ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 8 months ago - Allan (Mac) McKenna

I've said this before and don't remember getting a satisfactory answer, but how do all you people find the time and money to watch all these damn movies? I'm guessing you're mostly younger than me. And I'm not exactly skint.

11 years, 8 months ago - Nigel Rogers

"The Act of Killing" (2012) was innovative, an extraordinary achievement to film and strangely horrifying, all great plaudits but I still found it a bit boring.
Two I enjoyed more were "Four Horsemen" and "I am Fishhead" which are (2011) films that I only got to see this year.

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

Cheers, Elhum! Good to hear about a new doc that hasn't crossed my radar. Missed After Tiller on the festival circuit, but really keen to track down and watch.

Can't wait to see what docs BEV selects for the 2014 festival.

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

I was talking to someone only last night about The Big Melt (we joked that it was about the world's biggest tuna sandwich). I've heard only good things - wish I'd been around at Doc/Fest to catch the Cocker in action. No way am I missing 2014 fest.

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

Nice. Good to have some shorts in there, too - how could I forget?! I enjoyed Hollow, though probably haven't spent enough time on there to fully appreciate the craft of it. I missed We Steal Secrets which I've heard mixed reviews of (making me want to see it more!). I thought Gibney's latest doc, The Armstrong Lie, was interesting. And I have no interest in cycling! However, by the time you read this, Gibney probably will have made two more films and this post will be out of date. That man is relentless!

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

I really loved Cutie and the Boxer, too. Every frame of the film was full of dilapidated trinkets and eccentric ephemera. Cutie was a great character, and it's interesting to see how their alternative romance has stood the test of time. Two paint-splattered thumbs up!

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

Pretty exciting to see that 8 of the docs in competition at Sundance next year are made by Shooters - maybe their work will make next year's "best of year" list.

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

Telly counts!

11 years, 8 months ago - Sarah Mosses

I would put Dirty Wars up there, the revelations in the film are shocking. It's just crazy that the US are still up to these tricks and no one is stopping them.

No Fire Zone due to the impact that it has had. The media frenzy when Callum (the director) visited Sri Lanka was intense. The film brought to light things that others wanted to cover up.

11 years, 8 months ago - Michael Rossato-Bennett

well, my favorite Film of year is called Alive Inside. amazingly, this little film got into to Sundance this year. I hope you guys hear more about it as the year progresses. it would blow me away if my little film were discussed next year on this site, in the company of films as great as my friend joshua's film the act of killing.

11 years, 8 months ago - Sarah Chorley

Mr Christmas is my favourite right now: https://player.vimeo.com/video/37746891?autoplay=1

Other then that, I quite liked the Higgs Boson doc, and Educating Yorkshire is one of my top factual progs of the year, though that's slightly off topic, being telly. But it's brilliant!

I also agree that Act of Killing should win all of these 2013 conversations hands down.

11 years, 8 months ago - Birds Eye View

Hey Helen - I really like some of the films already mentioned above - especially Cutie & The Boxer and The Punk Singer.

I think one documentary that really pushed boundaries in terms of what a documentary can achieve and represent was Sleepless Nights, by Eliane Raheb
We screened it at BEV earlier this year - http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/5052/docs/sleepless-nights.html

After Tiller by Martha Shane was also very powerful.

Elhum from Birds Eye View HQ!

11 years, 8 months ago - charlie phillips

It's been a good year for docs - Act of Killing and Leviathan are stone-cold classics in any year. Punk Singer is significant too, and I'd also say something for The Big Melt, which admittedly we commissioned at Doc/Fest, but really was special - Jarvis Cocker's original soundtrack to archive of steel. Incredible.

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

I'll kick things off with my top 10. Some of these films haven't had a theatrical release in 2013, but are worth looking out for next year.

1. The Act of Killing
2. Leviathan
3. Epic of Everest
4. The Punk Singer
5. Future My Love
6. Sickfuckpeople
7. Vivan Las Antipodas
8. Bayou Maharaja: The Tragic Genius of James Booker
9. Ne Me Quitte Pas
10. Stories We Tell

11 years, 8 months ago - Fat Rat Films

Helen - I've barely seen any on your list, so if you're wondering what to get me for christmas...

How could you not like Act of killing, I defy anyone to not be awestruck by that.

We just watched Dirty wars, which is a must see - I actually still liked Obama until I watched this.

I also liked We steal secrets and The house i live in. Jiro dreams of sushi, made me so hungry, my mouth just involuntarily watered thinking about it.

Away from features, but still in documentary, I thought this was really interesting:

http://hollowdocumentary.com/

and shorts, I really liked these fellas:
https://vimeo.com/67025679
https://vimeo.com/64723147
https://vimeo.com/51795451

11 years, 8 months ago - Jenny Horwell

I'm enjoying reading this thread and remembering all these gorgeous and/or terrifying films! Most my favourites from the year have had the thumbs up already - Stories We Tell, Cutie and the Boxer, Leviathan, The Act of Killing.

Can I put in a mention for Our Nixon and Only the Young, both American docs that I saw this year, but don't think either got UK releases yet. And I loved seeing Pipeline at LFF... hope there will be more chances to see that one in the cinema.

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

Thanks Sarah and Jenny!

11 years, 8 months ago - Rebecca Brand

Hey Helen et al, some great films already mentioned.

I, too, found The Act of Killing to be an absolutely astonishing film and it tops my list of all the films I've seen this year. I saw the directors cut followed by a Q+A with Joshua Oppenheimer chaired by Penny Woolcock at the Hackney Picturehouse... it was like being in documentary heaven as an experience.

I also found No Fire Zone, about the final months of the civil war in Sri Lanka, an incredibly powerful film. I'm embarrassed to admit I knew little of that conflict before and this documentary really opened my eyes. Sometimes we have to see things to fully comprehend them, and this film didn't shy away from showing the horrors of war whilst avoiding being exploitative or gratuitous.

I found Stephen Fry's 'Out There' series for the BBC, which saw him do verbal battle with some of the world's most abhorrent homophobes, entertaining (if also slightly depressing). Why had no-body thought to send Stephen Fry out on this kind of mission before?! If any one can reveal homophobes to be the narrow-minded, prejudiced nincompoops that they are it's Stephen Fry!

I saw The Moo Man at Sheffiled Doc/Fest and thought it was just lovely. Great central character, and cows. Lots of cows. What's not to love?

Finally, throwing a short into the mix: I saw Pouters - about a couple of guys who do battle with pigeons in Glasgow - at LSFF and thought it was brilliant. It seems to have won lots of awards at big doc fests so hurrah to that!

Lots of films mentioned above which I haven't seen so that should keep me nice and occupied over Christmas!

11 years, 8 months ago - Elise McCave

So, this isn't the actual official Word of BRITDOC, but of Elise, the Foundation's deputy dog...

I'd say Cutie & the Boxer would be my top pick. I was pleasantly (or unpleasantly?) surprised by Blackfish. Kill Team was pretty amazing. And do I need to mention Act of Killing? No, I probably don't. It's hardly been overlooked in 2013...

I thought Cutie was beautiful, deft and gentle, and honest. I adored it from the beginning of the opening credits to the very final frame. In fact, we even got a poster of it framed and put up in the office because we loved it that much!

What will 2014 bring...?

11 years, 8 months ago - Helen Jack

Nice one, Becky. Thanks. Heard lots of good things about The Moo Man. Must track it down.