Fever Dream

After a fire at a Bucharest nightclub kills 27 people, dozens more die in hospitals from infections that should not have killed them. A team of reporters at a sports newspaper starts digging, and discovers that hospital disinfectants were diluted and the cover-up reached the health ministry. The film follows the journalists and a new minister who tries to clean it up from inside.

Why it’s here: It's the documentary about what corruption does to a body. What's punk is the sports journalists who refused to leave a story to someone more senior. What's pedagogical is that it lets viewers see what a whistleblower costs, and what the system does with the answer. Pairs with Citizenfour, Coded Bias (suggested 10-28) and Inside Job (suggested 11-01). Note: hospital scenes with burned patients; the film ends without a clean win.

On the Italian island of Lampedusa, a twelve-year-old boy learns to use a slingshot, a doctor treats seasick islanders, and a radio operator hears distress calls from boats in the Mediterranean. The film cuts between the island's daily life and the coast guard rescuing people from overloaded boats. It won the Golden Bear at Berlin.

Why it’s here: The film holds two worlds side by side and refuses to explain either: the island that goes on with its life, and the people who arrive. What's punk is the refusal of voiceover and the absence of a rescue narrative. What's pedagogical is that students can discuss what the camera chooses to look at. Companion to Exit West and Solito. Note: slow and quiet, with scenes of bodies from a rescue.