“The Most Important Thing in an Image is the Feeling That What You’re Seeing is Completely True — Like an Accident….”: Bruno Santamaría on his Hot Docs Digital-Debuting Things We Dare Not Do

Executive produced by Charlotte Cook, and making its debut at this year’s (virtual) Hot Docs, Bruno Santamaría’s Things We Dare Not Do is a stunning look at the small Mexican town of Roblito through the eyes of its deeply impoverished, yet happy-go-lucky, youngsters. Serving as mother hen to the carefree kids, for whom random violence seems no more noteworthy than water delivery day or a taco snack, is 16-year-old Ñoño. Though the vivacious teen’s exploration of his own gender identity forms the basis of the film’s title, Things We Dare Not Do is no mere coming out saga. It’s a visually risk-taking, multilayered portrait of growing up and learning to live out loud.

Filmmaker took the opportunity to learn more about the project from its Mexican cinematographer-director prior to the film’s Hot Docs digital debut.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.

“We Read Adam’s Blog Every Day...So It Was Like a Daily Script”: Pia Hellenthal on Her Social Media-Themed Doc, Searching Eva

Having made my “Best Yet-to-be-Distributed Docs 2019” list, Pia Hellenthal’s Searching Eva, currently streaming on Mubi USA and with a virtual release upcoming on June 2nd through Syndicado, can now be shifted to the “best docs of 2020” category. My assessment of this “portrait of a restless, gender-ambiguous, philosophical millennial who documents her entire life — from fashion week to freelance sex work —  online” might not make the film seem like must-see viewing. But that’s precisely the point — and what makes Hellenthal’s talent all the more apparent. As an often cynical critic who couldn’t care less about a globetrotting poet with an Instagram account, I found myself absolutely riveted when I accidentally discovered the film at last year’s CPH:DOX. As I wrote at the time, “Between Hellenthal’s exquisitely composed shots and her titular protagonist’s surprising bon mots (Eva longs to “go to the beach or start a revolution — depends on what my friends are up to”),” this “addictively cinematic” doc is “also pure poetry in motion.”

Filmmaker took the opportunity to find out more about this unusual work of cinematic nonfiction from its Cologne and Berlin-based (and Teddy Award-nominated) director a few weeks prior to the doc’s digital debut.

To read my interview visit Filmmaker magazine.