DN films selected at IDFA International Film Festival Amsterdam
The films Away by Ruslan Fedotow, Budapest Silo by Zsófia Paczolay, A Country in a Corner by Neema Ngelime and The Silence of the Banana Trees by Eneos Çarka will premiere in the Competition for Short Documentary at the 35th IDFA - International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the largest documentary festival worldwide, held between 9 and 20 November 2022.
Also, Mountain Man directed by DocNomads alumnus Arun Bhattarai will premiere at IDFA.
By Ruslan Fedotow (Belarus) • 28’ • 2022
Synopsis:
A heartbreaking portrait of 16-year-old Ukrainian refugees Andrey and Alisa, who help out at a school for refugee children in Budapest. Andrey asks the children to draw pictures of something from back home in Ukraine. What beautiful things can they recall? He offers the example of his own grandfather’s cherry orchard. The children use confrontational, adult vocabulary to describe their experiences of war. A young boy earnestly goes through a number of battle strategies, and a girl provides a vivid account of a rocket attack.
After school, the young couple make colorful protest artwork out on the streets of the Hungarian capital, sparking discussions between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian passersby. The camera films the pair without commentary, capturing the everyday fun had by two teenagers in love, as well as the difficult phone calls to the home front. Reassuring stories of ripening cherries are welcome, but the sadness of the war, the imminent trauma and the growing awareness of their wrecked youth is unfortunately ever-present.
In IDFA catalogue
By Zsófia Paczolay (Hungary) • 25’ • 2021
Synopsis:
József works at the largest still-operational grain silo in Budapest. He’s been doing this work for more than 30 years, and lives in a container home next to the structure, where trucks and trains rumble past his window. When he is lowered into the ten-story-deep silos to clean them, he looks like a scuba diver at work. These scenes are captured with stunning, contrast-rich camerawork, and ably edited with a strong sound design.
It’s a dangerous work for József, not least because he has been exposed to crop dust for many years now. The growing threat to his health could even lead to his death. But he can’t escape it. In fact he seems to have become an integral part of his environment. In the sublime closing scene, he performs a dazzling, dizzying dance in the silo—strapped to safety cables, but flying, nonetheless.
In IDFA catalogue
By Neema Ngelime (Tanzania) • 16’ • 2021
Synopsis:
Homesickness drives Neema Ngelime to the district of Matonge in Brussels, which is home to a large African community. The busy shopping streets evoke memories of her life in Tanzania. She wants to record the similarities with her native land for her grandmother, but that is easier said than done. As in Tanzania, most people on the street prefer not to be filmed. Yet, Ngelime gradually gets closer to the shopkeepers and customers of Chaussée de Wavre, and shares her observations with the viewer.
Ngelime sees that the stifling morality she recognizes from Africa has also been transported to Belgium. She explains that respect for women in Tanzania is measured by the length of their skirts. The hairstyle you choose also shows how you want to be respected. At her every stop, from the hairdresser and nail salon to the grocer’s, Ngelime is obliged to make choices: will she follow tradition or take her own path? She wants to be part of the community, but at what cost? “I wish, as with a skirt, we could alter parts of our country we don’t like.” Without passing judgement, A Country in the Corner shows the dilemmas migrants face worldwide.
In IDFA catalogue
Trailer here.
By Eneos Çarka (Albania) • 24’ • 2021
Synopsis:
Seventy-something Hungarian Mihály Fekete has filled his house in a leafy suburb of Budapest with art works made by his daughter Réka. It’s clear from the way he talks about her that she’s an important part of his life; however, they have not spoken for years. Her decision to keep distance from her father is painful for him, especially since she is terminally ill. Despite his sorrow, he has resigned himself to do as she wishes. At his home, where this film is being shot, and where he and his family grew up, he is able to draw from a reservoir of tangible memories: vacation slides, letters, videos and children’s drawings.
Documentary maker Eneos Çarka acts as a go-between in an attempt to unite the father and his daughter, who lives in Amsterdam. Using abstract imagery and patient observations, he evokes a sense of transience that carries the viewer off in a maelstrom of recollections and feelings that lead to the gripping finale.
In IDFA catalogue
Trailer here.
