The Other Side

By turns tender and disturbing, the new film from Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini is a powerful docu-fiction hybrid that profiles drug addicts and militia members living on the fringes of society. Throughout, Minervini coaxes his subjects to reveal themselves with a disarming directness, through a mix of direct observation, collaborative dramaturgy and dexterous cinematic technique. The Other Side is a hypnotic, raw and often provocative paean to the American B-side and to complex notions of freedom and security.