Help One Person Everyday. “The One With Hope” (2024)

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directed by Ewa Marcinowska
© 2024 HBO Max. All Rights Reserved.

Long time ago I saw a short TV documentary about Anja. I was moved. Then, I read a book about her. I was amazed. Now, I’ve just seen this documentary. And even though I knew the story of Anja and Land of Hope, I cried a lot. That is why I would like you to learn about this film, because such reality and such inspirations must be shared. Anja Ringgren Lovén is a Danish woman who one day decided to leave everything, move to Nigeria and save children. Why? Because in Nigeria it’s still common for people to accuse children of witchcraft. Meaning, if something bad happens in the village or to the family, the child might be taken for a witch responsible for that. In such case, the child is beaten, harmed, sometimes even raped, and, in the end, banished from the village. Yes, it’s 2024 and it’s still a common practice. Some of those children die because of hunger, thirst, or simply because of the scale and seriousness of their injuries. If you’re furious right now, I’m sure you’ll appreciate Anja even more. She is obviously against this inhuman practice, so together with other brave people they are finding such children and try to save them. Sometimes they manage to find them on time, so after hospitalisation and decent care, those children stay alive. But sometimes, even their biggest efforts aren’t enough… If you haven’t heard of Anja and her Land of Hope (centre for the saved children in Nigeria), perhaps you’ve seen an extremely popular photo that was taken in 2016. In that photo, she’s crouching next to a two-year old boy and giving him water to drink. That child was horribly neglected and when the rescue team took him to the hospital, doctors weren’t giving him much chance for survival. Whenever I hear or read this story, I always have tears in my eyes. Imagine letting a two-year-old die in your village, right in front of you, simply because someone is accusing him for bringing bad luck. Do you understand it? Watching a child slowly dying because of some ridiculous belief. The feeling of anger and helplessness is just overwhelming for me. But, speaking of that little superhero, he managed to survive! Anja decided to name him Hope, which sounds more than perfect in such situation. Besides, to her, HOPE is also an abbreviation for Help One Person Everyday, which resonates with me strongly. Anja and her team literally save lives of those innocent children everyday, but it doesn’t mean your actions might be less valuable. You may help someone on the street finding their way, or help your colleague at work with some difficult task, or even help yourself – because you also need to focus on your own needs. Otherwise, you won’t be able to help others. And that’s another thing that Anja shares with us – she takes care of herself, of her family, because only this way she’s strong enough to help the abandoned children. As I said, I cried a lot watching this documentary – sometimes because of frustration, sometimes because of amazement, but those tears were very much healing to me. I can’t change the fact that numerous children get rejected and abused, but I can make small steps to help at least one of them. Personally, I’ve been a volunteer in a children’s hospital for over 10 years now – maybe I don’t save lives, but I do what I can to make those lives slightly better. Do what you can and stay mindful towards other people. That’s what humanity should be about, right?

My rating: 8/10
S.

Don’t waste it. “In Time” (2011)

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directed by Andrew Niccol
© 2011 20th Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

Today, I’d like to remind you about this film, which, in my opinion, has been slightly forgotten, yet it’s one of my favourite sci-fi productions. When it comes to sci-fi, I’m not a big fan of fancy spaceships and fighting with aliens. Instead, I’m a fan of dystopian stories and anything that makes me reflect on our future as humans. That is why, “In Time” is absolutely my thing because it follows a rather simple idea, yet very thought-provoking. We’re moving to 2169, where people do not age anymore. They stop getting older at the age of 25 and for the rest of their lives they look the same. Fun, huh? Well, not really. In the future, people do not earn or spend money – they spend their own time. Each person has a timer on their forearm and whenever they need to pay for something, they pay with their minutes or hours. As you can imagine, the poor have very little time, while the rich have whole centuries to spend. The poor live from day to day and die very young, while the rich can basically live forever without even checking their timer. The character that we follow is Will (Justin Timberlake), who is doing a simple job and lives as if today was his last day. One night, at a bar, he meets a rich guy who has a lot of time, which obviously catches attention of the poor. The man is being chased and Will literally saves his life, for which the stranger thanks him by giving his time away. Will wakes up the next day with way too much time on his timer and decides to go to New Greenwich, the zone of the richest. The man knows that they are controlling time so not everyone can live forever. Sounds like some changes have to be done in this matter… And that’s the kind of story I like the most. Simple idea, yet terrifying at the same time. Nowadays, we have money. We go to work to earn money, which later allows us to pay rent, buy food and enjoy our life. The more you earn, the better your life is. However, if you think about it, even now our currency is time. I mean, you probably work 8 hours a day to later have money to get yourself a meal and buy a new shirt. So that meal and that shirt cost 8 hours of your life. To me, this concept is incredibly creepy, because I know that I cannot run away from it. I have to pay with my life time in order to survive, just like the characters of this film. Taking a bus and having a coffee with a friend cost my life. Okay, before you start having an existential crisis like me, let me just assure you that this film is definitely worth watching. It’s full of action, a bit of drama, but most importantly, it leaves you with topics for reflection. I’m actually curious whether we will get to such point as humanity – paying with our time. When a poor person is asking us for money on the street, we don’t realise that this money may actually save their life. Imagine that in the future, such person may approach you showing their timer with several minutes left to live and ask you for your time. What would you do then?

My rating: 8/10
S.

Does it feel real? “All of Us Strangers” (2023)

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directed by Andrew Haigh
© 2023 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Who would have thought that one day Billy Elliot turns out to be Moriarty’s father. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you’ve skipped a great film and a great series. Anyway, let’s focus on today’s film because it’s truly magical. We get to know Adam (Andrew Scott), who’s a screenwriter living in London. The man’s life seems to be quite lonely until he meets his new neighbour Harry (Paul Mescal). At first, Adam isn’t willing to make any new friends, but slowly he opens up and gives Harry a chance. Except a neighbour-friendship, there’s some chemistry between those two, so it’s a more intimate relation we may observe. However, there’s an even more intriguing part of the film you need to learn about. Adam meets with a married couple that he apparently knows (Claire Foy & Jamie Bell). At some point we hear the couple referring to Adam as “their son”, which seems odd because all three are of similar age. This is the moment when you have to let you brain think in a more abstract way. Adam is indeed meeting with his parents, or rather their imagined versions. They both died in a car accident before Adam’s 12th birthday, so they look just like they did back then. We see that Adam is incredibly lonely and misses his parents, so those visions and meetings with them are his personal therapy. When he tells Harry about that tragedy, the neighbour is visibly sorry for him, but Adam assures him that it’s in the past, it’s fine. But we all know it’s not. That little boy wasn’t ready to lose two most important people in his life. As an adult, he still cannot handle that loss and he struggles with the worst kind of loneliness. Will Harry be the one who helps? He also struggles with his own problems, but maybe the only way to help each other is to open up about each other’s struggles and fight them together? This film is unique in its form. I have to admit that it was slightly too slow at certain moments, but generally I was amazed. Andrew Scott always gives 100% of himself and you can see incredible emotions coming from his character. I believe it’s a production that may be of huge help to adults who have lost someone in their life – either their family member, their partner, or even a great friend. There are many interesting interpretations, but to me, this film is about taking as much time as we need to process, but finally learn to let go. Horrible situations happen and we should keep moving no matter what. People come and go, sometimes we can’t do anything about it, but what we are able to do is take care of ourselves. And even if 1000 people have left us, we always have ourselves. And maybe that 1001st will stay a bit longer?

My rating: 7/10
S.

A child who legally doesn’t exist. “Nila’s Dream in the Garden of Eden” (“Nilas Traum im Garten Eden”, 2023)

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directed by Niloufar Taghizadeh
© 2023 Windcatcher-Productions. All Rights Reserved.

Today’s post won’t be a pleasant one, so fasten your seatbelt and get ready for a bumpy ride. Let me begin with a question: what can a man do when he’s in need of intimacy? The first answer that may come to your mind is proposing their partner some one-to-one time. But what if they don’t have a partner? Well, then they may always reach out to a sex worker, who offers such intimate meetings or find someone for a hook-up on a dating app. The problem occurs when the intimacy-seeking man is religious or when in his culture having sex with a stranger is not approved. In order to obey the rules but still satisfy his needs, such man may temporarily marry a woman. It means that they are not willing to share a life like an ordinary married couple, but, shortly speaking, they want to be allowed to be intimate with each other and not get on nobody’s nerves (especially their gods or religion’s authorities). As a non-religious person I have my personal opinion on such ideas, but let me just skip that, because the problem that this documentary discusses is way more complicated. We get to know Leyla who temporarily got married to a man and gave birth to their child, Nila. The girl is now an adorable six-year-old and she’s living with her mother only. Her father doesn’t even accept Nila as his child and he’s busy with his own family and life. In our times, women becoming single parents isn’t anything exceptional, even though it’s still concerning. However, Leyla is struggling with a much bigger problem than being the only breadwinner. Children born in temporary marriages very often have a complicated legal situation because, according to the law in Iran, the man is always the most important figure and as long as he doesn’t approve of something, the woman has her hands tied. Since Nila’s father is not recognising her, the girl cannot even receive a birth certificate, which means that legally she doesn’t exist. Before you think “oh it’s just a piece of paper” – this piece of paper is incredibly significant, because the girl cannot even go to school. How can you sign up a child who hasn’t been born, right? Even if they clearly see this little girl standing in front of them, there’s nothing to be done. Either the father recognises the girl or someone proves he’s the biological father, or Nila is not allowed to do anything. Leaving the country isn’t possible either – how can you pass any border without documents? I mean… legally. What’s more, when the girl turns 7, according to the law, her father may take her away from the mother, even if he wasn’t a part of her life until then. I was so pissed off watching this documentary, because I cannot even imagine all those women in a similar situation to Leyla’s who are so terribly helpless. Even now I have tears in my eyes writing this post because I cannot stand such cruelty. When you hear the mother saying “I will even let them rape me as long as my daughter gets a chance for a better life”, you know we failed as humanity. No woman and no child should be put in such situation. If your god forces you to treating others this way, maybe reconsider who you’re praising. And to all women who are fighting – don’t give up and be proud of yourselves. That’s surely one of the most meaningful documentaries I’ve seen.

My rating: 9/10
S.

What’s a nice girl like you doing playing football? “Copa 71” (2023)

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directed by Rachel Ramsay & James Erskine
© 2023 Dogwoof. All Rights Reserved.


Any football fans here? Well, not me for sure. I’ve never understood the phenomenon of this game, but I’m truly fascinated by the scale of its success and popularity. I mean, you can end up in any place on our planet and you shall find football fans who can name your country’s famous players. Despite the fact I can’t imagine myself spending all those hours in front of a TV watching matches, I’m actually impressed by footballers, because running and scoring goals for 90 minutes (or even more) is a challenge. I can barely run several metres to catch a bus, so trust me, I have a lot of respect for such excellent physical condition. However, when you hear someone saying that there’s a football match, I bet you unconsciously imagine male teams playing the game. The documentary I’m recommending you today is focusing on the same horribly popular sport – just in a female version. Official and recognised FIFA Women’s World Cup has been organised since 1991, but it doesn’t mean that before there weren’t any female players. There were and they were excellent, but they all shared one thing that, apparently, was a huge trigger for Football Associations. All of them were women. That’s it. No matter how well they played, how exciting their matches were – their gender prevented them from being treated with the same respect that male footballers were receiving. In today’s film you may listen to stories of the women that took part in Women’s World Cup in 1971. It was an event organised by the Federation of Independent European Female Football, so as you might be guessing, not fully recognised by the male part of the society. Still, it was an important part of sport history because despite any obstacles and even unfavourable law (in many countries female football was banned), those women were practising, they reached an excellent level of game quality and amazed hundreds of thousand fans. I don’t want to spoil anything more, so I encourage you to see it yourselves. As I said at the beginning, I’m not into football and all I know is that there are two goals and the grass is green. However, this film is not really about the game – it’s about another example of inequality that had no reason to exist. It is sad to see the female football players in this documentary sharing their experiences, because you can tell they were passionate about this game, yet some men decided to deprive them of pride. Nowadays, women are very much recognised in sport and they often, unintentionally, embarrass their male colleagues with outstanding results. So what I get from this documentary is the feeling of gratitude – because thanks to the brave players of Copa 71, women all around the world can make their dreams come true and be treated not as a representative of a gender, but as a sportsperson. I believe in equality and I don’t watch football no matter who’s playing, but I cross my fingers for everyone who simply wants to enjoy this game.

My rating: 7/10
S.

Lucha truly libre. “Cassandro” (2023)

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directed by Roger Ross Williams
© 2023 Amazon MGM Studios. All Rights Reserved.

I see Gael García Bernal, I press play to watch whatever he’s in. Ever since “Amores perros” (known in English as “Love’s a Bitch”) I’m a big fan of Gael’s acting. In today’s film, he plays the role of Saúl Armendáriz, a wrestler from the 80s. He’s living a rather simple life and shares it with his mother only. The man doesn’t hide the fact that he’s homosexual and his mother is very much supportive, which is something that amazed me in their relation. You know, very often when we get stories about LGBT+ people, they often have this one thing in common – lack of acceptance from their family. Indeed, Saúl’s father is not present in his life, but the fact that his mom is there and she shows her unconditional love is something adorable. Back to Saúl – he takes part in lucha libre matches – which is basically wrestling in masks. The wrestlers protect their identity by covering their faces, so the audience don’t really know that it’s Saúl hiding behind that mask. Since the man isn’t very confident, he always participates in matches as the one who’s about to lose. Yeah, everything is well planned before the match even starts, which isn’t really surprising. One day, Saúl meets Sabrina (Roberta Colindrez), a trainer, who sees a lot of potential in the man and encourages him to get rid of his wrestling label. Inspired by her, Saúl begins his journey to become an exótico – so shortly speaking a drag wrestler. Do people fully accept exóticos? Nah. Do they want to see an exótico win? Also nah. But who cares? If that’s how you feel, go ahead and do your thing Saúl! Or should I say Cassandro, because that’s the wrestling name he’s about to use from now on. This film is based on a true story, so obviously there are some fictional elements, but generally I think it’s a decent biographical drama. One thing that I wouldn’t change is where Saúl got his wrestling name from. In the film it’s said that it’s inspired by an actress that his mother loved. However, the truth is a bit more complex, yet way more consistent with the character of Saúl. Apparently, the name Cassandro comes from honouring a brothel owner that was also financially supporting poor people. And tell me that’s not a better story to share! Anyway, as a person who doesn’t understand wrestling and generally this kind of activities, I enjoyed the whole film. Maybe I’m not being objective because Gael is starring in it, but I believe that it’s a comforting story of a man that chose to express himself and found his own peace. And that’s what I wish you all.

My rating: 7/10
S.

Just usual misery. “Fairy Garden” (2023)

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directed by Gergö Somogyvári
© 2023 Avanpost. All Rights Reserved.

When I read a short description about this documentary, I immediately knew I’d like it. Even if it’d been badly made, I’d still appreciate the crew for putting a spotlight on such social issue. Luckily, the film’s quality is nothing to worry about and I’m pretty sure what you’re about see will open your eyes. Perhaps not in the most pleasant way, but it will. We’re going to Hungary where we meet two people: Laci and Fanni. Laci is a man in his 60s living in a forest. Since he’s struggling with homelessness and men like him aren’t welcome in cities and towns, he decided to literally build his own world far away from those who reject him. Except taking care of his own life, he happens to be a guardian angel to Fanni, a 19-year-old teenager. Although Fanni was born as a boy, he identifies as a girl, therefore she (I will be using female pronouns speaking about Fanni from now on) decided to change her gender. We know that Fanni is taking hormones and she’s been kicked out of her family house as her parents do not approve of the girl’s behaviour and actions. She’s been hospitalised numerous times, mostly due to her mental problems and once she ran away to accidentally find Laci. The man, despite his age and life situation, helped the teenager and since then they’ve been creating this unusual kind of family. Before you think about something inappropriate, let me just assure you that there’s nothing between those two except friendship. Besides, Fanni is a lesbian and Laci doesn’t see her as a potential sexual partner – he’s rather in a role of a father that tries to protect the girl. But if you had this disturbing thought in mind, I don’t judge you, because I did as well before watching the film. I mean, it’s quite common to observe pathological relations among the poor and marginalised. And I guess the fact that those two share a genuine friendship makes the whole story even more touching. First, I’m thankful to the crew for making such documentary. I believe it wouldn’t be easy for most filmmakers, and here we’re taking about Hungary, where the political leaders aren’t much supportive of anything that’s “different” from their own created reality. I don’t want to get too much into politics, but you have to know that LGBT+ people aren’t accepted by the country’s authorities. Neither are the homeless, but I guess that’s common in most countries. In the end, these are people who need a lot of support and it’s not the most convenient thing for politicians, right? I’m being slightly ironic here, but if you haven’t caught that, let me clarify that I do not support any hate towards anyone, no matter if it’s connected to their sexual preferences, identity or economical situation. And I do believe that we should pay more attention to people in need. However, except this frustration I had watching the film (due to helplessness), I also felt comforted. Even though I saw that Laci would really need a proper house and Fanni’s mental health should definitely be taken care of (the girl has been having a lot of dark thoughts, if you know what I mean), it’s incredibly moving that those two rejected and forgotten people still have enough empathy left to support each other. You may think that it’s mostly Laci helping Fanni, but I also feel like Fanni is giving the man some kind of purpose in life. The fact that he’s literally saving her gives him the feeling of fulfilment. At least that’s how I see it. If I may finish this post with some appeal, I’d like to invite you to support someone in need in the upcoming days. Personally, I support one organisation that helps the homeless in my country and I donate prime necessity items such as clothes, hygiene products or food. I’m sure there’s such organisation in your city/country as well. Maybe this documentary and my post will encourage you to take such step.

My rating: 7/10
S.

What kind of American are you? “Civil War” (2024)

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directed by Alex Garland
© 2024 A24. All Rights Reserved.

Each time I see a new film labelled as A24 baby I’m stamping my feet like an overly excited Minion. It’s because I know that there’s a huge possibility I’ll enjoy the film. However, when I learned about “Civil War”, I wasn’t much tempted because I generally try to avoid films about all kinds of wars. Being sensitive isn’t the thing, rather my allergy to films that do not stand out. Of course, we have “1917” which is still highly underrated, in my opinion, but generally war movies don’t impress me that much. Still, I had a day off so I thought “let’s spend 2 hours in a dark room watching how people are fighting with each other”. It was either that or another romantic comedy, so the choice was obvious. If you expect “Civil War” to be that typical action film, don’t even bother. Indeed, we have shooting and running scenes, but they are just the background to what’s put in the spotlight here. We get to meet Lee (Kirsten Dunst), a photojournalist who specialises in documenting wars. She’s a middle-aged woman who’s seen more than you can probably imagine, so she’s obviously struggling with all those pictures in her head. However, doing such job you cannot really sympathise or reflect too much – you simply take photos and try not to be hurt yourself. She’s working with Joel (Wagner Moura), a journalist as well, and at some point they are joined by Lee’s old friend and mentor Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) who asks for a lift to Charlottesville where the Western Forces are preparing for a big offensive. However, the two colleagues will continue their journey and wish to reach Washington, D.C. to interview the president (Nick Offerman). Everybody knows that he will soon be killed considering the situation, so Lee and Joel have a goal to be the last and only people to ask and photograph the president before his final breath. Unfortunately, even though as press they are neutral in the conflict, they cannot feel safe everywhere. What’s more, they are joined by a young photojournalist who’s just starting her adventure with this profession and begged the team to take her with them. Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) is in her early 20s and she’s still not immune to war pictures, which makes her character a great contrast to Lee and her years of seeing pure evil, fear and helplessness in a human form. What I absolutely loved about this film’s narration is that the story is told from the perspective of journalists who don’t try to get involved, don’t try to support any of the sides – they are just working. And they are so focused on their job that we may even think they don’t realise what’s happening, although we know they do, but in order to stay sane, they have to remain unbothered. In the world (or in this case the USA) where people are fighting for their lives, the press is worrying about not overexposing their photos or getting some quotes that would sell on TV. I guess that’s what creeps me out the most – not the fact that such civil war may actually happen, but the fact that people like journalist will stay “professional” and continue doing the same job. You may say that medical staff also has to stay professional in such circumstances, but to me it’s a different kind of approach. We need the doctor or nurse to treat us, but do we really need journalists to take photos of group shooting, hanging captives or abusing the innocent? Perhaps we do. Perhaps their job is extremely important since thanks to those photos we may receive some more or less true information. But it doesn’t change the fact that doing such job is terrifying from the psychological point of view, because you’re not yourself – you’re at work and it’s like being stuck in your own body. Your mind might be screaming “run away!” or “help those guys!”, but your body presses a photo camera button and moves forward. So if you think this is a simple action film, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. To me it’s a very specific psychological horror, whose background is a potential civil war that may occur in the USA or anywhere else. Speaking of that, this film also reminds us how ridiculous it can be – people fight for the sake of fighting, not even willing to reflect why and what for. There’s this moment in the film (I hope you won’t mind this little spoiler) where Joel asks some soldiers why they’re shooting if they don’t know who the other person is. And one of the men says “We’re trying to shoot them, because they are trying to shoot us” (might be slightly different, but that’s what I remembered from the cinema). End of story. Eye for an eye, without any hesitation. There are also those who stay away pretending like nothing wrong is happening. On the one hand you may say they are ignorant, on the other – if they can’t change anything, why should they agree to be in danger instead of protecting themselves? And there are journalists trying not to lose their minds documenting such reality. This film asks a lot of questions and you have to deal with them on your own. I hate it and love it at the same time. Thank you A24 for nurturing this pathological relationship between us. Please, continue.

My rating: 8/10
S.

We are all swimming in that void. “Madina” (2023)

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directed by Aizhana Kassymbek
© 2023 Awedacious Originals. All Rights Reserved.

These days I have this wonderful opportunity to see films presented during one Eastern European cinema festival and my first choice was “Madina” by Aizhana Kassymbek. Before watching, you should take a deep breath and prepare yourself for this strange peace you’re about to experience. Let me explain in a second, but first, I’d like to start with the plot. We get to know Madina (Madina Akylbekova), a young and single mother of an adorable two-year-old. They’re living with Madina’s younger brother and grandmother. The woman is struggling to provide for the family since she’s the only breadwinner and her child’s father is not willing to support them anyhow. The woman is a dancer and she also teaches others to dance, which is already an interesting contrast in this film. On the one hand, Madina is an exhausted mother and caretaker at home, but when she’s dancing – it looks as if she has stopped time and enjoyed this little break from reality. As I mentioned before, the film is peaceful, but you may not feel comfortable because at some point you realise that Madina’s peace is not coming from her life satisfaction but from her helplessness. She has to accept her situation and do everything not to stop going forward. Otherwise, she may let herself and her beloved ones down. Additionally, her brother shares a terrifying piece of information with Madina, which destroys this strange peace of theirs and the woman tries to get back on track. This film left me with an interesting reflection. We all differ from each other, our cultures are different, we eat different dishes, listen to different songs, speak different languages, but there’s one thing we all have in common – we try to survive in the same way. In case of troubles, we’re all stuck in this weird void, where we’re not satisfied or happy, but at least we’re not falling apart. Because we know that if that void is gone, we’re doomed. So we know the current situation is not what we used to dream of, but at least we’re not hitting the bottom. We’re simply swimming in that life void, which, in my opinion, is exactly the same all around the world. I’ll leave you with that reflection and perhaps you’ll decide to deepen it while watching the film. In order to finish the post with something slightly more cheerful – the camerawork is stunning here. I always appreciate those little shots, which say more than million words, so I was pleased.

My rating: 7/10
S.

There is a book for everyone. “Hello, Bookstore” (2022)

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directed by A.B. Zax
© 2022 Greenwich Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

Today’s World Book Day and since I’m also a big bookworm, I just have to celebrate this day on my film blog as well. So, to those who love books and those who haven’t read anything since their school times – this documentary is for you all. We’re going to Lenox in Massachusetts, a town where Matthew Tannenbaum is running his own bookstore. He’s been selling books since the 70s, so as you may quickly do the maths – quite long. In this documentary, we get to know Matthew and we accompany him at work. The more we learn about the man, the more we realise he cannot imagine life without his workplace. Literature and making it accessible to people are his true passions that he wishes to continue sharing. Unfortunately, his business is affected by the same thing that has destroyed lots of wonderful places and left numerous people unemployed – the pandemic. Matthew doesn’t close his bookstore, but he has to keep it safe, so customers aren’t allowed to walk inside and just enjoy looking around. Instead, they can ask for concrete books and the man would bring them. As a bookworm I know how important being in the library/bookstore is. Of course, if you’re looking for some specific book you have to read for school – then yes, you give the title, they give you the book and bye bye. But if you’re looking for some inspiration, want to find something new, or simply surround yourself by people who share your passion for reading, then obviously, you have to enter the library/bookstore and become a part of it. Such places were already losing customers since we have more and more things available online or in a digital form. Want to read something? Just purchase it online and don’t even move from your sofa. And now imagine those few individuals who actually used to be visiting bookstores – they also had to stop because of the pandemic. In the end, safety over any hobby, right? And losing those few readers was a true knife in the chest of many booksellers. Besides, they lost contact with people who used to not only share their passion for reading, but also their everyday life. Getting to know your customers helps you build a community, which truly brings a lot of comfort to both sides. Suddenly, such community gets separated and you’re not enjoying your common hobby equally much. Personally, I love spending time in libraries and bookstores, just looking at books and having chats with random people about our reading preferences. No matter how old you are or what your background is – in a bookstore we’re all friends. Sometimes even exchanging looks with another reader is like “hey, buddy, good to see you here, hope you’ll find your next book today”. And that’s what this documentary is about. We are all responsible for taking care of such places where we may feel like a part of some community, so if you haven’t read anything in a while or you’re thinking of buying a new book sometime soon, perhaps choose your local bookstore and support the owner, who’s surely trying to make a living with difficulties. Or visit a library – I visited mine today and I was the only person there except the librarians, but at least I made them smile and left with something to read for myself. Cinephiles can be bookworms as well, so feel free to explore both worlds.

My rating: 7/10
S.