Review of The Do Gooders (2013) by Matt M — 07 Dec 2013

Using her own grandparents' aid work in Palestine as a starting point, documentarian Chloe Ruthven embarks on her own personal journey through the Palestinian Israeli conflict. The end result is shaped very much like a subjective video diary of which its most notable aspect is the relationship between Ruthven and a Palestinian woman Lubna who is fiercly critical of Western aid to Palestine, and their cultural differences.

In the end, The Do Gooders could be seen as slightly confused and even inconclusive film on a strictly political and even investigative point of view, but that would be perhaps missing the point. In fact, The Do Gooders is a sometimes harrowing revelation of the conscience and soul of the documentarian, exposed in a genuine way that has perhaps never been seen before.