This weekend is meant to unpack a month of adrenaline on our screens, unlike previous weeks where we have suggested feel-good movies.
Aside from being the month that ushers in the iREP Documentary Film Festival, it is also a month to soak in history and stories that have helped to shape our world. There are a handful of new documentaries that you should see before the weekend is over.
- All The Beauty and The Bloodshed
Are you a lover of the arts? Well, you will be shocked to discover the untold story of the blood-stained funding received by prominent art institutions in the world by a drug merchant. From shocking revelations to death threats, this 2022 documentary movie produced by Academy Award winner Laura Poitras is an expose on the fatal connection between the art world and the opioid crisis.
Deeply emotional, the layered storytelling technique made the internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin the dramatis personae who shares insights through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid crisis. The film interweaves Goldin’s past and present, the deeply personal and urgently political message against the opioid crisis.
- The Greatest Night in Pop
Here’s one music documentary you’d live to remember. The Greatest Night in Pop is a 2024 documentary film directed by Bao Nguyen. It traces the backstory to the creation of the Grammy-winning charity pop song “We Are the World” recorded in 1985. Featuring the songwriters and performers, the story is told from the perspective of living legends such as Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Huey Lewis, Dionne Warwick, and Cyndi Lauper. The documentary movie chronicles every obstacle and behind-the-scenes story that led to the production and release of the iconic song.
- Dahomey
Dahomey, a 2024 documentary film directed by Mati Diop, is a dramatised account of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey (in modern day Benin), which were held in a museum in France. The film explores how the artefacts were returned from France to Benin, and the reactions of Beninese people. A cultural statement on art repatriation, this documentary is an expose on African colonial history from a place of healing.