Feature Length Documentary Films Competition "IMAGE OF THE WORLD - WORLD IN IMAGES" is one of the main points in the program of the Festival's documentary section.

The aim of the competition is to appreciate documentary films as a creative interpretation of reality. The jury focuses on the visual and aesthetical part of a movie and judges the achievements in the area of film images, awarding best cinematographers among those selected to the competition.

A mobile blood donation centre drives around small towns like a touring circus. Russia has no shortage of donors: the old, the young, the unemployed and the retirees all queue to be treated by the arduous but motherly nurses. The state pays 850 roubles for a half a litre of blood, which is the equivalent to approximately 17 EUR. For many it is their only income. The film pulsates life like blood coursing in an artery. The surgeons save lives while the poor people’s blood flows out of them, creating a powerful metaphor for the society as whole.

Original title: Krov
Polish title: Krew
Directed by: Alina Rudnitskaya
Cinematography: Yura Gautsel, Sergei Maksimov
Producer: 317-Film

Costa da Morte is a region in Galicia (Spain), which was considered to be the end of the world during the Roman period. Its dramatic name comes from the numerous shipwrecks that happened throughout history in this area made of rocks, mist and storms. We cross this land observing the people who inhabit it – fishermen, gatherers of shellfish, loggers... We witness traditional craftsmen who maintain both an intimate relationship and an antagonistic battle with the vastness of this territory. The wind, the stones, the sea, and the fire, are all characters in this film, and through them we approach the mystery of the landscape, understanding it as a unified ensemble with man, his history and legends.

Original title: Costa da Morte
Directed by: Lois Patiño
Cinematography: Lois Patiño
Producer: Zeitun Films

In a recurring poetic image, 17-year-old Regina Diane Nicholson swings between heaven and earth on a breathtakingly high cliff by the sea. Reggie is a tomboy struggling with cancer, her parents and her dream of making a film. She impresses us with her loving, strong personality and wisdom beyond her years, as well as her morbid sense of humor. Together with director Henry Corra, she is working on a portrait of herself and her struggle with her illness. The film’s initial focus is on Reggie, but it quickly makes way for an escalating conflict between her and her parents as Reggie develops a closer relationship with Henry, who takes her seriously. When Reggie turns 18 and can make decisions on her own, things become even more intense. This film is a poetic fairy tale about love and death, holding on and letting go, one that invites us to discuss the relationship between the maker, subject and family.

Polish title: Pożegnanie z Hollywoodem
Directed by: Henry Corra, Regina Nicholson
Cinematography: Henry Corra, Regina Nicholson
Producer: Corra Films

Sebas has been commissioned to shoot a documentary promoting Ulls del Mon, the non-governmental organization from El Alto, Bolivia, which is fighting against vision loss. He decides to get in touch with Gabor, a blind Hungarian cinematographer, about whom he has recently heard. Gabor lives permanently in Spain. Eight years ago he lost his vision and since then he has not practiced his profession. He runs a rental business for film equipment. In the beginning, he is reluctant to accept the proposal of cooperation. He has not been on the set for years, and although he dreams to stand behind the camera once again, he fears that he won't make it. The documentary film by Sebastián Alfie is a “making of” of Sebas and Gabor's project.

Directed by: Sebastián Alfie
Cinematography: Angel Amorós, Gabor Bene
Producer: Minimal Films y Miralab

Michael Franzese, the son of John “Sonny” Franzese, an underboss of the Colombo crime family, recounts his spiritual transformation.

Directed by: Simon Fellows
Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond
Producer: I road production

A documentary thriller that could be a fiction, if only someone had enough imagination and courage to make up such an incredible story. A Palestinian, Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas leader, grows up hating Israel. At the age of 17 he is arrested attempting to smuggle weapons. He is interrogated by the Shin Bet security service and imprisoned. Shocked by the terror with which Hamas treats their compatriots and by the escalation of suicide attacks on the Jewish community, Mosab agrees to become a spy for Israel. For him this is the utmost dishonor, while for the Shin Bet agent, Gonen, recruiting the eldest son of a Hamas founder is the utmost success. Based on Yousef’s autobiography “Son of Hamas”, The Green Prince is more a story about responsibility and morality than about politics.

Polish title: Zielony książę
Directed by: Nadav Schirman
Cinematography: Giora Bejach, Raz Degan, Hans Fromm, Hans Funck
Producer: Red Box Films, Telepool GmbH, A List Films, Passion Pictures, Uzrad Productions
Polish distributor: Against Gravity Sp. z o.o.

The films tells the story of a climber’s lifelong dream to reach one of the world’s most remote and difficult summits (Ulvetanna Peak in Antarctica, 2,931 m), interweaved with the fascinating story of the mountain itself, which incredibly was only discovered in 1994. All set against the backdrop of the current age of mountaineering, where few great lines remained unclimbed. Every inch of this daring journey is captured by multi-award-winner Alastair Lee as we get to know the redoubtable and hilarious team. The team experiences surprisingly good weather, but eventually harsh conditions begin to grind them down as they inevitably become ‘less favorable’ while they attempt to defy the odds and complete the climb. Including interviews from Sir Chris Bonington, Doug Scott, Conrad Anker as well as the Norwegian climbers Ivar Tolleffsen and Robert Caspersen who first explored the area in 1994.

Directed by: Alastair Lee
Cinematography: Alastair Lee
Producer: Posing Productions

Two brothers from a family of Colombian mule drivers lead very different lives: one has headed to the city to care for his sick mother, while the other has stayed behind in the family house to pursue the family profession. They meet for a final expedition very reminiscent of Fitzcarraldo. A film permeated with the beauty of scenery and the energy of bodies at work.

Directed by: Nicolás Macario Alonso
Cinematography: Mauricio Vidal
Producer: Flor de Producciones

Sepideh Hooshyar is a young Iranian woman who dares to dream of a future as an astronaut. At night, she stares up at the universe, and she takes lessons from a space fanatic in her spare time. At home, full of hope and longing, she watches recordings of the world’s first female astronaut, Anousheh Ansari. So it is possible! When her father died suddenly six years ago, Sepideh discovered that she could feel closer to him by watching the stars. And so her dream was born, but not everyone appreciates her boundless ambition. After all, becoming an astronaut is a man’s job in Iran. University is extremely expensive, and Sepideh’s family isn’t rich. Her mother is worried about the emancipated young woman, and tries to convince her to adopt a different way of life.

Original title: Sepideh - Drømmen om stjernerne
Polsih title: Sepideh marzy o gwiazdach
Directed by: Berit Madsen
Cinematography: Mohammad Reza Jahan Panah
Producer: Radiator Film ApS

Swiss director arrives in New York and announces that he’s looking for people who have recently been… rejected. In a city where psychoanalysis is like another religion and people love talking about themselves, he doesn’t have to wait long. The heart-breaking stories are set against the background of a not-so-silent witness – the city of New York. The poetry of the underground and iconic architecture, the orgy of Manhattan’s lights, the jogging in Central Park, the red brick and fire escapes of Brooklyn, the weekend walks along the Hudson River, the amusement parks of Coney Island, the elegant SoHo bars and the hipster communities of Williamsburg… The characters passing near these places impersonate and combine Woody Allen’s extroversion, Paul Auster’s warm nostalgia and Edward Hopper’s loneliness.

Polish title: Bezsenność w Nowym Jorku
Directed by: Christian Frei
Cinematography: Peter Indergand
Producer: ZDF/Arte, Christian Frei Filmproduktion

Three protagonists: Agnieszka – a teenager, Małgosia – a twenty-year-old mother of two, Basia – an eighty-year-old lady living with her sixty-year-old son. They are all connected by one place – the centre of Łódź, a stigmatizing area which deprives its inhabitants of opportunities for development. The lives of the three women merge into one story.

Polish title: Trzy kobiety
Directed by: Anna Jadowska
Cinematography: Małgorzata Szyłak
Producer: Kolektyw Film

What is a socially acceptable conversation when your family’s killer sits down to dinner? Unforgiven: Rwanda explores the interactions between murderers, rapists, thieves and their victims and the power of restorative justice, forgiveness and reconciliation 20 years after the Rwandan Genocide.

Original title: Unversöhnt
Directed by: Lukas Augustin
Cinematography: Lukas Augustin, Niklas Schenck, Daniel Swinton
Producer: Augustin Pictures