Page 14
BLACK
HISTORY
My Top 10 Films of 2016
to travel for awhile with a talented
black woman, Samantha Mont-
Frame and the Portland Interna- gomery, who channels her yearn-
tional Film Festival. It invites you ing to be a singer into videos post-
C ontinued FroM P age 7
MONTH
February 22, 2017
ed on YouTube. The filmmaker set
out to make a film about YouTube
users and ended up stumbling on
a goldmine; Montgomery's raw
authenticity and hope will inspire
you, as it did the Israeli music
Samantha Montgomery in “Presenting Princess Shaw,” in inspired
film about a talented singer who becomes an Internet sensation
after toiling in obscurity for years.
Saluting Martin Luther King Jr.
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producer who found her and built
some amazing recordings around
her work using the work of other
YouTube musicians. The process
and the result resonate profound-
ly of all the voices who never
rise above obscurity because of
their social locations; this buoy-
ant voice, who fought so valiant-
ly to be heard, deserves a listen.
The film is available by stream-
ing. [Not rated; should have been
nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Documentary Feature; on
at least one other critic's top 10
list.]
"Zootopia" is one of the best
animated films I have ever seen.
It combines a very engaging sto-
ry and lots of clever elements
with a remarkably solid illustra-
tion of the principles of equity
and inclusion, all without feeling
the least bit preachy or forced. I
was shocked to find that a group
of eight people are credited with
the screenplay; usually that results
in a studio product with no emo-
tional core. Not so here; even in a
fantasy world where animals live
together in harmony, the story as-
pires to demonstrate what it might
look like to actually do the work
of creating a society that creates
space for each person to succeed
as themselves. It also illustrates
the challenges of doing so. I liter-
ally have been referring people to
this film for some good instruction
on what equity looks like prac-
ticed well. I love the idea that this
film is sewing the principles of
equity into the minds of children
everywhere. Brilliant. [Rated PG
for some thematic elements, rude
humor and action; nominated
for, and should win, the Academy
Award for Best Animated Feature;
should have received a nomina-
tion for Best Original Screenplay
(eight writers); on at least 26 oth-
er critics' top 10 lists.]
"Loving" beautifully tells the
story of the couple who success-
fully challenged miscegenation
laws all the way to the Supreme
Court and won. It's important
that stories like this are told, and
told well, and writer-director Jeff
Nichols does so here with emo-
tional honesty and restraint that
befits its subjects. Ruth Negga
deserves the accolades she has re-
ceived for her performance as the
gentle Mildred Loving; both she
and Joel Edgerton capture the dig-
nity of this couple and the courage
it took them to simply love each
other. [Rated PG-13 for themat-
ic elements; nominated for, and
should win, the Academy Award
for Best Actress (Ruth Negga);
should have received nominations
for Best Picture and Best Director
and Best Original Screenplay (Jeff
Nichols); on at least 24 other crit-
ics' top 10 lists.]
"Paterson" manages to cap-
ture something quite profound
about the importance of poetry and
contemplative practice. Its protag-
onist, a bus driver poet beautifully
played by Adam Driver, inspired
me with his mindful approach to
living, aligning with a rhythm that
hums around us but that most of
us ignore. Even watching this film
helped me to slow down and savor
a sense of flow, and I appreciate
writer-director Jim Jarmusch's re-
lentlessly intuitive approach to the
artistic process. [Rated R for some
language; should have received
Academy Award nominations for
Best Picture, Best Director and
Best Original Screenplay (Jim
Jarmusch), and Best Actor (Adam
Driver); on at least 69 other crit-
ics' top 10 lists.]
And finally, "Aquarius" offers
an all-too-rare opportunity for in-
depth exploration of the vitality
and complex perspective of an
older woman. Clara, played by the
great Sonia Braga (who deserved
an Oscar nomination for Best Ac-
tress), is a widow, a grandmother,
a charming friend, a doting moth-
er and aunt, and also a formidable
person who insists on standing
her ground in a fight that she is
unlikely to win. In a time when
fighting corruption feels especial-
ly vital but also often hopeless in
the short term, Braga and writer
director Kleber Mendonça Filho
give us a uniquely Brazilian story
which also contains real and uni-
versal wisdom about the dynamics
of standing up for one's own truth.
[Not rated; in Portuguese; should
have received nominations for
Best Foreign Language Picture,
Best Original Screenplay (Kleber
Mendonça Filho), and Best Ac-
tress (Sonia Braga); on at least 5
other critics' top 10 lists].
Darleen Ortega is a judge on
the Oregon Court of Appeals and
the first woman of color to serve
in that capacity. Her movie re-
view column Opinionated Judge
appears regularly in The Port-
land Observer.