30/04/2019 - The 21st edition of Israel's biggest documentary event will present 130 films across eight sections and will focus on the riveting dialogue between man and nature

The 21st edition of Docaviv, Tel Aviv’s international documentary film festival, which runs from 23 May–1 June, has announced its full programme, consisting of 130 films across eight sections. In addition to the Israeli Competition, which was announced earlier this month (see the news), the festival features two main competitive, feature-length film strands: the International Competition and Depth of Field.

The International Competition consists of 11 titles, eight of which are European (co-)productions: Mint Film Office's IDFA prizewinner 'Now something is slowly changing’ [+see also:
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film profile] (USA/Qatar/UK/Canada), Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff's IDFA-awarded Los Reyes [+see also:
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film profile] (Chile/Germany), Kim Longinotto's Sundance and Berlinale title Shooting the Mafia [+see also:
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film profile] (Ireland/USA), Anna Eborn's Göteborg and Rotterdam prizewinner Transnistra [+see also:
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interview: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara K…
interview: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir S…
film profile] (Macedonia), and Beniamino Barrese's Sundance and CPH:DOX entry The Disappearance of My Mother [+see also:
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The Depth of Field Competition consists of nine films that push the envelope of the genre, redefining the word “documentary”. Seven of them are European (co-)productions, including Guy-Marc Hinant's Charleroi, the Land of 60 Mountains (Belgium), Victor Moreno's The Hidden City [+see also:
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interview: Víctor Moreno
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Docaviv’s artistic director, Karin Rywkind Segal, comments: “This year’s programme delves into the heated, riveting dialogue between man and nature through thrilling, multi-faceted, soul-touching cinema. The carefully curated programme reflects the big picture as well as the smaller details of our world, examining the sins of the past and a disturbing present, but never neglecting to show humanity and beauty.”

Sidebar sections include Panorama, with films such as Aquarela [+see also:
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interview: Victor Kossakovsky
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interview: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
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interview: Mads Brügger
interview: Mads Brügger
film profile]; and Masters, with the latest films by Jean Gabriel Périot, Tsai Ming Liang, Vitaly Mansky and Werner Herzog, while great Japanese helmer Kazuo Hara will enjoy a retrospective. More appealing documentaries can be found in the Arts&Culture and Music sections (including Architecture of Infinity [+see also:
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interview: Paul Iacovou
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Finally, Docaviv's industry section will feature the DOC LAB TLV, a rough-cut workshop, as well as a seminar entitled International Marketing and Distribution: From PR to the Oscars, and the new WebiDocs segment, spotlighting the emerging field of web documentaries.

“Docaviv draws in tens of thousands of attendees annually, providing them with the richest, most up-to-date programme in the international documentary field,” says Docaviv’s festival director, Galia Bador. “Last year’s edition attracted 60,000 visitors, and a total of 120,000 filmgoers attended Docaviv screenings during 2018. These numbers reflect people’s need and desire for free and daring art, the kind that showcases diverse and thought-provoking voices and perspectives.”