CineCola's 27th International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Top 10
6 - 12TH AND DELAWARE by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
5 - THE NEWSROOM - OFF THE RECORD by Mikala Krogh
The Newsroom - Off the Record by Mikala Krogh is a close up and personal behind the scenes look at the machinations of Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet and the challenges faced by the editorial team who struggle to fight back the decline in popularity of the printed press and their attempts at embracing new media. Krogh follows the events of the picture like a fly on the wall, glorifying the natural tension of the paper's headquarters as they almost comedically seem to be unable to stop this fall in popularity and audaciously as well as somewhat irresponsibly make decisions that harm them rather than help them. The Newsroom - Off the Record is a pricelessly insightful observation in the world of journalism, enrichened by collateral and extremely interesting observations on society and general popular taste that is relentlessly helping to shape today's world.
4 - THE QUEEN OF SILENCE by Agnieszka Zwiefka
Agnieszka Zwiefka follows the life of a ten year old deaf mute girl who lives in a childish world of her own dancing like a Bollywood princess. The real story of this girl becomes the perfect metaphor of the innocence of childhood placed under threat by the serious socio political context in which she is being brought up, unwelcome in her Roma community residing in Poland, and her sensory awakening after she receives a hearing aid dramatically co-incides with this community fighting back deportation from the country. The Queen of Silence also plays a lot with the cinematic medium, thus giving us a byway into the world of fantasy of the little girl, almost encouraging the afore mentioned influence with glorious musical numbers, and at this point it is only safe to say that the music also contributes to a wonderfully engaging viewing experience.
In this documentary, we meet one of the greatest art forgers of all time, John Landis, a man with schizophrenia and incredible craftsmanship in reproducing the works of the great masters of the past. Part of the fun, however, lies in the actual act of donating his works, where he lets loose his multiple personalities in an act that comes close to feeling like performance art in its own right. Understanding the nature of the character, with its quirks and vulnerabilities, filmmakers Cullman and Grausman infuse the pace and mood of Art and Craft with fun and a structure that makes it come close to feeling like a work of fiction. However, they also allow for a closer and more intimate examination of Landis, in which we see a more personal side, which makes the film entertaining as well as rich of emotional and psychological depth.
2 - ESCAPING RIGA by Davis Simanis
What do filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein and the great scholar Isaiah Berlin have in common? Aside from being highly regarded figures in their respective areas of expertise and despite the two's greatly different personalities, they were both born in Riga - though both left it and both their existances evolved out of their travels. Escaping Riga by Davis Simanis is an essay documentary, objective and entertaining that makes the ambitious and rewarding choice of not using archive footage but rather film everything with re-enactments in a style resembling the cinema of the time. In this way, mood, atmosphere and the narrative arch of the film also create a pensive and reflective atmosphere that invites audience interaction - following up on the tradition of other great essay documentaries.
1 - SOMETHING BETTER TO COME by Hanna Polak
A film about people living outside of society, set in Russia and living on Europe's biggest landfill. Something Better to Come took Hanna Polak fourteen years to compile, taking her camera among the community in an unobtrusive way, setting up a strong bond and high level of trust with her subjects, and allowing them to reveal their colourful personalities as revealing their heartwarming solidarity that gets them through their nightmarish lives and living conditions. The driving force of the film, however, is the tender coming of age Yula from child to young adult. An enriching experience and a remarkable project that aims and achieve to give voice to the voiceless, this film is at once strikingly real and impressively poetic due to its genuine portrayal of the situation of extreme poverty with an underlying sentiment of optimism.