MIFF 2017 - Day 13

The Force

Follows the Oakland police department from 2014 to 2016 as it tries to implement reforms. At first it looks like they're having success. No police shootings, violent crime down. And then the shit hits the fan. A series of police shootings create distrust in the community, and then corruption scandals further damage credibility. The film shows how up against it the force is. Even when video evidence shows that the shootings are justified, activists peddle conspiracy theories. One even says on camera that there is no such thing as a good cop. But as the department falls further and further into disrepute, seeing off three police chiefs in nine days, it's hard not to sympathise with their frustration. And with the good cops trying their best in a really shitty situation.

The Face of Another

About halfway through, I decided this was more of a dramatised essay rather than a narrative film. But it's a really interesting one, exploring the connections between identity and the body. Who are we if we change our face? What is beauty and how do we perceive and define it? It's not for everyone, the pace could generously be called measured, plodding would be the less kind way to put it. But for the philosophically minded, there's a lot to consider and enjoy.

Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web

The larger than life figure at the centre of a notorious copyright case gets the documentary treatment. It shows his extravagant lifestyle, his history and the case that turned him into a folk hero for the internet freedom movement. The political impact in New Zealand is particularly interesting, with the original raid being a complete disaster from a legal perspective. And subsequent revelations of the illegality of how evidence was gathered transformed NZ law... They made it legal. It's a sobering look at how the law is both catching up to and overreaching technology, with consequences for all of us.