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Karlovy Vary International Film Festival · 2013

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2013

Documentaries

Programme

26 films · 4 reviews

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As You Like It

A documentary capturing the poignant way in which a group of elderly Romanian villagers look after the portraits which already adorn their final resting place.

(Country: Romania; Year: 2013; Director: Paula Oneț)

Beach Boy

Danish filmmaker Emil Langballe describes what appears to be a budding romance between the young Kenyan boy Juma and the 50-year-old, overweight British woman Lynn, in a real-life version of the feature film by Ulrich Seidl Paradise: Love, set in Kenya, whose sex tourism trade promises women a romantic idyll, but all they hear are compassionate lies.

(Country: UK; Year: 2013; Director: Emil Langballe)

Captain Kang (Kang Seonjang)

In his poetic and visually sophisticated movie, South Korean director Won Ho-yeon sensitively records the extent to which family solidarity can overcome the vicissitudes of fate in a story about an abandoned dream and a legless fisherman named Kang.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2012; Director: Won Ho-yeon)

Cathedrals (Kathedralen)

More than two million inhabitants could live in the recently built Chinese city of Kangbashi. The majority of the buildings, however, remain empty because money-mad speculators have bought up all the apartments. Breathtaking images reveal the inanimate chill of a city that has lost the fight against humanity’s insane lust for wealth.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Konrad Kästner)

Cutie And The Boxer

Review preview for Cutie And The Boxer

With such a fascinating subject, it's hard for a documentary to go wrong.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Two fiercely creative artists continue to spar after 40 years spent head over heels in love.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Zachary Heinzerling; Stars: Ushio Shinohara, Noriko Shinohara)

Full review

The Day Has Conquered The Night ( Le Jour A Vaincu La Nuit)

Eight questions are asked of the unwilling inhabitants of an Orléans prison who appear in front of the camera to speak of their dreams and nightmares, allowing us to delve deep into minds altered by a life behind bars.

(Country: France; Year: 2013; Director: Jean-Gabriel Périot)

DK

A feature-length documentary about the life and death of radical architect David Kopecký.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2013; Director: Bára Kopecká)

Exhibits Or Stories From The Castle (Exponáty Alebo Príbehy Z Kaštieľa )

A mosaic portraying the fate of people “who have lost everything; all they have left is life.”

(Country: Slovak Republic; Year: 2013; Director: Pavol Korec)

The Expedition To The End Of The World (Ekspeditionen Til Verdens Ende)

A massive three-masted schooner with an unusual scientific crew on board sets out for the majestic fjords of northeastern Greenland. Will the participants of the expedition discover any new animal species? Will they encounter a polar bear face-to-face?

(Country: Denmark, Sweden; Year: 2013; Director: Daniel Dencik)

Out of competition.

Father's Garden - The Love Of My Parents (Vaters Garten - Die Liebe Meiner Eltern)

The director examines his parents' relationship and changing gender roles.

(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2013; Director: Peter Liechti)

Out of competition.

Fulmaya, The Girl With Skinny Legs

The central character of Vendula Bradáčová’s documentary, which focuses on the desire for freedom and the endeavour to give help to those who need it most, is well-known Slovak actress and singer Dorota Nvotová. For six years she has been helping orphans and the little kids forced to eke out a living on the streets of Kathmandu.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2013; Director: Vendula Bradáčová; Stars: Dorota Nvotová)

Out of competition.

Gangster Of Love (Gangster Te Voli)

Nebojša Slijepčević investigates the mentality of the inhabitants of the Croatian town of Imotski through humorous situations and the disarming spontaneity of the main characters as they try to find a mate. Guided by the boss of the local dating agency, who looks like a gangster, maybe they´ll find “the one.”

(Country: Croatia, Germany, Romania; Year: 2013; Director: Nebojša Slijepčević)

Kiran

Eight-year-old Kiran, who lives with his mother in a yurt at the foot of the French Pyrenees. We discover that the boy no longer shares her alternative disposition and preference for a life without the creature comforts of civilisation.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Bettina Timm, Alexander Riedel)

Life With Jester (Život S Kašparem )

23 years in the life of Jakub Špalek, a unique figure in Czech theatre, whose infinite love for the stage gradually became an obsession which had a fundamental impact on his private life.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2013; Director: Helena Třeštíková; Stars: Jakub Špalek)

Out of competition.

The Manor

Shawney Cohen’s highly personal view of his Canadian Jewish family’s extravagant way of life, which includes running a strip joint.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2013; Director: Shawney Cohen)

The Man Who Made Angels Fly

Deferring to the power of suggestion, Polish director Wiktoria Szymańska eschews a standard biopic of one of the world’s top living puppeteers, Michael Meschke, focusing instead on his uncanny ability to imbue his puppets for a few minutes with living emotion and inimitable expression.

(Country: UK, France, Poland; Year: 2013; Director: Wiktoria Szymańska)

Moon Rider

Made with 8mm film, this movie presents a portrait of talented Danish athlete Rasmus Quaade and his struggle to find a firm footing in the world of professional cycling.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2012; Director: Daniel Dencik)

My Father, My Mother And Me (Meine Kleine Familie)

In his highly personal search for his biological father, Austrian filmmaker Paul-Julien Robert reveals the true nature of life in one of Europe’s biggest communes, formerly located in the town of Friedrichshof, whose members espoused common property ownership, free love, and a markedly controversial method of raising children.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2012; Director: Paul-Julien Robert)

The Pervert's Guide To Ideology

Review preview for The Pervert's Guide To Ideology

From Coca Cola as the perfect commodity, full of metaphysical reality ("The real thing!"), to the Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs with the toy inside... Fiennes and Zizek do their best to make theoretical concepts understandable.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A documentary exploring the film criticism and philosophy of Slavoj Žižek.

(Country: UK, Ireland; Year: 2012; Director: Sophie Fiennes; Stars: Slavoj Žižek)

Full review

Out of competition.

Pipeline (Truba)

Director Vitaly Manskiy sets off on the trail of the Trans-Siberian gas pipeline to find out what it’s like for ordinary people living in its vicinity.

(Country: Russia, Germany, Czech Republic; Year: 2013; Director: Vitaly Manskiy)

Rogalik

Via slow tracking shots, the camera glides through a series of ordinary Polish households and, like a prying voyeur, captures the hidden magic of everyday home life.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2012; Director: Paweł Ziemilski)

The Stone Roses: Made of Stone

Review preview for The Stone Roses: Made of Stone

The selection of songs shows an insider’s fervour.

David Graham · 3.5 out of 5
Rock-doc on Manchester indie rock pioneers The Stone Roses.

(Country: UK; Year: 2013; Director: Shane Meadows; Stars: Ian Brown, Mani, John Squire, Alan Wren)

Full review

Out of competition.

Stories We Tell

Review preview for Stories We Tell

What is not in doubt is the raw emotion in this work - from Polley quivering with nervous energy as she watches her father read some of the more revelatory pieces of script - to the visible impact airing the family's dirty linen in public has on her sibli

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Sarah Polley investigates secrets in her own family.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Sarah Polley; Writer: Sarah Polley, Michael Polley; Stars: Michael Polley, Harry Gulkin, Susy Buchan, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley, Cathy Gulkin, Marie Murphy, Robert MacMillan, Anne Tait, Deirdre Bowen, Victoria Mitchell, Mort Ransen, Geoffrey Bowes, Tom Butler)

Full review

Out of competition.

The Story Of Mr Love (Otázky Pana Lásky)

Dagmar Smržová’s documentary is a touching and, above all, highly inspiring portrait of an energetic and ever-optimistic 30-year-old schizophrenic named Jiří Láska who is far from the usual apathetic patient of the psych ward.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2013; Director: Dagmar Smržová)

Out of competition.

The Venice Syndrome ( Das Venedig Prinzip)

A look at what remains of authentic Venetian life, investigating how the old-time residents are adapting to an invading force of tourism that is capable of obliterating almost everything of any real value.

(Country: Germany, Austria, Italy; Year: 2012; Director: Andreas Pichler)

Out of competition.

Wrong Time Wrong Place

A contemplation of the line between life and death, drawing on interviews with several young people who were lucky enough to survive Anders Breivik’s murderous rampage on Norway’s Utøya island.

(Country: Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Germany, France; Year: 2012; Director: John Appel)

Out of competition.