Flint - Sheffield Doc/Fest

Flint Review

The ‘Flint Water Crisis’ was something I had heard of on the news, but I had never truly understood the scale of until seeing Flint. This film documents the extent of injustice shown in the city of Flint and the impact of a simple money-making tactic resulting in the deaths of hundreds. Following first-hand accounts, Anthony Baxter guides us through five years of intense anger as the people of Flint fight to have their situation even acknowledged before any justice can be formed.

These striking personal connections to the crisis, force empathy as children grow up poisoned so deeply that they will “never trust the water” and perhaps when they are old enough to understand, they will never trust their government either. Alongside the humanity of this piece, there is omnipotent scientific knowledge. The facts revealed in this documentary are quite jaw-dropping as we see homes with children have the same level of lead in their water as toxic waste. It becomes a question of who to blame, not just for the people of Flint but also the viewer - how did this go on so long without any solution and just how many will die?

Unfortunately, the length of the documentary allows it to lose pace from what began as a hard-hitting frontline piece to a slower stumble as five years’ worth of footage seems to be crammed in, at times, erratically. But, thankfully, the pace begins to quicken again as more truths are revealed and our trust in certain people begins to dissolve, creating a new conflict. Overall, Flintis an important piece of documentary that highlights the extent of the crisis in a way that hasn’t been seen before, even if it does seem to pause to catch its breath at times.

Written by Saskia Welch