On a street corner in Queens, New York, an elderly, white-haired woman hovers, apparently waiting or looking for something – then starts approaching passers by. Miked up close, but viewed from distant rooftops, she asks them philosophical questions about turning points in their lives, sometimes eliciting candidly revealing answers from people who seemingly need to talk. She’s also seen up close at street level, viewed by a shaky nearby camera. And intermittently we hear the affectless voiceover of an English male reading an account of a prison spell. What exactly are we seeing? A documentary of sorts? A fiction stripped of its expected signposts?
“I see everything,” she says, as if it was a curse. Brilliant sunshine, clear blue skies. The sea is calm, framed by a piece of railing. A peaceful moment if it weren’t for the fact that the sea is standing upright, vertical, like a waterfall. A rush of images, twirling, upside down, jolting. People in the boat, in the water, screams, life jackets, emergency whistles. There’s no horizon any more, no sky, no up or down, only deepness and nothing to hold on to. Even time’s flow comes to a halt, contracting into the brutal present. She is filming and speaking. To beat being tired, being cold, the fact that help isn’t coming. To beat dying, just for something to remain.
"a documentary work of art" - Not Fiction
The vibration of machines echoes across the desert. Ever since Jordanian nomads settled in the spectacular landscape of Wadi Rum, they grew dependent on complex water infrastructure. The source is right below their feet, yet they struggle to meet basic needs.
In the meantime, deep water extraction feeds private large-scale farms, animates visionary development and secures growing urban population. Bedouins, farmers and city dwellers: they all expect to have a fair share, but digging for “blue gold” unleashes environmental time-bomb.
"With its imposing sandstone mountains, the magnificent desert of Wadi Rum in southern Jordan is no stranger to the movie world" - The Guardian
Night has fallen and Montreal is under a blanket of snow. At the City Transit Company, people line up at the lost and found office where upon reflection, losing something becomes a symbol of a deeper loss. This creative documentary is sometimes melancholic, sometimes festive yet always compassionate. In fact, it makes you appreciate Winter.
"enchanting...luxuriates in the profundity of unexpected encounters between strangers and the delicate cycle of things lost and regained." - The Guardian
The iconic White Building, home to 493 families in Phnom Penh, faces demolition. Director Kavich Neang follows his family and neighbors as they move out before its total destruction.
"It’s a film that requires a bit of focused concentration. The reward is poetic images that stick in the mind like memories: in one flat, the camera lingers on a mirror. Someone has tied a yellow comb to it, presumably for everyone to use, so it won’t be lost. And it is loss this documentary captures so tenderly, with some beautiful photography." - The Guardian
