Category Archives: Film Festivals

Today, Friday, August 12 kicks off the 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s premier cinema event. Running through Saturday, August 20, the festival presents over 100 new features, among them nearly 40 works of nonfiction.

The Documentary Competition, focused on work from the Balkans, includes such titles as: Mladen Kovacevic’s WALL OF DEATH, AND ALL THAT, a melancholy portrait of a motorcycle stunt-riding Serbian grandmother; Berke Bas and Melis Birder’s BAGLAR, about a Kurdish basketball team; Đorđe Čenić and Hermann Peseckas’ DOWN THERE, an autobiographical look back at Yugoslavian guest workers in Austria; Siniša Vidović’s KORIDA, an exploration of Bosnian bullfights; Mihajlo Jevtic’s FOUR PASSPORTS (pictured), a personal reflection on national identity and leaving home; and Tarik Hodžić’s SCREAM FOR ME SARAJEVO, which focuses on a music concert held against the odds in the midst of the siege of the capital – the latter also the subject of out of competition title THE SIEGE, by Rémy Ourdan and Patrick Chauvel.

Among the other nonfiction offerings elsewhere in the program are several titles in the national cinema showcase BH Film, including: Damir Pirić’s ROCK ‘N’ WAR… OR JUST BECAUSE IT’S FRIDAY, which details the importance of the wartime music scene in Bosnia; Roger M Richards’ SARAJEVO ROSES (pictured), a two decade long portrait of Sarajevo residents before, during, and after the war; Hari Šečić’s SEARCHING FOR HOME, a portrait of a Srebrenica survivor living as a refugee in the US; and Benjamin Dizdarević’s CUT, about a man on a mission to share his love of 35mm film.

Kosovo’s 15th annual Dokufest launches today in Prizren, Friday, August 5 and continues through Saturday, August 13. The respected event will once again present a well-curated collection of some of the most interesting work that has popped up at other international events over the course of the past year, offering local audiences a chance to sample work in various thematic strands including environmental, human rights, and music docs, among others.

Of particular note are the offerings in the Balkan Dox competition, representing nonfiction work from the region. Included here are: Mathieu Jouffre’s DRUMS OF RESISTANCE, which recounts the response to the banning of Albanian education during the waning days of Yugoslavia; Elton Baxhaku and Eriona Çami’s SELITA, a look at efforts to stop the displacement of Roma by a highway construction project; Maria Averina’s FROM CREMONA TO CREMONA, following a violin factory worker as he dreams of visiting the Italian site of the world’s finest violins; Igor Grubić’s MONUMENT, which looks at the destruction of anti-fascist monuments during a time of hyper nationalism; André Gil Mata’s HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH EVA RAS (pictured), which filters Yugoslavian history through a woman’s projection of old films; Ivan Mandić’s YOURS TRULY, SEXYMAJA, about an infamous sexworker blogger who was rumoured to not exist; and Roland Sejko’s THE AWAITING, a meditation on Albanian history through the lens of religion.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 3 sees the opening of the 69th annual Locarno Film Festival, which this year will offer nearly 100 new and recent features over the course of its run, which ends on Sunday, August 13. About a third of these are nonfiction or hybrid projects, with some highlights noted below: Continue reading →

The Melbourne International Film Festival turns 65 this year, kicking off its latest edition tomorrow, Thursday, July 28. Running through Sunday, August 14, the long-running event will present approximately 200 new features, among that number over 75 documentary works, a selection of which are spotlighted below: Continue reading →

Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival opens tomorrow, Tuesday, July 26, and runs through Sunday, July 31. The 12th edition of the event has generated headlines for championing the visibility of women filmmakers by including only female-helmed or co-helmed works in its competition sections, and cheekily naming a male-directed out-of-competition sidebar “Men Make Movies – The Struggle Continues.” In total, more than a hundred new and recent features will screen at the event, with about half representing documentaries. The well-curated event curates much of its lineup from larger festivals like Sundance, Toronto, SXSW, and Tribeca, but also includes a few world premieres or lesser-know titles, such as the films noted below:

The US documentary competition includes the debut of Kamala Lopez’s EQUAL MEANS EQUAL, which looks at the current state of gender inequality, while the international competition features the North American premiere of Yacine Brahem, Dario Cerruti, and Laurent Negre’s hybrid CONFUSION, about the extradition of a Guantanamo prisoner to Switzerland. Appearing in the Premieres section are the first screenings of Cynthia Wade and Cheryl Miller Houser’s GENERATION STARTUP (pictured), a look at several young entrepreneurs trying to make a go of it in Detroit; Jesse Nesser’s WALK WITH ME: THE TRIALS OF DAMON J KEITH, about a 94-year-old janitor-turned-federal judge; and Bob Apisa’s MEN OF SPARTA, on Michigan State University’s pioneering integrated 1960s football team. The fest’s Avant Garde section includes Alexandra Cuesta’s TERRITORIO, an immersive exploration of the filmmaker’s Ecuador. Finally, the event wraps with closing night film CONCERTO: A BEETHOVEN JOURNEY, Phil Grabsky’s chronicle of an acclaimed pianist’s three-year international quest to master several of the German composer’s concertos.