CREATIVE DOCUMENTARIES COMPETITION
A selection of eleven strong and engaged films, in which new talents (Ioanis Nuguet, discovered during the last Cannes Film Festival, Mor Loushy, presented at Sundance last month) sit side by side with renowned filmmakers such as Rithy Panh, who is presenting a film in its world premiere this year, Laura Poitras, favourite for the upcoming Oscars, and Joshua Oppenheimer, author of the unforgettable The Act of Killing. It should also be noted that swiss filmmaker Daniel Schweizer’s new film Dirty Gold War will be presented in its world premiere.
Daphné Rozat, Head of documentary programming
Beats of the Antonov, Hajooj Kuka
Censored Voices, Mor Loushy
Citizenfour, Laura Poitras
Dirty Gold War, Daniel Schweizer
La France est notre patrie, Rithy Panh
On the Bride’s Side, A. Augugliaro, G. Del Grande and K. Soliman Al Nassiry
Something Better to Come, Hanna Polak
Spartacus & Cassandra, Ioanis Nuguet
The Look of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer
The Yes Men are Revolting, Laura Nix and The Yes Men
The Wanted 18, Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan
JURY
| ERIC CANTONA
President of the JuryNicknamed «King Eric «, Eric Cantona was named best player of the English Premier League’s history in 2005. Turned actor, he appeared in over twenty feature films, notably with Étienne Chatiliez, Shekhar Kapur, Jean Becker and Yann Gonzalez. His performance in Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric in 2009 (screened at Cannes Film Festival) is particularly noticed by international critics. A committed citizen, he recently directed the documentary Foot et Immigration: 100 ans d’histoire commune, presented at the FIFDH for its international premiere.
| FATOUMATA DIAWARA
A singer and actress from Mali, she began her acting career at age 15, in Cheick Omar Sissoko’s film Genesis. A number of film roles follow – most recently in Timbuktu, by Abderrhamane Sissako – as well as theatre roles, at Bouffes du Nord then among the theatre troop Royal de Luxe for five years. She releases her first album Fatou in 2011 as writer and composer. Since then, she has sung with Herbie Hancock and Hank Jones. In December 2014, she is appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
| YASMINA KHADRA
is an Algerian writer who has been exploring contemporary history for the past 20 years, and is a relentless fighter for the triumph of truth. His works are recognized in the entire world – among his many books, we can cite The Swallows of Kabul (2002), The Attack (Prix des Libraires 2006) and Qu’attendent les singes (2014). Several of his books were adapted for cinema. He also co-wrote the script of Rachid Bouchareb’s Two Men in Town, featuring Forest Whitaker and Harvey Keitel. He is invited in collaboration with the library group la Société de Lecture (SDL).
| XIAOLU GUO
is a Sino-British author, poet, and filmmaker born in 1973. Regularly cited as one of the best young British authors, her work has been translated into 26 languages. Her latest book, I am China, narrates the exile of a musician, formerly a Tiananmen square demonstrator. Her films are shown in festivals all over the world. She has also received a number of awards, including the Golden Leopard 2009 at the Locarno Festival for She, A Chinese, as well as being a Nottingham University Professor. She is invited in collaboration with la Maison de Rousseau et de la Littérature.
| FERNAND MELGAR
was born in 1961 in Tangier, in a family of Spanish union activists. In 1963, he accompanies his parents who emigrate to Switzerland as seasonal workers. Since 1985, he has been a member of Climage in Lausanne. His documentaries have won awards all over the world : Exit – le droit de mourir (2006) won the Golden Link UER Award for best European coproduction and the Cinéma Suisse Award, La Forteresse (2008) won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Festival, and Vol Spécial (2011) won the Cinéma Suisse Award for best documentary.