Follow in the footsteps of lawlessness, complex political cases, and mysteries that still have yet to be solved. We proudly present a selection of investigative documentaries in which the films’ directors were not afraid to seek their own answers as they attempt to crack cold cases. High tension and suspense akin to an Agatha Christie novel awaits you in a series of films that place an emphasis on visual sophistication and feature a unique director’s take.
What draws the line between a documentary film and journalism? What stories belong on the big screen and what ones should stay on CNN? This has been the subject of heated debate since the very beginning of documentary cinema. The answer may be found in Ester Sparatore’s emotionally charged film, Those Who Remain. The director heads to an empty Tunisian apartment where the main character Om El Khir lives with her three children. The film does not cover the issue of migration with the usual austereness found on news stations and also sees no need to bombard the viewer with facts. Instead, it shows the daily life of a brave woman whose husband went missing while trying to emigrate to Europe.
Earlier this year, we presented you with the program special The Scales of Justice, in which we focused on criminal sentencing and seeking justice in today's democratic societies. The flip side to this special may be a series of new documentaries from South America that focus on the failures of the police force. The Brazilian film Police Killing investigates a case of a brutal armed police crackdown on a car full of teenagers suspected of drug dealing. Every year, the number of people who are killed or who disappear in police raids in various South American countries is somewhere in the thousands. Just how many of them have wrongfully lost their lives is precisely what the Chilean documentary The Crosses and the short-length film Witness Was The Rain attempt to find out.
Discover the unique power of investigative documentaries that are capable of evoking emotions in us and help us to put ourselves in the main characters’ shoes. With the help of their unconventional takes on the subject, the films’ directors are able discover new contexts even in cases that have long since been closed.
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