DOXA Documentary Film Festival is returning to the big screen this May for its 21st edition! After two years of online presentation, Western Canada’s largest documentary film festival, makes its comeback with a hybrid, screening in theatres and streaming online May 5 through May 15, 2022. DOXA will return to screens with a roster of crucial and thought-provoking documentaries in theatrical venues across the city, bringing filmmakers and audiences together for a long-awaited communal cinema experience. For audiences who still prefer viewing from the comfort of their own homes, most festival films will be available to stream online for select durations between festival dates.
The 21st annual DOXA Documentary Film Festival will showcase a total of 55 features and mid-lengths, 24 short films, both pre-recorded and live Q+As, as well as Industry events and multiple opportunities for filmmakers, audiences and industry professionals to connect, both virtually and in person. Films will be available to stream Canada-wide, through DOXA’s Eventive online platform. In-person screenings will take place at The Vancouver Playhouse (Opening film), The Cinematheque, VIFF Centre and SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. In-person Industry events will be held at SFU’s World Arts Centre.
DOXA 2022 features two guest-curated programs. Returning FRENCH FRENCH, curated by Thierry Garrel, spotlights the work of two acclaimed French directors (Mariana Otero and François Caillat) in a double retrospective, alongside bold new voices in French-language cinema. A selection of films under the umbrella of GRAND-MÈRE. GRANDMOTHER. BABUSHKA., chosen by guest curator Laurence Reymond, takes the universality of the Grandmother Figure and examines her many cinematic representations. “Older women have it all: a wealth of experiences, and the power to bring those experiences to life now. Their stories, memories, histories and fantasies connect past and present.”
Returning are the festival’s cornerstone programs; JUSTICE FORUM and RATED Y FOR YOUTH, as well DOXA 2022 will include two Spotlight programming streams: MEMORY AND ARCHIVES and LANDSCAPES OF RESISTANCE. The affective and political potential of archival material is the focal point of the Memory and Archives Spotlight program. If our memories are unreliable and the archive can be questioned, where does that leave us? Landscapes of Resistance presents a collection of films rooted in stewardship and grounded in political freedom. The films in this Spotlight are searing reminders of the ongoing effects of colonialism, systemic oppression and environmental destruction in BC, across Turtle Island and around the world.
These are just a sampling of the dynamic programming coming with DOXA 2022. For full program details, film line-ups and schedule, Festival Passes and tickets visit doxafestival.ca