Cinepolitical: A Monthly Brief on Documentary

October's Essential Docs & Dialogues

Nov 01, 2024

October 2024 sees the autumn festival season in full swing with Modern Times Review at Sofia DocuMENTAL, BIFED, DOK Leipzig, and Ji.hlava IDFF. As we move into November and festival partners Verzio, Porto/Post/Doc, and Movies on War, we also are proud to be included in the Radical Film Network. But first, one more look back at the films, interviews, and news featured across the platform from the month that was.

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News

Interview

«We continue to remain as accessible to our audiences as possible»

Ahead of its 2024 edition, Modern Times Review speaks with Verzió IHRDFF Festival Director Enikő Gyureskó, who shares insights into the curation process and this year’s diverse and provocative lineup.

«We need to create a space where people with different positions are willing to have an open debate and talk with each other in a civilised manner»

Christoph Terhechte provides insights into DOK Leipzig’s curatorial approach, its role within the European festival landscape, and its ongoing dedication to celebrating diversity and thought-provoking perspectives in documentary.

«African cinema today stands at a dynamic crossroads»

In our conversation with Film Africa Lead Curator Keith Shiri, we explore how this year's selection highlights evolving African cinema, amplifying voices while addressing funding and distribution challenges.

Films

A Call From the Wild

Director: Asgeir Helgestad

Asgeir Helgestad uses his lens to illustrate the harsh realities of climate change, presenting both the beauty and tragedy of Norway’s endangered ecosystems.

Atrocity Inc: How Israel Sells its Destruction of Gaza

Director: Sut Jhally

Ever since the Hamas attack on Jewish kibbutzim and festival-goers a year ago, Israeli propaganda has been designed to win support for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, the Grayzone's shocking documentary argues.

Children of War and Peace

Director: Ville Suhonen

Ville Suhonen's study of the cult of youth soldiers in inter-war Finland shows there's nothing new in the old sacrificing the young for their own aims.

Eight Postcards From Utopia

Director: Radu Jude, Christian Ferencz-Flatz

Radu Jude’s latest weaves commercials from the past 35 years, creating a disorienting critique of capitalist culture, advertising, and national identity in post-communist Romania.

King Coal

Director: Elaine McMillion Sheldon

An international conversation about industrialisation, communal histories, and personal storytelling.

La Jetée, the Fifth Shot

Director: Dominique Cabrera

Chris Marker, Algeria's independence, and one family's exile intertwine

Motherhood

Director: Victoria Mapplebeck

Exploring single motherhood, technology, and self-expression, 'Motherboard's captures intimate moments using iPhones, blurring boundaries between life and technology.

Plastic People

Director: Ziya Tong, Ben Addelman

The dawn of the age of Homo Plasticus – or how plastics are going to kill us, unless we do something about them.

Strange Abandoned Deranged

Director: Ceylan Özgün Özçelik

Combining performance, visual effects, newly captured and found footage, this hybrid work offers an exploratory journey through the desolate remnants of an abandoned tourist complex in Türkiye.

Vigilantes, Inc: America's New Vote Suppression Hitmen

Director: David Ambrose

Investigative journalist Greg Palast connects voter suppression in the U.S. to historical vigilantism.

MODERN TIMES REVIEW

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