The BEST episodes directed by Kim Longinotto
#1 - Dreamcatcher: Surviving Chicago's Streets
Storyville - Season 2015 - Episode 21
From award-winning British film-maker Kim Longinotto comes a deeply moving film which explores the work of former prostitute Brenda Myers-Powell as she helps vulnerable women escape the dangers on the streets of Chicago. By day, Brenda counsels incarcerated prostitutes and schoolgirls at risk. By night, she drives the streets with her colleague, offering support to women enduring a lifestyle she knows only too well. Brenda is living proof that these women can change their lives and this intense, powerful documentary offers a non-judgemental eye on the day-to-day workings of the Dreamcatcher Foundation. A deserved winner at the 2015 Sundance Film festival, the documentary shows Brenda as an empathetic, charismatic and inspirational real-life character, who connects the viewer with a patchwork of personal stories from some of the most at-risk people within society.
#2 - Pink Saris
HBO Documentary Film Series - Season 2011 - Episode 30
Sampat Pal is the leader of the Gulabi Gang (aka the Pink Gang), a vigilante group of women in Northern India distinguished by their distinctive bright pink saris. Like many other women, Pal was married as a young girl into a family that made her work hard and often beat her. Unlike most other Indian women, she overcame her problems to become an outspoken, self-described "messiah" for women. Though domestic abuse is illegal in India, tradition and the caste system are steadfastly upheld by many, especially in the rural areas where the Pink Gang operates. By tradition, women are not allowed to live with their own parents once they are married, and are at the mercy of the husband's family. If a woman comes from a lower caste, she is often not allowed to marry a man of higher rank. Pal's strategy is to expose abusive husbands, in-laws and other offenders by settling family matters out in the open, turning the tables on those who did the damage.
#3 - Love Is All: 100 Years of Love and Courtship
Storyville - Season 2015 - Episode 7
A magical and moving archive trip through the universal theme of love, set to a stunning soundtrack by Richard Hawley. It takes us on a journey through the 20th century, exploring love and courtship on screen in a century of unprecedented social upheaval. From the very first kisses ever caught on film, through the disruption of war to the birth of youth culture, gay liberation and free love, we follow courting couples flirting at tea dances, kissing in the back of the movies, shacking up and fighting for the right to love. This is the celluloid story of love and courtship since the birth of the movie camera, told with spellbinding archive footage and directed by award-winning director Kim Longinotto.