30 Day Film Challenge - Day 25 - Your Favorite Documentary Film Dave Chappelles Block Party There are different avenues I could have gone down, when coming up with my favorite documentary. I could have went with a film that takes a look back at an event in history or one that chronicles someone from the past. I also could have chosen a film that more focused around present times that attempts to go over a current agenda or acknowledge something going on in the world, which has now been put in the spotlight. For me, while I have plenty of runner-ups that fit into these various categories of documentaries and would love to give praise to all of them, sometimes it is the personal story that is the most affecting for me. Dave Chappelle’s Block Party may not be an ‘important’ film in the same way the films of Errol Morris may be, but it does work for me as a nice piece of history concerning a certain point in the careers of not only Chappelle, but many of the hip-hop artists featured. Dave Chappelle was certainly well known by the time this film came out, but it was also made before The Roots became the official band of The Tonight Show, before Common, Mos Def, and Jill Scott were taking on many different acting roles, and before ego completely took hold of Kanye West. It even serves as a film that briefly brought The Fugees back together. Directed by Michel Gondry of all people, this documentary chronicles a massive concert and the days around it, which was set up by comedian Dave Chappelle, during the time that he had been breaking out big thanks to his Comedy Central series. Things would go a different direction for Chappelle in the following years, but this doc is a reminder of the place of joy he was in, as he did something that brought hundreds of people together, in an effort to have people, both hip-hop fans and non-hip-hop fans, have a great time with the musicians that he considers to be not only his friends, but his current favorites. There are only so many docs that I really enjoy watching more than once and this is the one that I have watched the most, as it has lots of comedy, lots of music, and it is all just so honest.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 15:53:16 +0000
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