Details
Back on the big screen, some of our favourite short documentaries screened at Bertha DocHouse over the past twelve months.
The films in this programme, spanning documentary genres from animation to archive, are a vivid representation of the world today. In this selection of short-but-perfectly-formed docs we witness immigration stories, the struggle for Palestinian identity, government control and censorship in the UK, and how past experiences shape our present day.
Programme
Boat People | 10′ | dir. Kjell Boersma
As a child in Vietnam, Thao’s mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family’s flight across the turbulent waters of history.
The Ban | 26′ | dir. Roisin Agnew
During the conflict in the north of Ireland a practice developed that saw actors hired to dub those associated with the IRA on broadcast media. Via unseen archive footage and present-day interviews with key figures such as Gerry Adams and Stephen Rea, The Ban reflects on the British government’s use of the threat of ‘terrorism’ to justify censorship, drawing inevitable comparisons with the present.
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing | 17′ | dir. Theo Panagopoulos
When a Palestinian filmmaker based in Scotland unearths a rarely-seen Scottish film archive of Palestinian wild flowers, he decides to reclaim the footage. This tender film essay questions the role of image-making as a tool of both testimony and violence when connected to entanglements between people and the land.
The Wool Aliens | 28′ | dir. Julia Parks
A journey into the historical and tactile entanglements between sheep’s wool, migrant plant seeds and the River Tweed.
Official Selection Official Selection International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2024 – World premiere.
Screening times and booking
Please note: There are only 5 mins of trailers before our screenings.
Please note: There are only 5 mins of trailers before our screenings.