De Facto recommends

Picture this: 1 in every 70 people on earth is currently displaced due to conflict, war, or persecution. The International Film Festival Rotterdam - January 29th to February 8th - is showcasing five worldpremieres this year about the experience and emotions of displacement.

On July 11, De Facto’s Jorie Horsthuis will interview Dutch-Kurdish film maker Beri Shalmashi about Kurdistan and the developments in the Middle East, after the screening of Half Moon, a film by Bahman Ghobadi.

The dominant narrative insists that borders keep us safe. But from what, and from whom? What if borders are systems of power designed to divide, to dominate, to decide who gets to move, who gets to stay, and who is left behind? Film, talks, music and poetry on 20 June in Amsterdam.

Overwhelmed by the vast offerings at The International Film Festival Amsterdam? Let yourself be guided by the IDFA Pathways. De Facto especially recommends ‘Palestine’, ‘The Law of the Land’ and ‘Life in Europe’. See you there?

Yasha, who used to be a devoted Soviet worker, is struggling to adapt to reality after the Soviet Union’s collapse - he prefers to continue his life in a state that no longer exists. Edgar Baghdasaryan’s tragicomedy Yasha & Leonid Brezhnev will be Armenia’s submission for the upcoming Oscars’ Best International Feature Film.

It has been more than 30 years since fighting broke out between Georgia and Abkhazia. Some of those whom the conflict displaced found refuge in a former Georgian sanatorium: the Hotel Metalurg. Now, they’re under pressure to leave again. Watch the documentary here.

The winners of IDFA’s 36th edition competition programs were announced at the Awards Ceremony taking place at ITA (Internationaal Theater Amsterdam) on Thursday November 16. 1489 by Shoghakat Vardanyan won the IDFA Award for Best Film.

Reber Dosky, who makes documentaries about Kurdistan and was our guest at De Facto Live #6, has been jailed for three days in Turkey. Dosky was there for a new project and got arrested because of suspected ‘terrorist activities’. (article in Dutch)

Over the past decade, our increasing and often conflicting claims on space have made disputes more intense and more urgent, widening the gap between the haves and de have-nots. This weekend, the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (NL) highlights the theme of Contested Space.

Warner Bros says map is ‘child-like’ after Vietnam accused film-makers of depicting China’s nine-dash line in South China Sea.

Daughters of the Sun, a documentary by Reber Dosky, premiers this week at the Movies that Matter Festival in The Hague. A tender and inspiring film about a group of Yezidi women and girls who were abducted as sex slaves by Islamic State and now have to rebuild their lives. With each other’s love and support, they find the strength to look forward again.