A City in The Forest
When the city of Atlanta announces plans to build the largest police training center in the US, destroying a vital forest in the process, an activist movement mobilises to stop “Cop City”. Our DocCritics gave their rundown of what to expect from this reckoning of policing, environmental justice, and democracy.
Aisha's Review:
A City In The Forest throws itself at the volatile intersection between ecology, state power, and grassroots resistance. Directed by Lev Omelchenko and Nolan Huber, the documentary is set during the 2020 George Floyd uprising in Atlanta, where an urban forest faces destruction to make way for a large-scale police training facility, starting a sustained activist movement for those who felt unheard. The forest begins to evolve into a place where visions of the future are clashing, where one is deep in communal care and the other in institutional control.
The film’s strength lies in its refusal to diminish this tension. Instead, it lingers in the grey areas, allowing the voices of activists, residents, and authorities to coexist uneasily. Emotional significance is felt throughout the film as they carry so much pain while constantly pushing for change, yet things out of their control always fight against it. They refuse to shy away from the truth.
Visually, the documentary draws on the raw richness of its setting. The way the camera tends to focus on the textures of bark, soil, and bodies moving through undergrowth reinforces the intimacy between people and places. This detail is what allows the film to grow into something exquisite, as it allows you to connect with the pain of those who feel unheard. The pacing throughout the film mirrors the chaos of the protests themselves, changing between moments of stillness and sudden escalation.
Ultimately, the film focuses less on resolution and depends on endurance. Although social justice for the things people believe in may be pushed against, the passion that was nurtured will continue to echo beyond its boundaries, as it can not be contained or silenced.
Robin's review:
Lev Omelchenko and Nolan Huber have created a wonderfully diverse insight into the lives of activists and protestors in addition to the corruption and rampant racism within Atlanta and the wider United States, through the “Cop City” saga. The filmmakers being present at historic and personal events has led to them creating a detailed narrative documenting the movement from the start to the present day.
Composer Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe has created a beautiful soundtrack that compliments the contrast between rebellion and peace, with tranquil pieces intertwined with those that are more intense and overwhelming. They compliment the emotions and ideas the film portrays.
Identity is a very important aspect of “A City in the Forest” and the people within the documentary encapsulate this, featuring many queer and ethnically diverse individuals. Many of these people are unnamed, yet you feel their passion and become attached to their motives and goals.
Furthermore, the presentation of the film mirrors the various perspectives portrayed; smartphone footage, archival photography, news broadcasts, social media content and digital film were used, this incorporates a variety of aspect ratios. This choice by the directors to humanise the presentation allows for the viewer to feel personally attached to the movement, with different formats providing insight into different opinions and emotions.
Hope is a Word
In Nigeria's Niger Delta, where oil extraction has poisoned the land for decades, poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey nurtures a new generation of writers to fight back.
Aisha's review:
Directed by Maria Galliani Dyrvik, Hope is a Word takes the audience on a journey by diving into the truth regarding environmental devastation and cultural resistance in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. The documentary focuses on poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey, who aims to inspire the next generations to use language as both a weapon and a refuge in the face of ecological collapse.
The documentary dives into a landscape that has been scarred by decades of oil extraction and where pollution has irreversibly impacted both the environment and livelihoods. Nnimmo Bassey emerges not as a singular heroic figure but as a facilitator of collective expression who wants to nurture the next generations of writers who will turn their pain and grief into political articulation. I found myself connecting with those who used their pain and turned it into a positive, as poetry was a long-lost love of mine that helped me see the bright side of hardship. Hope isn’t an abstract ideal, but something spoken, written, shared.
The film focuses on raw intimacy by drawing attention to the poetry readings, rhythms of voices and moments of reflection. The way the camera focuses on silences and gestures so that we can feel the emotional and political weight through their voices. By doing this, it reframes activism not as confrontation, but as a sustained practice of storytelling.
What gripped me was how they used creativity to create a safe space to heal and to push for change. The documentary suggests that hope is passed from voice to voice rather than held individually.
Ultimately, Hope is a Word leaves viewers with an understanding of hope as labour, something that must be continually produced against the forces that seek to erase both land and memory.
Robin's review:
To me, “Hope is a Word” first and foremost about the arts, about passing them down from generation to generation. Using creative outlets to express your frustration, anger, hope and resilience. It uses the background and setting of the Niger Delta in Nigeria and the oil extraction that occurs there to explore the lives and emotions of those who live there, through 17 poems and 4 songs.
It started with Ken Saro-Wiwa who inspired the film's first protagonist, Nnimmo Bassey, to pursue peaceful activism through poetry and creative arts. We see and hear these poems through flowing, blue subtitles and controlled, clean audio. Yngve Leidulv Sætre’s audio design throughout the documentary is satisfying and calming. You hear and feel the effects of poetry and Bassey on the community, violence and anger is only seen through archive footage, retold events and through an interaction between Bassey and an unknown man, of which Bassey remained collected and peaceful.
The switch to Barinedum Cecilia Mbee as the second protagonist is successfully earnt, it highlights the key themes of the documentary, she takes a key role almost replacing Bassey in the community, and is seen influencing them near the end of the documentary with her final poem. Segments from Bassey’s son, Ukpono, are also extremely powerful, using catchy music to spread awareness, as a form of activism. Together all subjects of the documentary combine to create a powerful antiviolence perspective to climate activism.
Both Anita Veda as DoP and editor Federico Neri, both keep to this idea of tranquility in their own works. Long takes and meaningful cuts allow the viewer to become more invested in the community's poetry and activism. The use of a wide aspect ratio means that we get to see the wide impact of oil and mega corporations on the Nigerian landscape. It also allows the viewer to see the diverse community surrounding Bassey, and also allows the viewer to take in the breadth of their words. The words and emotions float around them like thoughts due to the subtitling.
