DOXA goes digital for 2020

Feature photo still from Forget Me Not by Sun Hee Engelstoft

Vancouver’s annual DOXA Documentary Film Festival is back for 2020, but this year, things are looking a little different.

The festival runs from June 18 to 26, with more than 60 carefully curated documentary films that run the gamut from environmentalism to the arts to women’s rights—all online.

Though we won’t be able to gather in person over the eight-day festival, DOXA will still host filmmaker Q&As and live-streaming events such as a masterclass with renowned cinematographer Iris Ng (The Stories We Tell, Toxic Beauty, Making a Murderer).

Co-presented with DOC BC, the June 21 masterclass will dive deep into documentary cinematography and the creative process, drawing from Ng’s own work and experience. Directors, cinematographers and all creatives who rely on the power of visual storytelling are encouraged to attend.

For those looking to watch feminist forward content, we recommend snagging tickets to the following:

Birth Wars

Told through deeply personal stories in the trenches of the healthcare sector, Birth Wars chronicles a power struggle between doctors and midwives in Mexico about whose vision of childbirth should prevail. The film takes viewers on a journey into two worlds riven by prejudices and antagonism and explores how building bridges between these worlds could help save lives.
Director: Janet Jarman
Tickets here.

Forget Me Not

What makes a mother give away her baby? This is the big question in Sun Hee Engelstoft’s poignant heartbreaker of a film about three Korean women who have become pregnant outside of marriage and are now hiding from the outside world until they give birth. They live in a shelter for unwed mothers on a South Korean island, where beautiful landscapes are in sharp contrast to the fierce dilemma that women go through: should they keep their children or give them up for adoption?
Director: Sun Hee Engelstoft
Tickets here.

Body of Truth

Body of Truth is a film about four very strong women who have freed themselves from the constraints of their contexts, creating unique artworks in the process. Body of Truth offers new insights into the political power of art using the body as a means of expression – insights into art, as well as into our societal reality.
Director: Evelyn Schels
Tickets here.

On Falling

Part of the shorts program, On Falling follows three women who reflect on their willingness to sustain broken bones, concussions, and organ damage as professional mountain bikers. On Falling is a dreamy, unorthodox glimpse into the inner landscapes of those immersed in a subculture where falling is normal. Blending white-knuckle riding, crashes, and quiet self-examination, the film unfolds as a sensory meditation on the rush of control that comes with completely letting go.
Director: Josephine Anderson
Tickets here.

DOXA Documentary Film Festival runs June 18-26, 2020, and all films will be available to stream during all eight festival dates. Films are geo-blocked to British Columbia and virtual tickets will be limited.

Tickets are available online at doxafestival.ca.

Kristi Alexandra is an unabashed wino and wannabe musician. Her talents include drinking an entire bottle of cabernet sauvignon, singing in the bathtub, and falling asleep.