Blind Ambition Blind Ambition

* * * Documentary M

Four Zimbabwean men form their country's first Wine Tasting Olympics team.

Having escaped starvation and tyranny in their homeland of Zimbabwe, four refugees have conquered the odds to become South Africa's top sommeliers.

Driven by relentless optimism, a passion for their craft and unshakeable national pride, they form Zimbabwe's first ever wine tasting team and set their sights on the coveted title of 'World Wine Tasting Champions'. From the moment they arrive in France to compete, this team of mavericks turns an establishment of privilege and tradition on its head.

A truly uplifting documentary that celebrates just how irrepressible the human spirit can be.

Winner of the Audience Award at Tribeca Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival, BLIND AMBITION is the inspiring story of four Zimbabwean refugees who conquered the odds to become South Africa's top sommeliers.

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M, 96 minutes, selected cinemas Reviewed by PAUL BYRNES - TheAge

Four men who escaped Zimbabwe to find work in South Africa go to France to compete in the World Wine Tasting Championships. If you're thinking Jamaican bob-sled team, you'd be right. This is a film based on the idea of people doing something they shouldn't be able to do, but now we're in murky waters.

The bob-sledders lived in a country without snow. These men live in a country awash with great wine. If they were white, no one would make the documentary, so what's the proposition? Black men can't taste, like white men can't jump? Clearly not, but defining your subject by skin colour is a risky business.

To be fair, skin colour is not the real story engine: it's poverty. Blind Ambition is about four young men who came to South Africa in dire need and at great risk, when " foreigners' ' were regularly being killed in township riots. Each did what he had to do to survive.

Joseph Dhafana was tilling a restaurant garden when the owner offered him a glass of wine. He did not like the taste. Marlvin Gwese's religious upbringing forbade alcohol. He had not tasted wine until four years ago.

That each became a sommelier at a leading restaurant is remarkable enough. To think they could compete at the highest level, against the best from 25 countries, would seem like a pipe dream - or a hero's journey. Just what every filmmaker looks for.

The Australian directors, Warwick Ross and Robert Coe, brought us the excellent Red Obsession nine years ago, charting the way the world of wine is changing. Blind Ambition is less successful, although it's hard to work out why. It has a fabulous story, with structure laid on, and the four young men are inspiring.

What goes awry? It feels like the pressure of the elements has not been resolved. We don't spend enough time with each man to get to know him. When they get to Burgundy, we encounter a Frenchman named Denis who almost wrecks their dreams. The competition itself is a blur: we don't see how hard they work and that means the film never comes together as an organic and enveloping ride.

Blind Ambition may have been better as a series, rather than a one-off . It's too short to tell its own story, as good as that story is.

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