Amid the U.S. festival’s commercial wrappings, three docs from rising filmmakers plumb the depths of American inequity
Festivals
Philadelphia’s beloved festival for Black, Brown, and Indigenous filmmakers explores themes of inheritance and artistic lineage
A five-day film seminar in Portugal attempts to center listening as documentary practice
The venerable Swiss festival featured its usual boundary-pushing works alongside industry activities that showcased documentary’s capacity to adapt
Venice’s robust nonfiction selection revealed filmmakers grappling with inheritance—of land, literature, trauma, and the weight of documenting lives
Diving deep into the Danish doc mainstay’s standout titles Always, The Helsinki Effect, and Nordic competition winner Walls – Akinni Inuk
“Always balance, everything in balance,” intones Raul Niño Zambrano, all smiles and relaxed on the last morning of his fourth year as creative director of Sheffield DocFest. It’s an aspirational mantra for a festival that seeks to elevate the documentary art of drawing meaning from chaos; in a capsizing world that needs independent media more than ever but would rather attack it, a confident and constructive place to rally is vital. Brexit cut off Creative Europe and Creative Media funding and visa-free visits from Europe, the pandemic hammered revenue and audience habits, and the UK remains in a deep industry recession with more than half its freelance workforce out of work and its once-mighty broadcasters on the back foot. And yet the festival has steadied.
Well-regarded as a champion of independent and alternative cinema, South Korea’s second-largest festival proudly tackles the contemporary political
While Karlovy Vary may be best known for its star wattage and warm midsummer embrace of fiction auteurs, this year’s 59th edition (July 4–12) once again made a powerful case for documentary’s enduring vitality. Across the official selection, sidebars, and special screenings, nonfiction titles proved indispensable in reflecting Europe and the region’s evolving identities, eccentricities, and contradictions. This festival dispatch includes reviews of Grand Prix-winner Better Go Mad in the Wild, TrepaNation, Action Item, and Divia.
Since its founding in 1971 in the small town of Giffoni Valle Piana in southern Italy, the Giffoni Film Festival has grown into a global reference point for cinema made for—and with—young people. In this interview for Documentary, Minervini shares insights about his journey as a programmer of GEX:DOX, the distinctive qualities of Giffoni, the challenges and opportunities of curating documentary films for young audiences, and the spirit that animates this dynamic festival section. This interview has been edited.