A graduate of the Documentary Department of FAMU, Prague, the Czech director made her debut by her successful documentary feature The Beauty Exchange. At the 2011 Berlinale, she won the Tagesspiegel Readers‘ Prize for her third documentary feature The Matchmaking Mayor. Erika Hníková personally recommends 5 films of the Doc Alliance Films portal…
New Scenes from America (d. Jorgen Leth)
The visual film poem by world director Jorgen Leth offers a fantastic glimpse under the surface of the “ever bright American smile”. I have seen the film several times and I can recommend it to anyone interested in the American character.
Behind the Fence (d. Marcin Sauter)
I am very fond of observational films, with the director humbly observing anyone or anything. Behind the Fence is just like that; the director is observing a group of children in a limited space. Some of the images are really powerful; I ended up watching the film three times.
Anna, Seven Years on the Frontline (d. Mascha Novikova)
A portrait of Anna Politkovskaya, a murdered Russian journalist. I was interested in the personality of Politkovskaya; that was my reason to watch the film in the first place. I have learned a lot of things from this well-crafted film.
The Mother (d. Pavel Kostomarov, Antoine Cattin)
I have seen this brilliant film at a film festival several years ago. However, the second time I watched the film at the portal was even better than the first time. The fascinating story of a Russian woman with nine children, who is leaving her alcoholic husband to move to the country, is far from being a tearful lamentation; it rather is a perfectly constructed film, not lacking humorous scenes either. The most powerful scene, however, is the one taking place at the train station platform…
Island Belarus (d. Victor Asliuk)
I was happy to discover a Belarusian film at the portal since I have been shooting in Belarus several weeks ago. The director examines life in the country and in the city; the merging of modernity and tradition. I can recommend the film to anyone interested in this country.
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