Kind Hearted Woman

Documentarian David Sutherland, renowned for his intimate documentaries focusing on rural Americans (including the Video Librarian “Best Docs” selection Country Boys [VL-9/06]), here follows three tumultuous years in the life of 32-year-old Robin Charboneau, a member of North Dakota's Oglala Sioux nation. Despite a solid employment history with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and interests in psychology and social work, Robin (whose Lakota name translates as "kind-hearted woman") struggled with a dysfunctional upbringing at the hands of two alcoholic parents that also included numerous abusive foster homes. Only tenuously sober herself, Robin divorced a husband she believes molested their daughter. Robin fights a protracted custodial/justice battle over her two children, against what appears to be a patriarchal and unsympathetic tribal court. Leaving her Spirit Lake reservation, she tries to juggle AA, money woes, college in Minnesota, parenting two troubled kids, an achy-breaky on-off relationship with a nice (but neurotically insecure) Canadian guy, and her ferociously personal mission to campaign against abuse. As in his masterful The Farmer's Wife (VL-5/99), Sutherland has discovered a transfixing subject—brave yet all too human—and renders her story in classic fly-on-the-wall cinéma-vérité style. Aired on PBS, this co-production from Frontline and Independent Lens serves up a powerful and compelling real-life drama. Extras include an interview with Sutherland and updates on Robin and her family. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)