The U.K. documentary festival is happening from June 12 to 17. They just announced all the films they’ll be showing, like ‘The Hexagonal Hive and a Mouse in a Maze.’ Tilda Swinton, a famous actor, directed this film, and it’s competing for an award at the festival. The festival will have 48 films from different countries having their world premieres.
The festival’s theme this year is “Reflections on Realities.” Tilda Swinton’s first film as a director, called The Hexagonal Hive and a Mouse in a Maze, will debut at this festival. In this movie, Swinton and filmmaker Bartek Dziadosz travel the world to explore what it means to learn new things, with some playful ideas along the way.
Some cool music documentaries at the festival include the debut of a movie about the English rock band Blur, called blur: To the End, and the first showing in Europe of Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound.
There are 109 films in total at the festival, including 80 longer films and 29 short ones. They picked these from over 2,700 entries! Among them are 48 world premieres, 14 international firsts, 17 European firsts, and 29 U.K. firsts from 56 different countries.
They’ll show these films in three competition sections: the International Competition, International First Feature Competition, and International Short Film Competition.
The festival will have special guests like Idris Elba and sound designer Walter Murch (known for working on films like Apocalypse Now and The English Patient) talking with attendees.
The festival starts with the first showing of Kevin Macdonald’s Klitschko: More than a Fight, a film about Vitali Klitschko, a famous boxer turned Mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine.
There are also films about a Palestinian activist teaming up with an Israeli journalist during the Israel-Gaza war, and a movie exploring how people in Croatia feel about getting vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival’s director, Annabel Grundy, said they’re focusing on showing films that give us a better understanding of the world and challenge false ideas.