Crafted with startling beauty and reflecting an uncanny ability to observe, this film is spun together with a tenderness and intelligence that can’t help but move us. This work of drifting portraiture loosely traces the lives of two young men in Hale County, Alabama, flowing in and out of their homes and basketball practices in a fearless reimagining of how stories are told about black lives in the American South. First-time director RaMell Ross carefully presents important moments from almost a decade of Quincy and Daniel’s lives. Everything is recorded with intimacy while preserving the universal mystery of another human being’s life, allowing the subjects the same humanity that we, as viewers, afford ourselves. This poetic film asks us to be open-minded about what documentaries are “supposed” to be so we can also be open enough to immerse ourselves in the lives of others. (AS)