DOC LIMITS
Vague, virtual, even debatable: these are the boundaries of documentary. In 2024, we focus primarily on the filmmaking technique, a matter which is not at all obvious when it comes to non-fiction. A documentary does not require people to be depicted as in photographs; the animated ones may turn out to be just as real. A set of short pictures prepared by the ANIMOCJE Festival and the feature-length Hungarian picture Pelikan Blue will demonstrate that quite vividly. Another boundary will be guarded by Ye Lou’s An Unfinished Film, showing a crew that reunite near Wuhan in 2019 to finish a project discontinued a decade earlier. Unfortunately, that happens just before the global health crisis erupts. Although it is truth which sets the documentary and fiction apart, it is worth remembering that each protagonist may have their own version of the truth, and each director their vision of how to present it.
