Online Documentary Textbook

Are you searching for an ideal textbook of documentary film to introduce all key personalities of world cinema at once? Famous names, crucial works, experimental genres and innovative methods can finally be found in one place; in the online film retrospectives at DAFilms.com!

The approaching first world film retrospective of director Sergei Loznitsa, which will start at DAFilms.com at the beginning of the next month and will be available from December 1 to 14, is an occasion for a big celebration. The online presentation of the works by Sergei Loznitsa, including his popular films Artel, Revue and The Miracle of Saint Anthony, will be the 25th documentary retrospective we will offer to viewers around the world for free. If you are looking for a source of documentary inspiration and history that is available any time, you are at the right address with us!

Although film retrospectives have always thrived at the DAFilms.com portal, it was the first lady of world documentary herself that launched a series of successful world online retrospectives which make it to the home computer screens of our viewers almost every three months. The retrospective of Agnès Varda offered 17 films covering all of the key stages of the filmmaker’s career, including her series of documentaries from America and her feminist film reflections.

The works by Agnès Varda formed a successful tandem with the second most popular retrospective featuring the film images by Jørgen Leth. The predilection for art across various fields, ranging from literature and poetry to painting, combined with the eye of a trained anthropologist, provides the Danish director with a unique form of film language which has charmed dozens of thousands of visitors. These do not forget to revisit the film catalogue and the director, especially because of the film A Sunday in Hell which dominates the viewer ratings of our documentary list of more than 1000 items.

The third most sought-after film retrospective was the one to present the long-time observational documentaries by Czech director Helena Třeštíková. The filmmaker won her viewers primarily by her filmmaking patience, spending decades following the protagonists of her films who face the camera while struggling with difficult life situations, such as the collapse of family life (Marcela) or drug addiction (Katka). The film René, which won the “European film Oscar”; the Prix Arte for best documentary; in 2008, proved its popularity among the viewers as well.

The same award was also presented to the late Peter Liechti whose award-winning film The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy dominated his film retrospective presented in February.

The fans of politically engaged documentary should definitely not miss the film programmes dedicated to the collected works of Eyal Sivan, who has focused on the film analysis of the Israeli society and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a long-term basis, and of Russian provocateur and critic Vitaly Mansky.

Those who want to push the limits of their imagination should focus on the films by Canadian visual essayist Peter Mettler; while those who miss humour and the poetics of everyday in documentary film should steer towards the film waters sailed by Latvian director Laila Pakalnina and French film classic Nicolas Philibert.

DAFilms.com – your online documentary textbook!