I attended the Bethesda Film Fest years ago, and I hadn't thought about it recently until I received a Bethesda Beat email containing a link to watch some selected films from the festival. All were short documentaries, which are actually some of my favorite to watch, since film festivals are usually the only time you get to see stuff like that (read my take on this year's DC Environmental Film Festival). There were seven in total, and I enjoyed all of them!
I am not sure if this year's festival had a theme, but one thing that really occurred to me was how many of these short films highlighted the issues we have in the United States, a country that is supposed to be the Land of Dreams, a nation that other countries do (or at least used to) look up to as a democracy. Let's take a look at those first.
West Virginia - COVID and Hunger Collide
In West Virginia, people were already struggling to make ends meet when the coal industry was no longer booming like it used to be. Add a pandemic to the mix, and an even greater number of people were losing jobs and going hungry. The film shows how hard working Americans are not able to feed themselves and their families because the jobs cannot pay well, even to those who are educated or skilled. The film goes into the the issue of the middle-class: if someone makes too much money (even with as little as a $.50/hour raise), that person would lose government benefits that they still depend on; by making more money, they're even less able to provide for themselves and their dependents. A representative from a local food pantry went into detail about how difficult it was to give enough food to those in need before the pandemic, and how COVID pushed even more people into desperation. It astonishes me that America, the Land of Plenty, cannot feed all of its people when grocery stores across the nation are full of food and so much ends up going to waste.
Squeegee
This film looked at the young men in Baltimore who wash car windshields when they're parked at red lights to make a living. Most (none?) of them are doing this as additional income: this is the main way they make money to take care of themselves. It was heartbreaking to hear the stories from men who got into trouble when they were young and now find it difficult to get hired from a job, or from the boys who are only 13 or 14 years old who do this because their parents cannot provide for them. These men do this when they cannot be hired for other work, and they wish to avoid selling drugs and panhandling to support themselves. The scenes showing worn-down buildings in Baltimore and graffitied walls don't look like something that should be in such an historic city just an hour away from our nation's capital, and yet Baltimore is a city that is riddled with poverty and violence. I wish that these men would have opportunities to education and work that could give them a brighter future, rather than depending on the random kindness of strangers just to be able to feed themselves.
You Think You Know Me
This film is mostly a montage of scenes of police violence against African Americans, the protests in response to such violence, and the photos and names of the men and women who have lost their lives at the hands of police. Some of the names most of us are familiar with, like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but others have gone under the radar. All of these deaths are tragedies, and they were 100% preventable. The police are supposed to help protect people, but for the African American community, the police are NOT the people you turn to for help in fear of being arrested, or worse, killed. I don't know what the answer is, but I believe there needs to be immense police reform, particularly regarding bias training, and that our police force needs to be demilitarized. The police should not need tanks, tear gas, and machine guns to protect its people; those tools are specifically made to do damage and kill. This sort of systemic violence should NOT happen in a place like America, and yet it does, nearly every day, for hundreds of years.
The Good Candidate
Last year, Bob Good and Denver Riggleman were running against each other in Virginia's fifth district to be voted as the Republican candidate to move onto the next election. Riggleman was seen as a "purple" Republican, meaning he had more centrist ideas, which many felt did not represent this very red district. The main complaint again him was that he officiated a biracial, gay wedding; many of his constituencies felt he did not represent their values in supporting gay marriage. One of Bob Good's ardent supporters made a video in which he said that members of the LGBT community were trying to take away the rights of those with Judeo-Christian ethics. While Good doesn't blatantly agree with this man, the candidate doesn't condemn the man, either. In the end, Riggleman lost the race to bigotry. It's so disappointing to live in a country in which people believe that giving a group of people rights (the same rights that white, heterosexual Americans have) will impinge on the rights of others. Giving the LGBT community and non-white Americans rights doesn't mean anyone else would lose their rights: we would all be more free and equal under the law!
A Mirror of the Earth
This film was about Spain, not the United States, but the issue of water pollution and toxicity reaching local communities is definitely one that America can relate to. A corporation came in for mining, and when it left, toxic waste remained that polluted the drinking water; the mining itself created air pollution, too. Cancer rates in both children and adults are higher in that area. The issue of environmental justice is not new: the haves take from the have-nots, and leave the have-nots worse off than they were before. And what's terrible about environmental degradation is that it can happen so quickly yet have results that last decades, even centuries. This film mentions an ancient cave that was discovered due to the mining, and human bones were found there; humans had lived in the area for hundreds of years, and yet with the destruction of recent times, the place may be uninhabitable in the near future. We only have one Earth: why do we insist on destroying its future for our immediate gains?
To uplift the mood, there were two films that were more inspiring in a positive way:
Shi Fu Paul
This film is about Paul Jakubowski, a
Lipstick and Leather
I never knew what
"alternative drag" was until watching this film. There is a drag
scene in Baltimore (and sometimes in DC) that allows men to dress in drag, but
in a alternative, grungier way. The film follows a few of the performers, and
we learn about how they got into drag, what their drag character is like, and
what the alternative drag scene means to them and their identities. I always
enjoy watching films about things I don't know about, and I'm glad that there
is a space like this for those who want to explore it. This was one of the more
hopeful films since it shows the kind of acceptance that I wish our society had
for all people.
No comments:
Post a Comment