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Reviews
The Normal Heart (2014)
Important story reflected mediocre
The story and history is very important; yet the way it was reflected in this movie could have been much better. The acting also could have been better, somehow it felt relatively off track in terms of the emotions and mannerisms. However, well worth watching to witness the tragic history, politics and discrimination faced by LGBTIQ+.
Once Upon a Time in Iraq (2020)
Not for the faint hearted
Once upon a time in Iraq is not for the faint-hearted, like me. I cried through all the episodes - witnessing the irreparable human suffering, and asking the question why.... The documentary tries to provide a multi faceted story with an aim to be realistic and objective - it provides experiences from Americans (military/political/families/journalists) , Iraqi youth, children and women (reflecting the sectarian divides too), as well as those who are still in Iraq and those who were forced to flee. It is very sad to watch, not knowing what, if anything you can do to make things change for the better.... there is a LOT of work waiting.
Daughters of Destiny (2017)
Amazing documentary about amazing people
This documentary is amazing. It is about a successful businessman who launched on a journey to give up his career and use all of his earnings to follow his dream of establishing a 'dream school' where only the poorest of the poorest families get a chance to send one of their children to receive a very quality education so they could then study, earn a living and get a change to give back to their own communities and hence break the cycle of 'being stuck with fate' in India.
It is extremely moving to see the motivation of the founders, teachers and the opportunities it provides for the children. There are things that make you think about and wonder the psychological effects on children of being separated from families at a young age and the pressure on children and young adults of high expectations of success but the initial idea and dream is wonderful, so-obviously worth pursuing and clearly implemented with full good intentions that I hope it lasts through generations and does not die out or lose its steer.
It is true that nothing and nobody is perfect and neither is Shanti Bhavan, nor the founders. There may be stories we did not hear of - perhaps of children who had to drop out of the school and perhaps doomed into a psychological decay - we do not know any of that. So my only criticism would be that the documentary could have been a bit more objective giving short reflections of other children but overall truly an amazing documentary about amazing people with amazing goals. Highly recommend everyone to watch this.
Cooked (2016)
Provides some interesting info but thats it
I was hopeful to learn more about food and its origins and the linkages to the four elements but found that none of the episodes really had ang linkages to the titles of air, fire, earth, water. I think the whole content could have been given in an hour in total.