One of my favourite annual events is the Victoria Film Festival. Every year, filmmakers from around the globe come to our little island to showcase their artistry. Here are my thoughts on just two of the over 50 films that are being shown this year.
Last of the Right Whales
3.5/4
The Victoria Film Festival is known for their support of documentary filmmaking. Nadine Pequeneza’s new doc Last of the Right Whales is a spectacular film that adds to the intriguing list of documentaries that have come before it, and it showcases exactly what will happen if humanity doesn’t start to clean up its act.
What I really like about this film is its approach to its subject matter. A good example of this is the opening of the movie. During the film’s first few minutes, wildlife photographer Nick Hawkins tells a story about a trip he took to the Bay of Fundy with his parents, where he first lay eyes on the magnificent wonder and beauty of whales. This is a beautiful way to open the movie that blends perfectly with the environmental-based theme of the film because it shows Hawkins’ passion for the whales an well as the loss he feels every time he see one of them die.
I also really like the directorial decision to end the movie with a dedication to all of the whales who have died as a result of the climate-driven absence of fresh food. This was obviously done to generate emotion from the audience and I do believe it will work.
Another aspect of the movie that stands out in a huge way is James Yates’ editing. Thanks to Yates’ vibrant editing choices, everything blends really nicely, which is vital to making a great movie. I also think Deanna H. Choi’s beautiful musical score is used to perfection in the film and really contributes to making the audience feel for the whales that have been killed due to human-driven climate change.
If I had to pick one thing that I really liked most of all about this movie it would be the cinematography of Mark Hammond and Stefan Randström. From the opening shot to the final fade-out, every frame is expertly captured, but my favourite shots are of the whales—they’re some of the best animal shots I’ve seen in any movie in a while.
What really makes Last of the Right Whales stand out from many of the documentaries that the Victoria Film Festival has screened over the years is its stunning cinematography, fantastic musical score, amazing editing, and Pequeneza’s fantastic direction. This was a truly great film and, if this is any indication, the Victoria Film Festival is going to have a great year.
Someone Like Me
3/4
Another interesting documentary that can be viewed at the Victoria Film Festival this year is Sean Horlor (a UVic grad who was raised in Victoria) and Steve J. Adams’ Someone Like Me. This film fully shows what it means to be part of the LGBTQ+ community and the tragedy that those in the film face in their day-to-day lives.
Someone Like Me follows Drake, a young gay asylum seeker from Uganda who must find a way not only to adjust to his surroundings in his new community, which is struggling to accept him, but also to find a way to chart his own path.
What I like about this movie is Horlor’s and Adams’ well-crafted script, which focuses on not just Drake’s journey but the journey of the Vancouver LGBTQ+ community that has taken him in.
For example, in a scene where there is an intervention addressing Drake’s alcohol and drug-addiction problems, the filmmakers choose to not just emphasize how Drake’s own drug and alcohol use is destroying his life. Instead, they use it to include every major character’s perspective and show how it’s interfering in their lives and in their ability to provide support for him. This is a really powerful approach and it’s a technique I wish more filmmakers would apply in their own movies.
I also really like the performances in the movie. When I watch a documentary, I don’t usually consider the people in it to be acting because documentary subjects are usually just being themselves, but not this time, and I mean this in a positive way. I feel like there was some effort given to make the subjects sound like professional actors and not just themselves. This is especially true when it comes to Drake’s performance. There were several stand-out emotional scenes that required a real actor in order to make them work and I truly think that Drake brought that and more to the table during those scenes. It’s not to say it was forced or scripted, just that Drake is a natural on camera.
One of the changes I would make to this movie is I would have the entire first act show Drake’s life in Uganda instead of spending it just talking about all of the nasty things that have gone on there and how much we need to get Drake out of there. Movies should be about showing not telling, and it would have done a lot more for the story cinematically if the filmmakers had managed to show what Drake’s life was like before coming to Canada instead of talking about it and showing photos of it. Clearly, this may not have been possible, though.
Even though I think some additional structural changes could have been made that would have benefitted my overall enjoyment of the film, Someone Like Me perfectly encapsulates what its means to be part of the LGBTQ+ community and, for the most part, will keep audiences engaged through its short runtime.