At the movies: From the beginning

There’s something a little painful about movie festivals. It’s emotionally exhausting, first of all. The crowds almost always near chaos. And physically, well, there’s just not enough time to eat, hydrate and use the restroom.

But of course, it’s all worth it.

This morning at the Boulder International Film Festival, I watched The Flaw, a great documentary on the American financial crisis. I thought the film was incredibly accessible and, yes, entertaining. The filmmakers juxtaposed Alan Greenspan’s testimony tot he Financial Market Regulators house Oversight Committee and interviews with economists with clips from cartoons and old movies. There were also interviews with a few people whose lives have been ruined by sub prime mortgages and Wall Street’s greed.

I think it would be easy to call this movie a simplified version of some other documentaries that dive into the same topic. But I thought it offered some unique comparisons to the 1920s, and I think it did it in a way that is truly digestible.

My second film was The First Grader, a touching story of an 84-year-old Kenyan man who walks in a local primary school and demands an education; this is after the Kenyan government announces that it will fund public schools for all people.

I think this is one of those movies that will, with hope, go on to do very well with the general movie-going public. The film contrasts sweet classroom scenes with violent, vicious flashbacks to the Mau Mau Uprising. And it becomes a story about freedom and triumphing over injustice.