The hardest part will once again be choosing from the multitude, whether it’s works for television or cinema, short films, series, virtual reality documentaries, web series or podcasts. . The Fipadoc team had to make a selection from among 2,000 candidate films this year. A record.
The colors of childhood
In all, 141 films will be in competition in 9 categories (2). There will be laughter, dreams, wars, dramas, history, passions, investigations, tenderness, intimacy, portraits, gastronomy, sport, music, trips. No subject is excluded, but “this year, says Anne Georget, children have taken over”. It is the chance of the proposals, their presence often crosses the themes proposed.
We will thus follow “Les enfants de las Brisas”, these young musicians from the Venezuelan slums in a country in full chaos; these three little blind children entering a specialized school in Poland (“Les Oisillons”); this boy, the last child of his small Greek island (“Kristos”); the unique experience of these teenagers from working-class neighborhoods failing at school integrated into a hip-hop class at a Parisian high school (“Allons enfants”) or the daily life of young jockeys in a poor region of Brazil (“Vai Cavalo”). Among others.
There will be laughter, dreams, wars, dramas, history, passions, investigations, tenderness, intimacy, portraits, gastronomy, sport, music, gastronomy, travel.
The seven thematic selections out of competition also give pride of place to young people. We find the one stamped “En famille” where the young spectator and his elders can slip behind the young shoots of women’s skateboarding (“Bande de skateuses”) or observe the work of these young refugees who make a cartoon from illustrations made by children from Izieu deported in 1943 (“The Children of the Magic Lantern”). Still on the menu, the Taste of the Doc category will be to be tasted with greed or caution, depending on whether you choose to go on a world tour of the fire-crazy in the mouth (“Chilihaeds, Fous de piments”) or to follow the ballet of a Uruguayan hut (“The Story of a bar on the beach of La Huella”).
Rugby and playoffs
Also out of competition, two new selections have been added for this 5th edition: “In the fray” and “Documentary series”.
In anticipation of the Paris Olympics, “Fipadoc has been awarded the 2024 Cultural Olympiad label. In this context, next year there will be a selection of sports films but as of now, since it is the World Cup, offer a rugby selection,” explains Anne Georget. What to return to the history of the anthology derby of 1963 between Dax and Mont-de-Marsan in the final of the championship of France (“Rugby is a party”); discover the investigation into the exploitation of professional players in Oceania (“Oceans apart, greed, betrayal and Pacific rugby”) or follow the rebirth of the Ivorian team twenty-five years after the serious accident of one of its hopes (“The Awakening of the Lions”).
For the first time, therefore, Fipadoc is presenting five documentary series in their entirety. From the return to one of the most incredible French legal fiascos with “L’Affaire d’Outreau” to the politico-religious crusade of the new evangelical Christian current (“Les Évangéliques à la conquest du monde”) via the journey of the utopians ecologists of the Tribe born in the 80s and now settled in Finland (“Gaïaland”), there will still be plenty of choice for the spectator.
Finally, alongside the usual focus on documentary production from one region – this year the Baltic countries and Finland – the festival has decided to make Ukraine its guest of honour. It offers half a dozen historical and current films that will provide viewers with keys to understanding the conflict.
(1) Complete program and ticket office: fipadoc.com.
5th Fipadoc in Biarritz: the festival of true stories, always enticing