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Karlovy Vary International Film Festival · 2018

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2018

Documentary Films: Competition

Programme

12 films · 5 reviews

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The Best Thing You Can Do With Your Life

Review preview for The Best Thing You Can Do With Your Life

Erffa's willingness to scrutinise her own motivations is what lifts this documentary above the ordinary.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Why did the director’s brother enter a conservative Roman Catholic order, causing him to sever all ties with the outside world?

(Country: Germany, Mexico; Year: 2018; Director: Zita Erffa; Writer: Zita Erffa)

Full review

European premiere

Breaking News (Mimořádná zpráva)

A carefully composed observation of two newsrooms which, in March 2017, were avidly chasing after information about the Czech president’s decision whether or not to run for re-election.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2018; Director: Tomáš Bojar)

World premiere

Bridges Of Time (Laika tilti)

Review preview for Bridges Of Time

both a love letter to the documentarians from the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania... and a dialogue between the period in which these poetic pioneers were working and the present day.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Essay documentary about the less remembered generation of cinema poets of the Baltic New Wave.

(Country: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia; Year: 2018; Director: Audrius Stonys, Kristīne Briede)

Full review

World premiere

Cielo

Review preview for Cielo

McAlpine is so eager that we experience the same sense of joy that she is that she over-editorialises, offering voice-over observations that are more distracting than deep.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A documentary about the sky above the Andes and the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, and those who live under it.

(Country: Canada, Chile; Year: 2017; Director: Alison McAlpine)

Full review

European premiere

Dream Away

Documentary about what has happened in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh since the tourist downturn in the wake of the Arab Spring.

(Country: Germany, Egypt; Year: 2018; Director: Marouan Omara, Johanna Domke)

World premiere

Inside Mosul (V Mosulu)

Documentarist Jana Andert spent eight months with an elite Iraqi Army unit on the front lines of the battle for Mosul, occupied by Islamic State fighters from 2014 to June 2017.

(Country: Czech Republic; Year: 2018; Director: Jana Andert)

World premiere

In the Stillness of Sounds (L'esprit des lieux)

Marc Namblard, whose profession combines his talents as a biologist and a sound engineer, reflects on the acoustic effects of nature on humans.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Stéphane Manchematin, Serge Steyer)

European premiere

A Little Wisdom

An isolated Buddhist monastery in southern Nepal not only provides refuge for monks, but also for orphans up to the age of sixteen.

(Country: China, Canada, US; Year: 2017; Director: Yuqi Kang; Stars: Richen Sherpa, Chorten Sherpa, Sherpa Wangchuk, Richen Sherpa, Chorten Sherpa, Sherpa Wangchuk)

European premiere

Putin's Witnesses (Svideteli Putina)

Review preview for Putin's Witnesses

Mansky's bigger picture about the manipulation of a nation is crystal clear.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Considering the Russian president's time in power.

(Country: Latvia, Switzerland, Czech Republic; Year: 2018; Director: Vitaly Mansky)

Full review

World premiere

Treasure Island (L'Île au trésor)

Snapshot of summer season at a recreation center near Paris.

(Country: France; Year: 2018; Director: Guillaume Brac)

World premiere

Walden

A surprising odyssey of the paradoxical migration of wood from Austrian forests to a secret, far-off destination.

(Country: Switzerland, Austria; Year: 2018; Director: Daniel Zimmermann)

World premiere