This month, VIFF Year Round is featuring a trio of diverse documentary films that highlight various ways in which our modern society comes into conflict with the natural world. Check out the trailers below, and be sure to visit viff.org for tickets and showtimes.
A visually ravishing glimpse of a dying way of life, this portrait of a lonely wild beekeeper in an abandoned village in the Balkans gently sweeps us up into a drama that borders on tragedy, as Hatidze first welcomes, then rues the arrival of new neighbours, a family whose ambitions will wreak havoc with her livelihood. Shot over the course of 3 years, this prize-winning film reveals a corner of the earth that seems like it hails from another century, running smack into cataclysmic capitalism.
“Exceptional… Honeyland is an unforgettable vérité character study and an intimate look at an endangered tradition.” (Sherri Linden, Hollywood Reporter)
Master filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. Captured at a rare 96 frames-per-second, the film is a visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element.
“Dazzling… A feast of HD imagery so crisp as to be almost disorienting, this is immersive experiential cinema… Visually overwhelming in all the right ways.” (Guy Lodge, Variety)
You might assume that creams, ointments, cleansers and cosmetics were rigorously tested for any potential harmful effects on human health. And of course you would be wrong. In fact many of the chemicals we slather over our skin and hair have been linked to cancer, diabetes, infertility, obesity and skin disease, but governments across the globe have ceded oversight to the cosmetics industry itself.
“Ellis’s film blows the lid off the issue with the precision of a Tomahawk missile.” (Dorothy Woodend, The Tyee)
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