As well as discovering debuts such as Acasa, My Home, The Earth is Blue as an Orange and The Disappearance of My Mother, the well-established rough-cut stage training succeeded at Sundance with over 15 films. This year, eight young talented filmmakers whose films cover themes with global appeal had been selected to participate in the project. The next few months will be a unique opportunity for them to work on their films with the top international editors, producers and sales representatives.
“As early as the application process, we saw the impact of COVID on the documentary industry”, says Andrea Prenghyová, dok.incubator CEO. “We had a record-breaking year - 30% more of open applications, but a lot of producers withdrew their application at the last minute - due to pandemic restrictions they experienced serious problems with their last shootings or they had misgivings about having to premiere in the year when everything is uncertain. It is clear that many filmmakers are waiting for more stable conditions to complete their films.”
The creative documentaries in the 2021 dok.incubator selection typically demonstrate varied directorial approaches – from highly personal account of the sophisticated destruction of Venezuelan elites and their families leading to Maduro’s rise to power in the film My Father Prisoner, portrayal of life and friendships of Belarussian youngsters and the growing divide among them resulting from the protest movement in the observational documentary Motherland, to the “time-lapse” filmmaking in the We Are Animals documentary covering a 15-year journey of a group of Finnish radical activists who, having to change themselves to be able to enter the world of politics, eventually succeeded in changing the treatment of farm animals.
Besides political issues, the directors also focus on important changes affecting our lifestyle and the way we use of technology. While the Hungarian film Emma Show examines what are the limits of privacy and personal life of a married couple making a living from a pornographic channel, exposing online every aspect of their life, the director of the contemplative A Mass for Wandering Souls tries to find his connection to the natural life in his native Spanish countryside, and The Gullspång Miracle is a picturesque story of two elderly sisters who, by a curious coincidence, find out they have a biological sister in another country. The protagonists, however, are neither able to come to terms with the past, nor, due to ambivalent genetic tests, to establish the truth.
The last two films of the selection are personal stories in which the main characters search for justice. The Romanian film Too Close follows a woman who, after finding out her partner sexually abused her daughter, tries to rebuild her entire life and to find the balance between safety of her children and their need of contact with the father, while the story of reunion of an adopted Sri Lankan girl with her biological mother in the Norwegian White Lies documentary reveals the complexities of child trade participated in even by official authorities of several European countries.
See the full list of competition titles below. More info you can find here.
Dok.incubartor 2021 selected projects:
The Gullspång Miracle /SE, NO/
Director: Maria Fredriksson, Editor: Orvar Anklew, Producer: Ina Holmqvist
May, a Norwegian woman on a holiday to Sweden, receives a premonition that she is going to move there and buy an apartment. When the flat owner turns up to exchange contracts, she comes face to face with Olaug, a dead ringer of her sister who committed suicide years earlier. Who is Olaug and what does she want?
Motherland /BY, SE, UA/
Directors: Alexander Mihalkovich, Hanna Badziaka, Editor: Olya Zhurba, Producer: Mario Adamson
Our state of violence and fear.
We Are Animals /FI/
Director: Vesa Kuosmanen, Co-director and scriptwriter: Saila Kivelä, Editors: Jussi (Jan) Sandhu, Anniina Kauttonen, Producers: Elli Toivoniemi, Venla Hellstedt
Over 12 years the film follows Saila, Kristo and Mai, the three activists who have been seeking ways to change the way farm animals are treated. What kind of commitment does the struggle require from animals, what price they pay – and will it ever be enough?
A Mass for Wandering Souls /ES/
Director: Pablo Lago Dantes, Editor: Juan Carrano, Producer: Diana Toucedo
As every year, Alicia receives in her winery the seasonal workers for a month, to elaborate her “aguardiente” (handmade brandy). This year her grandson, and director of the film, will go to spend this time with them, trying to reduce the temporal abyss that separates the two generations.
Emma Show /HU/
Director: Gábor Hörcher, Editor: Réka Lemhényi, Producer: Marcell Iványi
Emma and Eddie are an award winning sex chat couple from the States. They have been working on the internet providing highly successful live porn shows together. They are reality stars living a perfect luxurious life and having crazy perfect sex. But only while other people are watching and paying for it?
White Lies /NO/
Director: Emilie Beck, Editor: Christoffer Heie, Producer: Karianne Berge
Adopted to Norway from Sri Lanka, Kine, like several thousands of other adoptees experienced bullying, racism, and exclusion. She decides to go on a quest to Sri Lanka to learn the painful truth about her past. Her story shows the personal consequences of international adoption and reveals the complicated structures facilitating trade with children across continents.
My Father’s Prison /VE/
Editor: Juan Soto, Producer: Rodrigo Michelangeli
The son of a Venezuelan political prisoner tells the story of how his father was used as a scapegoat and thrown in jail by President Chavez. The film addresses the psychological effects of family separation in a country that threatens to destroy the love between his mother and father.
Too Close /RO/
Director: Botond Püsök, Editor: Brigitta Bacskai, Producer: Irina Malcea
Andrea is a single mother who is struggling to rebuild her life after her 9-year-old daughter was sexually abused by the stepfather of the girl, while the justice system fails to protect her and the family.
