“Good Karma $1” follows Adweek’s 2010 Creative Director of the Decade on his journey through the streets looking not only for creative signs created by the homeless, but for a little compassion as well. In only fourteen minutes, Kids at Play Productions managed to fuze a decent amount of stories from people on the streets of Boulder, Colo. with a very particular perspective on advertising from Alex Bogusky, co-founder of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. In a well-cut narrative, Bogusky explains how he began collecting signs from homeless people in exchange for some money and a new piece of cardboard with a marker. With time of the essence, “Good Karma $1” uses cohesive editing and raw interviews to illustrate how each sign, no matter how zany, helps people communicate across social and economic barriers. From “Slept with Lindsay Lohan, need help!” to a simple “God bless,” “Good Karma $1” does a fantastic job summarizing the idiosyncrasies of one of the most basic (and underappreciated) forms of advertising.
“Sweet Dreams” tells the all-too-true story of Rwanda’s first and only all-female drum group, Ingoma Nshya. The group, made up of women from both tribes of the 1994 genocide, was originally created to offer support for female victims — and an outlet for their feelings.
The film begins with the powerful beat of drums as a woman, smiling and dancing, leads the rest of the group to the beat. The performance, even outside the context of the story, is incredibly powerful. We then meet Kiki Katese, founder of the group, as she explains how she got started expanding Ingoma Nshya into something bigger (and very out-of-place in Rwanda): an ice cream co-op run by the women of the drum circle.
As the story continues, the idea of ice cream in a third world country seems less and less ironic — after years of living in the shadow of such a detrimental massacre, many of the women in the co-op are emotionally scarred by their past.
Marta’s husband was killed in the night, just down the street, by people she knows. Several of the women were raped, and some were just children at the time who now live without knowledge of what really happened to their parents. Something sweet — or even something to look forward to — seems to be one of the most uplifting things in their lives.
Here’s where Blue Marble Ice Cream from Brooklyn, N.Y. comes in.
Founders Jennie and Alexis joined with the women of Ingoma Nshya to see through the process of creating an ice cream shop co-operative. With several hang ups along the way — including a faulty ice cream machine — the film perfectly balances the business side of Inzozi Nziza with the gripping stories of the Rwandan women who have made it possible.
“Sweet Dreams” offers filmgoers a glimpse at the heart-wrenching effects of the genocide with just enough historical information to make the co-op’s story contextual. It’s a documentary to the fullest and some bits of the side story run a little long, but if you don’t feel humbled by the group’s success at the end of such a “sweet” story, you’ve missed out.
