When Australian filmmaker and law student Joshua Belinfante is faced with a life threatening illness, rather than staying at home Joshua decides to travel around and tell stories.
What follows is Joshua travelling to different locations around the world and meeting an eclectic mix of people. In the film, each person introduces themselves and they tell the story of what got them to their particular field and how it has made a positive impact on them personally, as well as to their local community Along the way Joshua will meet people from all walks of life with different backgrounds. Despite the differences, he is able to find similarities between them all that ties them together with the theme of the film, which is that everyone is good at something and that the stories of what we are good at can be unique and worth telling.
The film is presented in an anthology style with each person having time to tell their story, so it is like watching multiple documentaries in the one film. To Joshua‘s credit, he gives each person the right amount of time to tell their story without each segment being too long or too short. The film also uses archival footage from Joshua‘s youth which is relevant to the stories that are being told, as well as Joshua‘s own personal take and how it relates to him.
You get the feeling that Joshua has a passion for storytelling and that he has a respect for the people as they share their life experiences and details on what makes them all unique. I also enjoyed how Joshua was able to find similarities between himself and the people that he meets. I could imagine him making more documentaries in this style and I would be interested to see what kind of films he will make in the future.
My own personal take away that I got out of this film, is to pursue what makes you happy and to believe in yourself. Because it will make you happy and can also make other people around you happy as well, which I will think about if I am ever lacking in self-confidence and need to be reassured that what I am doing in life is worth pursuing.
Each person that Joshua interviews has such an interesting story and a unique occupation that they are good at. In some cases, some of them need to be seen to be believed. Each individual’s story is filled with different emotions; some will make you laugh, some will make you cry, and some will even make you scratch your head. But one thing is for certain, each person will leave you feeling amazed and inspired.
The World’s Best Film is available to watch online as part of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival until the August 2nd, 2020 and the Revelation Perth International Film Festival until the 19th of July 2020.
For more information on the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, visit: https://www.mdff.org.au
For more information on the Revelation Perth International Film Festival, visit: https://www.revelationfilmfest.org