Yes, it seems like yesterday to some of us, but it’s coming up for 40 years in 2025. So long ago, I’m not sure I can even remember where I was. I know I had two small children so perhaps that’s why it’s hard to remember anything else. On January 25^th, 1985, dozens of the era’s most popular musicians gathered in Los Angeles to record a charity single for African famine relief. Setting egos aside, they collaborated on a song that would make history. This documentary is a real treat. The back story is very interesting. It’s, for some of us, all the people we admired back in the day, in one room. For others, it’s some of the people we admired, and some we didn’t. You’ll get a lot of joy out of this one.

I have a personal Bob Marley experience. Back in 1977, I saw Bob in concert in London at the Rainbow, I think. However, that morning at 6.00 am, I also had my mother fly in from Australia. Consequently, a few songs in with Bob, I nodded off. I did wake up again, but my kids have never let me live that one down. If I mention to anyone that I saw him, one of them pipes up with that story. Kids, they never forget a thing! The documentary looks at the violent political suppression of the roots reggae movement in Jamaica told through an investigation into Jamaican politics and the CIA’s involvement in the mysterious shooting of Bob Marley. After is appearance at the “One Love” concert, Bob left his Jamaican hometown due to the gang wars and went on a concert world tour in Europe and North America promoting peace. There is a lot to learn here about Bob Marley, which I hadn’t previously known.

Wow, it’s amazing what people get up to out there in cyberspace, and how ordinary folk are affected by it, to their detriment. In this unnerving documentary, we explore the outcome when mechanic Dave Kroupa tries online dating for the first time and meets a woman who takes romantic obsession to a deadly extreme. I must say it did seem to take the police a while to realize what was going on, especially when I had done so from the comfort of my lounge room within about an hour in. Still, I did have all the facts presented to me in a documentary.

The multi-talented Dan Levy writes, directs and acts in this poignant story of love, loss and grief. If you have experienced the latter, there are some sweet suggestions here on ways to view reactions to it. Levy stars as Marc, who chose to distract himself from the pain of his mother’s death by diving headfirst into a comfortable marriage with an older man. But when his husband also dies, unexpectedly, Marc’s world is cracked wide open, forcing him and his two best friends to embark on a cathartic, life-affirming adventure to make peace with all the grief he’d been evading. I found Marc’s self-obsessed friends somewhat annoying, but overall, I did like the story, especially Celia Imrie’s Imelda.

A heartwarming drama from Sweden about estranged families and the glue that binds them. Sara lives in a perfect nuclear family with Daniél, their little son, Eliot and soon a second child on its way. But their life is to be turned upside down and the heavily pregnant Sara is suddenly left alone. The help soon appears from a completely unexpected side when Sara’s alienated older sister, Linda, a helpless immature adult with a big erratic dog offers to move in and help out. There is a lot of warmth here, and some funny situations, which make this one easy to view.

This interesting film is based on the true story of Bayad Rustin, who helped Martin Luther King Jr. and others organise the 1963 March on Washington. Rustin, a political activist, is influenced by the speeches, thoughts and actions of King. When given the task of organising and coordinating a freedom march of around 100,000 people to the White House he puts his heart and soul into it. His enthusiasm and infectious energy motivate his co-workers to put in their best, resulting in a successful walk for Civil rights. As I knew very little about Rustin, I found this an enlightening story and Colman Domingo’s performance certainly lifts the experience.

This is an excellent film, but very unsettling. If this is the future, I hope it’s a long way off. In a dystopian London, the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. All forms of social housing have been eradicated and only The Kitchen remains. A community that refuses to move out of the place they call home. This is where we meet a solitary Izi, living here by necessity and desperately trying to find a way out, and a 12-year-old Benji, who has lost his mother and is searching for a family. We follow our unlikely pair as they struggle to forge a relationship in a system that is stacked against them.