The Cinéma du réel is not just an annual documentary event. It is also an opportunity to discover the artistic counterpoint of a narrative often too formatted, sometimes instrumentalized, through films that show the world from all angles.
Now scattered in seven Parisian theaters due to the closure of the Centre Georges Pompidou, the event inaugurates its 48th edition tomorrow with, in addition to its 37 films (16 feature length and 21 short films) in national and international competitions, a few premieres.
Rithy Panh, the chronicler of the Cambodian genocide
On the program, the documentary by Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel, “Nuestra Tierra,” recounts the murder of a chief of an indigenous community by three white men. “We Are the Fruits of the Forest,” the new film by Rithy Panh, the chronicler of the Cambodian genocide, focuses on a community of indigenous people in the mountains of northern Cambodia.
During this troubled period, a focus is devoted to filmmaker Bani Khoshnoudi, through one of her films, “The Vanishing Point,” about an Iranian director in exile who finally manages to speak about her cousin who died in prison during the purges of 1988, breaking the family silence, and “A Cry in the Dark,” a performative and visual reading about the role of images in the anti-fascist struggle in her country.
Because here, cinema is both an artistic and political gesture. It is first Jumana Manna, a Palestinian filmmaker and sculptor, who presents her seven films (4 short, 3 feature length) and questions what colonization does to bodies. It is also Front(s) populaire(s) which explores “a part of our contemporary reality through films that bear witness to citizen engagement and filmmakers who film them” with a different work each day.
On March 26th, our colleague from the international section, Benjamin König, will lead a discussion about “Independance Tey,” by Abdou Lahat Fall, an immersion in the Frapp, a youth protest movement in Dakar. A rich and abundant program around cinema that combines strong artistic ambition and reflection.
Cinéma du réel, international documentary festival, from March 21 to 28 in Paris. Information: cinemadureel.org
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