Almost Holy
Directed by Steve Hoover
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's social and political institutions faced massive change, including an increasingly corrupt government and crippled infrastructure. A number of the nation's youth wound up homeless and addicted to a lethal cocktail of injected cold medicine and alcohol. In the early 2000s a pastor from Mariupol named Gennadiy Mokhnenko took up the fight against child homelessness by forcibly abducting street kids and bringing them to his Pilgrim Republic rehabilitation center—the largest organization of its kind in the former Soviet Union. Gennadiy's ongoing efforts and unabashedly tough love approach to his city's problems has made him a folk hero for some, and a lawless vigilante to others. Despite criticism, Gennadiy is determined to continue his work.
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Reviews
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★★★★ review by Adam Patterson on Letterboxd
Crocodile Gennadiy is a deeply troubling film, but the message behind it is pure, and the work of Mokhnenko is an inspiration to anyone who feels like they can’t make a difference in the lives to those around them. This is easily one of the best documentaries I’ve seen this year and a highly recommended watch.
Full review: Here
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★★★★ review by asexual flower on Letterboxd
RIP FilmStruck
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★★★½ review by Mr_Barrett on Letterboxd
Whilst the film doesn't seem to be particularly well received critically [although the reception is still favourable] because of the film's apparent one-sidedness, I really *enjoyed* this watch. I say *enjoyed* because there's no way one can actually attach the word joy to this film because it really is a harrowing watch. A quick Google will tell you the film is about a Pastor who kidnaps/rescues homeless, drug-addicted street kids, and watching the environment where such a thing takes place is just horrific. I guess in that sense it probably doesn't deserve four stars, because it's almost a 'well, don't I have it good' kind of watch, but more than that it is interesting to watch this clearly intelligent, charismatic, righteous guy commit to what he sees as a societal duty, a societal good.
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★★★★½ review by sleepy0116 on Letterboxd
You wont regret watching it right now
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★★★★ review by Isaque de Paula on Letterboxd
Tremendously well made and focused documentary on the youth street life of Ukraine, and a pastor turned vigilante attempting to make his country a slightly better place.
Horrifically dark at points, there's no attempt to hide the blunt reality of these situations. Kids as young as 5 hooked on drugs and alcohol, abused physically and sexually by their own parents, some proper stomach churning stories.
Pastor Gennadiy is an extremely charasmatic and compellingly complicated figure. We see him struggle for 15 years in what seems to be fight with no end.
The film's bigger ideas politically are conveyed fluidly thanks to some precise editing in glueing the separate stories thematically. It all comes together emotionally in a natural and completely devastating way.
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