Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 29 sees the start of the 9th annual DocsDF: The International Documentary Film Festival of Mexico City. Attracting tens of thousands of attendees through its wrap up on Sunday, November 9, the festival presents a range of diverse programming, including competitions for new Mexican, Ibero-American, and international work, highlighted below:
Ten Mexican titles vie for recognition in the national cinema competition, including: Guadalupe Sánchez’s THE FIRST SMILE (LA PRIMERA SONRISA), a look at midwifery; Mauricio Bidault’s TO THE END OF THE RECKONING (HASTA EL FIN DE LOS DÍAS), about forensics investigators contending with Mexico’s violent crimes; Pablo Márquez’s BETWEEN THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE (ENTRE LO SAGRADO Y LO PROFANO), an exploration of contradictory forces at play in society; and Ángel Estrada’s TAMING TIME (DOMAR EL TIEMPO) (pictured), in which a family business turns to an unlikely savior.
The Ibero-American Feature Competition offers eight films for consideration, including: Irene Gutiérrez and Javier Labrador’s HOTEL NUEVA ISLA, in which a man seeks treasure in the ruins of a decaying Cuban hotel; Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn’s A QUIET INQUISITION (pictured), following the consequences of a Nicaraguan law banning abortion in all cases; Manolo Sarmiento and Lisandra I Rivera’s THE DEATH OF JAIME ROLDÓS (LA MUERTE DE JAIME ROLDÓS), an exploration of the impact of the suspicious death of Ecuador’s president in 1981; and Pedro Asbeg’s DEMOCRACY IN BLACK AND WHITE, a look at Brazilian democracy through politics, popular music, and soccer.
Finally, the International competition includes ten recent works, such as: Jocelyn Ford’s NOWHERE TO CALL HOME. A TIBETAN IN BEIJING, in which the filmmaker becomes enmeshed in the life of a Tibetan widow; Amanda Sans and Miquel Galofré’s SONGS OF REDEMPTION, about a rehabilitation program involving Jamaican prisoners and reggae; and Mo Asumang’s THE ARYANS (pictured), following a personal journey by an Afro-German to explore racism.
what (not) to doc 