film

I doubt there is a more frighteningly timely political film this year than Ramona S. Diaz’s And So It Begins...after November 5th, it plays like a How-To book for the Trump campaign–taken directly from the Hitler-Mussolini model.

A fitting companion piece to “A Thousand Cuts,” “And So It Begins” is an insightful film that documents hope and the fight for democracy in a country mired in misinformation.

And So provides more chilling proof that fascism seems to be the rising political flavor of preference around the world, and that resistance is desperately needed.

And So it Begins” emerges as a mixed bag, as it manages to shed light in the aforementioned campaigns, and parts of local history many seem to have forgotten, but never actually delving deeper, in an approach that borders on the epidermal.

Dry, monotonous, and packed with too much information, this documentary about Filipino elections is a messy, unfocused, and exhausting look at the country’s current political climate.

Ramona S. Diaz’s documentary is a shaggy, shapeless film.

Features neither the narrative and aesthetic intensity needed for an up-to-the-minute chronicle, nor the political depth required of such vital subject matter.

And So It Begins captures an absorbing, yet harrowing snapshot of modern politics and its impact on media and journalism.

The film sounds the alarm on the raging flames of misinformation, but provides little instruction on how society can put the fire out.

It’s always darkest before the dawn. Maybe, perhaps, hopefully … next time? And so it begins …