DOXA Documentary Film Festival 2021
May 6 to 16, 2021
DOXA DOCUMENTARY Film Festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an ambitious program of streamed programming—bringing 49 features, plus shorts and live talks to living rooms across Canada, from May 6 to 16.
It’s even planned a few drive-in events at the PNE Amphitheatre.
Festival passes and the full lineup are now available online at www.doxafestival.ca.
Keep your eye on this page for our in-depth reviews, interviews, and more.
DOXA ARTICLES AND REVIEWS
Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific wins Nigel Moore Award; And the Fish Fly Above Our Heads و الأسماك تطير فوق رؤوسنا named best feature
Documentary by Eileen Francis and Evan Adams looks at the Tla’amin Nation’s efforts to change the contentious name of the city of Powell River
Contemplative new work by acclaimed filmmakers Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora explores imperfect balance between an ancient, shifting ecosystem and a Cortes Island community of oyster farmers
In the National Film Board documentary making its local premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Canadian director Kim Nguyen traces the repercussions of an execution photo through the decades
Director OK Pedersen narrates the cine-concert featuring violinist Eden Glasman and pianist Jakub Tokarczyk
Running April 30 to May 10, 25th annual event features a South Korean spotlight, Fire of Love director Sara Dosa’s Iceland-set Time and Water, and world premieres Under the Red Roof, Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific, and more
Saints and Warriors, #skoden, and Sudan, Remember Us are among the titles that secured wins
Mr. Nobody Against Putin takes an urgent look at Russian indoctrination; Spare My Bones, Coyote! finds horrors at the U.S. border; Eight Postcards From Utopia runs weird commercials from free-market Romania; and more
In Have You Heard Judi Singh?, Vancouver director interweaves archival footage, re-created moments, and mesmerizing music in tribute to late Punjabi-Black artist
Montreal filmmaker Denis Côté started out making a portrait of a shy BDSM worker and ended up capturing a generation’s encounter with the endless recursions of social media
In NFB documentary, Lyana Patrick chronicles the environmental harm caused by the Kenney Dam
A panel discussion with workers and community advocates takes place after the VIFF Centre screening
In Aisha’s Story, a Palestinian matriarch uses food for generational healing, while Saints and Warriors follows a Haida basketball team
Yintah captures Wet’suwet’en pipeline resistance, while La Laguna del Soldado conjures the sounds and mists of a fraught Colombia
Eternal You, A Man Imagined, Black Box Diaries, nanekawâsis, and other intriguing offerings at the celebration of new nonfiction film
New DOXA Documentary Film Festival feature tells the incredible story of the Armstrong company, and how spending childhood summers there inspired McNeil’s own art-making
Filmmaker Shannon Walsh turns her lens on a labyrinthian fantasy world and an all-consuming love that transcends death
Documentary film shares the story of Jacob Beaton, who is training Indigenous people to grow their own food
Shannon Walsh’s Adrianne & the Castle (2023) opens the festival’s screenings at the Vancouver Playhouse on May 4
Running May 2 to 12, fest also features nanekawâsis, Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, Tea Creek, and Caravan Farm Theatre doc The Originals
Notes from Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams’s Satan Wants You, plus We Will Not Fade Away, You Were My First Boyfriend, and Kite Zo A
La Singla searches for a lost flamenco star; A Way to B profiles the members of a daring disability-arts troupe; and Cheenee traces the history of Indian diaspora in Trinidad and Tobago
Director Karen Cho’s new documentary looks at Chinatowns in Vancouver, New York City, Montreal, and beyond confronting development and displacement