Grade B+
The story of someone pursuing their dreams and achieving stardom with sheer talent and determination is one of the most romanticized tales told. If that weren’t true, they wouldn’t have remade A Star Is Born four times, and the whole reality/competition TV genre as we know it wouldn’t exist.
The thing is, the earnest pursuit of stardom is one of those all-encompassing things, meaning it tends to leave a lot of not-great things in its wake. For anyone who spent most of their teens, 20s, or even 30s playing, working, or drinking in run-down rock clubs and honky-tonks, the story of the quest for stardom is a common one, though the happy endings really aren’t. And what often results is the tale of a gifted, determined musician who’d lost everything to make it all the way to just below the middle.
The downside of the quest for fame isn’t the sole focus of I’m Wanita, which screened earlier this month at the Nashville Film Festival, but it doesn’t necessarily shy away from it.
The documentary, directed by Matthew Walker, follows Wanita Bahtiyar, a country singer from Tamworth, Australia and the self-proclaimed queen of the country’s honky-tonk scene. However, while the term obsession is often thrown around as a term of endearment, it’s not always the case here. Though it’s not that the doc is out to portray the singer as a polarizing figure.
Quite the opposite, in fact, as Bahtiyar is shown embracing the full gamut between sinner and saint. She’s autistic, which could partly explain her overt obsession with the classic Nashville sound. She goes out of her way to help complete strangers, often at rock-bottom low points in their lives, but is estranged from her own daughter — who speaks about their limited contact rather frankly on camera.
Still, despite overwhelming obstacles, Bahtiyar is determined to fulfill her dream: recording an album in Music City, which becomes the backbone of I’m Wanita’s narrative. Along the way, her personality is on full display, and despite her drawbacks, is more than charismatic enough to not only hold your attention but become someone whose success you inevitably root for.
Sure, it’s a little ironic, giving some of the doc’s underlying tones, but therein lies the appeal of the pursuit of fame and fortune. It’s not just the realization of dreams, but the ends justifying the means on the grandest of scales.
It’s our modern fairy tale, after all.
