Dream Bigger

Garbage Dreams


Release: 07.31.09
Rated UR
1 hour, 29 minutes


Matinee



On the edge of Cairo lies the neighborhood of Mokattam. The 60,000 people that live here are known as Zaballeen, or "garbage people," because they earn a living by recycling 80% of the garbage they collect from the city. That is, until Cairo contracted foreign companies for garbage disposal. For four years, Garbage Dreams follows three teen boys, Adham, Osama, and Nabil, as they look to their future while their people's livelihood is usurped.

The Zaballeen heft sacks of garbage three to five times their size along the streets of Cairo, hoisting them into carts and trucks to haul to Mokattam. Upon first glance, Mokattam seems little more than a trash pile, but closer inspection reveals an entire society organized around recycling. Bottles, cans, paper and food waste are separated into large piles and processed by the Zaballeen. All of this is done by them with only minimal payment from the people of Cairo.


Respect, family and communal pride runs deep within the three boys. The charismatic though unfocused Osama wishes only to attain respect from his family and friends. Nabil is ready to have his own family, but the lack of work worries him. Adham supports his family while his father is incarcerated, but he has industrious visions for the Zaballeen's future.

The plight of these three boys is compelling; you can't help but sympathize over the adversity they face. However, Garbage Dreams focuses only on one element of the issue. To inspire audiences to action, the entire problem needs to be explained. Being the internationally uninformed American I am, I know little of the cultural, political and religious issues that may exist between the people of Cairo and the Zaballeen. For example, the Zaballeen are mostly Coptic Christian, a religious minority in predominantly Muslim Egypt. The Zaballeen are poor farmers who moved from the rural south to the outskirts of the city to find new work. As much as we'd all like to buy the world a Coke, how much did these prejudices play into the decision of Cairo and its citizens to privatize service?

Knowing more about the attitudes of the Cairo government, its people, and the foreign trash companies toward the Zaballeen may have helped to build even larger support for the Zaballeen and their future as recyclers. With that perspective lacking, I found myself wondering why I was looking at yet another random scene of a stray dog scrounging through piles of trash.

Despite providing only a singular context, Garbage Dreams achieves its goal; to raise awareness of the Zaballeen and their predicament. Osama, Adham, and Nabil still hold to their recycling dreams by the film's end, but you'll leave wondering what the reality of their future will hold.

To learn more, visit www.garbagedreams.com

Repeat Bidness: An Inconvenient Truth

*This post is on the Wrath of McCoy! auto-pilot.*

An Inconvenient Truth

Release: 05.24.06
DVD Release: 11.21.06
Rated PG

1 hour, 40 minutes

Full Price ($$$$) <
> Matinee ($$$)


In Superman Returns Lex Luthor wants to create a new land mass in the Atlantic Ocean because real estate means money and power. The problem with creating the new land mass is that it would effectively destroy Metropolis with flooding and tidal waves. Luckily for the world, Superman is there to fly in and save the day. It’s a great story line and a great movie that you should check out if you haven’t already. But you may ask yourself, why am I talking about Superman Returns in a review for An Inconvenient Truth? Because the premise is strikingly similar and not as fictional as you think. Researchers have been touting the environmental effects of global warming for decades. Global warming is reported to attribute to increased melting of glaciers and ice caps on countries such as Greenland. As the temperature rises, the ice melts and much of the planet’s frozen lands will be uncovered and readied for development. Of course, all that water will flood millions of miles of existing land and one thing’s for certain; we have no Superman to stop it.

Luckily, we have former Vice President Al Gore, and though he isn’t donning any tights or cape, he has taken to the skies to travel and educate the world about the impacts of global warming in the hopes that citizens will join together to make a global change. Director Davis Guggenheim (TV: Deadwood) presents Gore’s global journey in a documentary designed to take the message to audiences beyond the lecture hall. The documentary highlights Gore’s entire presentation, complete with visual aids and witticisms. Guggenheim does depart intermittently from the engaging presentation to delve into the orator’s history. The departures review Gore’s youth in Tennessee and Washington, D.C., his time as a senator, his son’s near-death experience, and his time as a presidential candidate, all of which help to depict Gore as a concerned individual who is reaching out to his fellow man rather than a politician or salesman with a ulterior purpose. While it is true that Gore is a politician and everyone has an agenda, the documentary successfully utilizes these segues to present the issue of global warming as pertinent to everyone.

Though it is a documentary, specifically a documentary centered on a presentation, it is engaging and at times amusing despite the weighty subject. Gore’s use of satellite imagery and historical photos help put the problem into an easily understandable perspective. For folks who may need more convincing, the documentary discusses specific research that supports the effect global warming is having on the planet. For audiences who are well-versed in global warming it is probably a little too simplified and may be a bit dull, but the average concerned individual should receive a solid foundation for understanding this issue.

Dirty Undies
Gore gets a bit passionate but not quite worked up enough to generate anything worthy of Dirty Undies status.

The Money Shot
The popular media will say that there is no conclusive evidence to prove that global warming is the cause of our increasingly hot summers. This documentary gives you the information to help you decide for yourself. Whether you come out a believer or not, going to see this film will, at the very least, spare you from the record heat wave we’re experiencing for a couple hours.

More Than a Mouthful: factualTV

*This post is on the Wrath of McCoy! auto-pilot.*

First, I must apologize to Carl over at factual TV for neglecting his request for so many months. You see, Carl put me onto his website which I've found is a great place to find documentaries you may not have heard of otherwise.

Being the Reel Whore that I am, I had to check out one of the most popular documentary films, This is Rock Bitch.

This is Rock Bitch Trailer (NSFW)

Unfortunately, I have yet to finish the film, though not because it was painful to watch. I had some issues with the player, which I believe are more a function of my pathetic Vista-infected machine and a wonky Firefox upgrade than the factualTV site. I am hoping to find more time to finish this high-quality film and check out many of the others which can be found under topics ranging from biographies to culture to sports and more.

Once you sign up, you're given a number of credits which you can use to purchase any documentaries that are available for download. You can see trailers for all films. Some films are free, others you'll need to purchase but so far I've only seen films priced at $1.99 to $2.99 which isn't terrible. If you get the chance, you should give factualTV a look see.

A Quickie: Young@Heart

Young@Heart

Release: 04.09.2008 limited
Rated PG
1 hour, 47 minutes

FULL PRICE ($$$$)

Young@Heart is a documentary which follows the Young@Heart chorus from the beginning of their hectic seven-week rehearsal schedule until opening night in their hometown of Northampton, Massachusetts. The big deal? The chorus is comprised of members whose average age is 80 years old. Choral Director Bob Cilman started the chorus back in 1982 to perform showtunes, but its repertoire has evolved over the years to include complicated numbers by classic and contemporary rock and pop artists such as James Brown, the Clash, Sonic Youth and even Coldplay.

British filmmaker Stephen Walker caught this venerable choir's performance in London and followed them back to the States to get a behind-the-scenes look at what makes it all work. Walker interviews several choir members about their lives and why they perform. Eileen Hall is a spry 92 years old and you can tell Walker is smitten by her charms and energy immediately. Former member Fred Knittle, returning to the chorus after a long illness, is damn funny despite being tethered to an oxygen machine. Walker gets the giggles just being around him, or almost any other chorus member. Given that there are so many members in the chorus, it's clear that not all their stories could be shown within the film's runtime (and it's possible some members preferred not to be spotlighted). Walker intertwines snippets of the group's rehearsals and concerts with brief personal interviews and spices it up with a series of inventive music videos!

With only a couple of questions and a steady camera, the interviewees' tenacity and liveliness radiate onscreen. In just a brief stint, the Young@Heart chorus captivate audiences with their uplifting and heartwarming stories. Be warned that you may experience uncontrollable surges in your emotions.

Rigorous practice regimens, music video shoots, documentary interviews and world tours...I thought the Rolling Stones were the only elderly rockers able to maintain such a daunting schedule! Heck, Eileen has her own key to the nursing home so she can come and go when the attendants are sleeping. Young@Heart is a wonderful film that you shouldn't be reading about; you should be experiencing it.

P.S.- After seeing this film, check out their site to learn even more about these inspiring folks.