■ That Girl in Yellow Boots
Ruth (Kalki Koechlin) is an Anglo Indian woman seeking her long-lost father in India but finding trouble instead. Filming with handheld high-definition cameras, director Anurag Kashyap captures the heat and perspiration, the bribery and bureaucracy—the crowded sense of place. Working illegally as a masseuse, Ruth slips easily into the sex trade amidst the isolation and anxiety. Drugs and predatory men are everywhere in the poignant journey of a stranger in a strange land.
■ The Good Son
At age 5, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini already knew he wanted to become a lightweight boxing champion to fulfill the thwarted career of his dad, whose championship dreams were cut short by World War II shrapnel. Ray brought excitement to boxing’s sagging ratings in the ’80s until Korean opponent Duk-koo Kim died from his blows. The documentary explores the tenacious drive that pushed Mancini out of mobbed-up Youngstown, Ohio, and into stardom—and regrets.
■ Bee People
Will the honeybees buzz no more? Their numbers are shrinking and that’s bad news for us. It’s not just the honey—the bees pollinate the plant world. If they go, we’ll go hungry. The documentary Bee People is a reminder of the danger of a bee-less world, but also focuses on educators encouraging children to consider beekeeping as a profession and intrepid newbies to the field. “It’s pretty easy,” one novice backyard beekeeper insists.
