Documentaries Open Debates
A common perception of documentaries is that they shed light on key social and political topics, but often they do much more than that. This form is most effective and poignant when a filmmaker starts from fragile personal stories and leads us to a deeper understanding of underlying issues through richly fleshed characters. In this year’s selection, documentaries not only open up debates but also our hearts, through touching and sometimes devastating stories of people subjected to marginalisation and othering. Their humanity is underscored by humour, which is often their only weapon in the fight against obstacles and for the preservation of their identity and their sanity.
