SIFF Day 6
They Killed Sister Dorothy (USA) 2008 ***1/2
Documentary about the murder of Dorothy Stang who was shot to death in 2005. Dorothy was a nun and an activist who lived in Brazil for 30 years working to help impoverished people and to save the Amazonian rain forest. She was shot to death in a dispute with loggers and ranchers over a lot of land that was part of a project to allow poor farmers to make a sustainable living while decreasing deforestation.

This was an interesting and depressing documentary. The amoral lawyers who defend the rancher who went to trial for Sister Dorothy's murder allowed the documentary filmmakers free access to their behind the scenes machinations. Their arrogance and absence of any real human feelings was appalling. The trigger man and a low level accomplice were convicted and sentenced. Only one of the ranchers involved in the murder stood trial and though the film ends with him being convicted, in the Q&A afterwards the director told us that three weeks ago he was acquitted in a re-trial. And the mass deforestation continues unabated.

Well, that was cheerful! Hope the next one we see will be uplifting....

Emmanuel Jal: War Child (USA) 2008 *****
Best documentary I've seen this fest- powerful, depressing and yet ultimately uplifting (yay!). It tells the story of Emmanuel Jal who was a child soldier during the 20 year war between Christian Southern Sudan and the Muslim Sudanese government in the North during the 1980's until the ceasefire in 2004. He was rescued and smuggled to Kenya by Emma McCune, a British foreign aid worker. He was educated in Nairobi, receiving a scholarship to a private school there and has since become a successful rapper and musician. He currently lives in London.

Emmanuel Jal tells his story in his own words, both in interviews and in filmed live performances of his music. The filmmakers also follow him as he journeys back to visit his sister, now studying in Nairobi and the rest of his family who are still living in Southern Sudan. The film also includes amazing footage of Emmanuel as a child in a refuge camp filmed by a French documentary film crew.

Emmanuel continues to record and perform his music and he is currently raising money to build a school in his father's village so that the children can be educated. The director attended and a lively Q&A followed the screening. He updated us on Emmanuel's life and told us that the other little boy that appeared in the French documentary is now studying medicine in Australia and will soon be a doctor. The French documentarians were pleased to discover that Emmanuel is alive and well- they thought he died as a child.

Jar City (Iceland) 2007 ***1/2
Icelandic murder mystery that doesn't fall apart at the end. The lead detective, Erlender, is hard-bitten yet engaging and likeable with a very dry sense of humor. He tracks down the killer even as he is dealing with his own problems- namely his drug addicted pregnant daughter. And chalk up another suicide! (Suicide is supposedly a "theme" at the fest this year.)

Total Movies seen: 29

*= Unclean, unclean
**= Crap, but doesn't make your eyes bleed
***= Watchable to good
****= Great
*****= Masterpiece/Classic