With so much good stuff, it was hard to narrow it down, but here are 8 documentaries we recommend you definitely try to see at the festival. They will completely change your perspective.
A New Era
When: FRI, December 4, 6pm, OV with English subtitles
Film described in a few words: a documentary that shines a light on people forced to relocate from a rural and agricultural environment to big cities with millions of inhabitants, and how they are coping with political pressure and life, in general.
Sunless Shadows
When: SAT, December 5, 6pm, OV with English subtitles
Film described in a few words: this documentary dives into an Iranian juvenile detention center for women and takes a good, hard long look. The characters talk about their seemingly hopeless situations, but this documentary also shows how for some, the detention centre becomes a feminine space and some sort of safe haven from a society that is dominated by men.
Softie
When: TUE, December 8, pm, OV with English subtitles
Film described in a few words: with a dream in mind – for Kenya to become a corruption-free democracy – activist and photographer, Softie, entered the leadership race in Kenya’s last elections. This documentary accompanies him and his family on this, sometimes very difficult, election campaign.
Once upon a time in Venezuela
When: THU, December 10, 12am, OV with English subtitles
Film described in a few words: a small rural town somewhere on a lakeshore in Venezuela is fighting for its survival. Their stilt houses are sinking into the mud and it’s pollution, climate change and political corruption that’s causing it.
The town is in turmoil and its inhabitants are preparing for parliamentary elections.
Bring down the walls
When: FRI, December 11, 6pm, OV
Film described in a few words: a documentary by British artist Phil Collins, that looks at the human reality of the US prison industry – from the deregulation of American prison policy, the privatisation of prisons back in the 80s, and how the New York House music scene is connected to this.
A Black Jesus
When: SAT, December 12, 6pm, OV with English subtitles
Film described in a few words: Catholics in the Italian village of Siculiana worship a wooden figure that depicts a black Jesus while African refugees arrive in the same place. This documentary shows the clash of cultures and the local’s understanding of Jesus.
The House of Love
When: SAT, December 12, 6pm, OV with English subtitles
Film described in a few words: this film follows 39-year-old transsexual sex worker, Bianca Dolce Miele, in her daily life as a sex worker. The camera never leaves the house and portrays the ‘magic’ that Bianca creates in her own space – a place where marginalised members of society visit, take off their masks and reveal who they really are.
Coded Bias
When: SUN, December 13, 6pm, English
Film described in a few words: a film that talks about structural forms of discrimination in various algorithm-based technologies and looks at what the future of A.I. needs to look like if it’s going to be part of a just and equal society
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