Ain't nothing like the real thing

>> Rencontres Documentaire turns three

by MATTHEW HAYS

Though documentaries exist as part of the programming for the city's other major film festivals, the three-year-old Rencontres Internationales is the only festival focussed exclusively on the form.

It may not sound terrifically significant, but when one considers how difficult funding for documentary projects is to drum up, an event celebrating docs and nothing but docs performs a vital service in the film community.

This year's selection committee deserves kudos for their broad international selection, with entries from India, Poland, Brazil, Finland and Belgium, as well as North America. A few of the highlights:

Zyklon Portrait is an astonishing short film by Toronto-based director Elida Schogt. Zyklon B was the gas used to kill Jews in Nazi concentration camps. Pushing the limits of documentary filmmaking into the arena of the truly experimental, Schogt creates a sensuous film full of memory and pain, dedicated to her grandparents who were gassed in the camps. A true achievement, Schogt manages to speak volumes in a mere 13 minutes.

Addicted to Solitude Danish filmmaker Jon Bang Carlsen ventured to South Africa to find out how some whites were coping with a new, post-Apartheid South Africa. He found two fascinating subjects, two white women who have nothing in common but the death of someone intimate to them. Carlsen uses the doc form to effectively explore the evolution of a nation in upheaval.

Stranger With a Camera Elizabeth Barret's American doc has a Canadian angle: in '67, NFB filmmaker Hugh O'Connor ventured to rural Kentucky to make a documentary about racism and the environment. After capturing an image of a resident, who gave O'Connor his full consent, a landowner infuriated with the way filmmakers had been presenting the region shot and killed O'Connor. Barret examines the bizarre and horrifying details of the case, while analyzing the ethics of outsiders making docs about rural cultures. NFB vet Colin Low has cited this film as one of his favourite contemporary documentaries.

As well as specific screenings, Rencontres includes a number of panel discussions on the state and ethics of documentary filmmaking practice. Focuses of debates and discussions include Indian cinema, Brazilian cinema, the treatment of mental illness and questions of authorship.

Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montreal runs from Wednesday, Nov. 15-19 at Cinémathèque québécoise and the NFB. Info: www.ridm.qc.ca or 499-3676