Watching Documentaries!

 

DOCUMENTARY

For the past couple weeks, I've been learning about documentaries in my media class. We watched a total of three documentaries in class. Here they are: 

American Promise (2013; Drama/Documentary)

American Promise is a documentary that has over 13 years worth of footage. The film revolves around Idris and Seun, two boys that were observed since a young age. The two were put into a prestigious school in New York City known as Dalton. Dalton is known as one of the most prestigious private schools in the country. 

Idris's parents wanted to document their lives and process from a young age until they graduated. After a couple years, Idris stayed at Dalton, but Seun wasn't doing so great, so he went to a public school. Overall, the documentary was about the struggles of having to be a perfect student in one of the country's best schools. The expectations were very high for Idris, since he was still enrolled at Dalton. The end of the documentary shows that it doesn't matter where someone goes to school, as long as they are happy in the end. 

Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010; Comedy/Crime)

Exit Through the Gift Shop features a well known artist, Banksy. Banksy was originally going to make his documentary about his art work, but in the end it was all about Thierry Guetta. Guetta at the time was just beginning to become an artist. Banksy helped Guetta make his first gallery, which was a huge success. Overall, this documentary was helpful when exploring the creative side of my project. 

Abstract: The Art of Design (2017; 

Abstract: The Art of Design was first released in 2017 on Netflix. It currently has two seasons. Every episode has a different type of art featured. The first episode I watched was about costume design. The editing techniques they used in this episode were amazing. The colors and the overall episode was so fun to watch, and I didn't want it to end. 

The second episode I watched was about photography. This episode was more personal to me, since I want to become a photographer. It was so inspiring to watch Platon Antoniou create such astonishing work. There was a point where he went to another country to take pictures of women and their personal stories. It was so inspiring to watch him and how he handled every situation. 

Away (2023; Opinion Documentary)

Andrei and Alisa are two Ukrainians that fled their country as war forced them to leave. Their parents are still in Ukraine while they try to make a life for themselves in Budapest. There are a couple minutes of footage that show Andrei communicating with kids that are also from Ukraine. The kids are sharing their stories with Andrei about their experience in Ukraine. Andrei enjoys making toy soldiers. 

He takes his mother, who is still in Ukraine, and him and Alisa look at photos of a market that has been destroyed during a recent attack. Andrei and Alisa made street art of a Ukrainian flag on the floor, and the toy soldiers Andrei made were shown on the flag with a quote that says "How Long?" They face lots of hate for their art because not everyone sides with them or Ukraine. There are long moments in the Op-Doc that just focus on specific people, like Alisa. This is to show the emotions that they are experiencing. 

This documentary was very moving overall. It spoke for itself even though there weren't many words or music in the background. It was very inspiring.