Perspectives intersect in the German Competition Documentary Film of DOK Leipzig: Those of an emerging generation looking for its own forms of expression and those of established filmmakers who have retained their spirit of departure and contradiction. Their films illuminate familiar regions or cross borders to demonstrate a wide range of themes and documentary styles, of close-ups and long-distance views.
Anne (36) lives in Halle (Saale) and her life is in chaos. An apartment full of moving boxes, a yapping dog. She tells her mother on the phone that the electricity is about to be cut off again. Sometimes her daughter Leonie (14) drops by. Like her mother, she is at risk of slipping into drug addiction. Anne has already lost custody of her two younger children, too. The camera stays purely observational, captures loose scenes from the life of a woman who wants to take responsibility again. The film does not look for psychological explanations but shows Anne as she is. On her drives through the prefabricated housing estate, she seems isolated from her surroundings. Mother and daughter grow closer over an ice cream in a public square. Anne’s visit to her mother provides support but creates pressure, too. We grow ever closer to Anne, sharing her wish that she can become a role model for her daughter.
Anke Leweke
Contains mentions of addiction, death, drug-use
Abtin, a young anarchist from Iran, now lives in Greece after fleeing his own country. Back home he managed an underground library of banned books and was reportedly arrested, detained and tortured because he took part in protests. He continues his political struggle in Athen’s Exarchia district – a place of left-wing utopias and a fiercely contested site of gentrification: He joins the movement for refugees, squats in houses, protests against illegal pushbacks and fights for alternative ways of living, though his own situation is highly precarious, because every contact with the state can jeopardise his residence status. Director Jasmine Alakari follows Abtin over the course of a year, experiences his rage, hope and powerlessness, but also euphoria and solidarity. Time and again, the film returns to the question of how much political activism should be allowed to shape one’s life and what role violence plays in this. Meanwhile, the conflict with the police comes to a head in the street and Abtin finds himself in the crosshairs of the state. Alakari keeps filming but realises that she must also examine her own role. What does it mean to be an observer? How far can a film visualise the fears and hopes of a person who does not have the freedom to escape this situation? “Free Zone” has no easy answer to this question but passes it on. To us – the audience.
Luc-Carolin Ziemann
Contains depictions of physical violence
The screen is filled with the lightness of a summer’s day. A lake tempts people to swim and have fun, the sun sparkling on the water. A young woman is wavering on its banks, another reaches out her hand to her. The exuberant scenes are overlaid by the narrative of another woman recalling early, painful sexual experiences. At first, the words and the images seem to stand in contrast to each other. But the longer the sun shines, the more the narrative and the images overlap. The offscreen narrator speaks more and more freely, reporting how she suppressed the wishes and needs of her body at first. An encounter with a woman makes her discover her desire and pleasure. The impressions of the lake bring her increasingly beautiful descriptions to life – this day could not have a more romantic ending.
Anke Leweke
Contains mentions of sexual violence
