The other night B and I saw The Cats of Mirikatani at Cinema Village. In a nutshell it is the story of a filmmaker who right after 9/11 took in an 80 year old homeless Japanese artist who haunted the streets of Soho. As the aptly named Jeanette Catsoulis wrote in her review of the movie in the NYT, "The title may suggest a wildlife documentary, but "''The Cats of
Mirikitani'' is entirely, vibrantly human."" This movie is the definition of a mitzvah but the filmmaker's act of kindness isn't the focus of the film just an underlying current as the movie touches on the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, post 9/11 reactions, healing, art, and forgiveness. It is amazing.
A much shorter documentary (7 minutes long) is a video segment of a young woman who knows she is going to develop Huntington's disease. She spends her day working on the Huntington's ward at Cardinal Cooke and spends time caring for her cousin who suffers from it. As her aunt says in the video, "she has moxie". I have no idea what I would do if I were in her shoes and her spirit, at least what we see on film, is inspiring.
