Last night marked my first trip down to the Starz FilmCenter for DocNight, a monthly documentary series presented by the Denver Film Society. This month’s film was Manda Bala, a truly outstanding documentary that weaves together several story lines to paint a gritty and rich portrait of corruption in Brazil. The film, directed by Jason Kohn (who also appeared in-person for Q&A at last night’s event) was the product of over five years of hard work and emphasized the concept of the documentary as a form of cinematic storytelling. Kohn explained that his goal with Manda Bala was not to make an informational, political message movie, but instead to showcase his subject matter using the most cinematic methods. Those methods included creating an overarching metaphor using cannibal frogs and creating characters of his unique interview subjects. The “cast” included several members … Read entire article »