The Social Dilemma
For one, the American docu-drama The Social Dilemma that released on Netflix on September 9, 2020 was viewed by a colossal 3,80,00,000 homes within the first 28 days of its release. It examined, in-depth, how social media’s design was engineered to perpetuate addiction, enhance manipulated politics and spread conspiracy theories. For the first time, the link between social media and mental health issues was established by interviews with former employees, executives and professionals from the social media industry itself. After thrilling makes like Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice, Orlowsky comes up with this winner, which asks some key existential questions and tells how our brains are being manipulated and even rewired by algorithms designed to get our attention and make us buy things, including silently adopt distorted ideas about the world, ourselves, and each other.
A Life On Our Planet
The ‘witness statement’ by David Attenborough is a 2020 British documentary film narrated by David Attenborough himself. Here, he shares first-hand his “concern for the current state of the planet due to humanity’s impact on nature,” and his “hopes for the future”. Released on Netflix on October 4, 2020 along with a companion book A Life on Our Planet, the documentary is peppered with footage of Attenborough’s career and of a wide variety of ecosystems. Through A Life On Our Planet, he peeps into what could happen to the planet over the course of a lifetime beginning in 2020 and lasting as long as his own, should human activity continue on its trajectory. Man’s wildest fears could come true. These irreversible events would cause a mass extinction and exacerbate climate change further.
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
The film, directed and produced by Sam Feder, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2020 and was released on Netflix on June 19, 2020. It follows an in-depth look at Hollywood’s depiction of transgender people and the impact of their stories on transgender lives and American culture. The film details Hollywood’s depiction of transgender people and their impact on transgender lives. It features many famous transgender people in the film industry such as Laverne Cox, Susan Stryker, Alexandra Billings, Jamie Clayton, Chaz Bono, Alexandra Grey, Yance Ford, Trace Lysette, Jazzmun, Mj Rodriguez, Angelica Ross, Jen Richards, Elliot Fletcher, Brian Michael Smith, Sandra Caldwell, Candis Cayne, Jessica Crockett, Zackary Drucker, Lilly Wachowski, Zeke Smith, and Leo Sheng.
Rising Phoenix
Transporting the phenomenal stories of nine Paralympic athletes and their journeys in competition to homes on 26 August 2020 through Netflix was Rising Phoenix - a documentary film directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui and starring Tatyana McFadden, Bebe Vio and Jonnie Peacock. The film featured nine Paralympians from across the world and speaks of the remarkable journey of the Paralympic Games from World War II to becoming the third biggest sporting event on the planet. It changes the way the world thinks about disability, excellence, diversity and human potential. Bebe Vio (Italy), Ellie Cole (Australia), Jean-Baptiste Alaize (France), Matt Stutzman (USA), Jonnie Peacock (Great Britain), Cui Zhe (China), Ryley Batt (Australia), Ntando Mahlangu (South Africa) and Tatyana McFadden (USA) are the nine Paralympic athletes whose exceptional stories are depicted in Rising Phoenix, which is expected to take the Movement onto the next level.
Spelling the Dream
Directed by Sam Rega and written by Sam Rega and Chris Weller, Spelling the Dream stars Srinivas Ayyagari, Jacques Bailly and Valerie Browning. The film follows the lives of four kids: Akash Vukoti, Tejas Muthusamy, Ashrita Gandhari and Shourav Dasari and features Sanjay Gupta, Kevin Negandhi, Fareed Zakaria, Pawan Dhingra, and Hari Kondabolu. The documentary film starts with the first-ever Indian American winner of Scripps, Balu Natarajan, whose triumph in 1985 showed the way for others to follow; others who felt that someone who looked like them had managed to achieve success in a zone otherwise dominated by white victory. Watching the youngest contestant, the endearing seven-year-old Akash cry, when dealing with defeat later in the film, reminds viewers that while these children might possess an advanced intelligence in many ways, emotionally they’re still children dealing with an extreme situation. It streams on Netflix.
