Coming to theatres today, Wednesday, December 13:
MISS KIET’S CHILDREN
Directors:
Peter Lataster and Petra Lataster-Czisch
Premiere:
IDFA 2016
Select Festivals:
CPH:DOX, True/False, DOXA, Munich Dok.Fest, Thessaloniki Doc, Melbourne Doc, Goteborg, St Louis
About:
A portrait of a Dutch grade school class made up of refugee children.
The titular figure in Lataster and Lastaster-Czisch’s winning observational film is Kiet Engels, a teacher in a small Dutch village near the border with Belgium. Her charges, who call her Miss Kiet, are the children of migrants from the Middle East, largely Syria, and ranging in age from six to nine. Set almost entirely within Engels’ classroom, the film trains its attention on several young figures, including class clown Jorj, new girl little Leanne, and rebellious Haya, each coping with their traumatic past even as they try to make sense of their new surroundings and culture. Demonstrating patience, empathy, and insight, Miss Kiet helps them as she can, leading to affecting moments in this appealingly sweet, if quiet and somewhat longish, project.
what (not) to doc 