Flint - Sheffield Doc/Fest

I had a limited knowledge of the ongoing water crisis before I started Anthony Baxter’s Flint, but I really was interested in learning and understanding more about the situation (one of the reasons I put the film so high up on my Doc/Fest watchlist). One of the largest of the many governmental betrayals in recent American history, it’s something I felt that I had a responsibility to learn more about.

Mainly built from Baxter’s first-hand interviews with Flint’s citizens, the film does a great job of putting across the outrage that they rightfully felt and makes us feel the same in the process. The way the government handled the crisis is despicable and considering the recent injustices in America we hear about on a daily basis, it’s a tremendously powerful watch. It was equally as powerful to see the people of Flint organise themselves and fight back, their response was extremely impressive and commendable. The emotional core of the film was seeing people put their lives on hold, to fight for their city and its future generations. Aside from a few nit-picks with the presentation of the film, I found the first half really quite interesting and moving.

When the focus moves away from the people, it takes a fairly significant nosedive in quality and its apparent intentions from the start seem to get lost in bickering out-of-town water researchers. I was disappointed with this focus shift, but it does pick up on the people we saw earlier towards the end, and things are wrapped up well enough (aside from an awkward and seemingly unnecessary visit to the city by actor, Alec Baldwin).

I’d recommend giving Flint a watch, if only for the brilliant display of courage and community in the first half, as well as it serving as a chilling indictment of a government that put the lives of its people on the line just to save money.

Written by Ben Matthews