A Movie Review: The Hottest August

“…the most melancholy of all euphemisms: the new normal…” - The Hottest August

The Hottest August, the new documentary by Brett Story (The Prison in 12 Landscapes), is a film about climate change, that never speaks directly to it. It’s a portrait of New York in August of 2017 where the filmmakers interviewed a wide variety of folks from all walks of life.

The filmmakers ask an open ended question: “How do you feel about the future?” The answers all reveal something we have in common, a collective anxiety, uncertainty and a prevalence of fear either spoken directly or under platitudes about hope.

The Hottest August isn’t a documentary about providing information, it’s a film about people, it’s about a feeling, it’s about providing something relatable and a space to live in and to me, it’s a profound experience that serves as a reminder of the power of non-fiction cinema.

Featured in Vol. 1

Contributor

Joshua Allen LaBure is a filmmaker, radio producer, co-host of A Documentary Podcast, and founder of Figure Podcasts based in Omaha, NE.