Blood Brother, which Austin Film Society will screen Tuesday evening at the Marchesa as part of the Doc Nights series, is very obviously a labor of love. Filmmaker Steve Hoover travelled to India with his best friend Rocky Braat, who was returning after a short break to his work volunteering at a rural hostel for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS. For a few months, the director documented the daily life of his friend and the kids he serves.
The documentary may sound at first like a white-guy-goes-to-a-developing-country-to-do-good story (it kind of is one, literally), particularly when Rocky says things like he went to India "seeking authenticity." But Blood Brother is a layered film, and goes far deeper than this initial premise. The film kicks off in medias res, with an older man clutching a near-lifeless child to his chest; Rocky and others are shown racing to take the girl to the hospital.
The documentary may sound at first like a white-guy-goes-to-a-developing-country-to-do-good story (it kind of is one, literally), particularly when Rocky says things like he went to India "seeking authenticity." But Blood Brother is a layered film, and goes far deeper than this initial premise. The film kicks off in medias res, with an older man clutching a near-lifeless child to his chest; Rocky and others are shown racing to take the girl to the hospital.
- 4/8/2014
- by Elizabeth Stoddard
- Slackerwood
Continued from picks 15 to 11…. 15. American Hustle – David O. Russell 14. The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorsese
13. Blue Is the Warmest Color – Abdellatif Kechiche
12. Gravity – Alfonso Cuarón 11. Spring Breakers – Harmony Korine
10. Blood Brother – Steve Hoover
I must admit that I was never completely won over by Steve Hoover’s music video work, but that was more the fault of his chosen musical collaborators than his keen eye for the alive and his feeling for rhythmically propulsive pacing. With his debut feature doc he expands on these talents, crafting a bracingly vivacious work of soul searching and self sacrifice that sees the American dream traded by his best friend Rocky Braat for the cyclic misery of caring for Indian women and children doomed to die at the cruel hands of HIV/AIDS. Despite their destiny, the children are given love and hope, and in return, Braat and Hoover find within themselves a...
13. Blue Is the Warmest Color – Abdellatif Kechiche
12. Gravity – Alfonso Cuarón 11. Spring Breakers – Harmony Korine
10. Blood Brother – Steve Hoover
I must admit that I was never completely won over by Steve Hoover’s music video work, but that was more the fault of his chosen musical collaborators than his keen eye for the alive and his feeling for rhythmically propulsive pacing. With his debut feature doc he expands on these talents, crafting a bracingly vivacious work of soul searching and self sacrifice that sees the American dream traded by his best friend Rocky Braat for the cyclic misery of caring for Indian women and children doomed to die at the cruel hands of HIV/AIDS. Despite their destiny, the children are given love and hope, and in return, Braat and Hoover find within themselves a...
- 1/8/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
When "Blood Brother" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, it was rapturously received by critics and audiences alike. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, "Blood Brother" is director Steve Hoover's document of his wayward best friend, Rocky Braat, in his journey through India, as he is transformed by his work with HIV-infected youth. Though the film was--somewhat puzzlingly--not picked up by a major distributor, the production's partnership with Tugg has brought "Blood Brother" to over 50 cities. Recently, however, it seems the good nature surrounding the documentary has been replaced with hostile accusations that Braat and Hoover were in the country on not so much a selfless mission, as a Christian one. In his takedown over at Doc Soup, Tom Roston cites Christopher Campbell's Nonfics review, which drew attention to the filmmakers' involvement with the Greater Pittsburgh Church of Christ: "Many will see 'Blood Brother...
- 11/12/2013
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Indiewire
Rocky Braat is the ideal documentary “good guy,” a young American in India caring for orphaned children with HIV and AIDS. Not as a part of any Ngo or the Peace Corps or official cause, it seems. He just fell in love with the kids while passing through Chennai as a tourist. Of course there’s a film about him. He’s the kind of guy who wins audience awards for docs — and maybe some jury prizes, too — in spite of the fact that the honors are intended for filmmaking rather than the heroic and heartwarming subjects on screen. People bring their checkbooks to screenings specifically for this sort of thing. But the film he stars in, Blood Brother, does not have one of those common credits at the end of issue films indicating how we can help. Maybe that’s because the documentary is not about Braat so much as it’s about Steve Hoover, the...
- 10/20/2013
- by Nonfics.com
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
India, AIDS & Amity: Hoover Follows Friend’s Heart
It’s really no wonder that often when westerners find themselves drifting, looking for more from life, they drop everything and journey off into the unknown, and what alien country is more fitting than India, a spiritually rich nation who’s national motto is, satyameva jayate – truth alone triumphs. For Rocky Braat, this simple phrase seems perfectly appropriate. Feeling bored and unfulfilled by life in Pittsburgh, Braat decided to take off for India in search of authenticity, but he didn’t expect that he’d find it living in an impoverished compound for women and children infected with HIV or AIDS. Knowing his friend’s impulsive disposition, filmmaker Steve Hoover assumed his glowing adulation for the country to be a passing fascination, but after making the trek out himself, found that the kids and the communal culture gave life a new perspective...
It’s really no wonder that often when westerners find themselves drifting, looking for more from life, they drop everything and journey off into the unknown, and what alien country is more fitting than India, a spiritually rich nation who’s national motto is, satyameva jayate – truth alone triumphs. For Rocky Braat, this simple phrase seems perfectly appropriate. Feeling bored and unfulfilled by life in Pittsburgh, Braat decided to take off for India in search of authenticity, but he didn’t expect that he’d find it living in an impoverished compound for women and children infected with HIV or AIDS. Knowing his friend’s impulsive disposition, filmmaker Steve Hoover assumed his glowing adulation for the country to be a passing fascination, but after making the trek out himself, found that the kids and the communal culture gave life a new perspective...
- 10/19/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Western literature is filled with novels, memoirs, and travelogues by and about white men who, seeking adventure or a deeper sense of self, travel the world to some exotic endpoint filled with dusky people who impart spiritual wisdom and share cultural practices that deliver each white man to a more "authentic" version of himself. He, of course, positions himself—and is celebrated as—the dusky people's champion and savior. The documentary Blood Brother is the 21st-century hipster remix of this time-honored narrative. A Sundance Film Festival hit (of course), Blood tracks the journey of twentysomething Pittsburgh native and graphic designer Rocky Braat who, while working in India, stumbled over a home for children with HIV/AIDS and knew he'd f...
- 10/16/2013
- Village Voice
Docu-lovers can consider themselves lucky as Steve Hoover’s Blood Brother, the life-affirming, altering account which is regarded as one of the top offerings so far this year, (siting at the number 3 spot in our Best Docs (so far) of 2013) will be receiving some TLC from a five team partnership comprised of Tugg, Itvs, Independent Lens, Mongrel Media (Canadian distributor) and a film company that we think is the best new outfitter of the year in the folks at Cinedigm (lead by acquisitions head Vincent Scordino). Deadline reports that the award-winning doc is pegged for an October theatrical release, with the television premiere on Independent Lens/PBS circled for January 2014.
Gist: Double award winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is an intimate portrait of Rocky Braat, a young man who longed to find a family. He didn’t know it, but this desire would lead him to an AIDS hostel in India,...
Gist: Double award winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is an intimate portrait of Rocky Braat, a young man who longed to find a family. He didn’t know it, but this desire would lead him to an AIDS hostel in India,...
- 8/6/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Winner of both the Us Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) and the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance fest, Blood Brother is a devastating documentary about Indian children suffering with HIV and AIDS. Though it would be easy for one to think that everything has already been said about the epidemic, director Steve Hoover demonstrates there’s still much to say and much to learn in this unexpectedly uplifting if emotionally wrenching film, which should be considered a major threat for Academy Award contention later in the year with the right distribution.
Pittsburgh native Rocky Braat didn’t have the best childhood, and hoped that a trip to India might help him “find himself” as an adult. When we first meet Rocky, he is working at an Indian care center for women and children afflicted by HIV and AIDS, and the mutual bond formed between him...
Winner of both the Us Grand Jury Prize (Documentary) and the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance fest, Blood Brother is a devastating documentary about Indian children suffering with HIV and AIDS. Though it would be easy for one to think that everything has already been said about the epidemic, director Steve Hoover demonstrates there’s still much to say and much to learn in this unexpectedly uplifting if emotionally wrenching film, which should be considered a major threat for Academy Award contention later in the year with the right distribution.
Pittsburgh native Rocky Braat didn’t have the best childhood, and hoped that a trip to India might help him “find himself” as an adult. When we first meet Rocky, he is working at an Indian care center for women and children afflicted by HIV and AIDS, and the mutual bond formed between him...
- 4/24/2013
- by Shaun Munro
- Obsessed with Film
We all search for meaning, and Blood Brother shows just how one man found his calling in India. He had no pretension of this happening. He was on vacation there. He tells us he didn't even like kids that much. When he ran across an AIDS group home in India that helps kids and women have a sense of normalcy, he was hooked. His life in America felt like a cruel joke. So, he does his best to get back and stay. That's what Blood Brother revolves around, following Rocky Braat. Director and Rocky's best friend Steve Hoover provides most of the camerawork when he follows his friend back to India to document the experience. We learn about Rocky's past and how he grew...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 4/19/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Fruitvale won both the dramatic jury and audience awards, while Blood Brother did the same in the documentary categories
The Sundance film festival 2013 wrapped up with the announcement of over 35 awards, including the awarding of its influential Us dramatic grand jury prize, which in previous years went to such films as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Winter's Bone, and Precious.
This year the recipent of the top award was Fruitvale, the Ryan Coogler-directed account of the real-life shooting of Oscar Grant in 2008 in Oakland, California. Grant's death at the hands of a transport policeman on the platform of the Fruitvale rapid transport station became a flashpoint for protests and riots. Officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2010. The Hollywood Reporter described it as "powerful dramatic feature film" and "a complex and nuanced story", while slashfilm described it as "simple but stunningly effective". Fruitvale confirmed its festival-favourite status...
The Sundance film festival 2013 wrapped up with the announcement of over 35 awards, including the awarding of its influential Us dramatic grand jury prize, which in previous years went to such films as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Winter's Bone, and Precious.
This year the recipent of the top award was Fruitvale, the Ryan Coogler-directed account of the real-life shooting of Oscar Grant in 2008 in Oakland, California. Grant's death at the hands of a transport policeman on the platform of the Fruitvale rapid transport station became a flashpoint for protests and riots. Officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2010. The Hollywood Reporter described it as "powerful dramatic feature film" and "a complex and nuanced story", while slashfilm described it as "simple but stunningly effective". Fruitvale confirmed its festival-favourite status...
- 1/28/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Ryan Coolger's "Fruitvale" and Steve Hoover's "Blood Brother" dominated the 2013 Sundance Film Festival awards! "Fruitvale," the true story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year old Bay Area resident shot in the back by Oakland transportation police, won the Grand Jury Prize (dramatic). Meanwhile, "Blood Brother," a documentary by Steve Hoover about Rocky Braat who went to India as a disillusioned American tourist and became an ally of children living with HIV/AIDS, took home the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary.
But what I'm very excited about is "Metro Manila" from BAFTA and Oscar-nominated director Sean Ellis. Shot in my homeland of the Philippines and using our dialect, Tagalog, entirely, "Metro Manila" is about Oscar Ramirez (Jake Macapagal) and his family who flee their impoverished life in the rice fields of the northern Philippines in order to seek a brighter future in Manila.
Here's the full list of winners of 2013 Sundance Film Festival:
Grand Jury Prize,...
But what I'm very excited about is "Metro Manila" from BAFTA and Oscar-nominated director Sean Ellis. Shot in my homeland of the Philippines and using our dialect, Tagalog, entirely, "Metro Manila" is about Oscar Ramirez (Jake Macapagal) and his family who flee their impoverished life in the rice fields of the northern Philippines in order to seek a brighter future in Manila.
Here's the full list of winners of 2013 Sundance Film Festival:
Grand Jury Prize,...
- 1/27/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Park City, Utah — The dramatic film "Fruitvale" and the documentary "Blood Brother" won over audiences and Sundance Film Festival judges.
Both American films won audience awards and grand jury prizes Saturday at the Sundance Awards.
"Fruitvale" is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, who was 22 years old when he was shot and killed in a public transit station in Oakland, Calif. First-time filmmaker Ryan Coogler wrote and directed the dramatic narrative.
"This project was about humanity, about human beings and how we treat each other; how we treat the people that we love the most, and how we treat the people that we don't know," the 26-year-old said as he accepted the final prize of the night. "To get this award means that it had a profound impact on the audience that saw it, on the people that were responsible for picking it up. And this goes back to my home,...
Both American films won audience awards and grand jury prizes Saturday at the Sundance Awards.
"Fruitvale" is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, who was 22 years old when he was shot and killed in a public transit station in Oakland, Calif. First-time filmmaker Ryan Coogler wrote and directed the dramatic narrative.
"This project was about humanity, about human beings and how we treat each other; how we treat the people that we love the most, and how we treat the people that we don't know," the 26-year-old said as he accepted the final prize of the night. "To get this award means that it had a profound impact on the audience that saw it, on the people that were responsible for picking it up. And this goes back to my home,...
- 1/27/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
A month ago, director Steve Hoover wrote an excellent guest post for the Filmmaker site talking about the experience of making Blood Brother, the documentary about his childhood friend Rocky Braat, who moved to India to look after AIDS orphans. This week I got word from Hoover that a new trailer for the film has arrived, which you can watch below. Look out for Blood Brother early next year, when it should premiere at one of the winter festivals.
… Read the rest...
… Read the rest...
- 9/28/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Once I had a dream to make a documentary in some sort of third world or developing third world country setting. I had no direction, no story and no clear vision, so unfortunately that dream died.
Nearly a decade later, I had moved on to building a career in the music video and commercial world. By this time I had no desire to travel to any third world country, but my best friend Rocky Braat did.
After sharing an apartment and parallel lives for about seven years, Rocky had gone off on a much different path. He had stumbled upon a group of HIV/AIDS orphans in the summer of 2008 during an impromptu trip to India. His life was about to change permanently as he planned to move to India to care for that group of HIV/AIDS orphans.
Rocky’s move came as a surprise, considering he was a...
Nearly a decade later, I had moved on to building a career in the music video and commercial world. By this time I had no desire to travel to any third world country, but my best friend Rocky Braat did.
After sharing an apartment and parallel lives for about seven years, Rocky had gone off on a much different path. He had stumbled upon a group of HIV/AIDS orphans in the summer of 2008 during an impromptu trip to India. His life was about to change permanently as he planned to move to India to care for that group of HIV/AIDS orphans.
Rocky’s move came as a surprise, considering he was a...
- 8/29/2012
- by Steve Hoover
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.