The Do Gooders
- Director: Chloe Ruthven
Rating: 3.5/5
Chloe Ruthven makes her feature film directorial debut with The Do Gooders, a documentary that will feature in the Journey section at the BFI London Film Festival.
A guerrilla style ‘Thelma and Louise’ road movie journeying deep into the murky world of International Aid. Chloe (British) and Lubna (Palestinian) embark on a trip to explore the impact of Foreign Aid on the region.
But what starts out as a simple quest, becomes increasingly complex as the personal and political become ever more entwined.
This is a documentary that starts off as an incredibly personal journey for filmmaker as she follows in the footsteps of her grandparents; they went to help the Palestine people.
Ruthven stars by looking at how aid work has changed over the years, and meets some of the people who give up their time to help.
But this move seem turns into something very different as Ruthven starts to look that the effect that aid is having on the country. She starts asking the question ‘is aid bringing the right sort of help to this region?’
And while this change in direction for the film is a welcome one, it is something that the director isn’t ready for. At times she really does seem out of her depth – if she has set off with the intention of answering this questions this film would have been more of a success.
That is not to say that The Do Gooders is not a very interesting watch, because it really does raise some very interesting questions and points.
The best thing about this movie is the relationship between Ruthven and Lubna: a Palestinian woman who is brought on as a driver, fixer and translator.
Ruthven has one set of ideas of Palestine and the aid that they receive, while Lubna is fiercely critical of Western aid efforts in her country.
The Do Gooders become a movie as much about these two women getting to know each other and understand each other’s points of view, as well as answering these bigger questions.
Lubna is a fascinating character, who has very strong views on what needs to be done to help the Palestine people – this becomes as emotional and personal a journey for Lubna as it is for the director.
The Do Gooders is one of the most thought provoking films at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, as it raises some very interesting points.
The film perhaps lacks some cohesion, but Ruthven shows that she is a director that really can take an audience on an interesting journey.
The Do Gooders is screened at the BFI London Film Festival on 10th and 12th October.
Tagged in BFI