The Hottest August

Picture of a city in times of uncertainty, precise and insightful as the works of Frederick Wiseman, and with the surreal undertones, which resemble Chris Marker’s cinema. In August 2017 the film director Brett Story (One of the most captivating documentary filmmakers, according to Variety) records the lives of New Yorkers: blue-collar workers and yuppies, black people and white people, students and pensioner. In front of the offices, in pubs, on the beach. Abandoning the usual detachment, Story instead asks the people simple question: “Are you afraid of the future?” And even though her interviewees come from different backgrounds, there is an underlying fear in their answers—fear of senility, of situation on the job market or another hurricane. And there are things to be afraid of. No matter if you bury your head in the sand, you can’t escape from the news about climate change or neo-fascism movements. Out of this mosaic of personal fears and hopes arises an unsettling picture of the United States in Trump’s era, supplemented by excerpts from essays by Zadie Smith and Annie Dilard. Is there anything dependable left in the US? There is one principle: “We never talk politics in bar,” says one of the characters. And then he starts to make racists remarks...