Sundance 2022 - Festival Recap with Milton Guillén

Hello everyone. This is Hosein Jalilvand in Geneva with a new episode for Docs in Orbit featuring a conversation with Matthew Lancit about his latest film, Play Dead! (2023).

Play Dead!  is a funny, tender video diary on living with diabetes, where Lancit playfully transforms his personal experience and fear of dying into a body horror film, where an invisible disease crawls inside his body.

The film premiered in the Camera Lucida sidebar of Dok Leipzig in October 2023 and available to stream on Arte TV in France until 16 March and at Jean Rouch International Festival in May.

I hope you enjoy our conversation and his film as much as I did.

GUEST BIO:
Matthew Lancit is an award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker currently based in Paris, France. After leaving his advertising job as a director in a New York animation studio to live in Cameroon, Lancit embarked on the making of his first feature-length documentary, Funeral Season (2011) – which has since been chosen for preservation by the Library and Archives of Canada and selected to over 50 international festivals.
Lancit is known for his autobiographical films that intertwine his personal life with philosophical subjects. His films are marked by his simultaneously poetic gaze and self-deprecating humor, which sometimes borders on the burlesque.

CONTRIBUTOR BIO:
Hosein Jalilvand is an Iranian film director-scholar based in Geneva. His films play with the intersections of history and cinema. After completing his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Hosein began pursuing his long interests in cinema with a Master’s in Film Studies at the University of Tehran and a Master of Arts in Documentary Film Directing from DocNomads. His short documentary “Song of the Bell” (DocLisboa, 2018) won the best director award in the Green Years competition section. Since then, he has been researching a series of texts about colonialism and its manifestation in wildlife movies while developing a feature documentary on the topic.

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

We are releasing a conversation recorded on Tuesday, November 14th, 2023, at IDFA, where I met with Julian Ross and Farah Hasanbegović to recap Corresponding Cinemas.

Corresponding Cinemas was a new series at IDFA this year, and in many ways, it was an experiment to see what invisible connections surface when an institution decides to transfer over its curatorial control to filmmakers.

The idea is simple and compelling. It would be a series of films and conversations with filmmakers who have inspired one another, and the day would follow this chain of inspiration, with each filmmaker selecting the works of the next.

The series was planned months in advance and formally announced in September; in the very first announcement the festival made about its program - it reported that the event would kick off with Sky Hopinka and include Basma al-Sharif, Jumana Manna, Ibrahim Shaddad and Abderrahmane Sissako.

In this episode, Farah, Julian, and I run through the events leading up to Corresponding Cinemas as we experienced them on the ground. We first discuss the opening night and the release of IDFA’s statement apologizing for a protest banner that appeared during the ceremony and condemning a slogan that was on the banner proclaiming it should not be used in any way and by anybody anymore - despite a recent ruling by the Dutch Court of Appeals that this is not considered hate speech. In response to IDFA denouncing this slogan, Jumana Manna, Basma al-Sharif, and Sky Hopinka circulated a joint statement refusing to comply with IDFA’s statement the evening before their participation in Corresponding Cinemas.

The series took place, and Farah, Julian, and I recount how the day unfolded, detailing how each filmmaker used their screenings in different ways to transform a cinema space into a forum for urgent, meaningful, and needed exchanges.
 
TIMECODES:
0:00  INTRO & GUEST INTROS
4:23: OPENING NIGHT + IDFA STATEMENT
12:30 CORRESPONDING CINEMAS - FILMMAKERS REFUSAL TO COMPLY 
14:30  SKY HOPINKA SESSION
17:40 BASMA AL-SHARIF SESSION
25:14  JUMANA MANNA SESSION
39:10 IBRAHIM SHADDAD SCREENING SESSION
43:12 SOLIDARITY ACTIONS FOLLOWING CORRESPONDING CINEMAS

STATEMENTS REFERENCED:
Opening Night: Workers for Palestine Intervention
IDFA Statement #1: IDFA and Artistic Director’s Statement about the Opening Night
IDFA Statement #2: IDFA Calls for an Immediate Ceasefire
I/We Do Not Comply - Artists' Refusal
IDFA Statement #3: A Message from IDFA to the Documentary Community

RELATED PODCAST EPISODES
Orwa Nyrabia on Corresponding Cinemas, Docs in Orbit, Episode 71
Jumana Manna on Docs in Orbit, Episode 44
Basma al-Sharif on Docs on Orbit,  Episode 27 

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

Today is the first day of the 36th edition of IDFA, the world's largest documentary film festival - a twelve-day event in Amsterdam featuring more than 250 titles in 22 sections. 

Earlier this week, I sat with Orwa Nyrabia, the Artistic Director of the festival, to speak with him about the role, responsibility and relevancy of film festivals and how IDFA is meeting the current moment. 

We also discuss some of the new sections in the program, including SPECIAL SCREENINGS,  SIGNED, and the highly anticipated introduction of CORRESPONDING CINEMAS, a unique program featuring a series of films from filmmakers who have inspired one another, including Sky Hopinka, Basam al-Sharif, Jumana Manna, Ibrahim Shaddad, and Abderahmane Sissako.  We end the conversation with an amusing story of how Wang Bing came to be this year’s Guest of Honor. 

[Image from the short film, Deep Sleep by Basma Al Sharif, which is screening in the Corresponding CInemas section on Saturday 11 November]

Time codes and Films Referenced

• 00:03:30 How is IDFA meeting the current moment
• 00:08:22 Films in the Program on Orwa's mind
• Occupied City (2023) by Steve McQueen
• Socialist Realism (2023) by Raul Ruiz
• Arna's Children (2003)
• 00:12:00  SPECIAL SCREENINGS
• 00:13:34  SIGNED
• 00:16:28 16 WORLDS ON 16, including works by Agnes Varda, Sarah Maldoror, Chantal Akerman, Maya Deren, Robert Frank, and The First Year (1972) by Patricio Guzman and First Case. Second Case (1979), by Abbass Kiaristami 
• 00:21:30 FABRICATIONS, including notable works from Shirley Clarke, Rosine Mbakam, Safi Faye, and David Schickele
• 00:26:26 CORRESPONDING CINEMAS, including works of Sky Hopinka, Basma al-Sharif, Jumanna Manna, Ibrahim Shaddad Abderahmane Sissako 
• 00:40:00 - 00:46:00 WANG BING, Guest of Honor and his curated TOP 10 films

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

An abandoned house opens the door to revisit the past by bringing to life a unique, nearly destroyed image archive from the unrecognized territory on the border of the Black Sea: Abkhazia. A place normally inaccessible for Georgians because of the ethnic conflict that happened between Georgia and Abkhazia back in 1993. Combining voice, archive, and recent footage, the film examines a lost and split identity stuck between the margins. The audio-visual fragments of this archive are intricately woven together to create a personal and political biography that recalls the complicated and controversial historical past of Georgian-Abkhaz relationships.

The highly personal narration delves into the complexities of nationalism and identity in times of war and global displacement. Ultimately, these reflections on recent history become a potential manual for what can come next, once the wars are over.

Conversation moderated by Hosein Jalivand as part of Docs in Orbit coverage of films at Dok Leipzig. 

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

It's been a few days since Dok Leipzig wrapped up, but we are still reminiscing about the films we encountered and the people we met. So, we made a little souvenir of our time there, featuring a collection of voice memos from a cross-section of festival attendees sharing their favorite film discoveries from this year's event.

FEATURING: 

• Juliette Menthonnex, director of Tale of the Three Flames, speaks about Man In Black by Bing Wang
• Eka Tsotsoria, editor of Self-Portrait Along the Borderline speaks about The Der Wind nimmt die mit by Ann Carolin Renninger 
• Adheep Das, director of Moonless speaks about Drijf by Levi Stoops 
• Pauline Blanchet, co-director of 2 or 3 Words About the Cité 4000 speaks about No Changes Have Taken In Our Life by Xu Jingwei 
• Sara Jurinčić, director of Valerija speaks on Zima by Tomek Popakul & Kasumi Ozeki Tess Martin, director of 1976: Search for Life on Zoopticon by Jon Frickey, Thies Mynther, & Sandra Trostel
• Daryna Mamaisur, director of Smoke of the Fire on Universe Department Store by Taewoong Won 
• Mariana Cadenas Sangronis, director of Draw for Change: We Exist, We Resist on The Mother of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir
• Ann Carolin Renninger, director of Der Wind nimmt die mit on It’s Just a Whole by Bianca Scali 
• Jani Peltonen, director of 30 Kilometres per Second on The Tuba Thieves by Alison O’Daniel 

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

Twenty-six years ago, for the 35th New York Film Festival, curators Gavin Smith and Mark McElhatten introduced the festival's experimental sidebar, Views from the Avant-Garde.

While their inaugural program featured names like Stan Brakhage, Gregory Markopoulos, and Nathaniel Dorsky, it also opened a space where voices experimenting with cinema's language might meet new audiences. In the festival's intervening years, the vocabulary around this type of cinema evolved and Views from the Avant-Garde has since transformed, first into Projections and then into its most recent incarnation, Currents.

When Currents was first announced in 2020, it was also the first year of Docs in Orbit, and every year since, it’s been where we have encountered gems of the festival to bring into conversation, such as My Mexican Bretzel by Nuria Giménez (NYFF58), A Night of Knowing Nothing by Payal Kapadia (NYFF59), and Rewind & Play by Alain Gomis (NYFF60).

So, for this year’s edition, we decided to focus more intently on their programming to get a behind-the-scenes look at their curatorial approach.

In today's episode, I sit down with the curators of Currents at the 61st New York Film Festival. Our guests are Aily Nash, Rachael Rakes, and Tyler Wilson. They put together an exciting collection of films, which we'll explore, and what sets Currents apart from other programs in New York and abroad.

Moderated by Emile Klein

SHOW NOTES / FILMS AND BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Man in Black by Wang Bing, Last Things by Deborah Stratman, The Human Surge 3 by Eduardo Williams , Slow Shift by Shambhavi Kaul, A Prince by Pierre Creton, The Night Visitors by Michael Gitlin, The Fist by Ayo Akingbade, Nowhere Near by Miko Revereza, Live from the Clouds by Mackie Mallison, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell by Thien An Pham, Mangosteen by Tulapop Saenjaroen, Bold Eagle by Whammy Alcazaren , Coral by Sonia Oleniak, ALLENSWORTH by James Benning, Ungentle by Huw Lemmey and Onyeka Igwe, and Film as a Subversive Art by Amos Vogel (revised edition with new forward by Herb Shellenberger)

FOR GUEST BIOS AND MORE
https://www.docsinorbit.com/nyff

Image: Film at Lincoln Center NYFF61 poster by Jim Jarmusch

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

As we prepared for the festival, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Franka Sachse, a director and animator who is also the curator for the Animation Night at DOK Leipzig.
 
Aylin Gökmen moderates the conversation.

The Animation Night is scheduled for Friday, October 13th, featuring Tess Martin showcasing several of her short films that provide a fascinating insight into the artist's creative journey. The event will be divided into two parts: the first part will focus on her accomplished works as a professional filmmaker, while the second part will delve into the inspirations behind her earlier creations. 

Franka Sachse - Biography 

After her studies at the Bauhaus-Univeristät Weimar, Franka was selected to realise a film during the European Animation Masterclass in Halle, Germany. This marked the beginning of her career as an independent filmmaker. To create her films, she assumes the role of a scriptwriter, director and animator. Furthermore, Franka is animating young talents to animate through her sessions at international workshops and her lecturing positions at the Kunsthochschule Kassel. As a board member of the ASIFA Germany, she is committed to young talent in her home country. She is part of selection committees and juries for festivals such as DOK Leipzig, the Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart and the Festival of Animation Berlin and curates film programmes independently for various occasions.. Together with her colleagues Ana Vallejo and Catalina Giraldo, she founded the we animate collective. In the darkness of the night, she projects her colourful live visuals and handmade loops as VJ Loov.

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

The 76th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland has come to a close, but we are still thinking about many of the films we encountered there. For our recap, we invited a cross-section of attendees to share their favorite film discoveries. 

Included in this episode are films from nearly every section of the festival - the Concorso Internazionale (International Competition), the Concorso Cineasti del presente section (Filmmakers of the Present), the Pardi di domani (Leopards of Tomorrow, competition for short films), Semaine de la critique (Critics’ Week) and Fuori concorso (Out of Competition section).  

• Aylin Gökmen, Docs in Orbit Co-Producer and the director of EVER SINCE, I HAVE BEEN FLYING  on THE ISLAND by Julien Pujol, and I LOOK INTO THE MIRROR AND REPEAT TO MYSELF by Giselle Lin 
• Julien Pujol, director of THE ISLAND on THE INVISIBLE FIGHT by Rainer Sarnet 
• Giselle Lin, director of I LOOK INTO THE MIRROR AND REPEAT TO MYSELF on DREAMING & DYING by Nelson Yeo
• Nelson Yeo, director of DREAMING & DYING on DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD by Radu Jude 
• Arya Cagin from EVER SINCE, I HAVE BEEN FLYING on SCORCHED EARTH by Markela Kontaratou 
• Markela Kontaratou, director of SCORCHED EARTH on CONANN by Bertrand Mandico 
• Anna Joos, filmmaker and academic on THE FIRST DAYS by Stéphane Breton 
• Ruth Baettig from Film Explorer on  BEEN THERE by Corina Schwingruber Ilić and THE HUMAN SURGE 3 by Eduardo Williams

For additional show notes, please visit 

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

This year was a special year for the Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan. It celebrated its 20th anniversary and also the 100-year anniversary of Armenian cinema. To recap the event, we invited filmmakers, film critics, and other guests to share their impressions about a favorite film they encountered at the festival. 

We hope you enjoy listening to this mosaic of impressions from a cross-section of participants!

• Jude Chehab, Director of Q , speaks about Silent House by Farnaz Jurabchian 
• Fahd Ahmed, editor and co-producer of Q, speaks about Silent House by Farnaz Jurabchian
• Farnaz Jurabchian, Co-Director of Silent House , speaks about Luca by Jessica Woodworth
• Mohammad Reza Jurabchian, Co-Director of Silent House on Black Stone by Spiros Jacovides
• Leonardo Goi, Film Critic on Our Body by Claire Simon
• Forrest Cardamenis, Film Critic on Samsara by Lois Patiño
• Ketevan Kipiani, Producer of Kartli in the Works in Progress Workshop on The Magic Mountain by Mariam Chachia and Nik Voigt 
• Levan Tskhovrebadze, Film Critic on Landshaft by Daniel Kötter
• Daniel Kötter, Director of Landshaft on Eureka by Lisandro Alonso

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit

A conversation with Karen Avetisyan, the Artistic Director and CEO of the Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan, Armenia, which took place from the 9 - 16th of July.

This year it marked a double milestone for the festival, celebrating both its 20th anniversary as well as the 100th anniversary of Armenian Cinema.

Eka Tsotsoria traveled to Yerevan for the occasion, and before making her way there, she sat with Karen to learn more about the programming.

In this conversation, Karen shares the origins of the festival and a bit of historical background on the development of Armenian Cinema. He also lends some texture around how the “region” is defined and the festival's role in building a new wave of Armenian Cinema.

- Moderated by Eka Tsotsoria

For show notes, visit docsinorbit.com and be sure to follow us on social media @docsinorbit