Doc Alliance Selection

Childhood as an age of extraordinary imagination, games, and sense of security in a world bordered by the close horizon is explored in this observational documentary that focuses on a year in the life of a Norwegian Waldorf kindergarten. This sensitive study of the expressions of modern, progressive pedagogy can renew viewers’ faith in education and the importance of the work of educators.

A film essay about the obsession with maintaining visual memory using Polaroid works as a historical excursion, a how-to manual, and a philosophical contemplation. Accompanied by a hypnotic soundtrack, the film reveals the magic of instant photography using the compelling nostalgic aesthetic of the time before digital photography.

A sensitive portrait of 26-year-old Taelor examines the upper-class American mentality in the era of Donald Trump. Absurd property disputes and dysfunctional family relationships combine with alcoholism, drug addiction, and love of weapons to reflect the reality of the contemporary American south with a dash of brutal honesty.

Through interviews and footage from theatre rehearsals, the film reflects on the origins of a theatre production by Croatian director Oliver Frljić about the murder of a twelve-year-old girl during the war in Yugoslavia.  What might seem like history is actually everyday reality for Croatian Serbs, filled with hatred and fear.

This poetic documentary is an elegy to the Middle East, where cement flows across the region as they rebuild after the ravages of war. For the narrators, the smell and taste of cement remind them of their father, who left to work in neighboring countries, and the horrifying sight of their devastated home.

Can a critical reflection of a war be achieved for example by means of poeticity or visuality, or would it be advisable in such an undertaking to tendentially forego unambiguous words and images in favour of a more critical reflection of a war? If a text or a film was made in such a way as to seem to lack reference to reality, would it then make finding the truth redundant, since no reference points to factuality – the atrocities, for instance – could be found? Or would such a design of a text or a film allow conclusions about the problematic nature of any attempt at describing, at showing the complexity of evil?