2022 DOXA Documentary Film Festival

WHEN & WHERE May 5-15, 2022 | in theatres SFU Goldcorp Centre, VIFF Centre, The Cinematheque, The Playhouse + online

Reviewer John Jane

Sirens

Lebanon/USA, 2022, Director, Rita Baghdadi 78 minutes

In Lebanese and English with English subtitles

Los Angeles based Moroccan-American filmmaker Rita Baghdadi’s latest venture is a rockumentary about Lebanese all-female metal band Slave to Sirens – likely the first ever in the complex Middle East region. What makes this film different from other profiles of female music groups is the band’s lead guitarist Shery Bechara and rhythm guitarist Lilas Mayassi. Full review

Dropstones

Canada, 2021, Director Caitlin Durlak, 57 minutes

In regional English with subtitles

Dropstones is a simple, yet personal portrayal of Sonya Foley and her two young sons Sean and Luke (Walbourne) as they return to their roots on Fogo Island. Fogo is an island off the Northern coast of the Island Province of Newfoundland, roughly 25 kilometres east of Twillingate – an area known as Iceberg Alley. Full review

1970

Poland, 2021, Director Tomasz Wolski, 70 minutes

In Polish with English subtitles

1970 is Tomasz Wolski’s gritty documentary that serves as a stark reminder of what life in Poland was like under the Polish United Workers' Party (Poland’s version of the Communist Party). Full review

Dear Audrey

Canada, 2022, Director Jeremiah Hayes, 89 minutes

Jeremiah Hayes’s NFB/Cineflix film Dear Audrey focuses on Canadian cinematographer Martin Duckworth’s relationship with his wife and soul-mate of forty years, Audrey Schirmer. Duckworth himself narrates throughout the film, providing sensitive storytelling to the film’s intimacy. Full review

Doug and the Slugs and Me

Canada, 2022, Director Teresa Alfeld, 105 minutes

Growing up in East Vancouver, filmmaker Teresa Alfeld just happened to live next door to Doug Bennett and his family. As a close friend of Bennett’s daughter Shea, she was constantly in and out of the Bennett household. Anyone living outside Western Canada could be forgiven for not knowing Doug Bennett. Full review

Love in the Time of Fentanyl

Canada, 2022, Director Colin Askey, 85 minutes

Love in the Time of Fentanyl is a non-linear documentary that focuses on the working class heroes who volunteers much of their time at the Overdose Prevention Society on Columbia Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Full review

 

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The Lost City

USA, 2022, Director Adam Nee, 112 minutes

When & Where March 21, 2022 at 7pm | Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, 900 Burrard St.