Hot Docs 2018 Reviews: Our New President and Bachman

May 03, 2018- Permalink

Our New President

Maxim Pozdorovkin’s Our New President looks at the 2016 U.S. Presidential election campaign from the viewpoint of Russia. Using both news clips from state news outlet RT and videos made by Russian citizens, we get to see what the election looked like from the vantage point of America’s Cold War adversary. The citizens see a populist who’ll improve relations with their country, while RT runs a constant stream of stories in support of Trump. They also attack Hillary Clinton endlessly, suggesting she was gravely ill or suffering from mental illness. While the big orange one denies there was any collusion with Russia, both late night comedians and private citizens openly make statements that they own this president. It’s a very interesting look at the election from another country.

I’ve always been a fan of Bachman Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who, so I was looking forward to seeing John Barnard’s Bachman, which looks at the life and career of songwriting and guitar legend Randy Bachman. Unfortunately, given the contributions he’s made to music and the interpersonal turmoil that ended both bands, we’re given a rather pedestrian documentary. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see Bachman playing and hear how great he is from Neil Young, Paul Shaffer and Peter Frampton, but his tumultuous relationship with songwriting partner and Guess Who bandmate Burton Cummings makes Cummings’ absence from the project a gaping hole in the project. Bachman has stated he feels betrayed by Cummings over ownership of their publishing, but I know that from newspaper articles, not this doc. Sadly, Bachman is not the definitive historical look at such an important musical icon.

For more information on the 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and for tickets and showtimes visit hotdocs.ca.