Kicking Off 2021 with the Best of World Cinema
Ring in the New Year with some of the best of the best documentary films from around the world. In these selected documentaries, we travel across South America, Central Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, exploring stories about hope, loss, superstition, humanity, and much more.
Está todo bien
67 min • Health & Science, Society • 2015
#Venezuela #PublicHealth #Medicine
For decades, Venezuela boasted one of the best public health systems in the region.
However, the economic crisis has caused near-total collapse of the health system, resulting in medicine shortages, increased infant mortality, and the reappearance of once-eradicated diseases.
In the film, we meet Venezuelans who ask themselves difficult questions—should they protest or acquiesce, emigrate or remain, lose all hope or hang onto faith?
Honeyland
85 min • Culture, Nature & Environment • 2019 • M *In Australia only
#Balkans #Honeybee #Oscars
Deep in the Balkan Mountains, Hatidze Muratova lives with her ailing mother in a village without roads, electricity or running water.
She’s the last in a long line of wild beekeepers, eking out a living by farming honey in small batches, but her peaceful existence is thrown into upheaval by the arrival of an itinerant family.
A must-see film that made history as the first documentary to be nominated for both Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars.
For Sama
95 min • Society, Politics & World Affairs • 2019 • NC16
#Syria #Uprising #Oscars
The Oscar-nominated For Sama follows Waad al-Kateab’s life through 5 years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while cataclysmic conflict rises around her.
Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival, as she faces an agonising decision whether to flee to safety or stay behind to help the innocent victims of war.
In the Shadow of the Sun
88 min • Society, Health & Science • 2012
#Tanzania #Albinism #Superstition
In Tanzania, Albino people are referred to as “White Ghosts” and “Devils”, and witch doctors spread the belief that their body parts will bring wealth and good fortune—leading to an escalation in brutal murders of people with albinism.
Filmed over 6 years, In the Shadow of the Sun tells the story of two albino men as they attempt to follow their dreams in the face of prejudice and fear.
SELECTED REVIEWS
Esta todo bien
Honeyland
For Sama
In the Shadow of the Sun
SELECTED AWARDS
For Sama
Academy Awards, USA 2020
| Nominee Oscar | Best Documentary Feature Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
BAFTA Awards 2020
| Winner BAFTA Film Award | Best Documentary Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
| Nominee BAFTA Film Award | Best Film Not in the English Language Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
| Outstanding British Film of the Year Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts | |
| Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival 2019
| Winner Audience Award | IDFA Audience Award Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards 2019
| Nominee Critics' Choice Documentary Award | Best Director Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
| Best Narration Waad Al-Kateab (Narrator/Writer) |
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2019
| Winner Special Jury Prize | International Feature Documentary Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts "For its unflinching lens on the horrors of war, accompanied by a tender portrait of a young family... More |
| Nominee Audience Award | Best Documentary Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts -Fifth Place |
| Nominee Best International Documentary | Best Documentary Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
International Documentary Association 2019
| Winner Courage Under Fire Award | Waad Al-Kateab |
| Winner IDA Award | Best Feature Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
| Nominee IDA Award | Best Director Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
International Emmy Awards 2020
| Winner Emmy | Documentary United Kingdom |
Melbourne International Film Festival 2019
| Nominee People's Choice Award | Best Documentary Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts -Fifth Place |
Sheffield International Documentary Festival 2019
| Winner Audience Award | Best Documentary Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
| Winner Grand Jury Award | Special Mention Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
| Nominee Grand Jury Award | Best Documentary Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
SXSW Film Festival 2019
| Winner Audience Award | Documentary Feature Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
| Winner SXSW Grand Jury Award | Documentary Feature Waad Al-Kateab Edward Watts |
Honeyland
Academy Awards, USA 2020
| Nominee Oscar | Best Documentary Feature Ljubomir Stefanov Tamara Kotevska Atanas Georgiev |
| Best International Feature Film North Macedonia |
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards 2019
| Winner Critics' Choice Documentary Award | Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary Hatidze Muratova |
| Best First Documentary Feature Tamara Kotevska (director) Ljubomir Stefanov (director) Neon | |
| Nominee Critics' Choice Documentary Award | Best Documentary |
| Best Science/Nature Documentary | |
| Best Cinematography Fejmi Daut Samir Ljuma |
DocAviv Film Festival 2019
| Winner Best International Film | The International Competition Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov "The Jury decided unanimously to award a film which depicts a community living on the margins of ... More |
International Documentary Association 2019
| Winner Creative Recognition Award | Best Cinematography Fejmi Daut Samir Ljuma |
| Winner Pare Lorentz Award | Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov Atanas Georgiev |
| Nominee IDA Award | Best Director Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov |
| Best Feature Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov Atanas Georgiev |
Sundance Film Festival 2019
| Winner Cinematography Award | World Cinema - Documentary Fejmi Daut Samir Ljuma |
| Winner Grand Jury Prize | World Cinema - Documentary Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov |
| Winner World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award | Impact and Change Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov |
Sydney Film Festival 2019
| Nominee Audience Award | Best Documentary Tamara Kotevska Ljubomir Stefanov -Fifth Place |