Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival 2024

Studio Skoop/De Filmplaneet vzw richtte in 1994 het VIEWPOINT DOCUMENTAIR FILMFESTIVAL op, uit een passie voor de documentaire film en om haar publiek de kans te geven om deze spraakmakende films in de cinema te kunnen beleven. VIEWPOINT werd 9 jaar op rij een succes en bouwde internationaal een uitstekende reputatie op, dankzij een sterke, kwalitatieve en onafhankelijke filmselectie. In 2003 kwam er (tijdelijk) een einde aan het Viewpoint-verhaal.

Geïnspireerd door dit originele initiatief werd het festival in 2018 geherlanceerd. VIEWPOINT wil opnieuw een platform geven aan mensen met een alternatieve kijk op de wereld. Hierbij krijgen zowel beginnende als ervaren documentairemakers wereldwijd een plaats. Het is de bedoeling om opnieuw een warme, open sfeer te creëren waarbinnen filmmakers, fans, critici en producers samen films kunnen bekijken van aankomende talenten, nieuwe stijlen en technieken kunnen ontdekken en bekronen.

Op het programma staan korte en lange documentaires uit alle hoeken van de wereld. Tickets zijn hieronder en aan de kassa van Studio Skoop verkrijgbaar. Ze kosten slechts 6 euro per vertoning, inclusief een gratis drankje in het Skoop Café, want deze films kunnen niet zonder nabespreking.

Alle info over Viewpoint vindt u op www.viewpointdocfest.com.

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PROGRAMMA VIEWPOINT 2024 (15/04-21/04):

VIEWPOINT OPENING NIGHT
Op maandag 15/04 om 20u00
Klik hier voor tickets: Viewpoint Opening Night

‘Mum’ (Portugal) by Siddhant Sarin
Doing the household chores and taking care of her two young sons is an unescapable routine that Sandra, an immigrant from Mexico, follows daily. It makes her feel hopelessly tired but still, her attentive care for both the sons and her intimacy with them remain unaffected. The boys’ father, Sandra’s Portuguese husband appears to be a distant man at home. His absence is felt in his mute presence. Amidst the backdrop of her quiet Lisbon suburban life, Sandra’s monotonous marriage reaches its climax. Hitting a definitive point of exhaustion, she attempts to break out of her normative duties of being a mother and a wife. Running time: 00:17:59

‘Death is dangerous, it could hurt’ (Canada) by Mariane Béliveau
Three rhythmic storylines are characterized by rituals of everyday life and the vicissitudes of existence, coalescing around a common experience: that of shooting up as a mode of drug use. The voices of M, Lyon and Marianne reveal to us their relationship to the process of shooting up while at the same time plummeting us in a sensory universe that characterises it, where the interplay of colours and textures evokes the altered psychological and physical states desired. Running time: 00:18:41

‘Patricia in the Dark’ (United Kingdom) by Laura Hartley
Born into a world where the word ‘transgender’ didn’t exist, 95-year-old Patricia spent most of her life longing for love and acceptance but too afraid to reveal her true self. Running time: 00:11:38

‘Piblokto’ (Russian Federation) by Anastasia Shubina, Timofey Glinin
On the Arctic Ocean coast of Chukotka live a people cut off from the world. Their life revolves around hunting walruses and whales and protecting villages from bears coming from the tundra. This theme turns the film into a reflection on death. Marine animals become the primary source of food for the people, animal leftovers are used to feed arctic foxes on a fur farm, human cemeteries become targets for bears. It appears that all the inhabitants of this region are involved in the cycle of food and death. The film departs from the typical rhythmic structure of cinema and instead adopts the structure of a shamanic ritual, which is a meaning-forming event for the northern peoples. Running time: 00:37:49

DARWIN NIX + SHORT
Op dinsdag 16/04 om 20u00
Klik hier voor tickets: Darwin Nix + Short

‘Number One’ (Lithuania) by Milda Augustaitytė
Twelve-year-old Arianas is preparing for the Lithuanian Championship of Standard and Latin American dances with his partner. The couple must understand the world of adults - learn to demonstrate masculinity, feminine seduction and self-selling. But is that enough to win the championship? Running time: 00:15:00

‘Darwin Nix’ (United States) by Brice Goldberg
Darwin Nix is an artist living and working in the small town of Evergreen, Alabama. Darwin grew up in Evergreen and has returned after living in Memphis, Philadelphia and Santa Fe as an accomplished fine art painter. His current work strives to subvert the overt confederate sentimentality he has witnessed since returning to the south. Living alone and with very few funds, Darwin has created a series of radical protest paintings and sculptures that reflect and antagonize what he deems to be a cultural inbreeding of ignorance and stupidity. Running time: 01:16:19

DOCU SHORTS 1
Op woensdag 17/04 om 20u00
Klik hier voor tickets: Docu Shorts 1

‘My Mykines’ (Belgium) by Femke De Beule
A village lies in the shadow of an archeological site. The inhabitants contemplate on their relation with the ruins. Visitors pass by, the stones underneath them slowly crumbling. Running time: 00:18:10

‘Song of Homecoming’ (Belgium) by Alex Schuurbiers
Filmmaker Alex Schuurbiers became captivated by a small house on a French island, a mystical place hidden between the waves. In Song Of Homecoming, she talks to the house and its inhabitant in an attempt to find kinship and connection. Running time: 00:15:37

‘All About My State’ (Poland) by Piotr Jacoń
In Poland, transgender people have to take their parents to court to have their gender designation corrected on their documents. Formally, this is the only way. In addition to tremendous stress and the humiliation of taking the testimony, the family faces uncertainty, because in Poland there are no clear regulations on how such a hearing should look. The court has a lot of freedom, and the prosecutor can join the proceedings at any stage, as it happened in the case of 20-year-old transgender Florian and his mother Agata, the protagonists of Piotr Jacon’s documentary. Running time: 00:40:32

DOCU SHORTS 2
Op donderdag 18/04 om 20u00
Klik hier voor tickets: Docu Shorts 2

‘Jelly & Igloos’ (Belgium) by Kris De Meester (Out of Competition)
In “Jelly & Igloos” we delve into the whimsical yet purposeful world of future food artist Mie Goffin. Through her introspective narration, we are invited into her creative process, shaped by childhood memories, a commitment to sustainability, and an unyielding desire for innovation. Goffin’s journey unfolds as she navigates the dualities of her dreams and challenges. She vividly describes her recurring dream of being trapped in a jelly, a metaphor for the creative struggles she faces. Despite the whimsy, there’s an underlying tension—an urgency to break free and realize her umami-filled ideas. Running time: 00:04:32

‘Listen to the wallflowers’ (Norway) by Johanne Wilbrink
A poetic and slow-paced documentary short about the perks of being a wallflower. Through an unconventional interview method the director and three different introverts lay on their backs to talk about life, dreams and the need to spend more time alone. Running time: 00:25:57

‘My Orange Garden’ (Germany) by Anna-Sophia Richard
My Orange Garden tells the story of the Iranian singer Faravaz Farvardin, who was set to be arrested by the Iranian police for singing in public. Now Faravaz lives as political refugee in Germany and fights with her voice for the rights of Iranian women. My Orange Garden is a sensual journey through Faravaz childhood memories, what it means to grow up as a woman in Iran and how she finally found her homeland within her body. Running time: 00:21:18

‘Koka’ (Poland) by Aliaksandr Tsymbaliuk
An intimate story of the relationship between father and son, living on the edge of the earth near the Bering Sea, imbued with the harshness of local reality and unpretentiousness of childhood years, the strictness of paternal education and love, which always finds its place in any part of this planet and in any of the hearts, even in the one that at first glance is harder than stone. Running time: 00:47:00

DOCU SHORTS 3
Op vrijdag 19/04 om 20u00
Klik hier voor tickets: Docu Shorts 3

‘Time Capsule’ (United States) by Lauren Loesberg
A documentary created from home video footage from 1997-2005, set to the reading of a letter written for a time capsule found twelve years later. Running time: 00:11:36

‘Sister Of Mine’ (Poland) by Mariusz Rusinski
Zuzia, a very sensitive and artistically gifted teenager, struggles with drug addiction. Her brother, who is also the director of the film, tries to find out what happened in the whole family life that Zuzia fell into addiction. Running time: 00:29:43

‘A Body Like Mine’ (Germany) by Maja Classen
A Body Like Mine is the poetic portrait of a young artist and activist named Puck. Puck is not her legal name, it is a character the artist has created and transforms into during her performances. As co-writer and protagonist of the film, the artist talks about how Puck’s existence helps her to feel more grounded in a world she experiences as overwhelming. While Puck dares to do wild things, such as queer post porn and wrestling, Puck’s creator herself shares her vulnerability. In the film she contemplates the discrepancy between herself and her character: She talks about how she is often misunderstood, judged, and fetishized. How she is assigned gender stereotypes she doesn’t want to conform to. Puck’s activism consists of her visibility as a proud Black person and of staging herself as part of phantasies and images that bodies like hers traditionally have been banished from. Running time: 00:34:48

NOVEMBRE + SHORTS
Op zaterdag 20/04 om 20u00
Klik hier voor tickets: Novembre + Shorts

‘Day of the Dead’ (Belgium) by Peter Bracke, Kris De Meester (Out of Competition)
“Day of the Dead” is a short film that delves into the unique blend of life, death, and celebration during Mexico’s Day of the Dead. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the mesmerizing migration of millions of Monarch butterflies to Mexico, believed to embody the souls of the departed. The film explores the profound Mexican tradition of not just commemorating the dead but reveling in the coexistence of life and death during these sacred days. The short film is a visual and emotional journey that explores the delicate balance between the living and the dead, culminating in a moment of serene reflection as the dead fall silent, and the living are left to calmly confront their own emotions. The film captures the essence of a cultural celebration that transcends borders, inviting audiences to reflect on the universal themes of love, loss, and the enduring connections that bind us across time and cultures. Running time: 00:03:11

‘Santa Lucia, My Mother’ (Belgium) by Peter Bracke
In an intimate journey of discovery, this short documentary brings to light the remarkable life of a 91-year-old bibliophile, as portrayed by the filmmaker’s mother, whose spirit refuses to be dimmed by the challenge of visual impairment. Opening with a heartfelt interview, we are invited into her world where the joy of literature transcends the conventional act of reading. Through her eyes, we explore the transformative power of audiobooks and technology, her resilience in the face of adversity, and the miraculous restoration of her sight. This story is not just about the personal triumphs of an avid reader but a celebration of the human spirit’s ability to adapt, the profound impact of storytelling, and the indomitable strength of familial bonds. Running time: 00:08:32

‘Novembre’ (Canada) by Iphigénie Marcoux Fortier, Karine van Ameringen
November is a unique fascinating experience bringing together people living and working in the city of Montreal, in this no man’s land between colorful autumn and white winter. Running time: 01:34:40

GESTOLEN LEVEN + Q&A
Op zondag 21/04 om 17u30
Klik hier voor tickets: Gestolen Leven + Q&A

Je wordt als wees geadopteerd in een Westers land en ontdekt pas jaren later dat je officiële papieren niet kloppen. Je was helemaal geen wees en je biologische ouders zijn ook nu nog in leven… Rani, ontvoerd als kind, getuigt over de kinderhandel door de katholieke kerk in India. De Nederlandse Marcia, slachtoffer van adoptiefraude, legt met haar organisatie Plan Angel corruptie bloot in Colombia en zorgt hiermee voor een schokgolf in België. Onderzoeksjournalist Kurt ontmaskert met gevaar voor eigen leven een netwerk van Congolese kinderhandel.

De vertoning wordt gevolgd door een Q&A met regisseur Daniel Lambo (‘Ademloos’) en Rani T’Kindt

THE MOUNTAINS + SHORT
Op zondag 21/04 om 20u00
Klik hier voor tickets: The Mountains + Short

‘Auntie Shopping’ (Côte d’Ivoire) by Annick-aimée Yaha Kouamé
Awa is a 14-year-old student who works weekends in the Gouro market in Adjamé as a “Auntie Shopping” to help her mother. Running time: 00:01:09

‘The Mountains’ (Denmark) by Christian Einshøj
Two decades after the tragic death of his brother, the director Christians Einshøj’s family is falling apart. But when his overworked CEO dad is unexpectedly let off and decides to sell the family home, Christian goes back home in a final desperate attempt to assemble the family and recover what is lost. Armed with 30 years of home-video, 75.000 family photos and three tightly fit superhero costumes, he ventures into landscapes of long-lost time, in an attempt to confront a 25-year old tragedy, and the hidden wounds left in its wake. It’s a story of fathers and sons, of vast collections of stamps and amateur videography, of long-distance business-class flights and all the other ways in which we flee, instead of talking about that which hurts – and of the redemption that can follow when the silence is eventually breached. Running time: 01:29:00