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Sheffield DocFest · 2012

Sheffield DocFest 2012

Euro Doc

Enjoy cinema the continental way with this collection of the finest European documentaries made over the past year.

Programme

13 films · 6 reviews

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Big Boys Gone Bananas!*

Review preview for Big Boys Gone Bananas!*

The talking heads from the media world - PR execs, former journalists, other filmmakers - provide some of the more troubling yet fascinating insights in the documentary as to how modern corporate entities can react when they come under the spotlight.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
The story of how Dole food corporation tried to suppress a documentary about them.

(Year: 2011; Director: Fredrik Gertten; Stars: Alex Rivera, Alfonso Allende, Arvid Jurjaks, Bart Simpson, Bernt Hermele, Charlotte Lundgren, Dan Koeppel, David Magdael, Dawn Hudson, Jesper Osmund, Juan J. Dominguez, Ken Silverstein, Lars Åström, Lincoln Bandlow, Luciano Astudillo)

Full review

Grandma Lo-Fi: The Basement Tapes Of Sigríður Níelsdóttir (Amma Lo-fi, Grandma Lo-Fi: The Basement Tapes Of Sigrídur Níelsdóttir)

Review preview for Grandma Lo-Fi: The Basement Tapes Of Sigríður Níelsdóttir

Sigríður is the kind of spontaneous interviewee documentarians dream of.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The true story of the elderly woman who, by chance, started making experimental music with ordinary household objects, and became a cult star.

(Country: Denmark, Iceland; Year: 2011; Director: Ingibjörg Birgisdóttir, Orri Jónsson, Kristin Björk Kristjánsdóttir; Stars: Sigrídur Níelsdóttir) , Official site

Full review

Heima

Review preview for Heima

There have been bands-on-tour films before, but nothing can compare to the unbearable beauty of Heima.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
The most original and successful Icelandic band travels the country giving free concerts.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2007; Director: Dean DeBlois; Stars: Sigur Ros) , Official site

Full review

If It Weren't For You (Als ik jou niet had)

In their old rusty campervan, a couple from Amsterdam seek warmth and comfort, away from the pain and sorrow that marks their home.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2011; Director: Anne-Marieke Graafmans)

Italy: Love It, Or Leave It

Review preview for Italy: Love It, Or Leave It

This is really just a humorous device to examine a serious subject, the multiple problems of modern Italy.

Val Kermode · 4 out of 5
Gustav wants to leave Italy so his partner Luca drives him around the country in an old Fiat trying to convince him how wonderful their Italian heritage is.

(Country: Italy, Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Gustav Hofer, Luca Ragazzi; Stars: Gustav Hofer, Luca Ragazzi) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Q&A with Luca Ragazzi and Italy: Love It, Or Leave It

Law Of The Jungle

A group of indigenous people from the jungles of Peru are put on trial over the death of a policeman at a protest against oil exploitation.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2012; Director: Michael Christoffersen, Hans la Cour)

Looking For Nicolas Sarkozy

The true story of the former French President, his rise to power and his sometimes spectacular mishaps.

(Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: William Karel)

Mark Lombardi - Death-defying Acts Of Art And Conspiracy (Mark Lombardi - Kunst und Konspiration)

The true story of Mark Lombardi, who dedicated his life to mapping out the connections between powerful people around the world, and who died in mysterious circumstances.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Mareike Wegener)

Not A Carwash (S'eshte Lavazh)

Students battle to save their film school in Tirana when the government wants to sell off the land where it stands to foreign investors.

(Country: Albania; Year: 2012; Director: Gentian Koçi)

A Place We Call Home (Naslaitynas)

It’s a dog’s life, in the biggest no-kill animal shelter in Lithuania – an old abandoned house in the centre of Vilnius. Like a nursery school, the daily routines of meals, play and rest are familiar to the dogs, who are all dependent on the loving care of their human volunteers.

(Country: Lithuania, Estonia; Year: 2012; Director: Albina Griniute)

Putin's Kiss

Review preview for Putin's Kiss

There are complex machinations at work here - but there's always a sense of the surface being skimmed in favour of telling Drokova's story.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A leading light of Russia's nationalist youth movement, begins to question what they really stand for.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2011; Director: Lise Birk Pedersen; Stars: Oleg Kashin) , Official site

Full review

The Punk Syndrome (Kovasikajuttu)

A documentary charting the rise to fame of a Finnish punk group whose members all have learning difficulties.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2012; Director: Jukka Kärkkäinen, JP Passi)

¡Vivan las Antipodas!

Review preview for ¡Vivan las Antipodas!

Kossakovsky takes his time to drink in the visuals and uses his camera creatively to transport us from place to place.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary looking at four pairs of countries exactly opposite one another: Argentina and China; Spain and New Zealand; Hawaii and Botswana; and Russia and Chile.

(Country: Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Chile; Year: 2011; Director: Victor Kossakovsky)

Full review