Skip to main content

London Film Festival · 2013

London Film Festival 2013

Documentary Competition

The Grierson Award recognises films with integrity, originality, and social or cultural significance.

Programme

12 films · 3 reviews

Jump to a film

Aatsinki: The Story Of Arctic Cowboys

In the forests of Finnish Lapland, brothers Aarne and Lasse Aatsinki carry on the generations-old tradition of reindeer herding. These modern cowboys maintain an intricate bond with the environment that has allowed them to preserve their lifestyle in one of the harshest climates imaginable. This documentary charts a year in their lives.

(Country: US, Finland; Year: 2013; Director: Jessica Oreck; Writer: Jessica Oreck)

The Armstrong Lie

Review preview for The Armstrong Lie

The Armstrong Lie confirms Gibney’s position as one of the US’ foremost documentarians.

Owen Van Spall · 4.5 out of 5
Study of the cyclist that was being shot when the doping scandal broke.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Alex Gibney; Writer: Peter Elkind; Stars: Lance Armstrong)

Full review

At Berkeley

Documentary examining the University of California, Berkeley, from multiple angles - the administrators, the students, the surrounding community.

(Country: US; Year: 2013; Director: Frederick Wiseman)

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

Here Be Dragons

Mark Cousins turns explorer as his voyage to Albania takes him under the skin of the country’s fragile cinematic culture.

(Year: 2013; Director: Mark Cousins)

La Maison De La Radio

A journey into the creative interior of Radio France.

(Country: France, Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Nicolas Philibert)

Manhunt

This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against al-Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2013; Director: Greg Barker)

The Missing Picture (L'Image Manquante)

The director uses animation to present a dispassionate portrayal of the horrific experiences his own family suffered under Pol Pot’s regime.

(Country: Cambodia, France; Year: 2013; Director: Rithy Panh)

My Fathers, My Mother And Me

A man revisits the former residents of the experimental 1970s free-love commune in which he grew up.

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

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)

Teenage

Review preview for Teenage

With impressively sourced archive footage, much of it in colour, the film presents a fair overview of its subject and finds time for laughs even in stories with tragic endings.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A social history of the teenager.

(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2013; Director: Matt Wolf; Writer: Jon Savage, Matt Wolf; Stars: Narrated by actors Jena Malone, Ben Whishaw, Julia Hummer and Jesse Usher)

Full review See: Teenage interview with Matt Wolf and Jon Savage , Tribeca Film Festival - Gore Vidal: The United States of America, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, Kiss The Water and Teenage

Ukraine Is Not A Brothel

Documentary about the Ukrainian female activists of Femen.

(Country: Australia, Ukraine; Year: 2013; Director: Kitty Green; Stars: Inna Shevchenko, Sasha Shevchenko, Anna Hutsol, Oksana Shachko)