living in Fremont, CA Donya works in a Bay Area fortune cookie factory, where she gets promoted to writing fortunes. But her world is largely colorless; she works, eats at a restaurant, goes home to her single bed, and can’t sleep. Through a neighbor, she gets the opportunity to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Anthony (Gregg Turkington), hoping to get sleeping pills. Fremont walks a delicate tightrope between deadpan humor and dullness with more pauses in dialogue than action. A scene of Dr. Anthony spending a session reading White Fang to Donya is dryly amusing—she identifies with the wolf-dog’s sense of alienation—but for viewers unfamiliar with Turkington’s Neil Hamburger character, this scene can be excruciating. Donya has several other cockeyed, philosophical conversations—with her neighbors, Suleyman (Timur Nusratty) and Mina (Taban Ibraz), her coworker, Joanna (Hilda Schmelling), as well as Daniel (Jeremy Allen White), a talkative mechanic she meets. Her interactions are not uninteresting—Zada has a real screen presence—but too often, Fremont feels more enervating that engaging. Jalali’s film is insightful in places, but often feels as slight as a fortune cookie.

Fremont is available to watch online January 24 via Sundance, tickets available here.

Girl
Written and Directed by Adura Onashile

An intimate and thoughtful character study, Girl, written and directed by Adura Onashile, chronicles the close-to-suffocating bond between 24-year-old Grace (Déborah Lukumuena), and her 11-year-old daughter, Ama (Le’Shantey Bonsu). They are first seen together in the bath or cuddling; Grace tells Ama that they must “keep to themselves and not trust others.” Whereas Grace is crippled with anxiety, counting to herself as she reluctantly goes off to clean at night, Ama is curious and looks out on the world from the balcony of their apartment. When Ama is prompted to go to school, she befriends Fiona (Liana Turner), who lives in the next building. Grace is wary of the girl’s friendship, but Fiona is more equipped to help Ama cope with puberty than Grace is. As the residents of the towerblock are relocated, Grace becomes more worried about her and Ama’s safety. This leads to some conflict between mother and daughter as well as with other well-meaning folks. Girl is a touching drama that subtly addresses the larger issues of Grace grappling with her painful past through her efforts to protect her daughter. Onashile creates a palpable sense of displacement and Lukumuena gives a superb and haunting performance that captures Grace’s fragile emotional state well.

Girl is available to watch online January 24 via Sundance, tickets available here.

Kim’s Video
Directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin

Kim’s Video is a quirky documentary about cinephilia as filmmaker David Redmon (who codirected with Ashley Sabin) recounts, “What happened to Kim’s Video?”, the iconic East Village underground video store. Turns out the collection of 55,000+ films, including bootlegs, porn, and obscure titles, ended up in Salemi, Italy. But as the obsessed Redmon discovers—much to his horror—this amazing cultural archive has been neglected. Redmon hopes to rescue the collection and possibly even return it to Yongman Kim, the enigmatic founder of the landmark store. Kim’s Video is fun when Redmon illustrates his feelings with classic film clips, and a little less sure-footed as he untangles Italian politics and possible mafia connections in Salemi. If the filmmaking is uneven, and the filmmaker is a bit too self-absorbed, the story itself is certainly interesting and worthwhile.

Kim’s Video is available to watch online January 24 via Sundance, tickets available here.

Mamacruz
Written by Patricia Ortega and José Ortuño
Directed by Patricia Ortega

Mamacruz is a delightful coming-of-age story about the title character (Kiti Mánver), a religious grandmother, learning to embraces her sexuality. In the opening scenes she is appreciating a telenovela, only to be interrupted by her husband, Eduardo’s (Pepe Quero) snoring. But her romantic desires really become stimulated when she accidently sees some porn online. Suddenly, the “body of Christ” has a different meaning when Mamacruz fantasizes while arranging a garment on the statue of Jesus at the parish she attends regularly. Her impure thoughts lead her to light candles, but after she indulges a search for “soft porn” on the internet, well, chocolate-dipped churros have a different flavor. Mamacruz’s sexual self-discovery soon leads her to join a therapy group of like-minded older women and she starts smoking weed, doing shots, and sewing lingerie. Her empowerment, as she comes to experience a rapture of a different kind, is predictable, but it is rewarding nonetheless because the film has sex-positive attitude. Director and cowriter Patricia Ortega films this comedy-drama with care, often creating meaning in her artfully composed shots—such as Mamacruz and Eduardo reflected in a mirror that divides them. Mánver delivers a delicate performance as a woman who may be old, but still feels things. And the film’s final shot is a corker.

Mamacruz is available to watch online January 24 via Sundance, tickets available here.