CREENAN: The film that should have gotten nominated for an Oscar

Mar. 11—Normally, I do not watch or care about the major award shows that are broadcast this time of year, but of the ones still around, the Oscars are the ones I at least want to know who won. Mainly because it's the award I am most certain is still concerned with the quality of what is nominated, while others seem more like popularity contests.

When perusing through what got nominated and what did not, there were the films you would expect this year. "Everything Everywhere All at Once," "The Banshees of Inisherin," and "The Fablemans," among them. I am not usually one of those people who gets up in arms about their favorites of the year not being nominated for best picture, since I can have very bizarre movie tastes. I am looking at you, "RRR."

There was one entree I was surprised did not end up getting a nomination, one I actually had a connection to. For the category Documentary Feature Film, "Bad Axe," by David Siev was on the shortlist, but was not one of the final five selected.

"Bad Axe" is the largest city and county seat of Huron County, Michigan, located on the very top of the Thumb Region surrounded by Lake Huron, two hours north of Detroit. The county a place where aside from cities and villages dotted along the coast where people from the city bring their boats and spend the summer there, it is what you can expect most from living in small town America and the Midwest. Long stretches of farmland occasionally shared with wind turbines, small settlements with populations in the hundreds, roadside bars, and plenty of Trump 2020 signs when that time came around.

It was also the place where I spent three years of my professional career learning the grind and environment that comes with being a professional journalist. I worked for the local Bad Axe paper, the Huron Daily Tribune, a Hearst paper, from May 2019 to June 2022. When I was not working, I was making sure to explore as much of this new state as I could. and in case you wanted to know what it was like being in rural Michigan during that time, need I remind you that a group of men were arrested for planning to kidnap the governor because they did not like her COVID-19 shutdown measures.

Not to toot my own horn, but I was the guy my editors could always trust to have something in the event they were running low on stories for the day. With plenty of staff shakeups due to promotions and employees either quitting or being fired, I was somehow the longest tenured newsroom reporter there not even a full year into my tenure. There is still a part of me that wonders how things are going over there.

But back to the movie itself. "Bad Axe" centers on the most popular restaurant in town, the Asian-American fusion establishment "Rachel's." It is the place you would always find the parking lot full on a Friday night, bring visiting guests, and would win the best-of community awards the Tribune does every year. It is run by Chun Siev, a refugee from the Cambodian genocide, his wife Rachel, and had the occasional help from their children, including David.

"Bad Axe" shows what it was like for this family to survive during 2020, with Chun and Rachel's kids coming back home to help when the pandemic lockdowns were in effect, making the restaurant a take-out only establishment. David films his siblings showing their support for a Black Lives Matter rally in front of the Huron County building, dealing with harassment from area conservatives and white supremacists, and all the drama that follows.

This documentary also takes the time for Chun to recount what it was like living under the Pol Pot regime, fleeing to America, and making his way in Michigan teaching martial arts before marrying Rachel and them coming to Bad Axe. It is also not afraid to show how the sausage is made, with footage of family members telling David that this documentary is bad idea as it puts the city in a bad light. Facebook comments for the first released footage are shown, with the commenters either giving short offensive insults to saying how they do not like its depictions of the area.

In short, "Bad Axe" is a movie I can say has it all. Real-time important events, family drama, suspense, feel-good moments, and surprisingly comedic beats from Chun. It is reminder of how hard it is for foreigners to achieve the American dream while showing a window to the ugliness that still pervades rural America. and as someone that had to adjust to living in this particular new environment, it struck more than a few chords with me.

This is a project that got extensive coverage from the Tribune when it was in the works and made its way on the film festival circuit, winning awards and rave reviews along the way. The local premiere for the film, in May 2022, was a who's who of Huron County leaders and local big names. It was the only time I could remember the main screen of the Bad Axe Theatre being a full house, and that was where I saw blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Being a locally made movie, I am sure those in the crowd were quick to point sites they knew or people they recognized.

I am not one of those people that extensively watches every movie that gets nominated for an Oscar and says whether the Academy got it right or wrong. I have plenty of options to watch on Youtube if I wanted to make that journey. and I certainly do not want to take away from the five documentaries that did get nominated, mainly because I have not seen them. From what I have read, they cover very important topics around the world from pollution in India, the political situation in Russia and Ukraine, and the fall of Purdue Pharma. But if you ever feel like getting a reminder of what it was like living through the tense situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, I doubt you will find a better representation of that period.

When I spoke with David about how much I liked the film at the afterparty — at Rachel's of course — I told him that if there were any film festivals here in my neck of the woods he wants to show this in, he should. Now I am now telling you to watch "Bad Axe" on whatever platform you can.

Robert Creenan is a reporter for the Niagara Gazette and Lockport Union Sun & Journal.