Thanks to our new offer Send a film as a gift, you can become a documentary Santa Claus this Christmas. If you belong to the less experienced “Santas”, who might find selecting from the rich offer of the portal as chaotic and stressful as running down the aisles in a shopping mall, you can try several of our film tips:
At the beginning of the Advent, the world was shocked by North Korean guns firing at an island inhabited by civilians. All those who are shaking their heads, wishing to know what’s going on there in the North, can be recommended the film Welcome to North Korea! by Linda Jablonská, a commentary on the conditions of the last “stronghold of Stalinism” seen from the perspective of a Czech excursion tour.
Cold-blooded lovers of the beauty of winter, who would be happy to spend their Christmas in an igloo, sleeping with their skis on, can be definitely recommended two films which will retain the beauty of winter even in most heated living rooms; the film Bear Islands by Martin Ryšavý, which has had its official distribution premiere on Docalliancefilms lately, and the Canadian film Picture of Light by Peter Mettler – a suggestive “portrait” of the northern lights.
The award-winning film by Vít Janeček Ivetka and the Mountain will enable you a credible, contemporary and yet mysterious encounter with the sacred; while the intimate setting of family tables of the past generations can be entered directly from the Christmas Eve supper thanks to the cycle Private Century by Jan Šikl; the portal offers all parts of this very well-received project.
Soft toy collectors as well as all kinds of technophiles should be given the Danish film Mechanical Love instead of a new expensive toy so that they could reflect (or revise) their hobby. Experts on New Year’s resolutions should get the superb, bitterly touching film No Regrets by Theodora Remundová.
The internationally awarded film The Source by Martin Mareček (author of the film Auto*Mat which has been selected as the Czech documentary of the decade by the jury of the Jihlava IDFF) will surely stimulate a lively discussion on the road to the shopping mall sales.
Lovers of tension and detective stories will relish in the sophisticated reconstructionThe Great Communist Robberyby Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon; while those who want to have innocent fun at the expense of others should watch the short film The ZOOby Dutch classic Bert Haanstra, a playful and cheerful mosaic based on the similarity between people and animals.
The Matchmaking Mayor by Erika Hníková has entered Czech cinemas while her successful feature-length debut about the joys and sorrows of women’s beauty can be made into a present right here. Director Karel Vachek is still editing his latest film, however, his previous opus Záviš, the King of Pornfolk under the Influence… is available at Docalliancefilms.
Having spoken about contrasting the television Christmas offer in the introduction, an emblem of this approach can be seen in the Latvian film Dream Land. Instead of parading the typical fairy tale characters, it tells the unusual “tale of animals” taking place at a large garbage heap.
Last but not least, why not recall one of the most popular Czech documentary films from the past few years, Citizen Havel, watching the portrait of the previous Czech president, rather than listening to the New Year’s Address of the present one.
Nevertheless, the offer of the Docalliancefilms portal is really wide and there are different strokes for different folks. Submerging yourself in the film database, you will surely find interesting, original as well as bizarre works, which might not even carry the famous names of world documentary film. Not only the gifted but even the giver can be pleasantly surprised.
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