You don't have to be a fan of heavy metal to be captivated by the moving, intimate and provocative documentary Sirens about the band Slave to Sirens. They're not just an ordinary heavy metal band; they're all-female and from Beirut, Lebanon. With behind-the-scenes access to the band, director Rita Baghdadi captures the highs and lows of the band members while also informing the audience about how the group was formed back in 2015. Baghdadi focuses mostly on its founding members, Lilas Mayassi and Shery Bechara; the other members, Alma Doumani, Maya S. Khairallah and Tatyana Boughaba, are barely in it, so this isn't really a thorough documentary per se. Nonetheless, there's enough going on the personal lives of Lilas and Shery to add some dramatic tension to the film while humanizing both of them concurrently. They're not perfect; their flaws and struggles make them not only more interesting, but also relatable. The dynamics of their relationship remains compelling from start to finish. They're brave for bearing their souls in front of the camera. Most importantly, though, Baghdadi does a great job of showing their private moments--their "dirty laundry"---without being invasive or making the documentary feel voyeuristic. Sirens is ultimately a documentary about courage, perseverance, sexual identity, freedom and friendship. It's even more exceptional for being about female friendships specifically because that's something rarely explored in film, whether they're fiction or documentary. Sirens opens at Angelika Film Center via Oscilloscope Laboratories.

      Souls in Transit is a brave, powerful and eye-opening exposé about a human rights issue: Sayfo, a.ka. the Assyrian Genocide of 1915 when Ottomans massacred Christians. It's just as important to remember as the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide. Director Aida Schläpfer includes footage of interviews with survivors, Ziyo Rhawi, Gorgis Shabo Afram, Sade Be Galle Saydeand Yahkub b'qasho Malke, who provide testimony of their experiences as children during the Souls in Transit sounds like the title of a horror film and, in a way, it is indeed a horror film, even more terrifying because it's real and still an issue today. What they witnessed and experienced will move you to tears as it rightfully should unless you're made out of stone. Bravo to director Aida Schläpfer for not sugar-coating anything and presenting the audience with the horrors of Sayfo in vivid details directly from the account of the survivors. She also interviews men and women like Feda Botrous, among others, whose lives and livelihoods remain at stake in Iraq because they're Christian. One family used to be rich, but now they are homeless and poor. Their struggles are heartbreaking. One of the interview subjects hits the nail on the head when he asks why the United Nations and Europe aren't doing anything to help the Christians in the east today. Are they not complicit in their murder and suffering?

      To be fair, it would've added more perspective to the doc if director Aida Schläpfer were to have interviewed a representative of the United Nations, but Souls in Transit nonetheless remains just as vital of a historical document as Claude Lanzmann's Shoah. Aida Schläpfer's compassion, empathy, determination, courage are palpably evident throughout her narration. That makes her a strong person and a great role model. She candidly admits at the end that there's a lot more information and documents that remain hidden from her and that she couldn't find. Her honesty is refreshing and a sign that she's a great journalist who's intellectually and emotionally mature, and cares about truth and justice. Truth and justice are an essential part of democracy, so what she ultimately cares about and strives for is democracy. The final shot of the sun shining near the horizon is very poetic. Poetry is often a protest for or against something. Souls in Transit is clearly a protest against hate, intolerance and violence. It's a protest for peace, love and compassion. At a running time of 1 hour and 17 minutes, Souls in Transit opens at Cinema Village via DA Production.

      In Taming the Garden, Bidzina Ivanishvil, the former prime minister of Georgia, uproots century-old trees and transports them to his garden. That's the gist of what happens in this fly-on-the-wall documentary. Director Salomé Jashi eschews talking-head interviews, informational text or even any background about anyone. She lets the images and brief conversations among the people on screen speak for themselves without commentary. Images often speak louder than words, and that can be said about much of Taming the Garden. The images of nature look majestic and breathtaking, but watching the trees being uprooted and the land destroyed through excavation is tragic and horrifying. Essentially, this is a beautifully-shot documentary that also serves as an exposé of how the rich and powerful are selfish and lack respect for the environment. Around the hour mark, the doc starts to become repetitive. It's not nearly as powerful, balanced and haunting as the recent National Geographic doc The Territory. Director Salomé Jashi trusts the audience's patience a lot, especially since the pace moves very slowly, so she does at least deserve credit for taking that risk. At a running time of 1 hour and 32 minutes, which feels more like 2 hours, it opens at New Plaza Cinema via Big World Pictures before expanding to Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles on October 10th and 11th.

      Three more docs also open today. They're very different in terms of subject matter as well as quality. Starting with the best doc among them, Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche centers on the avalanche that killed 7 people in a Lake Tahoe resort called Alpine Meadows back in March 31st, 1982. Co-directors Jared Drake and Steven Siig blend news footage and talking-head interviews with the survivors of the avalanche as well as some reenactments. It's a gripping, cinematic and well-edited documentary which would be even more suspenseful for audiences not previously familiar with the incident. The filmmakers do a decent job of presenting the audience with the details of the avalanche including the blizzard that occurred before it. Jim Plehn, an avalanche forecaster, provides some fascinating insights from his perspective and recollections. The most poignant parts of the doc, though, are when the survivors candidly discuss how the event affected them and what they've learned from it. Although not quite as powerful and memorable as The Rescue and Touching the Void, Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche comes close. It opens at Regal Union Square via Greenwich Entertainment.

      Nearby at the Quad Cinema, you'll find Art & Krimes by Krimes about Jesse Krimes, an artist who served 6 years in prison for selling drugs. While in prison, he used a variety of material like hair gel, newspapers and bed sheets to create a 40-foot mural that he smuggled out piece by piece. He saw the mural in its entirety when he was released from prison. There's nothing exceptional about this doc, but director Alysa Nahmias is lucky to have an interesting subject who's not afraid to open up emotionally in front of the camera to talk about his traumatic childhood and how he was inspired to create art. Art, after all, can be a way to channel one's emotions and to better understand them. It's a form of art therapy. Director Alysa Nahmias doesn't really explore the larger theme of art therapy nor does it show other artists similar to Krimes. He can't be the only ex-con who became an artist. So, this doc remains limited in scope, but it does shed some light on the healing power of art. It opens via MTV Documentary Films.

      Further downtown at DCTV's Firehouse Cinema, there's I Didn't See You There, the most unconventional and immersive doc of the week, but concurrently very tedious and nauseating one. Reid Davenport, a disabled filmmaker, uses a wheelchair to travel around Oakland, California. The camera remains from his perspective which puts the audience in his shoes. This isn't so much a documentary biopic about Reid Davenport; it's more of a snapshot of his experiences and struggles as a disabled man. You don't even get to see Davenport--only brief glimpses of his shadows and reflections, but you do get to hear his voice and hear how he reacts when he's angry and frustrated. He comes across as intelligent and candid while he makes some profound observations every now and then. I Didn't See You There is hard to watch at times because of all the shaky-cam, but kudos to Davenport for boldly breaking documentary convention through the film's intense visual style.

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Bros
Directed Nicholas Stoller