IDFA 2016 - BEAUTIFUL STORIES IN FILM: PART 7

Here is the last batch of our favorite films featured at the IDFA 2016. These stories focus on the beauty of soul.

1. GAZA SURF CLUB

When the going gets tough, the inspired go surfing! “Gaza Surf Club,” a new documentary by Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine, follows a group of young men who seek to escape the bombed-out streets of Gaza City by surfing off its shores.

One man, Abu Jayab, taught many of them how to surf, despite the ever-present dangers of war and the lack of proper surf gear.

One of his young disciples, Ibrahim, is eager to make a better life via surfing. He dreams of traveling to Hawaii and learns how to make surf boards – in often dangerous circumstances and without the right gear. Another, 15-year-old Sabah is not allowed in the water without a headscarf, according to Hamas rules.

In Gaza, hanging ten helps these dreamers to hang in.

Watch the trailer here.

2. BOLINGO. THE FOREST OF LOVE

Fear, pain, and endless challenge are faced down by refugees every day as they flee their troubled homelands in search of better lives. “Bolingo.The Forest of Love,” a new film directed by Alejandro G. Salgado, follows the lives of courageous women who fled war-torn countries in Africa hoping to find peace and prosperity in Europe. They get stranded on the northern coast of Morocco where they set up a flimsy camp as they try to figure out what comes next.

The stories the women tell about their journeys are rendered in animation. The color palette of the film is mostly dark, as black skin, despair, and grim prospects barely give way to slivers of light and hope.

Watch the trailer here.

3. MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE

Beloved poet, poet, author, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou reminds us to rise up, in power, grace, and spirit. “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” a new film directed by Bob Hercules & Rita Coburn Whack, is a beautiful portrait of one of the most influential African Americans. She had a major impact on culture and attitude, rising up to triumph over her own personal tragedies and crises.

Angelou’s life (1928-2014) played out from her abused childhood in segregation-era Arkansas, across the American Civil Rights movement alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, and beyond, hailed by contemporaries such as Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey. The film conveys her spirit and fires us up to rise up now, as political, cultural, and societal pressures mount.

Watch the trailer here.

4. SACRED

“Sacred,” a new film directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Thomas Lennon, explores the dynamics of faith as a basic human experience. Constructed from our need to explain the unexplainable, comfort & steady ourselves in times of crisis, give us hope and reason to carry on, and consecrate our birth, mate, & death milestones, faith is where many humans turn.

Rituals and customs are examined for their uniqueness and their commonalities. From the veneration of the dead in Madagascar to the “kaihogyo” journey of a Buddhist monk.

The film was produced with a collaboration among more than 40 filmmaking teams around the world. It is fascinating to learn more about the role of faith, prayer and ritual at a time when religious extremism and divisiveness bears down upon us.

Watch the trailer here.

5. SINGING WITH ANGRY BIRD

Jae-Chang Kim is a temperamental Korean opera singer, nicknamed “Angry Bird,” that brings joy. “Singing with Angry Bird,” a new Film directed by Hyewon Jee, follows Kim as he brings joy and music to children living in South Korean slums. He founded  Banana Children’s Choir to introduce them to music from outside their daily reality.

The music provides a vibrant contrast to life in the slums. It moves both parents and children, bringing them closer together in the process.

Watch the trailer here.

6. SOUTH TO NORTH CINE-CONCERT

South-North Water Transfer Project, aims to divert 200 billion liters of water a year from the south of China to industrial areas in the north. Spanning several decades now, the project has attracted much criticism for its waste of water and other raw materials, the pollution it causes, and the fact that it is making water more expensive for ordinary Chinese people.

There is fear that the project could cause the Yangtze River to dry up.

“South to North Cine-Concert,” directed by filmmaker Antoine Boutet, takes us along the length of the project, making meditative recordings of the strange landscapes it has created.

Watch the trailer here.

7. UZU

Eight teams of men use heavy wooden Shinto shrines as battering rams in a fascinating annual ritual in Matsuyama, on the Japanese island of Shikoku.

“Uzu,” a film directed by Gaspard Kuentz, gives us a glimpse in dramatic treatment of this violent expression of faith.

Men stand on top of the shrines, trying as hard as they can not to fall off as they crash into each other. The team whose shrine falls down first, loses. It all symbolizes the wildness of the gods.

Watch the trailer here.

8. WHEN I HEAR THE BIRD SING

“When I Hear the Bird Sing,” a new film about refugee children following the outbreak of war in their native Ivory Coast, explores their emotional experiences. Director Trine Vallevik Håbjørg asks 5 children now living in a Liberian refugee camp, “What have you been through? How is it now? And what would you like to be when you grow up?”

We see their answers in the form of colorful animations, which add a level of lightness and levity, despite their heavy circumstance.

9. WHITE SPOTS, A JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF THE INTERNET

“White Spots, a Journey to the Edge of the Internet,” is a virtual reality piece by Bregtje van der Haak & Richard Vijgen that brings us into a 360-degree visualization of the network data around us, then brings us to people in places where there is no connectivity.

From self-defined digital isolation, to those whose poverty keeps them out, we come to understand how it feels to live on digital, virtual and analog edges.

Watch the trailer here.

10. WOMAN AND THE GLACIER

Lithuanian scientist Aušra Revutaite studies and documents the effects of climate change on Tuyuk Su Glacier, in the Tian Shan mountain range in Central Asia, which spills across the borders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the autonomous Chinese region of Xinjiang.

“Woman and the Glacier,” a new film directed by Audrius Stonys, follows Revutaite as she lives and works about  3,500 meters above sea level, with only her dog and cat as companions.

Gorgeous cinematography sweeps us across the frozen landscapes and draws us into to the advancing melt.

Watch the trailer here.

Read more about IDFA 2016 film favorites in IDFA 2016 - Beautiful Stories in Film: Part 1, Beautiful Stories of the Great Animal Orchestra, IDFA 2016 - Beautiful Stories in Film: Part 3, IDFA 2016 - Beautiful Stories in Film: Part 4, IDFA 2016 - Beautiful Stories in Film: Part 5 and IDFA 2016 - Beautiful Stories in Film: Part 6.

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 Little Bridge Pictures. “Gaza Surf Club.” Film directed by Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine.
2. Image: Courtesy of Little Bridge Pictures. “Gaza Surf Club.” Film directed by Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine.
3. Image: Courtesy of Little Bridge Pictures. “Gaza Surf Club.” Film directed by Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine.
4. Image: Courtesy of Little Bridge Pictures. “Gaza Surf Club.” Film directed by Philip Gnadt & Mickey Yamine.
5. Image: Courtesy of La Maleta. “Bolingo. The Forest of Love.” Film directed by Alejandro G. Salgado.
6. Image: Courtesy of Maya Angelou Film. “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise.” Film directed by Bob Hercules & Rita Coburn Whack.
7. Image: Courtesy of Thomas Lennon Films. “Sacred.” Film directed by Thomas Lennon.
8. Image: Courtesy of Thomas Lennon Films. “Sacred.” Film directed by Thomas Lennon.
9. Image: Courtesy of Upright Media. “Singing with Angry Bird.” Film directed by Hyewon Jee.
10. Image: Courtesy of Antoine Boutet, Sister Productions & Les Films du Présent. “South to North Cine-Concert.” Film directed by Antoine Boutet.
11. Image: Courtesy of Koji Tsujimoto for Jingumae Produce. “Uzu.” Film directed by Gaspard Kuentz.
12. Image: Courtesy of Trine Vallevik Håbjørg for Råsalt AS. “When I Hear the Bird Sing.” Film directed by Trine Vallevik Håbjørg.
13. Image: Courtesy of Mariska Schneider for VPRO Digitaal & Richard Vijgen for Studio Richard Vijgen. “White Spots, a Journey to the Edge of the Internet.” Film directed by Bregtje van der Haak & Richard Vijgen.
14. Image: Courtesy of Radvile Sumile for Studio UKU. “Woman and the Glacier.” Film directed by Audrius Stonys.
15. Image: Courtesy of Antoine Boutet, Sister Productions & Les Films du Présent. “South to North Cine-Concert.” Film directed by Antoine Boutet.
16. Image: Courtesy of Radvile Sumile for Studio UKU. “Woman and the Glacier.” Film directed by Audrius Stonys.
17. Image: by BN App - Download now!
18. Image: Courtesy of Koji Tsujimoto for Jingumae Produce. “Uzu.” Film directed by Gaspard Kuentz.