DOC ALLIANCE SELECTION // 2011

A story of chosen affinities, on earth as in heaven. It begins with the filmmaker’s memories of his brother, who died at a young age; he then focuses his attention on his aunt, who became a nun after having a premonition about a mystical Spaniard with an odour of sanctity; she works tirelessly for his international recognition. It is a personal reflection on the fine line between material and spiritual freedom.

The filmmaker senses something lacking in his well-off bourgeois life. Seeking peace and spirituality, he leaves for Egypt to visit early Christianity’s first monasteries. Hoping to find an answer to ease his anxieties, he asks everyone he meets there questions about existence. Thus his journey evolves into a search that blends serious devotion with an off-beat sense of humour.

A retired elderly woman who suffers from memory loss, Olda roams untiringly around her house: she thinks about her son, talks to her dog, complains about “damned capitalism” and how it reduces life to money, she drinks beer, prepares meals, takes medication . . . but her primary activity is filming. She films herself as she lives her life—a last stand against the oblivion that approaches.

The Sira is the most important epic poem in the Arab world. For centuries, from generation to generation, its five million verses were passed on orally from one lyricist to the next. Today only one oral performer remains, a 75-year-old illiterate Egyptian; he would love to teach it to his grandson, who, however, is tempted by modernity. A portrait of the contradictions that give life to modern-day Egypt.

Two women, a mother and daughter, who live on Portugal’s southern coast. They have had a happy existence, never having to work a day in their lives. But now the days of prosperity are over and they must deal with all of life’s material difficulties to survive. After years of dreaming, their nightmare has begun. A human comedy with brilliant dialogues befitting a likeable and refined documentary sitcom.