5 Excellent Documentaries from 2016

So, in what is quickly becoming a tradition, here is a supplementary list before I get on to my top films of the year. I generally end up seeing about 5-10 documentaries a year, so I don't know why I haven't devoted an entire list to non-fiction films yet.

Each of these films could have ended up on the "Best Of" list, but to make it easier for me, I thought I would give them their own list for once. So, without further ado, here are five documentaries that were very excellent last year, and that you should all check out if you get the chance. \

5. Janis: Little Girl Blue

Janis Joplin was always a vague presence in my life, mainly because my mum was a big fan of hers. But I never really listened to any of her music until quite recently when I listened to my mums copy of Pearl on vinyl. Her voice is one of the greatest sounds to come from this earth. This documentary is about Janis from her youth to her untimely death at the age of 27. It uses interviews with her former band mates to create a picture of a woman who wanted to live as large as she could, but who was ultimately destroyed by her own demons. It's a heartbreaking watch, but definitely worth it if you want to learn more about the queen of rock.

4. Dancer

This is a film that asks the question "Why do you pursue excellence?" Sergei Polunin was the star dancer at the Royal Ballet in London, until he suddenly quit in a fire of controversy. Director Steven Cantor traces Polunin's life from Ukraine, and how he got into dancing. It explores how Polunin became the greatest dancer that he could be to help his family, and how he almost had a break down when his parents divorced. I think it's one of the best explorations of why people pursue creative careers, and what happens when it might not be what you want to do with your life.

3. The First Monday in May

If you liked The September Issue, or Valentino: The Last Emperor, or are even only vaguely interested in fashion, then you will love this film. Following both Anna Wintour and Andrew Bolton, this film chronicles the creation of the 2015 exhibition "China: Through the Looking Glass" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, culminating in the opening night gala. To say this film is fabulous is an understatement. This film is breathtaking. It not only showcases amazing fashion designs, but it looks at how people curate exhibitions and just how much work goes into every tiny detail. A must for both fashionista's and museum junkies.

2. Author: the JT LeRoy Story

During one of my sojourns through random Wikipedia pages, I came across the story of the JT LeRoy hoax, so I knew the basics about what happened going in to this film. But what this film does is look into how someone like JT managed to get big in the literary world from the perspective of the woman who created him. I don't really want to go into detail, because it is a pretty insane story. But I really enjoyed this film about how a couple of people managed to completely piss off the literary world by writing a book that everyone adored.

1. Tickled

Talk about insane stories. I really don't want to say anything about this film. The basic premise is that a New Zealand reporter finds out about 'competitive endurance tickling' and tries to uncover what he can about it. It gets weird from their. The twists and turns in this film are bordering on unbelievable, but they keep you hooked until everything is eventually discovered. If you liked The Imposter, then this is another film that will keep you guessing until after the final shot.

So, my best of list will be coming soon, hopefully within this week. Until then, I hope some of you check out these documentaries. I guarantee there is something for everyone.

Beasts of the Southern Wild and Dreams of a Life

That's a long title for 2 fairly short reviews. But I'm doing these two together because they're kinda similar and it's been too long since I've seen both of them to leave this for any longer. So, before either fades in my memory any longer, let's get on with this. Beasts of the Southern Wild is Benh Zeitlin's debut film directing and first came out in Melbourne in this years MIFF. It has gotten amazing reviews and there is already Oscar buzz humming around it. Dreams of a Life also got good reviews, but unfortunately was only released in Australia on one screen (ACMI) and has now left the country altogether (I think). Both these films deal with the intense themes of life and death, while also looking at community and survival. So, maybe it's a good thing that I'm looking at both of them at the same time. Let's just hope my writers block eases up enough to get this review out.

Firstly, let's take a look at Beasts of the Southern Wild. Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), a vivacious six year old, lives with her father, Wink (Dwight Henry) in a bayou in New Orleans known to those who live there as the Bathtub. The other people who live there are a tight knit collection of misfits, with little money who have to make do with what they can find and what they can kill. When a storm floods the community, those who remained behind are forced to make boats and find what they can before the water gets rotten. But the government services are vacating all areas that were affected bu the flood, whether they want to leave or don't. And Wink has also been keeping a secret from Hushpuppy, the fact that he is slowly dying.

If you couldn't tell, this is a movie that takes its time with the plot. Not a lot happens, yet it is in the little things that do happen that where the magic of the movie takes place. This has been called a fantasy film, and that mainly comes through the imagination of Hushpuppy, and the magic that she finds in everyday things. Throughout the movie, she constantly stops to pick things up so she can listen to their heart beat and know that they're alive. But this is not a kids movie, and the fantasy elements are matched by incredibly dark real moments of struggle and survival. Wink to some may seem like an irresponsible father, but what he is really doing is preparing her for the day that he leaves her, so he knows that she will be able to look after herself after he's gone. And that's what this film is really about. A community of outcasts trying to survive in a world that is slowly being destroyed.

The film has a little bit of an environmental message as well, but it's hidden behind incredible images that it really isn't that noticeable. The soundtrack is incredible, and I stayed until the end of the credits because it was so moving. But the most incredible thing about the movie were the two leads. Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry aren't professional actors and this is the first movie for both of them. In fact, Henry originally was the owner of a bakery across the street fromt the casting agency. He has lived through two hurricanes and his experience brought an added passion to the role. And as for Quvenzhané Wallis, the part was originally intended for a much older girl, but she wowed the filmmakers so much with her scream and her presence. Plus, the bond between both of them is one of the best documented father/daughter relationships onscreen. It's hard to believe that they aren't related.

So yeah, this film is worth it. And worth so much more than the brief paragraphs I give it. There was only one problem with it, and unfortunately it was a big one. The hand-held camera work made me so nauseous that for most of the film I had to have my eyes closed or else I was going to throw up in the cinema. This is a warning to all those who suffer from motion sickness, and it's a shame because I would love to see this film again. I just can't, because it will make me sick. But if you aren't phased by shaky cam, then go and see it before it disappears.

And now onto the second film, Dreams of a Life. This is a documentary from Carol Morely about the life and death of Joyce Vincent, a woman who died in a London flat and was only discovered 3 years later, lying on her sofa with the TV still on, Christmas presents scattered around her body. The only way she could be identified was through dental records as her body has pretty much melted into the floor. In order to make the film, Morely put ads saying 'Did you know Joyce Vincent?' in newspapers and on the sides of taxi cabs, so that people who knew her, no matter how vaguely, could come and talk about Jouce and what she was like during her life.

This is an odd and sad story. How can someone just be forgotten for 3 years? Why didn't the neighbours come when a strange smell started to seep through? And most importantly, how did she die? None of these questions are answered, and if you like documentaries resolve the issues they present, then this isn't for you. From the interviews, we never get a clear idea of who Joyce is, and in that way the message is very heavy handed. But the other questions that it doesn't focus on are the more interesting. So, I didn't come away from this thinking 'How well do you ever really know someone?' I came away from this thinking 'How can someone just disappear?'

A lot of the film is taken up with reenactments, featuring actress Zawe Ashton as Joyce, and she does an excellent job. But they take up so much time in the movie that they feel like padding at times. They also made Joyce feel more like a character than a real person, but there was so little information from the interviews at times, that the reenacments were needed. But again, in the end I do applaude this movie. It took a woman who was famous for her death and gave her a life (however cliched that sounds, it's true). It took what was essentially a sensational tabloid story and created something real. So, while nothing is resolved, while some things may make you frustrated, this is an excellent documentary and is incredibly different and moving.

Well, that's that done. Dreams of a Life sadly has left our shores now, unless Nova has decided to show it. I hope that it comes out soon on DVD, because it is such a startling story, about how a woman became so desperate that she had to cut herself off from her firends and family and lives in what is essentially squallor. We don't know how she came to be there, we don't know whether she committed suicide. However, what we do know is that she did live, and she did manage to touch so many lives. I'm doing a classic mistake of adding information during the conclusion, so I'll stop now. Anyway, hopefully I will get my next review up before the end of the week. Until next time, readers.