Mark Adams

Managing to be both gently beautiful and desperately moving, Suki Chan’s Conscious explores what happens when consciousness and memory begin to disintegrate, with the haunting presence of dementia and mental decline intertwined within a series of distinctive yet similar stories. While the subject matter is familiar, the presentation here is never traditional.

The title might hint at a deeply racy documentary, but in fact Markku Heikkinen’s rather delicate and compassionate, yet remarkably frank, film tells an open, touching love story about how a couple aims to learn the rules of a new kind of relationship. The film receives its international premiere in NORDIC:DOX Competition.

Shot compassionately and astutely over a 10-year period, One In a Million charts the course of a young life as an 11-year girl escapes Syria to make the long journey to Germany with her family, frightened but also excited about her new future. Thoughtful and engaging, and made with a real sense of heart, it is a story of family and exile, and of hope and change.

A deep dive into the wild and woolly filmmaking world of The Critics - a group of young would-be filmmakers working in a rough neighbourhood in the Nigerian city of Kaduna, also known as Crocodile City - Crocodile is a remarkable examination and celebration of a collective whose super low-budget sci-fi romps act both as a celebration of the films they love and the world they look to escape from.

A gently complex, yet resolutely compassionate film, and one that is neither fully documentary nor fully fiction, Maite Alberdi’s A Child of My Own (Un hijo propio) shines the spotlight both on the maternal impulse, as well as the social and familial pressures and expectations that come to dominate a Mexican woman’s life.

A gently joyous and reflective journey through the life and work of pioneering experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer, Brydie O’Connor’s illuminating and impressively structured film utilises 16mm, 8mm, video and digital from the Barbara Hammer estate to celebrate the work of a forthright filmmaker and to dwell on her considerable legacy.

A determined Nairobi journalist’s investigation into the complex and dangerously tangled world of land battles in Kenya sees her caught between a faceless multinational corporation, unhelpful local tea growers and a worrying family secret. Co-director Bea Wangondu’s attempt to reveal the truth and unearth the implications of colonialism in Kenya makes for absorbing viewing, though it offers no easy answers. Nor does it hint at any form of justice.

A balanced, at times sad and chilling, investigation into the reality and impact of laboratory research into animals, Tony Jones’s rigorously made documentary gives room for both sides of the argument both in terms of animal welfare and the medical benefits. The film is largely seen through the eyes of Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel, a primatologist turned animal welfare advocate, whose insight, knowledge and compassion forms the spine of the film.

Within a bleak and fading Armenian retirement home – where the ages of residents range from 60 to over 90 - a theatre director sets about casting for his ensemble production of ‘Shakespeare’s Sins.’ While, in the play, we see how Shakespeare’s characters call him to account for their tragic fates, the documentary equally offers the opportunity to delve into the diverse and complex lives of this aged community. 

The rise of Elon Musk’s ground-breaking electric car operation Tesla serves as a fascinating backdrop for Andreas Pichler’s jarring and revealing feature documentary, as a fatal accident in Florida triggers a protracted lawsuit to hold the company accountable, bringing into serious doubt the company’s much-hyped “autopilot” function.