by Matt McCafferty, Staff Writer

Alien on Stage (dir. Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey)

This was by far the most enjoyable documentary I’ve seen so far at the fest. Alien on Stage is an inspirational story that serves as a reminder to create the kind of art that makes you happy. That might sound a bit cliché, but sometimes we need a reminder that it’s ok to march to the beat of your own drum. In Dorset, England, a group of local bus drivers did just that. They decided to stage an ambitious adaptation of Ridley Scott’s Alien for their annual fundraiser. After an opening weekend flop, the production generated a surprising fan base, which led to an invite to London’s West End.

Watching this group recreate Alien for the stage was so much more fun than I expected it to be. It’s not necessarily the outcome of their work that I enjoyed (which did look great), but more so the pure joy they all showed while creating this thing. The first half of the film may make you question where things are headed as we witness some pretty rough rehearsal sessions play out. It’s not until the second half of the doc where you start to see all of their ideas come to life. It’s here when you come to realize that they did actually know what they were doing all along. I can only imagine the satisfaction they felt when it all came together in the end in front of the right crowd. If you are a fan of Alien, you will most surely enjoy this film.

Newtok (dir. Andrew Burton and Michael Kirby Smith)

The small village of Newtok in Southwest Alaska has been facing serious erosion problems for many years. There is a scene early on of a man measuring how much of their land has eroded. He says they lost 16 feet in four days. As I’m watching this, I can’t help but to think: “how can people out there think that climate change is not a problem?” I won’t go entirely down that route for this write-up, but I will say that watching this documentary is yet another reminder that this crisis is happening now. It’s undeniable. These people in Newtok are literally relocating their entire village due to the erosion of their land. Their efforts to move continue as of this writing. 

Not only does the film focus on the global warming issues that are slowly ruining the village, but it also shows us their unique way of living in the small village. With limited access to imported goods, they rely heavily on the land around them to survive. Picking berries and hunting are two of the most important things that the Yup’ik must do to survive. As you can probably guess, these things are also made more difficult due to climate change. Many of us live in the comfortable bubbles of our daily life routines, sometimes complaining about the most trivial things. It’s a good idea to take a step back every now and then to appreciate what we have. Life can be so much harder. 

Go Through the Dark (dir. Yunhong Pu)

First off, I’ll admit that I knew nothing about the board game Go before watching this film, which is thought to be the most difficult board game in the world. But after watching this doc, I will say that I’m definitely interested in giving it a try. The film follows Guanglin, a blind boy in China who displays great skill at the ancient board game. Raised by a single father with limited means, Guanglin competes in Go matches in hopes of being able to support the two of them financially. 

This turned out to be a much tougher watch than I thought. Reading the description going into it, it sounded like it was going to be an inspirational story about a blind boy who overcomes the odds to become one of the best Go players in the world. It turned out to be much more about Guanglin’s father and the decisions that he faced regarding his son and their future. There’s one point in the film where there is a discussion about giving Guanglin a surgery that would allow him to see to a certain degree. Guanglin’s father pushes back against this idea because he believes it is Guanglin’s blindness that sets him apart in the Go community. In regards to his son being able to see, he says, “What if the door opens, but the window closes?”

I haven’t quite come to terms with how I feel about the film. There’s no specific message that the film is trying to share. It’s more so here to share Guanglin’s journey in a setting that most people aren’t familiar with. While this was a good introduction to Go for me, the film mostly made me angry as it went along (the above paragraph regarding Guanglin’s surgery opportunity is just one example). So I guess I’m not really sure what my takeaway is as I continue to settle with it. It definitely turned out to be a much different kind of story than what I expected it to be.