DocSpot
LIDF is proud to program DocSpot, Barbican Film’s monthly documentary event, to inform and to spark debate about issues that define our times.
DocSpot takes a holiday over August, and is back at the end of September.
AUTUMN PROGRAMME
29th September, 20.45
SHOUT – ‘Best Film Award’ LIDF 2010
Dirs, Ester Goudl & Sabine Lubbe Bakker | 2009 | Netherlands | 74min | Arabic with English sub-titles
This powerful portrayal of youth and growing up and a forgotten part of the Middle East conflict won the Best Film of the London International Documentary Festival 2010
20th October, 18.30
H.O.T HUMAN ORGAN TRAFFIC (In association with BrightWide)
Roberto Orazi | 2009 | Brazil | 61min |
A shocking inquiry which exposes the protagonists of this global trade: the donors, often coerced or tricked into having a part of their body removed, with the false promise of a job or of receiving a substantial amount of money, which is, more often than not, never delivered; but also the mediators, the organ-hunters, and the criminals who organize the smuggling of people and organs across different countries and continents, with the illicit aid of corrupt officials and private clinics. Above all, we meet the surgeons who are paid directly, who pretend they don’t know of the illicit dealings, but are often in league with organized crime. In contrast, we meet honest and courageous policemen, the journalists who try to expose the problem, the researchers who carry out in-depth analyses of the phenomenon, and parents who have had their children assassinated for the removal of their organs. These authentic witnesses, depict an elaborate web between good and bad, and between the desperation and greed which pervades countries from South America to Asia, from Europe to the Middle East.
Writers: Roberto Orazi & Alessandro Gilioli
Sound Designer: Claudio Marani
17th November, 18.30
THE ARTIST AND THE POET (Leonard Baskin & Ted Hughes in Conversation)
Noel Chanan | UK | 2009 | 40min
In 1983 the poet Ted Hughes and American printmaker and sculptor Leonard Baskin, his collaborator for many years, took part in an unrehearsed audio recording in which they talked about their long-standing friendship and the nature of their collaborative work on illustrated books of Hughes’s poems. The outcome of the recording was a lively, entertaining, and revelatory dialogue involving two major artists. Previously unpublished, this unique insight is now the basis of a documentary by film-maker Noel Chanan, friend of both Hughes and Baskin, and in it they explore in intimate detail the genesis of such key works as CROW and CAVE BIRDS. The video incorporates extracts from readings by Hughes of his own poems, and a mass of previously unseen photographs of the interlocutors, together with extensive illustrations of Baskin’s dramatic prints and sculptures.
The original 1983 recording was made by filmmaker and photographer, Noel Chanan, who is also the producer and director of this film. Noel Chanan’s career in TV documentary began in 1962 when he joined the BBC. In 1966 he went freelance, continuing to work for the BBC, but also for Granada TV, and later for Channel 4, alternating between producing, directing, and editing a wide variety of documentary films in the fields of world events of a political or historical nature, as well as in the arts, including a number of films about the history of photography. The photographs included in The Artist and the Poet were taken by Chanan. One of those of Ted Hughes features on the jacket of The Collected Poems (Faber and Faber, 2003).
“a labour of love and an elegant record….. ”
“a truly magical, memorable insight into the work of Leonard Baskin and Ted Hughes…..”
Followed by a panel discussion chaired by Nicholas Spice (Publisher, London Review of Books), Noel Chanan and other guests
7th December, 18.30
OUT OF THE ASHES – ‘Best of the Fest’, Edinburgh International Film Festival
Timothy Albone, Lucy Martens | UK | 2010 | 85min
In just a few years, the Afghan cricket team has risen from obscurity in the sport’s lowest ranks to phenomenal success in the highly competitive international arena. This is the remarkable and inspirational story of coach Taj Malik Aleem and his team, who became the sport’s unlikeliest heroes during a triumphant campaign culminating in the crucial World Cup qualifier in South Africa. In a country more often associated with war and rigged elections, their incredible journey is an absolute joy to behold. Executive produced by Oscar-winning director and cricket enthusiast, Sam Mendes, Out of the Ashes follows the squad over two years as they go from playing in their shalwar-kameezes on rubble pitches to batting their way around the globe and up the international league tables.
“Puts a human face to a nation that many have turned their back on…” Sam Mendes, Exec Producer, Out of the Ashes
“Uplifting, fascinating… An intriguing and extremely watchable film.” Screen
“Filmic gold…. Remarkable” Sunday Times
“The real-life contemporary Cinderella story of how Afghanistan’s ragtag cricket team rose up through the sport’s international ranks is charmingly recounted in Brit-made docu….This often humourous pic is ultimately more about people and passion that it is about the game itself.” Variety
Producers: Leslie Knott & Rachel Wexler, Bungalow Town Production Ltd
Followed by panel discussion with Lucy Marten and Leslie Knott
