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Sundance Film Festival · 2008

Sundance Film Festival 2008

World Cinema Documentary Competition

The 16 films in the world cinema documentary competition, selected from 620 submissions represent eight countries including Pakistan, Jordan, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Canada. "The range of human experience is played out in these engaging stories about the artistic process, the cost of conflict, faith and nationalism, and the triumph of personal spirit."

Programme

16 films · 6 reviews

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Alone In Four Walls (Allein In Vier Wänden)

Review preview for Alone In Four Walls

If this is a true representation of what Russian reform schools can achieve, it is remarkable.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Inside a juvenile Russian reform school.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2007; Director: Alexandra Westmeier; Writer: Alexandra Westmeier)

Full review

The Art Star And The Sudanese Twins

Review preview for The Art Star And The Sudanese Twins

Not long into this documentary, you begin to think in double punctuation marks, namely ?!

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An artist's obssessive attempt to adopt twins in Darfur.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2007; Director: Pietra Brettkelly; Writer: Pietra Brettkelly) , Official site

Full review

Be Like Others

An intimate and unflinching look at life in Iran, seen through the lens of those living at its fringes. A provocative look at a generation of young Iranian men choosing to undergo sex change surgery.

(Country: UK; Director: Tanaz Eshaghian)

A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures

Review preview for A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures

Though this is a funny, engaging film, I found myself asking how much of it is in good faith and how much is deliberate hyperbole for the camera.

Emma Slawinski · 3.5 out of 5
Does what it says on the tin - a personal documentary about a subject for which most blokes will have sympathy.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Chris Waitt; Writer: Chris Waitt and Henry Trotter; Stars: Chris Waitt) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Interview with Chris Waitt about A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures

Derek

Film involving two courageous and innovative artists - one the subject and one the filmmaker - provides a cinematic journey that illuminates the work and enduring importance of the late Derek Jarman.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Isaac Julien)

Dinner With The President

From on-the-street interviews to audiences with religious leaders to dinner with the President of Pakistan, the film takes the temperature of a culture on issues from politics to women’s rights.

(Country: Pakistan; Year: 2007; Director: Sabiha Sumar, Sachithanandam Sathananthan; Writer: Sabiha Sumar, Sachithanandam Sathananthan)

Durakovo: The Village Of Fools (Durakovo: Le Village Des Fous)

Russian nationalism percolates in a castle outside Moscow, where Mikhail Morozov rules autonomously over young initiates, laying the groundwork for a rapidly growing right-wing movement.

(Country: France; Year: 2007; Director: Nino Kirtad; Writer: Nino Kirtad)

In Prison My Whole Life

Review preview for In Prison My Whole Life

While some of the testimony, from the likes of Steve Earle and Mos Def is powerful, many of the parallels Francome and Evans attempt to draw feel slightly spurious and their conclusions lack sufficient back up.

Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
Documentary about questions that hang over the conviction of Death Row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2007; Director: Marc Evans; Writer: Marc Evans, William Francome; Stars: William Francome, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Boots, Noam Chomsky, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, Steve Earle, William Francome, Russell Simmons, Alice Walker, Howard Zinn,)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day One Diary

Man On Wire

Review preview for Man On Wire

This little gem has a narrative structure that Hollywood movies seem to have forgotten how to employ - all the ingredients for a classic thriller are here.

Tony Sullivan · 4.5 out of 5
Documentary about tightrope walker Phillippe Petit's attempt to cross between the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: James Marsh; Writer: James Marsh; Stars: Philippe Petit) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day Eight

Puujee

Against the backdrop of a magnificent but harsh natural landscape, a Japanese photojournalist encounters puujee, a young girl who tames wild horses on the Mongolian plains.

(Country: Japan; Director: Kazuya Yamada; Writer: Kazuya Yamada)

Recycle (E'adat Khalq)

A Jordanian family man living in the hometown of Muslim leader Al-Zarqawi struggles to support his family and define his identity in a tense political climate.

(Country: Jordan, Netherlands; Year: 2008; Director: Mahmoud Al Massad; Writer: Al Massad) , Official site

Stranded: I've Come From A Plane That Crashed On The Mountains

(Country: France; Director: Gonzalo Arijon; Writer: Gonzalo Arijon)

Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma

Acclaimed doctor James Orbinski, former head of Doctors Without Borders, returns to Africa to confront the harsh reality of conditions there and explores what it means to be a humanitarian.

(Country: Canada; Director: Patrick Reed)

See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day Eight

Up The Yangtze

Review preview for Up The Yangtze

Chang’s sensitive observational style allows the contrast between the unreality of the ship and the crushing hardship of the lives of Yu Shui’s family to develop naturally.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Documentary about the humanitarian impact of the Three Gorges Dam project.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2007; Director: Yung Chang; Writer: Yung Chang; Stars: Jerry Chen Bo Yu, Cindy Yu Shui, the Yu Shui family) , Official site

Full review See: Interview with Lixin Fan about Last Train Home , Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day One Diary

The Women Of Brukman (Les Femmes De La Brukman)

Amidst Argentina’s financial collapse, workers take over a Buenos Aires men’s clothing factory and continue producing clothing on a self-management model. As the formerly poor become business managers, their lives are changed forever.

(Country: Canada; Director: Isaac Isitan; Writer: Isaac Isitan)

Yasukuni

A controversy abounds as Japanese officials honor the deceased at the legendary Yasukuni shrine, where swords used to kill Chinese soldiers were famously forged. Few know about the shrine’s eerie past and the mysterious sword inside.

(Country: Japan; Director: Li Ying; Year: 2007; Writer: Li Ying)