A Life Like Any Other
My father immortalised the most beautiful moments of his life in family films, while my mother’s difficulties hit the blind spot in his images. Today, I revisit these films to tell another story: the one about a woman who sees her role as a mother gradually taking away her freedom.
"A searching and honest recalibration of one family’s narrative, as the director reinterprets her father’s obsessive home movies from her mother’s perspective of domestic un-fulfillment." - The Film Verdict
Adam Ondra: Pushing the Limits
Adam Ondra is one of the best climbers today and a true virtuoso, who has tackled the world’s most difficult rocks and walls. A shy introvert, turned famous sports icon, his desire to climb has changed into an obligation to win. As Adam prepares for sport climbing’s debut at the Olympics in Tokyo, we observe the influence of commercial pressure, mass media and the audience longing for a spectacle, on both his personal life and the sport itself.
"Great observational storytelling about the complexities of failure and success and what it takes to get there." - Letterboxd
Broca's Aphasia
In Broca’s Aphasia, 23-year-old Cheng leads five employees of his own age to run a sex doll service in a hotel, a business with a monthly turnover of more than one million Taiwan dollars. They started working and setting up the company at a young age. Inevitably, their relationships with their family, girlfriends and children become the difficulties or the unspeakable secrets in their lives.
"turning the camera to the places you least expect for this subject matter...Director SU Ming-Yen humanises the inanimate object’s life to offer a reflection on sex work and the workforce hidden behind closed doors." - True/False
Fragile Memory
Soviet cinematographer Leonid Burlaka worked at Odessa Film Studio in the 60s on dozens of films that have travelled the world. Today he’s in his 80s and diagnosed with Alzheimer's. As his memory fades away, his grandson and young filmmaker, Igor follows the tracks that Leonid left behind via film rolls, homemade videos, letters and forgotten friends.
"Each photograph is an unforgettable picture of life, imbued with incredible intimacy and anchored in a historical time capsule" - Modern Times Review
Light Falls Vertical
When I left the island where I was born, it wasn’t a departure, it was an escape. Years later, I arrive on another island, a barren place that feels strangely familiar. I have come here for an encounter with a man. He says he is willing to expose the violence that he carries within. But when I venture to get closer to the harmful, desperate man, I realise that he also holds the key to my deepest fears, echoing in the violence of my own past. Now his story will never be separated from mine.
"Jarring and heartbreaking documentary excavates the film-maker’s past while illuminating an abuser’s place in the cycle of violence" - Guardian