Lise Birk Pedersen • Denmark, U.S. • 2011
Before Nashi, teenage Masha had a pretty average middle-class life in Russia. At 16 she joined the democratic, anti-fascist and anti-oligarch-capitalist political youth movement, working her way up to leadership roles and eventually becoming the host of a state-funded television program. Over time, however, Masha forms friendships with other journalists, including Kremlin-critic Oleg Kashin, who surfaces one day brutally beaten. Cracks begin to form as her ideology, so certain in youth, is called into question.
Capturing the idealism and disenchantment of youth, Putin’s Kiss offers an unconventional glimpse inside the politics of contemporary Russia. Lise Birk Pedersen's first documentary premiered at IDFA - Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, Istanbul, Hong Kong and Sundance, where it won Best Cinematography - Documentary.
Gianfranco Rosi • 2013 • Italy
A cartography of Rome's ring road and its eccentric inhabitants.
The Grande Raccordo Anulare is a 68-kilometer highway girdling the metropolis of Rome. Rarely given a passing glimps...
Soon-Mi Yoo • U.S., South Korea, Portugal • 2014 • A unique lens on North Korea.
A South Korean filmmaker travels to the North on three separate occasions. Chaperoned by an official guide, she is unable to film freely. Nonetheless she encounters humanity at every turn—old men milling about pool ...
Jafar Panahi • 2015 • Iran
Banned from filmmaking, Panahi has adopted a new hobby—driving a taxi.
He navigates the streets of the Iranian capital picking up passengers: two women with a goldfish, a bootleg DVD dealer, his young niece.
In Taxi, from the vantage point of the cab's dashboard a po...
