This is the 14th edition of the Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, which takes place November 14th-19th in Budapest. In this year’s program, 100 documentaries from 44 countries have been chosen by the selection committee that strive to make a difference by confronting us with the human dimension of contemporary political, social, economic, and environmental crises, and by exploring the new types of solidarity that have emerged in response.
This year, the films are competing in three categories. The main pillars of the program — International Panorama, Hungarian Panorama, and Student Competition — feature a rich palette of films that demonstrate state-of-the-art documentary film production.
In the selection International Panorama, three films from East Silver Caravan were chosen:
A Marriage Story (dir. Helena Třeštíková)
Ivana and Václav got married at the Prague Old Town Hall in 1981. The film follows their marriage from the wedding day until today. In the beginning, we see two students of architecture with their modest plans for the future in the socialistic Czechoslovakia. After the political turnover in 1989 they started a furniture business, together they have raised five children and went through ups and downs in their relationship. Now, when they are turning sixty, they start looking back at their lives.
See You In Chechnya (dir. Alexander Kvatashidze)
September 1999. For Alex, as for the rest of Georgians, war in Chechnya seemed to be far away, seen only on the screens of Russian media. In fact it was just behind the Caucasus Mountains. He'd never imagine going there, but he did. He followed her, the French photographer he had met just a few days before at the fashion show. Alex discovers the world of War Reporters and wants to become one of them, but he doesn't succeed. He keeps in connected to war through his friend, practising war reporters and observes what war does to them for 15 years.
Tarzan’s Testicles (dir. Alexandru Solomon)
Sukhum is the capital of Abkhazia, a tiny, unrecognized republic on the shores of the Black Sea. On its highest hill lies a medical institute of research on monkeys, established by the Soviets in the 1920’s. The legend states it was meant to create a hybrid between man and ape. This creature never came to life, neither the communist New Man did. Today, men and monkeys are caged in a territory ravaged by war and decades of cruelty, both victims of a failed series of experiments.
Find the complete list of the International Panorama selection HERE.
