2015 marks the 13th anniversary of Portugal’s premier documentary event, Doclisboa. Approximately 50 new documentary features, together with a large number of retrospective presentations, will screen between today, Thursday, October 22 and the fest’s wrap on Sunday, November 1. The following offers highlights of some of these offerings:
The festival holds two competitions – one for Portuguese films, and the other for international productions. Features included in the former include the world premieres of Miguel Seabra Lopes and Karen Akerman’s MAYBE DESERT PERHAPS UNIVERSE (pictured), an inside look at a forensic psychiatric hospital; and Tiago Siopa’s SETIL, a meditative exploration of a deserted village neighborhood. Feature-length docs in the International Competition include the world premieres of Naeem Mohaiemen’s third part of his THE YOUNG MAN WAS… series, LAST MAN IN DHAKA CENTRAL, about a Dutchman accused by the Bangladeshi government of being a revolutionary; Olga Privolnova’s LITTLE PRINCE, in which a man casts his family in a filmic adaptation of Saint-Exupéry’s classic; and Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis’ IL SOLENGO, on the tall tales associated with a local hermit; while international premieres here include Namsuk Kim’s QUOTA, a portrait of a young generation of Sarajevo street gangs; and Kaori Oda’s ARAGANE, an observational portrait of mine workers.
Outside of the competition sections, Doclisboa offers several additional strands, including New Visions, which showcases boundary pushing titles, including: Philippe Faucon’s FATIMA, a portrait of a working-class mother trying to provide for her teenage daughters; César Acevedo’s LAND AND SHADE (pictured), in which a father returns to his family in native Colombia after 17 years away; José Luis Rugeles’ ALIAS MARIA, about a 13-year-old pregnant Colombian guerrilla soldier; and Jean-Louis Comolli’s DOCUMENTARY FILM, FRAGMENTS OF A STORY, an exploration of 80 years of nonfiction.
Among the remaining sections, the one which features several titles that have not yet been covered here is Heart Beat, which focuses on music and performance. Included here are: Hervé Martin-Delpierre’s DAFT PUNK UNCHAINED (pictured), a portrait of the popular electronic music duo; Gonzalo García Pelayo’s COPLA, a music-focused exploration of a love quadrangle; and Jacopo Quadri’s THE SUMMER SCHOOL, about a unique retreat catering to young actors.
what (not) to doc 