23rd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Becoming
director: Jan van IJken
original title: Becoming
country: Netherlands
year: 2018
running time: 6 min.
World Premiere
synopsis
This minimalist six-minute film looks at the creation of animal life through time-lapse footage of an embryo’s development – a process universal to all animals, including people. The film follows, in microscopic detail, the development of an alpine newt in its translucent egg all the way from first cell division to moment of hatching.
biography
Dutch documentary filmmaker and photographer Jan van IJken (1965) focuses on nature and the world of animals, as for instance in his early film Facing Animals (2012) or in his look at the motion of a flock of birds, The Art of Flying (2015), which was shown in Jihlava as well.
more about film
| producer: | Jan van IJken |
| photography: | Jan van IJken |
other films in the section
The film’s creator, in the role of an earthling walking the streets of Paris, asks the eternal question: Are we alone in the universe? While attempting to find the truth and therefore quiet the constant musings, the filmmaker holds interviews with astrophysicist Nicolas Prantzos, science historian Florence Raulin Cerceau, and sociologist Pierre Lagrange.
The Hypothesis
Bruno Saboia
France / 2018 / 20 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
This documentary combines interviews with participants in ethnographic research led by the filmmaker personally with footage of his own personal reflections and insights. The recordings, gathered during the three years prior to the end of the authoritarian regime of Zimbabwean president Mugabe, is accompanied by 8mm footage of Rhodesia.
Research / Souvenir (Dialogues)
Roger Horn
Zimbabwe, South Africa / 2018 / 18 min.
section: Short Joy
Central European Premiere
An essay filmed against the backdrop of lyrical images of feather plucking or drawing with chalk presents the clerical orders of Islamic women and how they rein in their impure desires. As a subversive element of Islamic fundamentalism, the director recites a poem by Iranian feminist writer Forough Farrokhzad.
I Have Sinned a Rapturous Sin
Maryam Tafakory
United Kingdom, Iran / 2018 / 8 min.
section: Short Joy
Czech Premiere
There’s a helpline just for gay farmers. Through authentic recordings and reconstructed situations, the film offers a glimpse into the issue of British gay men from rural areas. For farmers it’s difficult enough to admit their orientation to themselves, let alone to their not-so-gay-friendly surroundings.
Landline
Matt Houghton
United Kingdom / 2017 / 12 min.
section: Short Joy
East European Premiere
They are happy together, but she gets a job offer in another country and he doesn’t want to go. He tries to sway her decision in his favour by offering to marry her… In its format, the film perhaps most closely resembles a music video, but besides music it also uses poetry and dance to tell its story. Shot on an iPhone 7 Plus.
time and love and I
J Ashlee
United States / 2017 / 5 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
A pagan custom takes place alongside the traditional Easter Sunday celebrations in the Polish village of Sternalice. Rough-looking men set aside their work tools, saddle wild horses, and set off on a pilgrimage, filled with humility before God. The documentary’s visual and aural cacophony captures the ancient tradition, creating a stunning visual myth.
Horse Riders
Anna Gawlita
Poland / 2018 / 19 min.
section: Short Joy
International Premiere
This film about the life of Cubans without a roof over their heads shows how they go about their everyday activities: preparing food, discussing politics, singing songs, reading old texts by Fidel Castro, and sleeping off a hangover. Fourteen minutes of detailed observation of people overlooked by others.
Notes on the Shore
Luis Alejandro Yero
Cuba / 2018 / 14 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
The films confronts two different views of the execution of General Ion Antonescu, Romania’s leader during the Second World War. On one side is silent black-and-white footage of the execution as recorded in 1946 by cameraman Ovidiu Gologanl; on the other are scenes from a biographical film shot in 1994 by director Sergiu Nicolaescu.
The Marshal’s Two Executions
Radu Jude
Romania / 2018 / 10 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
A woman sells her five-year-old son to a French tourist for 100 dollars, but the dream of a better life turns into years of physical and sexual abuse. This animated film looks at young Fekri’s journey during the most vulnerable years of his life. Can he recover enough to leave his family?
For a Better Life
Yasmin Mistry
United States / 2018 / 10 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
Using simple animation with outline figures and objects against a dark background that evokes nightmares, an anonymous 16-year-old youth, a repeat offender at a correctional facility for juveniles, recounts his criminal past caused by traumatic experiences with domestic abuse within his family.
The Holiday Inn-Side
Charby Ibrahim
Australia / 2018 / 20 min.
section: Short Joy
European Premiere
“(Where) do the places we remember exist?” asks Camila Ausente in the opening of her ten-minute documentary search for an answer to this question. The film combines repeating images from Mexico with oral memories of her father's childhood in Argentina.
Pampa del Istmo
Camila Ausente
Mexico, Argentina / 2018 / 11 min.
section: Short Joy
World Premiere
An observational look at the interaction between two elderly women: 100-year-old Ema and her six years younger sister Zosie. The camera sensitively documents how these two once famous hostesses try to bake a cake at their advanced age. In so doing, it offers a perceptive portrait of their personalities and their relationships.
The Cake
Małgorzata Goździk
Poland / 2017 / 18 min.
section: Short Joy
Czech Premiere
