Interviews

In 'They Call Me Babu', set against a backdrop of WW2 and the Indonesian War of Independence, Sandra Beerends makes visible the invisible, giving voice to a generation of indigenous nannies who, while caring for the children of Dutch colonists, had their gaze fixed on freedom, suffrage and emancipation from patriarchy.

The festival component of the Biarritz doc fest may be postponed until French cinemas re-open, but the packed Industry Days programme will continue online 18-22 January. This includes the pitch of 24 new international projects, eight of which are from Visegrad countries. Festival director Christine Camdessus explains all to BDE.

The ‘So Many Stories Left Untold’ themed presentation, which runs January 14 to 20, presents 16 films across Lisbon venues, as well as talks and debates.

One documentary predicted to be a strong awards contender in coming weeks is Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI, which tells the story of how the FBI eavesdropped on Martin Luther King Jr. The director talks surveillance, heroes and human complexities with BDE.

Stephan Pierre Mitchell’s short doc Deleted, about his short friendship with a neighbour facing eviction, is now screening on Amazon with half the proceeds earmarked to help fight homelessness in the UK. Mitchell tells BDE about the genesis of the project.

Filmmaker Julie Schroell admits she was taken aback when her documentary River Tales was put forward recently as Luxembourg’s entry for the Best International Feature Oscar. She didn’t know that the film could be eligible for the award (which is generally won by fictional dramas). She explains more to Business Doc Europe.

Jerry Rothwell’s ‘The Reason I Jump’ is based on Naoki Higashida’s book about his experiences as a non-speaking autistic person, written when he was just 13. The film is nominated in IDA Best Feature/Best Director categories.

In 'Dick Johnson is Dead', nominated for IDA Best Editing and Writing, director Kirsten Johnson finds numerous and increasingly creative ways to bump off her beloved dad, just so she can keep bringing him back to life.

Director Tiago Siopa describes his 'Ghosts: Long Way Home' as a farewell poem to his home town, a film in which he revisits the myths, folklore and superstitions he grew up with as a boy in the Portuguese countryside. The film world-premiered at Doclisboa 2019.

Lynne Sachs’ Film About A Father Who is a film decades in the making, an extensive study of her philandering father which concludes a “triptych” of studies into the human condition. In January 2021 MoMI (NY) will present a retrospective of her works.