The E-Team

Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman's Netflix-produced documentary rides along with four members of an “Emergencies Team” that is part of the NGO Human Rights Watch committed to documenting and exposing atrocities, war crimes, and genocide worldwide. Most of the narrative takes place in Syria in 2013, as the team seeks eyewitnesses (and surviving victims) of the Assad regime savagery, but there are also flashbacks to the group's excursions to investigate brutalities in Libya and Kosovo. The revelation here is that Human Rights Watch is not a huge complex with a gleaming skyscraper and a fleet of helicopters but a loose coalition of grassroots activists who are largely DIY in funneling information to the media and public hearings. Of particular human interest are an Emergencies Team couple, Anna Neistat and Ole Solvang, who negotiate the dangers of Assad's Syria (such as the requirement that women be swathed in robes) even as Anna realizes she's in the early stages of pregnancy. An ALA-VRT Notable Videos for Adults selection, this powerful documentary—with the worst of the gore kept offscreen (but nonetheless vividly conveyed through the description and the shattered emotions of survivors)—is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)