AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN

Khushboo Ranka, Vinay Shukla / Discoveries / India / 2016 / documentary / 96 mins

With utility scams and widespread political corruption plaguing the two major parties in India, activist Arvind Kejriwal opted to become a third option that is truly populist and independent. But as one commentator asked, can an idealist really succeed as a politician? AN INSIGNIFICANT MAN is an engrossing record of the mechanisms of social change and the fortitude needed to enact it.

SUNDAY BEAUTY QUEEN

Baby Ruth Villarama / Discoveries / Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines / 2016 / documentary / 95 mins

In Hong Kong, Sunday is the one day a week overseas Filipino workers get to congregate in the streets to commune, crack jokes, celebrate birthdays, and, every now and then, throw beauty pageants. Director Baby Ruth Villarama lovingly captures the details of play and fantasy between the harsh, thankless labor that so often reminds the women of the families they left behind in the Philippines.