As "Time" (2020 release; 81 min.) opens, Sybil Fox Richardson is talking directly into her smart phone camera: "Today is July 23. My husband is in jail" and she shows off her highly pregnant belly. Born in 1971, she met her husband at age 16, and they eventually start a hip hop clothing store in Shreveport, LA. Then in the late 1990s things go wrong, very wrong, and her husband is sentenced to 60 years in jail... At this point we are less than 10 min. Into the film...
Couple of comments: this is the latest from director Garrett Bradley, who has done a variety of prior short documentary and TV work before. Here she takes a closer look at the travails of a women who is is trying to get her husband released from jail (which she terms "nothing less than slavery"), while raising six boys. The film itself is presented as a mixture smart phone footage and regular camera work, but all of it being brought in B&W footage only. The film also jumps back and forth in time over the last 2 decades. In the end it brings an intimate look at one woman's battle for justice reform. "I will be the voice for the voiceless!", she thunders at one of her public lectures. The movie gets better as it plays out, among other reasons because you really buy into the social plight of this woman and her family. In addition to the remarkable photography, the movie also sports an amazing score, much of it solo piano.
The movie had a very short and limited theater run last Fall, and sadly I had missed it then. I recently caught it on Amazon Prime. In fact, i watched this the very evening of the 2021 Oscars ceremony, where it was nominated for Best Documentary Oscar. Alas, it didn't win (that Oscar went to "My Octopus Teacher"). Regardless, if you have any interest in social justice issues or simply want to see a deeply human story playing out over 2 decades, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
