Doc.Boston Documentary Film Festival
Facts aren’t always facts, and “alternative facts” don't always lie.
In a world where “truth” is carefully curated, filtered, and viewed through the lens of social media, often the only difference between truth and fiction lies in the perspective through which one views the world.
Documentary films offer a fascinating peephole into a particular reality, at a certain time of a certain person's life. Whether in the form of an expository, a poem, an essay, an observational piece, whether it's dramatized, animated, or based on interviews, documentary films all have a message to send.
How can we make a difference in the world?
Documentary films are not just an avenue through which we can observe real life; they also serve to inform, educate, and critique. They are valuable creations in a day and age where media is increasingly curated and so much more homogenous.
That is why Doc.Boston welcomes all of the above forms of documentary film-making, and even more so, those that transcend boundaries to move fluidly between one and more styles.
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The Next Right Thing (United States) by Bill Wells
In a small Georgia city, the lives of four people are brought together by the opioid crisis. A compassionate firefighter saves the life of a young woman looking for purpose, while the parents of an overdose victim set out to provide the recovery support their son struggled to find. But the challe...
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Island of Dreams (Colombia, United States) by Alvaro Jimenez, Cliff Orloff
Island of Dreams delivers an intimate portrait of Cuba in a time of crisis. What makes someone leave everything and everyone they know and love, and forego their familiar culture, to make their way into an unknown future in an unknown land? What makes someone stay where they live despite hardship...
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Shiringa. Genocide and Resistance in the Amazon (Peru) by Wilton Martinez
An Amazonian artist descended from a nation massacred by rubber tappers meets the granddaughter of one of those caucheros. They share their traumatic memories and look for ways to heal and reconcile with a past that will not cease to disturb them.
Running time: 01:29:03 -
60 Pounds of Home (Germany) by Michael Eibl
Christl Eibl, born in 1940 in Chodský Újezd (Heiligenkreuz) in the Czech Republic, tells of loss. A traumatic experience – especially for a six-year-old child: the loss of familiar surroundings, of home. In the film "60 Pounds of Home" (30 Kilo Heimat), she, the grandmother, tells her grandson, t...
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Anchor Points (Canada) by Victor Quijada, Samuel Greffe
Anchor Points is a documentary-style art film by Rubberband that retraces the trajectory of Victor Quijada from street dancer to contemporary choreographer. Through archival footage and visual effects, it examines his personal and artistic evolution and introduces the foundational Rubberband Meth...
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Ujvala Jupalli: Asterisk Athlete (United States) by Josephine Harrison
A meditative documentary following the story of Ujvala as she details what being an athlete means to her and the first time she realized she wasn't just an athlete but a female athlete. We see aspects of her training, and also more reflective moments as she tells her story.
Running time: 00:09:00 -
Dowsing (United States) by Tim Feeney
Ten repetitive sonic interventions within the eroded landscapes of the Burren, County Clare, Ireland.
These occur at sites of local “anti-monuments:” a kilometers-long, natural limestone pavement high above Galway Bay; stone farm walls and remnants of circular structures on hillsides; cairns near...
