Between Fact and Fiction

Documentaries have a somewhat undeserved reputation of being boring. Personally, I find them quite interesting - it seems that just about anything goes when you stick 'documentary' on it. Find me any other genre that goes so casually about dealing with, say, really crazy people or copulating animals.

Granted, documentaries that involve written dialogue, in particular those crime reenactments, can be cringe-worthy with their stony-faced actors and phony scripts. But even then, they're probably no worse than any Ben Affleck movie.

The Docs Barcelona festival kicks off with a reenactment, 1973 RPM, an actor recreating the last hours of Salvador Allende, but don't let that put you off. It's not half bad and the festival has plenty of other highlights, including the dysfunctional family in Must Read After My Death; it's always a relief to see that there are families worse than my own.

Controversy is also present - surprisingly involving neither sex or Michael Moore (two terms that really should never occur in the same sentence) - in the highly topical Z32 that portrays the inner struggles of an Israeli ex-soldier. Heavy stuff, but hey, I said interesting, not funny.

Docs Barcelona - International Documentary Film Festival
January 28-February 1. EUR 2.70-7.50.
Cines Verdi Park, Filmoteca y Palau Robert

by AAl