“Detropia”

U.S. Documentary

*** (three stars)

Evocative images and a prevailing atmosphere of hope amid economic despair carry this documentary, which weaves through several stories of life in today's Detroit. Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (“Jesus Camp,” “12 th and Delaware”) interweave profiles of a union local president whose members are suffering when their employer shuts down the factory, a bar owner hoping that the GM plant across the street will rebound with the new electric car, artists who represent an influx of young people to the city, and an opera company struggling without corporate support from the Big 3 automakers. The movie shows the rusting hub of the industrial Midwest as a symbol for the fading American dream – but also with the potential for renewal.

-- Sean P. Means

“Detropia” screens again:

• Saturday, Jan. 28, noon, Salt Lake City Library, Salt Lake City