This week, DOXA Documentary Film Festival debuted its 2016 Festival program guides and teased the film line-up.
The 10 day festival brings a world of documentary films to Vancouver. From daredevils to divas, burlesque to basketball, calypso and cameras DOXA brings together films on the most diverse nonfiction topics.
Films from Europe, Australia, USA, Middle East line up against home-grown Canadian documentaries. First time directors screen side-by-side to veteran filmmakers, DOXA creates a level playing field for all films. Industry panels and talks compliment the feature length and short films.
DOXA opens May 5th at the Vancouver Playhouse with an extraordinary docudrama, Aim For The Roses, from Canadian filmmaker John Bolton, inspired by Canadian Mark Haney’s album inspired by Canadian daredevil Ken Carter and his quest to jump the St Lawrence River in a rocket-powered Lincoln Continental.
The DOXA spotlight, Borders and Boundaries looks at the current refugee crisis, as well as the more difficult to establish notion of boundaries with a selection of films that breakdown the national barriers, and even tackle time and space.
Midweek highlights include presentations of Brent Hodge’s Pistol Shrimps and Rama Rau’s The League of Exotique Dancers look at the way women are fighting for strength and identity, whether that is on the basketball court or the burlesque stage.
Other curated programs look at growing up black in America (Black Life Is, Ain’t and Still Rises) or living through a revolution (Arab Spring / Arab Fall) and the second edition of French French includes a retrospective of the work of acclaimed filmmaker Claire Simon.
In the closing night film, Cameraperson, Kirsten Johnson turns her camera upon herself and examines her own body of work including collaborations with Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) and Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11),
DOXA Documentary Film Festival runs May 5 –15, 2016.
Tickets are available online at doxafestival.ca.