Latest film reviews
Walls of fear
(The Border Fence)
The Border Fence draws out the anxieties and fears of a community in the grip of a shifting political landscape, provoking unavoidable parallels with an increasingly divisive Europe.
Is it a crime to save lives?
(To the Four Winds)
Acting in the name of human rights has become a criminal act in France.
One of the greatest leaders of the 20th century
(Meeting Gorbachev)
Meeting Gorbachev is an intimate and engaging portrait of the man who unwittingly prompted the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Day-to-day life amongst a pro-Russian battalion in Ukraine
(Their Own Republic)
Their Own Republic by Russian director Aliona Polunina caused quite a fury at this year‘s Doclisboa due to its pro-Russian stance. The documentary nonetheless offers an interesting insight into the side of the Ukrainian conflict rarely portrayed in western media.
More than human
Peter Mettler is known for his intuitive and experimental film making. The new film Becoming Animal has also an ecological and philosophical depth, as it involves the Canadian philosopher David Abram.
Walls of fear
(The Border Fence)
The Border Fence draws out the anxieties and fears of a community in the grip of a shifting political landscape, provoking unavoidable parallels with an increasingly divisive Europe.
Is it a crime to save lives?
(To the Four Winds)
Acting in the name of human rights has become a criminal act in France.
The pioneer of long-term filmmaking
Helena Trestikova’s work epitomises the innovative role of long-term filmmaking, and the inextricable link between big and little histories.
Zero conference and Nobel prices
If you are prone to dismiss warnings about environmental destruction as exaggerations, you might as well stop reading right away.
One of the greatest leaders of the 20th century
(Meeting Gorbachev)
Meeting Gorbachev is an intimate and engaging portrait of the man who unwittingly prompted the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ralph Eue – DOK Leipzig
Through the Revision section of this year’s edition of Dok Leipzig, the festival takes a retrospective glance at past documentaries that are still potent today.
Archival disaster tourism
(The Trial)
The archival footage from a court action against leading scientists in the Soviet Union of 1930 has been reconfigured into a narrative drama, which leads today‘s audience to believe the opposite of contemporary spectators.
The death of (representative) politics
(I Had a Dream)
Two Italian women look back at a decade of representative politics fighting for women’s rights in the (post) Berlusconi era. Amused, dispirited, annoyed, and anguished they assess how much – or how little – they managed to change.
Invisible cities
(Charleroi, The Land of 60 Mountains)
Filmmaker Guy-Marc Hinant attempts to reclaim the good name of his hometown by uncovering lost stories long hidden within the slag heaps of the city’s memory.
When a war reporter chooses a side in conflict
(Chris the Swiss)
An intriguing portrait of a war reporter that died under murky circumstances during the 90s in wartime Yugoslavia, after trading in his pen for a more active role in the bloody conflict.
Andrea Slovakova – Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival
Immigration and memories of home are the two main themes of this year‘s edition of the Jihlava International Documentary Festival, says festival programmer Andrea Slovakova.
The mirage of utopia
(Near and Elsewhere)
An essay-documentary meditating on future visions and utopias holds a dark heart given the current state of our society.
How time and lies make true stories disappear
(Erased, ___Ascent of the Invisible)
In Beirut, one man creates a puzzle of the city’s past in order to tell some painful stories left untold but not forgotten.
Zero conference and Nobel prices
If you are prone to dismiss warnings about environmental destruction as exaggerations, you might as well stop reading right away.
Does the end justify the means?
(A River Below)
The power of science versus the power of television in the attempt to save the pink river dolphin.
A female role model
A new year, new opportunities. 17 years ago, Charlotte Horton left the UK for Italy, where she’s devoted her time to restoring Potentino castle. We meet to discuss the ecological attitude to life, local traditions, democracy and micro-politics.
From the editor
Day-to-day life amongst a pro-Russian battalion in Ukraine
(Their Own Republic)
Their Own Republic by Russian director Aliona Polunina caused quite a fury at this year‘s Doclisboa due to its pro-Russian stance. The documentary nonetheless offers an interesting insight into the side of the Ukrainian conflict rarely portrayed in western media.
More than human
Peter Mettler is known for his intuitive and experimental film making. The new film Becoming Animal has also an ecological and philosophical depth, as it involves the Canadian philosopher David Abram.
Walls of fear
(The Border Fence)
The Border Fence draws out the anxieties and fears of a community in the grip of a shifting political landscape, provoking unavoidable parallels with an increasingly divisive Europe.
The pioneer of long-term filmmaking
Helena Trestikova’s work epitomises the innovative role of long-term filmmaking, and the inextricable link between big and little histories.
One of the greatest leaders of the 20th century
(Meeting Gorbachev)
Meeting Gorbachev is an intimate and engaging portrait of the man who unwittingly prompted the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ralph Eue – DOK Leipzig
Through the Revision section of this year’s edition of Dok Leipzig, the festival takes a retrospective glance at past documentaries that are still potent today.
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