IDFA 2016 - BEAUTIFUL STORIES IN FILM: PART 1

This week, we are featuring beautiful stories, as told by filmmakers whose films are being featured at IDFA 2016. Check out the first batch of our favorites below.

1. THE CHALLENGE

Can a hunt be beautiful? Is there beauty in ostentation? Well, it depends on how you look at it. “The Challenge,” a new film by Yuri Ancarani, manages to lay out beautiful imagery and intimate views as it explores the rarified world of falcon hunting in the Qatari desert.

Watch as Lamborghinis, luxury SUVs, and other glam wheels gather round as their owners oggle their prized predators in competition to see which one will catch a dove the most swiftly.

2. JOE’S VIOLIN

Tragedy sometimes produces the most beautiful stories.

After spending over 6 years in a Siberian labor camp at the behest of the Nazis, Polish-born violinist Joe Feingold emigrated to the US in 1947. There, he found a violin at a flea market and played it for 70 years. Now that he can no longer play, due to ill health, he decided to donate his violin to an organization that distributes old instruments to children in destitute neighborhoods.

“Joe’s Violin,” a film by Kahane Cooperman, charts Joe’s journey, along with that of his violin and the new recipient of his generosity, combining archival footage with recent interviews. We watch as Brianna, a 12-year-old ghetto child, embraces both the violin and Joe, and the resulting friendship and music that results.

3. THE CINEMA TRAVELLERS

Great films are transformative by nature. And while everyone reading this post has access to see films any time they want to, millions of people on the planet don’t share that luxury.

One elderly man, a projectionist, has made it his mission to bring the joy of film to some of the most remote villages in India, giving people who have no other means the chance to be transported and transformed.

“The Cinema Travellers,” a beautifully crafted film by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya, takes us on the dusty road with the man, his homemade projector, his tent and his passion, as he shares the magic of film with those who need a bit of magic in their lives.

4. THE ISLAND

In a self-imposed exile, Dutch artist Erik van Lieshout withdraws from the art world and from society itself, replanting himself on an unnamed island in an artificial lake near the German city of Dortmund. The island becomes his temporary studio. He is joined by Ahmed, a Syrian refugee, who becomes ad hoc assistant.

“The Island,” Van Lieshout’s film, is both a personal statement, stream of consciousness and a reminder that it is impossible to disappear and that often, our efforts to do so shine the light ever more brightly upon us.

5. THE NEW DRESS

In The New Dress, a film about the Asmat people of Papua New Guinea, filmmakers Roy Villevoye and Jan Dietvorst, give us a glimpse of an indigenous tribe of hunters and gatherers who, until the late 1900’s engaged in headhunting.

The film is a portrait of a nun, Majella Hoppenbrouwers, now 86 years old, who has spent most of her life living with the Papuan people. When a seamstress presents a dress identical to the one Hoppenbrouwers wore during her missionary work with the Asmat, she puts it on and is overcome with emotion.

6. ESTABLISHING EDEN

Eden, a fantastic paradise, is most closely approximated in real life by the dramatically landscaped country of New Zealand. That’s why NZ has become a favorite among filmmakers, such as the ones who produced Avatar and Lord of the Rings.

In “Establishing Eden,” a film by Margit Lukács and Persijn Broersen, all life-forms are removed to reveal a fragile virtual landscape.

7. TAIMAGURA GRANDMA

While we are grateful for our modern conveniences and technological wonders, we take comfort in the handmade, slow, laborious world of traditional people who have none of these things.

“Taimagura Grandma,” a film by Yoshihiko Sumikawa, connects us to the beautiful, yet challenging lives of an elderly Japanese couple, Masayo and Kumezo Mukaido, who still mash soybeans with their feet to make miso, chop wood, hand-harvest potatoes, and work their small plot of land at the edge of their snowy mountain village.  

8. TWO YEARS AT SEA

Solitude has its own special beauty. Jake Williams, a loner, spends his life living living with his cat in the middle of the Scottish Highlands, in a self-made treehouse and floating on a self-made raft around the loch.

“Two Years at Sea,” a film by Ben Rivers, is a grainy black and white portrait of his strange existence. This year, Rivers won the EYE Prize, awarded to a work that straddles the boundaries of art and film.

9. WHERE YOU’RE MEANT TO BE

Arab Strap singer Aidan Moffat travels through Scotland (including the highlands and islands), in search of the roots of Celtic culture, connecting with people via traditional Scottish folk songs in “Where You’re Meant to Be,” a film by Paul Fegan.

Beautifully shot scenes of wild Scottish landscapes serve as a backdrop to people who have passed down these songs and stories for many generations.

10. WORK HORSE

“Work Horse,” a film by Charlotte Dumas, is a portrait of a pair of draft horses, Tarsan and Tarmo, that work in the forests of northern Sweden.

We follow these beautiful beasts as they work together, dragging heavy logs, through the snow-filled forests. Their friendship and perseverance are epic in proportion. We are drawn into their psyches, imagining life as they live it.

Read more about IDFA 2016 film favorites this week.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of Atopic, La Bête, &  Ring Film. “The Challenge.” Film by Yuri Ancarani.
2. Image: Courtesy of Atopic, La Bête, &  Ring Film. “The Challenge.” Film by Yuri Ancarani.
3. Image: Courtesy of Atopic, La Bête, &  Ring Film. “The Challenge.” Film by Yuri Ancarani.
4. Image: Courtesy of Lucky Two Productions, Inc.. “Joe’s Violin.” Film by Kahane Cooperman.
5. Image: Courtesy of Cave Pictures. “The Cinema Travellers.” Film by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya.
6. Image: Courtesy of Cave Pictures. “The Cinema Travellers.” Film by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya.
7. Image: Courtesy of ErikStudio. “The Island.” Film by Erik van Lieshout.
8. Image: Courtesy of LiMa Media. “The New Dress.” Film by Roy Villevoye and Jan Dietvorst.
9. Image: Courtesy of Broersen & Lukacs. “Establishing Eden.” Film by Margit Lukács and Persijn Broersen.
10. Image: Courtesy of  ISE-FILM Corporation. “Taimagura Grandma.” Film by Yoshihiko Sumikawa.
11. Image: Courtesy of Ben Rivers. “Two Years at Sea.” Film by Ben Rivers.
12. Image: Courtesy of Better Days Productions Ltd. “Where You’re Meant to Be.” Film by Paul Fegan.
13. Image: by Charlotte Dumas. “Work Horse.” Film by Charlotte Dumas.
14. Image: by Charlotte Dumas. “Work Horse.” Film by Charlotte Dumas.
15. Image: Courtesy of Better Days Productions Ltd. “Where You’re Meant to Be.” Film by Paul Fegan.
16. Image: by BN App - Download now!
17. Image: Courtesy of Cave Pictures. “The Cinema Travellers.” Film by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya.