Courage depicts the events around last year’s elections in Belarus and the following protests against Alexander Lukashenka, known as Europe’s last dictator. The 2021 documentary by the Belarusian filmmaker Aliaksei Paluyan does so by focusing on individual stories of three (former) actors in resistance against the ruling government, but also by depicting the events on the streets from a protester...

The topic of children’s sexual abuse (CSA) is especially sensitive and often hazy when it comes to its media representation. Besides the fact that many abuse-cases never appear in the media, those that do, are often particularly violent or bizarre, where good and bad roles can clearly be defined. These particular cases rarely put CSA in perspective by offering a wider overview of the problem. As...

“Why does war exist?” wondered This Rain Will Never Stop’s film director, Alina Garlova, in an interview for the Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights. According to her, society has internalized war and its consequences. 

In the 2021 documentary film, Taming the Garden, director Salomé Jashi opted for a minimalist style, with many wide shots and longer takes, and not using any direct interviews. We mainly see the villagers from a fair distance, and they only talk between themselves, not directly to the camera.

Francesco Montagner's second feature documentary film, Brotherhood, explores questions of masculinity, patriarchy, identity and destiny. It is an intimate and timeless documentary revolving around three young brothers living on their father's sheep farm. We are talking with the director.

The object of truth is regarded as indispensable in the creation of activist documentaries.

Nicholas Bruckmann's documentary Not Going Quietly is part of the Parrhesia: The Moment of Truth program section at the 18th Verzió Documentary Film Festival. 

The Fantastic, a documentary film by Maija Blåfield, explores the cataclysmic moment in which North Korean interviewees first experienced a foreign film. It is a moment that the majority of us living in democratic nations will take for granted, not least recall with such wonder and private fervour. 

Verzió awarded six creators of outstanding documentary films at the annual awards ceremony on 20 November. The members of the three juries presented the winners online, calling from various countries in order to be able to congratulate the happy filmmakers. Read their statements here! 

Oksana Sarkisova in conversation with Hao Wu, director of 76 Days, the opening film of Verzió on the Wuhan lockdown due to the outbreak of Covid-19.