DOXA Documentary Film Festival: 2021 Spotlight Program and Guest Curators
DOXA is pleased to announce the return of some of its most popular thematic and curatorial programs this year. These series showcase films that focus on individual ideas connecting movements and communities around the world.
In an era of uncertainty and hardship, DOXA has chosen to shine its spotlight this year on the concept of “Self Study” — narratives of ordinary individuals grappling with challenging, often overwhelming circumstances. Works include Adam Golub’s Your Mother’s Comfort, the story of trans sex worker Indianara Siqueira and her fight for her community amidst growing political turmoil in Rio de Janiero. Another standout is Reka Valerik’s Silent Voice, which follows a young mixed martial artist stricken with mutism after a revelation of his homosexuality leads to exile from his home country of Chechnya.
One of the highlights of this year’s festival is Delphine’s Prayers, which recently won the Young Jury Award at the Cinéma du Réel film festival in Paris. An intimate account of survival by a young Cameroonian woman to her friend, director Rosine Mbakam, the film chronicles Delphine’s difficult childhood and the conditions that led her to pregnancy and homelessness at age 13, followed by her emigration to Europe in search of a better life.
In addition to this year’s spotlight, two cornerstone programs return in 2021: Justice Forum and Rated Y for Youth. Consisting of five features, Justice Forum showcases films that encourage further discussion, with each film in the program accompanied by either a live or pre-recorded conversation with the filmmaker or guest speaker. Notable films in this series include Shannon Walsh’s The Gig is Up, which looks at the human cost of the ever-expanding gig economy, and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’s Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, which takes a humanizing approach to the substance-use crisis currently unfolding on the Kainai First Nation in Alberta.
Encompassing four features and a slate of short films, Rated Y for Youth returns this year after a hiatus in 2020. The program is geared towards high school students and younger viewers looking to facilitate study on different key social issues, and each film includes a complimentary study guide as well as live or pre-recorded discussions with the filmmaker or community members. Highlights include The Big Scary “S” Word, a look at the legacy and conflicting conceptions of socialism, and Forest for the Trees, an introduction to the phenomenon of tree planting from Canadian director Rita Leistner.
A few specially curated programs also make an appearance at this year’s DOXA, including perennial favourite FRENCH FRENCH, curated by Thierry Garrel, which returns this year to present new films from DOXA veterans Marie Dumora (Far From You I Grew), Claire Simon (The Grocer’s Son, the Mayor, the Village and the World…) and Alain Cavalier (Living and Knowing You Are Alive).
Another program curated by VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users) focuses on the devastating consequences of the international war on drugs, with important films from the Philippines (Alyx Ayn Arumpac’s Aswang), New York (Mia Donovan’s Dope is Death) and a critical doc from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Nettie Wild’s FIX) produced 20 years ago but still relevant today.
Last but not least, DOXA is proud to announce a program of Indigenous experimental short films curated by Cousin Collective. Questioning foundational concepts of Indigeneity, the power dynamics of cinema, and the history of experimentalism itself, these films challenge the very notion of documentary filmmaking and invite us to consider it under a new lens. Shelly Niro’s semina hybrid film Honey Moccasin (1998) is a must-see feature in this program.
Finally, DOXA celebrates its 20th anniversary by going platinum with a special curated series of films from DOXA’s past. The program is collectively curated by DOXA founder Kris Anderson, former director of programming and Tyee culture writer Dorothy Woodend, as well as selections from DOXA’s current director of programming, Selina Crammond.
Get more details on DOXA Here.
For more Festival news Click Here
