Where Are You Taking Me? at MoMA

Every February, MoMA puts on Documentary Fortnight, a two-week festival of contemporary nonfiction films that gives small but worthwhile works a moment in the spotlight. The films frequently display unorthodox takes on their subjects, as in Kimi Takesue's Where Are You Taking Me? Eschewing narrative or even translation, Takesue simply plants her camera (using "a one-person crew," as she said in the q-and-a) and watches ordinary Ugandans going about their days.

Some eye the audience warily or turn away, while others wink, flirt, laugh, or ask direct, unsettling questions, such as the titular one. Most, however, ignore it, having more important daily affairs to attend to. Her approach has its drawbacks --- intriguing stories, like that of the female weightlifters or the Kampala breakdancing school, get untold --- but it captures numerous lovely images and effectively conveys the vertiginous experience of being an outsider in the Pearl of Africa.

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