The second West Lake International Documentary Festival is to be held from October 18 to 20 at China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.
The festival was launched in April last year with the aim to promote and encourage high-quality documentary production that values truth and humanitarianism worldwide.
With a focus on “Epoch and the world,” this year the IDF, which is also an acronym of its slogan “I, documentary, fact,” is divided into several units including the “D20 nomination” competition, “Glory of documentary” screening section, the IDF forum, pitch conference and workshop.
The jury includes six people from China, UK, Canada and France, and is chaired by the French critic and film historian and former head editor of Cahiers du cinemas, Jean-Michel Frodon, and Chinese director and former director of the documentary channel at Shanghai Media Group Ying Qiming.
The “D20 nomination” unit has attracted 453 submissions from 51 countries and regions, while 20 of them are officially selected in the final competition list. Highlights include director Kazuo Hara’s 10-year inquiries into asbestos-related victims in Sennan, Japan and the 75-year-old Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist and director Raymond Depardon’s latest production on the psychiatric hospital “12 Days.”
The opening film, Turtle Rock is a first production by 34-year-old Chinese director Xiao Xiao and was shortlisted in the “First appearance” competition at the 2017 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. It portrays the struggles and dilemmas faced by the old villagers in the remote areas of Hunan Province, China.
More information can be obtained from IDF’s official website: www. westlakeidf.com.
Poster of the second West Lake International Documentary Festival, held from October 18 to 20 in Hangzhou.
“D20 nomination” competition screenings:
* Hill and Mountains (Zhao Xu, China)
Length: 80 minutes
Date: 2pm, October 18
Venue: Academic Lecture Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Of Fathers and Sons (Talal Derki, Germany/Syria/Lebanon)
Length: 98 minutes
Date: 2pm, October 19
Venue: Academic Lecture Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Fausto (Andrea Bussmann, Mexico/Canada)
Length: 70 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 18
Venue: Cinema at Xiangshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Letters (Jero Yun & Marte Vold, Norway)
Length: 77 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 19
Venue: Guomei Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Sennan Asbestos Disaster (Kazuo Hara, Japan)
Length: 215 minutes
Date: 7pm, October 19
Venue: Guomei Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* 12 Days (Raymond Depardon, France)
Length: 87 minutes
Date: 2pm, October 20
Venue: Guomei Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* The Distant Barking of Dogs (Simon Lereng Wilmon, Denmark)
Length: 90 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 20
Venue: Academic Lecture Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Beautiful Things (Giorgio Ferrero and Federico Biasin, Italy)
Length: 93 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 20
Venue: Guomei Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Four Springs (Lu Qingyi, China)
Length: 105 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 19, Cinema at Xiangshan campus of China Academy of Art
* 24th Street (Pan Zhiqi, China)
Length: 88 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 18
Venue: Academic Lecture Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Taming the Horse (Gu Tao, China)
Length: 124 minutes
Date: 7pm, October 19
Venue: Cinema at Xiangshan campus of China Academy of Art
* A Solitary Human Voice (Zhao Liang, China)
Length: 40 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 19
Venue: Academic Lecture Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Return (Qian Siru, China/France)
Length: 25 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 19
Venue: Academic Lecture Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* Our Skin (Joao Queiroga, USA/Portugal)
Length: 16 minutes
Date: 9:30am, October 19
Venue: Academic Lecture Hall at Nanshan campus of China Academy of Art
* The Asunta’s Trial (Elias Leon de Siminiani, Spain)
Length: 3 episodes; each at 70 minutes
Date: 2pm, October 19
Venue: Cinema at Xiangshan campus of China Academy of Art
