Plying a keen compositional eye, American director Kimi Takesue films a succession of busy scenes from around Uganda's capital, Kampala: Salon patrons get their hair done as an English-language nature doc plays on the television overhead, contestants at a women's weight-lifting competition take their turns at the barbell, and a small audience enjoys the spirited live-dubbing of a Bruce Lee movie. Halfway through, the documentary heads out to the rural Hope North School—and into more direct engagement with the legacy of the country's recent civil war. Takesue includes just enough voiceover for us to gather the background of Hope North's students—"either their parents were killed because of the war, or they were child soldiers"—but mainly observes various peaceable activities on school grounds (English class, dorm tidying, still-life sketching). With its careful attention to the qualities... More >>>