We're always thinking about our Constant Wonder listeners, looking for great stories to bring you on the show. We have to pick and choose, but still there are stories that we might not get to on the air that we think you'd like to know about. Recently, the Sundance Film Festival wrapped up, and you probably heard about it—all kinds of films play there, from the weird to the wonderful . . . some big name stars show up on the red carpet, and it's a great place for first-time filmmakers to get noticed. Well, our producer Tennery Taylor watched a whole slew of movies with you in mind, and here she reviews a few that were thought-provoking enough to make us take notice.
"Radical." A feel-good feature film based on the true story of Sergio Juárez Correa, a sixth-grade teacher in a poor, gang-infested Mexican town. His unorthodox teaching style—classwork is based on questions the children have about the world, like what makes a boat float—motivates his class members to show up and care about learning. And that's saying something, because they'd been some of the worst performers in a poorly performing school. Correa recognizes the genius of one student in particular, Paloma, who drops out of school in the course of the school year. He persuades her poor father, who subsists on trash-picking at the dump, on which they live, to let his daughter come back to school. She ultimately receives the highest math score in the country, which leads to scholarships and accolades. According to the film, Correa is still teaching today. Parental advisory: gang violence
"Joonam." This is a deeply personal documentary about American-born Sierra Urich, who stars, directs and produces the film along with her Iranian mother and grandmother. Sierra is taking Farsi lessons and researching a trip to Iran, so she can better understand her family's history. Her mother, Mitra, is terrified of her daughter going to Iran, a place she left as a young adult, having come of age during the Iranian Revolution. Mitra had no idea when she left that she wouldn't see her parents for 16 years, and their family reunion, documented on archival home video, is one of the highlights of the film. Mitra has invested fully in American life, with a picture-perfect Vermont farmhouse and gardens that are the backdrop for much of the documentary. Throughout, we get stories of the life of Behjat, the grandmother, who was a spitfire in her youth (and remains so at 88). Scenes are touchingly honest—there's one where Sierra argues with her mother, and then breaks down in tears, while Behjat hollers from the bathroom, asking when it's time for her to come on camera. The women break down in laughter at the absurdity of it all, and so did I. The larger themes will speak to families who've tried to create an identity after a diaspora, but also to anyone who's tried to interpret history, both personal and political, for their children and to anyone who's attempted to connect with an elderly relative before it's too late. While the documentary definitely feels like a first film, Sierra Urich's quest is compelling and relatable.
"The Eternal Memory." This documentary feels like a love song, capturing a couple who cope graciously, and with surprising humor, with the husband's Alzheimer’s. During his career as a prominent tv journalist, Augusto Góngora was a loud voice criticizing the Pinochet government. His partner of 25 years, the actress Paulina Urrutia, has become his primary caregiver as he now struggles with dementia. Some of the most tender scenes show her performance troupe allowing Góngora to wander and dance through the stage as they rehearse. The irony at the heart of this sweet portrait comes to us through Góngora's own words, from a book he wrote as the nation tried to rebuild after Pinochet's departure. Memory, he wrote, is central to identity. Parental advisory: political violence and profanity.
"STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie." This is a genre-bending film that documents the life of Michael J. Fox through his own narration. But, his descriptions of his swaggering, adrenaline-filled twenties are voiced over clips from Fox's "Back to the Future," "Teen Wolf," and "Family Ties," where the unsustainable life that the real Fox was living comes alive through his movie characters. The structure might sound cheesy, but it is actually quite entertaining, especially if you're a fan of those '80s shows. But there's much more going on here besides reliving Fox's heyday. When Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's at age 29, is asked why he wants to tell this story now, he answers with characteristic humor that his world is getting smaller, and that in 20 years he'll either be cured or he'll be a pickle. He reflects on his Parkinson's and his alcoholism (he's been sober for 30 years) and pays sincere, heartfelt tribute to his wife of 35 years, Tracy Pollan. The film documents his painful realizations of his own selfish and self-destructive behavior in his early career, and bears witness to the redemptive love of family. Parental advisory: profanity.
"The Eight Mountains." A gorgeously feature film shot in the Italian Alps and Nepal, this is a bittersweet feature film about of the lifelong friendship of two boys, one from the mountains and one from the city, who grow up to lead very different lives. They struggle with their relationships with their respective fathers and have to grapple with what being a good father means. A reunion in the mountains after an extended separation sparks life changes for both of them. The magnificent landscape functions as a character here and ultimately drives the plot. Parental advisory: profanity and implied sexual activity
"Food and Country." The renowned food critic Ruth Reichl began taping footage for this documentary during the pandemic, as she checked in over Zoom to see how independent growers and restaurants would be impacted by lockdowns. The film highlights the problems with our food distribution system, especially as it impacts small farmers and business owners. But the heart of the film is hopeful, with portraits of several optimistic, enterprising, and ingenious small farmers. Constant Wonder fans will recognize the ocean farmer Bren Smith, who can farm kelp in just a couple dozen acres in the sea. And there are the cattle ranchers of White Oak Pastures who focus as much on regenerating the land as they do on raising beef. Both operations emphasize that they're not scalable to industrial farming sizes but they are replicable, and this film is happy to encourage other growers who are interested in farming in new, old-fashioned way.
"Still Small Voice." This documentary follows Mati Engel, a hospice chaplain in training and her supervisor, Revered David Fleenor, as they both learn how to better maintain their own psychological and emotional health while dealing with their patients' fear and trauma—and a pandemic. How much should they give to their work? The title of the film is taken from a beautiful lesson Mati learns from a patient dying of lung cancer. She tells Mati that a "still, small voice" that she can feel in her solar plexus tells her two things: when she is acting with integrity and when she needs to slow down. Parental advisory: profanity.
Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute
