Documentary shines light on farmworker activist
Here are a few interesting new releases that are available now from cable and digital providers as well as a title that has recently become available through streaming services.
Video on Demand
“Dolores”: Fresh from its recent airing on PBS’s “Independent Lens,” this award-winning documentary from Peter Bratt (brother of actor Benjamin, who serves as a producer) shines a spotlight on the work of Dolores Huerta. As a young single mother, she fought tirelessly alongside Cesar Chavez to unionize farmworkers. She first became widely known when she brought the National Farmworkers Association workers, who were mostly Mexican-American, on board to join the Delano grape strike in California in 1965 to support picketing Filipino workers who were walking off the job in order to try and earn a living wage. Her tireless activism eventually led to the creation of the United Farm Workers of America union. Packed with rare archival footage, Bratt’s film allows the world to see how her commitment to social justice developed and intensified over the years. Interviewed now in her late 80s, she impressively continues to engage in grassroots organizing and oversees a foundation that still focuses on agricultural workers and economic development. This essential historical document is punctuated by observations from friends and contemporaries like Angela Davis and Gloria Steinem. (Digital VOD, also streaming on the PBS app through April 24)
“Outside In”: In the dynamic new feature from Lynn Shelton (“Your Sister’s Sister”), Jay Duplass stars as Chris, a man who has just gotten out of prison after 20 long years of being locked up. He was able to earn early parole thanks to Carol (the always terrific Edie Falco), his former high school English teacher who neglected her own marriage and daughter for years working to advocate for his release. Chris struggles while navigating the real world after two decades away. Simple things like texting and Wi-Fi are foreign to him, and the quest for work as a felon is a daily disappointment. The only person he wants to spend time with is Carol, but she is resistant despite toiling away in a relatively loveless relationship. Warmly accented by a beautiful violin-driven score from Andrew Bird, this is an honest and melancholy story about two people who are desperately trying to make sense of their broken lives and save each other. Easily the best film of Shelton’s career. (Cable and digital VOD)
Also on streaming services
“Dina”: Billed as a “real-life romantic comedy,” we follow the relationship between Dina and her fiancé Scott, who are both on the autism spectrum. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for best documentary at Sundance last year, it’s an occasionally uncomfortable but always fascinating look at true love. (Hulu)