Documentary: Armadillo, Winnebago Man, Art Star

A few notable documentaries have been added to Netflix Watch Instantly in the past few days.

Janus Metz's Armadillo is an amazingly well shot war documentary produced while Metz was embedded with Danish troops in Afghanistan.  This would make an interesting double feature with Restrepo by Sebastian Junger and the late Tim Hetherington.  At the time of the release of Armadillo Metz was interviewed by Aaron Hillis at the GreenCine Daily Podcast, where he goes into some detail about the production of the film.


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Armadillo  (Janus Metz, Denmark, 2010, 101 minutes)
Netflix: Documentarian Janus Metz hunkers down with a platoon of Danish soldiers on a six-month Afghan tour of duty, and his exceptional access yields a field-level view of the boredom, adrenaline and confusion that comprise their daily routine. Shot in assorted digital formats on cameras at times fixed to soldiers' helmets, the film records the recruits on patrol and at rest and witnesses their transformation when finally called to combat.  Netflix link.

Ben Steinbauer's Winnebago Man takes as its starting point a widely seen viral video of outtakes from a Winnebago promotional video.

Winnebago Man (Ben Steinbauer, USA, 2009, 85 minutes)
Netflix: This entertaining documentary explores the phenomenon of Jack Rebney, who became an Internet sensation after a grainy, nearly 20-year-old video of him furiously swearing up a storm while filming a Winnebago sales video made the rounds online. Traveling to a mountaintop, filmmaker Ben Steinbauer tracks down Rebney -- who's become known in underground circles as the "Angriest Man in the World" -- and tries to discover what makes the loner tick.  Netflix link.

Pietra Brettkelly's The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins is one of those interesting documentary experiences where you have decidedly mixed feelings about both the subject and the filmmakers.  Your response to the film might depend on your feelings about the art world in the first place, but even if you are sympathetic to the conceptual side of contemporary art, you might find yourself squirming awkwardly watching certain sequences here.  Personally, I like have those kinds of conflicted viewing experiences, so I recommend the film even though I'm not always sure about ethical issues in the film.

The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins (Pietra Brettkelly, New Zealand, 2007, 98 minutes)
Netflix: Contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft's passionate attempt to adopt Sudanese twins Madit and Mongor Akot is the focus of this documentary. As Beecroft works tirelessly to fulfill her dream of adoption, she places her marriage and her career at risk. Known for pushing boundaries through her art, Beecroft wants to be the first foreigner to legally take South Sudanese children out of the country, an action certain to have far-reaching implications.  Netflix link.

Documentary: The Red Chapel, Far from Afghanistan

A very unique documentary has appeared on Netflix Watch Instantly, and I highly recommend it even though I was somewhat conflicted about it's technique and documentary ethics.  In The Red Chapel, Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger takes two Danish-Korean so-called comedians to North Korea under the pretense of a cultural exchange.  One member of the troupe, Jacob Nossell, has a severe speech impediment and occasionally requires a wheelchair, and in a refreshingly non-politically correct manner he refers to himself as a "spastic."  The film documents how the North Korean "handlers" help guide the troop through various revisions of their routine until it is deemed appropriate for a North Korean school-age audience.  In a nutshell, this means minimizing the role of Nossell in the sketches, which has a profound impact on him as he realizes what is happening.

My main ethical concerns about the documentary have to do with the issue of deception (the false pretense under which the film is made) and the issue of using Nossell and his emotional vulnerability to make a political point.  But that said, Brügger doesn't try to hide behind these issues, and at various points makes it clear that what he's doing is problematic (especially when showing Nossell's response to what is happening).  Far too often Brügger is bombastic and didactic in his rhetoric against North Korea, which seems pretty unnecessary since it is hard not to object to the conditions there, even on the surface level that we are shown.  The film transcends these problems because it gives Nossell a voice to make some of the most pointed observations about the nice way he is being treated on the surface, and the deep hurt being caused by the North Koreans' obvious contempt for and fear of him.

And despite my objections about methodology, the film provides some truly jaw-dropping sequences that could only have been achieved though this method.  It will make you squirm in your seat as you watch moments of surreal audacity.  That is the kind of discomfort that some documentaries are supposed to engender for our own good.

The Red Chapel (Mads Brügger, Denmark, 2009, 87 minutes)
Netflix: While in North Korea under the pretext of a cultural exchange, two Danish-Korean comics and a subversive journalist with a video camera attempt to ridicule their host nation's oppressive regime but encounter moral dilemmas and political manipulation. A bold look at the ethics of deceit, director Mads Brügger's darkly humorous documentary (and an award winner at Sundance) provides a rare glimpse inside one of the world's most secretive societies.  Netflix link.

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Over the next week, Fandor will be hosting several works-in-progress short films that eventually will make up the feature documentary Far from Afghanistan.  In addition to checking out the works-in-progress, you can also contribute to their Kickstarter campaign to help the project come to completion and get wider distribution. 

Far From Afghanistan: October Edition (Streaming October 6-12 on Fandor and at film's website)
Project description: Inspired by the 1967 collaborative undertaking, Far From Vietnam (Loin Du Vietnam), that united a variety of filmmakers, cameramen, editors and technicians “to knit together imagery of the war, interviews, intellectual styles, fictional incursions and documentary footage in a bid to counter and interpret the intensive media coverage and propaganda manipulated by the American government”, Far From Afghanistan strives to contribute to the international effort to redirect US policy away from military and political intervention toward true humanitarian and developmental care-giving (if and when requested). Bringing together some of the boldest and most politically-progressive U.S. filmmakers to speak from within the war machine, alongside contributions from native filmmakers throughout Afghanistan, Far From Afghanistan will examine through a mosaic of approaches – issues of shared responsibility, history and memory – all in a concerted effort to help accelerate political resistance to the war.  Fandor link.  October Edition link.