DOK.fest Retrospective: Kim Longinotto – Women´s Hidden Faces

With her engaged and touching films Kim Longinotto has long been considered one of Britain’s most renowned filmmakers. In her early films, made when she was a student at the British National Film School, the basic theme that has defined Kim Longinotto’s work to date was established: the rebellion of the individual against repressive systems and overpowering traditions. So it is hardly a surprise that, almost without exception, her films feature the faces of women who fight with charisma and spirit despite the opposition. For Longinotto, filmmaking is an act of solidarity with the underdogs of this world: from Japan, where many of her earlier works are set, via Iran and the African continent to India, where her most recent films have originated from.

Longinotto’s distinctive style of patient observation makes her a master of classic documentary film. With a great flair for finding the heart of every scene and a direct approach towards her protagonists, she succeeds in creating both character studies and stories of great depth and complexity which are at times dramatic, at times tragically comic and always borne out of great empathy and outstanding artistic maturity

DOK.fest’s retrospective presents films about the various cultural groups in which Kim Longinotto has worked and reflects her development over almost three decades: HIDDEN FACES, Egypt, 1990, THE GOOD WIFE OF TOKYO, Japan 1992, DIVORCE IRANIAN STYLE, Iran, 1998, GAEA GIRLS, Japan 2000, THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET, Kenya, 2002, SISTERS IN LAW, Cameroon, 2005, SALMA, India, 2012. Kim Longinotto will be our guest in Munich and will take part in audience discussions. Moreover she will speak about the work on her latest film.

Film Museum, from Thursday 8th May until Wednesday 14th May 2014

Andrea Kuhn (Filmfestival der Menschrechte Nürnberg) and Daniel Sponsel