by Nuha Hassan, Staff Writer

Krimes (dir. Alysa Nahmias)

Alysa Nahmias’ Krimes, which premiered at the DOC NYC Film Festival, explores the life of Jesse Krimes. He is a former drug dealer turned artist while incarcerated. The documentary examines Krimes’ life and how the prison industrial complex took a toll on his mental health and used pieces of equipment from prison to stand up against the system and create art in solitary confinement. After Krimes was released from prison, he worked together with his friends to turn their lives around by using art as a creative expression. In the documentary, Krimes mentions that expressing art creatively helped to heal.

Krimes explores an interesting and hard topic about Black people being sentenced longer if white people had committed the same crime. Krimes and his group of friends introduce a program where former convicts can exhibit their artworks to the public. In various interview segments, Krimes highlights that convicts who are creatively gifted are not given the same spotlight as other mainstream contemporary artists. The documentary dives into Krimes’ personal life and relationship with his son and the hardships that he has had to go through trying to be there for him. Krimes explores and compares Krimes’ upbringing and wanting to do better for his son. 

Jagged (dir. Alison Klayman)

Alison Klayman’s Jagged, presented at the DOC NYC Film Festival, is about the Ottawan alt-rock stars career during the ‘90s. Jagged Little Pill which featured hit songs such as “You Oughta Know”, “Hand in My Pocket” and “Ironic” became one of the best selling albums of all time. Alanis Morisette was popular as a teen pop sensation and then gravitated towards writing and creating her own music. Soon after her breakout song, she started touring across the globe and this documentary explores her fame and the ups and downs of being a rock sensation during that era.

Jagged explored how the industry and media criticised women for writing songs that expressed their emotions and anger. Alanis was seen as an “angry woman”, but never recognized for her skills as a writer. During her earlier days as a singer, Alanis did not have any protection or sense of boundaries. She talked about how older men in the industry had taken advantage of her and makes allegations of statutory rape. In the documentary, she mentions that it took her years of therapy and understanding to realise that what she had gone through was not her fault. “Women don't wait”, she says, echoing sentiments from people who believe that women should talk about their allegations earlier rather than later. Alanis adds it’s the culture surrounding a misogynistic industry that doesn’t listen. 

It’s a captivating documentary that revolves around Alanis’ early music career to the record-breaking album that put her on the map. The cultural phenomenon and shift that helped inspire a lot of artists nowadays are rooted in Alanis’ discography and her unrelenting talent as a songwriter. Her songs about heartbreak and being dumped empowered and represented what a lot of women and men had gone through in their lives.

Burning (dir. Eva Orner)

Eva Orner’s environmental documentary, Burning which premiered at the DOC NYC Film Festival, implores the importance of climate change. The documentary focuses on the Black Summer in Australia in 2019, where parts of New South Wales and Victoria were engulfed in black smoke due to the bushfires. Through talking heads interviews, Burning shares stories of former commissioner of Fire and Rescue of New South Wales, climate activists, journalists, and locals that lived in those areas who talked about how Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his government handled the situation.

Morrison has been vocal about the denial of a climate crisis, politicised it by spreading wrong information to his interest. The documentary examines the timeline of which the bushfires affected the states, as climate activists and scientists urged Morrison to take some action before it is too late. There are bushfires every year in Australia, but the continuous lack of action of climate change increases the severity of Australia’s future. 

A very important point that is mentioned in Burning, is the role of the media that shaped the narrative of bushfires and climate change. Conservatives and liberal party members used the platform to spread false information and deny that this situation will get worse in the coming years. Burning is an important film that explores the climate crisis, media’s influence, and how politicians are using their impact to fuel the narrative. Orner aims to let the audience know that climate change should start now.