Tag Archives: Real-life story

Sewol: Years in the Wind (2023) ☆☆☆(3/4): The chronicle of their long plight

I still remember how shocking the sinking of MV Sewol incident was to me and many other South Koreans. When there came sudden news reports on the incident during the morning of April 16th, 2014, it did not seem that … Continue reading

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Life Goes On (2021) ☆☆☆(3/4): As they hold up

South Korean documentary “Life Goes On” is often sad and heartbreaking in its intimate presentation of several different persons who have tried to go on despite tragically losing their loved ones to some of the most traumatic accidents in the … Continue reading

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Girls State (2024) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Girls can do anything indeed

Documentary film “Girls State”, which is currently available on Apple TV+, observes a bunch of American female teenagers going through a well-known week-long leadership and citizenship program. While they sometime find themselves limited by gender bias and inequality, these young … Continue reading

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The Goldfinger (2023) ☆☆(2/4): Murky and tedious

Hong Kong film “The Goldfinger” did not engage me despite lots of happenings during its 2-hour running time. While it wants to be a grand financial crime drama not so far from “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013) on one … Continue reading

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Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): He did all…

Documentary film “Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces”, which was released on Apple TV+ a few weeks ago, shows us how Steve Martin has contained multitudes. At first, the documentary, which consists of two episodes as reflected by its … Continue reading

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The Four Daughters (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): The reenactment of a family pain

Kaouther Ben Hania’s latest work “The Four Daughters”, which was recently nominated for Best Documentary Oscar (It was also selected as the Tunisian submission to Best International Film Oscar, by the way), presents one painful family story via a plain … Continue reading

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Every Body (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Their Body

Some good documentaries work as an empathic window to human experiences and conditions quite different from ours, and documentary film “Every Body”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, is one of such exemplary examples in my humble … Continue reading

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Shirley (2024) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): Meet Shirley Chisholm

To be frank with you, I had never heard about US Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm before I watched acclaimed TV miniseries “Mrs. America” a few years ago, which incidentally enlightened me on a lot of interesting American feminist real-life stories besides … Continue reading

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Kokomo City (2023) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Their experiences as Black transgender sex workers

Documentary film “Kokomo City”, which won the NEXT Innovator award when it was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival early in last year (It also won the NEXT Audience award, by the way), is exceptional as closely listening to the … Continue reading

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Frida (2024) ☆☆☆(3/4): Via her own words

Documentary film “Frida”, which is currently available on Amazon Prime, presents the life and career of legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo mainly via her works and words. Although it may not inform you that much if you are familiar with … Continue reading

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