Florence November 30th – December 7th 2013

International documentary film festival

  • Chimeras

    Finland/China 2013 89'
    Directed by: Mika Mattila
    Two Chinese artists, two identities in crisis: the giant of contemporary Chinese art Wang Guangyi - considered the ‘”Andy Warhol of China” - and the young and promising Gang Liu. Through their lives and their parallel destinies Chimeras tells us about a time when aspirations come into conflict with the sense of identity and the values of modern China.

    watch the trailer

    2013 Thursday, December 5th, Odeon, 9:00 pm

  • Elektro Moskva

    Austria 2013 89'
    Directed by: Dominik Spritzendorfer, Elena Tikhonova
    Through archive material and interviews with scientists, collectors and musicians the film traces the connection between the Soviet military research and the clandestine use of the same technologies for musical research. The film tells the genius and spirit of scientists and Russian artists who have created pioneering tools with waste items able to influence even today’s the electronic music.

    Watch the trailer

    2013 Friday, December 6th, Spazio Alfieri, 9:30 pm

  • Elvis Costello: Mystery Dance

    United Kingdom/France 2013 90'
    Directed by: Mark Kidel
    Elvis Costello is one of the undisputed geniuses in the world of rock. The film shows him around Liverpool, London, New York, and back to the places that have marked his life and his musical training. The artist reveals his sensitivity and his own musical path: the band of the early years, the collaborations with Paul Mc-Cartney, Burt Bacharach and Allen Toussaint, the images of the video clips that have marked the history of the (video) music.

    2013 Wednesday, December 4th, Odeon, 10:30 pm

  • Hélio Oiticica

    Brazil 2012 94'
    Directed by: Cesar Oiticica Filho
    The film allows a unique immersion in the thoughts, the trajectory and the intimacy of Hélio Oiticica, one of the greatest artists Brazil has ever produced. The narration is made by the artist himself who conducts us through one of Brazilian culture’s most fertile periods of time.

    2013 Sunday, December 1st, Odeon, 9:00 pm

  • in viaggio con Cecilia

    Italy 2013 80'
    Directed by: Mariangela Barbanente, Cecilia Mangini
    Summer 2012. The two directors, through an on the road movie, tell us about how Puglia, their homeland and central theme of documentaries made by Cecilia Mangini in the 60s, has changed in time. The same summer a judge states that Taranto is a city hostage of the pollution produced by ILVA and orders the arrest of its owner, Emilio Riva. How to look at this industry, that redeemed the region, trolling it out of its archaic dimension, but placing it at the same time in a cruel and contradictory present?

    2013 Saturday, November 30th, Odeon, 3:00 pm

  • Master of the Universe

    Germany/Austria 2013 90'
    Directed by: Marc Bauder
    Marc Bauder meets Rainer Voss, until a few years ago one of the “Masters of the Universe”, a broker hired by banks and investment firms that deal with and exchange money for hundreds of millions of Euros per day. Inside a building that could be the headquarters of a bank, almost like you were inside the belly of a powerful and invisible monster, Bauder interview Voss who, with care and precision, describes what he has seen in his years right inside that monster.

    With the participation of Maurizio Ricci - journalist “La Repubblica”

    watch the trailer


    2013 Saturday, December 7th, Spazio Alfieri, 6:30 pm

  • Mothers
    "RESPECT WOMAN"

    China 2013 68'
    Directed by: Xu Huijing
    According to the limits set forth by the People’s Republic of China as far as birth rate control is concerned, Xu Huijing - as second-born child - should have never been born. It is from this particular existential condition that he felt the need to come back to his village of origin in Northern China to tell about the ordinary enforcement of the controlled procreation procedures and show the repression that bureaucracy and statistics carry out on the bodies of women of fertile age.

    watch the trailer

    2013 Saturday, December 30th, Odeon, 4:45 pm

  • Soran fait son cinéma
    "TERRITORI INSTABILI"

    France 2013 66'
    Directed by: Fulvia Alberti, Soran Qurbani
    Soran has a dream: to make films. Iranian Kurdish refugee in Iraq, he embarks on a long and dangerous journey to England. His travel as “clandestine tourist”, is full of difficult moments and last nine months during which he will be accompanied by his faithful camera and the support of Fulvia, his dear friend.

    With the collaboration of CCC Strozzina - "Unstable Territories"

    watch the trailer

    2013 Saturday, December 7th, Odeon, 4:00 pm

  • The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins
    "FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT"

    USA 1970 30'
    Directed by: Les Blank
    The great Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins is captured brilliantly in this deeply moving film. Blank reveals Lightnin’s inspiration, and features a generous helping of classic blues. Includes performances and jam sessions and a visit to his boyhood town of Centerville, Texas.
    This powerful portrait is among Les Blank’s masterworks.

    watch the trailer

    2013 Saturday, December 7th, Odeon, 9:00 pm

  • This Ain’t no Mouse Music
    "FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT"

    USA 2013 92'
    Directed by: Chris Simon, Maureen Gosling
    The icon of ethnic music Chris Strachwitz (Arhoolie Records) involves us in a syncopated dance that begins in Texas and reach New Orleans, following the footsteps of the typical sounds of blues music and of Cajun, Mexican, Country, Western rhythms, searching for the soul of American music.

    watch the trailer

    2013 Saturday, December 7th, Odeon, 9:00 pm

  • We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
    FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT

    USA 2013 130'
    Directed by: Alex Gibney
    Shot with startling immediacy while the events were in full swing, the film is a gripping multi-level account about transparency in the age of information and of our ever-elusive search for truth. By narrating the creation of the controversial website by the enigmatic Julian Assange, the film follows his rise and fall occurred in parallel with that of Bradley Manning, the brilliant, young soldier who downloaded hundreds of thousands of documents from military servers and American diplomats.

    With the participation of Stefania Maurizi - journalist, author of “Dossier Wikileaks – Segreti Italiani” (Rizzoli)

    watch the trailer

    2013 Saturday, December 30th, Odeon, 9:30 pm

  • Yumen
    "Tribute to J.P. Sniadecki"

    China 2013 65'
    Directed by: J.P. Sniadecki, Xiang Huang, Xu Ruotao
    Yumen is an abandoned oil city in the Gansu province in Northwest China, explored by some characters trying to retrace its memories through artistic actions and performances. A film combining ghost stories and “the pornography of ruins” in order to achieve a psycho-collage made of celluloid searching for a collective story lost among the rests of the city.

    watch the trailer

    2013 Friday, December 6th, Odeon, 5:30 pm

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