I am a big fan of documentaries and this documentary film meets everything I expect from one, perhaps shedding some light onto an interesting events of first contact in Brazil.
Unfortunately, despite lots of collaborating eye witness accounts, it was a bit underwhelming to not have any feeling of conclusion at the end.
As a documentary filmmaker, I kept thinking of how differently I would have attempted to conduct some of the interviews had I been making Moment of Contact. Of course I wasn't present so perhaps it simply wasn't possible, but I suspect it may have been.
For example, I would have wanted to conduct the interviews where more than one witness was present, separately and independent of the others, rather than have them at the same place, same spot, same time. I think that would have felt more credible and made it more interesting to compare the different testimonies for any variations or differences. There did seem to be some attempt to do that in at least of the interviews after the fact.
However, I realize that when making a documentary in particular, time is always limited and restrictive, especially if multiple interviews or different locations are required.
I gave this documentary a 7 Stars rating for its work and structure, since taking a lot of interviews, and history and details and making them into a flowing story can be challenging, but I placed it only into my Pretty Good Movies list which is usually only for 5 to 6 Stars, instead of my Highly Recommend Movies list which is 7 to 8 Stars.
Mainly because the value of this film to me as a filmmaker and documentary film creator is higher than what it would be for someone I might recommend the film to who doesn't have a history or experience in making documentaries.
That said, if you enjoy documentaries, then you'll probably watching the Moment of Contact moderately enjoyable and interesting.
