Festival “must-see” films: tips from dramaturg Kamila Dolotina

I have a soft spot for films that go against the grain, films that make you think and reassess, that plunge headlong toward what is right. Giving in to skepticism and disillusionment about today’s social developments is always easy, but finding the strength within yourself to name the problem and search for a way out of the mess is far more stimulating. Three fiction films and one documentary are just a small selection of what I would like to recommend, because out of this year’s 106 films I feel warmly toward at least a hundred!

It happens rarely, but sometimes it does. You watch a film and suddenly feel that it has touched on something essential that it both chills you and sets you ablaze to the marrow of your bones because it captures a problem, a dilemma, or a situation with absolute precision. These were exactly the feelings I had while watching the film Yes by Israeli director Nadav Lapid. An author with a reputation as a provocateur, he likes to explore the dark corners of Israeli nationalism. This time he comes with a completely uncompromising look into the soul of a person who serves a system with which he internally disagrees. A feeling that is not hard to relate to today… But because the world seems out of control and absurdity dominates, his cinematic imagery takes on wildly exuberant forms. For me it was an experience that may not suit everyone, but anyone who encounters it will not forget it. On March 16 at Světozor the film will be introduced by the phenomenal actor, activist, and multifaceted artist Ariel Bronz, with whom I plan to delve into questions of militancy, morality, censorship, and the social fragmentation of contemporary Israel.

Parenthood is probably the biggest turning point in life. Even when it is planned and desired, it does not always bring only happiness and joy. Does it mean you are a bad parent if you can’t handle the situation? The fiction film Lykke Post Partum tells the story of a family going through a severe crisis after the birth of their second child and speaks about the topic of postpartum depression, which is still stigmatized. Set on an idyllic farm, the film accompanies these hardships with immense empathy. And I am incredibly happy that the One World festival brings such a much-needed topic for people who need support and understanding. On March 14 at Ponrepo the film will be accompanied by the directing duo from Sweden.

One might think that the label Made in EU guarantees not only higher prices for products but also better working conditions. Yet, as Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev shows, we live only in a world of illusions and constant Potemkin displays. Anyone who thinks that a film set during the time of COVID no longer has anything to say about the present would be greatly mistaken. The truth is that the crisis society went through during COVID has not yet received deeper reflection, because the war in Ukraine followed immediately afterward and there was no time to think about what had happened to us and how we treated each other. Stephan Komandarev likes to create films of moral unease, and after Blaga’s Lessons he comes with a film that cuts to the bone and shows how little it takes for people to transform from thinking beings into a hostile pack that is so easy to manipulate. One of the most topical films of this year’s One World festival will be introduced by the director himself at the gala premiere at Lucerna on March 12.

The documentary The Track about three boys growing up in the titular city also carved its way deeply under my skin and into my heart. Their region and their parents were irreversibly scarred by war. But the boys have had enough of that shadow. They may live without great role models, yet they burn with the desire to change something in their lives. And so, on the famous concrete track that reached its peak during the Olympic competitions forty years ago and that today serves more as a refuge for graffiti artists than for athletes they slowly begin to master skeleton and aim to reach the very top. The film is a wonderful combination of coming-of-age story, sports drama, social probe, and fairy tale, and on March 17 at Bio Oko I will discuss it with one of the protagonists.