It’s impossible to make a poor choice at DOXA Documentary Film Festival – although it’s understandable if you’re intimidated when you first crack open the program guide.
The 2016 edition of the popular film fest runs May 5-15 and features 85 eye-opening documentaries from 26 countries.
There’s a lot to choose from, but you really can’t go wrong, because every film is a worthwhile journey. Some films, like opening night feature Aim for the Roses – a musical docudrama inspired by Canadian daredevil Ken Carter – will dazzle and amaze. Others, like John Zaritsky’s No Limits, about the horrifying impact of the Thalidomide disaster, will conjure anger and tears. And others still – like Wizard Mode, about Robert Gagno, a pinball champion who lives with autism – will inspire.
What’s particularly impressive is the range of storytelling voices represented in the schedule. DOXA’s filmmakers draw upon a wide range of styles and tools – including 3D models, reenactments, voice-over narration, even subterfuge – to tell their fact-based stories.
Many of this year’s films riff on the theme of borders, such as Min Sook Lee’s Migrant Dreams, about the dark side of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and Lampedusa In Winter, about an Italian island that is serving as a port of entry for Syrian refugees – a fitting subject as humanity grapples with the largest migration in history.
So, you can’t make a mistake when planning your DOXA journey. Every film will take you somewhere revelatory. That said, if you need somewhere to start, Reel People’s got you covered with the following picks. Happy travels.
UNDER THE SUN
In order to make this documentary about the daily life of a supposedly average North Korean family, Russian filmmaker Vitaly Mansky had to agree to use a script provided by North Korean authorities, and shoot under constant government supervision. Despite the heavy-handed restrictions, the filmmaker (via cinematic sleight of hand) pulls off something remarkable and revealing. The camera points us to the truths within the staged scenarios, and we see the legendary – and surprisingly clunky – North Korean propaganda machine at work.
May 6, VIFF’s Vancity Theatre
PISTOL SHRIMPS
Over the last several years, Vancouver filmmaker Brent Hodge has wowed critics and audiences with his quirky and compelling documentaries (including last year’s I Am Chris Farley, and 2014’s A Brony Tale, about the unlikely adult male fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic). His latest film spotlights a women’s basketball team (the titular Pistol Shrimps) in a community league in Los Angeles. The team members (including Parks and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza) lack athletic talent, but they’ve got confidence, comedy chops, and each other. In some moments, Pistol Shrimps is so earnest and hilarious that it feels like a mockumentary; in others, it startles with ruminations on female friendship and life in LA.
May 11, Vancouver Playhouse
LEAGUE OF EXOTIQUE DANCERS
Any one of the burlesque performers featured in this documentary could be the subject of her own documentary; together, these women are a living history of the 20th century burlesque scene. Rama Rau’s League of Exotique Dancers anchors its action in a Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend, when stars from decades past are inducted and invited to perform. Most haven’t performed since they hung up their boas and nipple tassels decades ago. Rau follows the women as they prepare for their performances, and delves deep into their personal histories. The film entertains and inspires reflections about female vs. male gaze, aging in a culture that values youth, and what it is that drives people to perform.
May 12, Vancouver Playhouse
YALLAH! UNDERGROUND
Part of DOXA’s Arab Spring/Arab Fall Spotlight program, Yallah! Underground showcases the revolutionary power of music. Farid Eslam’s rollicking documentary introduces audiences to artists in Arab countries and territories where the battle for freedom of expression has real-life consequences, including arrest and murder. One Palestinian DJ says that music is more dangerous in the region than a machine gun. The joy of Yallah! Underground is that it doesn’t just make mention of the role of underground artists in their communities; it lingers on the art. It’s as much a music documentary as it is a historical and political one. May 12, The Cinematheque
THE BALLAD OF OPPENHEIMER PARK
This feature-length doc offers an outsider’s take on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Mexican filmmaker Juan Manuel Sepúlveda trained his camera on the community that lives in and around Oppenheimer Park. The film is not without its flaws, but moments of cutting poignancy abound. We gain some insight into the importance that Oppenheimer Park plays within the DTES community. It’s worth a viewing, and then a discussion afterwards.
May 14, The Cinematheque
CAMERAPERSON
DOXA couldn’t have programmed a more fitting closer for its festival. Cameraperson – largely comprised of footage from an array of documentaries shot by renowned cinematographer Kirsten Johnson – celebrates the art of documentary filmmaking. Johnson’s impressive filmography includes Citizenfour and Fahrenheit 9/11, and Cameraperson is built from the footage that she shot for these and other films, as well as videos from her personal life. Johnson takes us around the world, to warzones and impoverished hospitals, locker rooms and into moments with her mother, then battling dementia. We see what it means to be alive and seeing the world.
May 15, VIFF’s Vancity Theatre
• DOXA Documentary Film Festival runs May 5-15 at various Vancouver venues. Visit DoxaFestival.ca for schedule and tickets.
