Red Light to Limelight strikes a fine balance between the tragic stories of individual sex workers in Kolkata’s Kalighat red light neighborhood and the joyous community activity of filmmaking. Bipuljit Basu’s documentary follows CAM ON, a film production collective set up by these women and their children, as they conceptualize and shoot the (fictional) short film Nupur, blurring the lines between their reality and the artifice they’re engaging in. Basu told Documentary about the importance of community co-creation, gaining his subjects’ trust, and arriving at the film’s look. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Slovakia’s guča films and Portugal’s Kino Rebelde have shared with Documentary Magazine an exclusive first clip from Action Item, the sophomore feature-length documentary by filmmaker and visual artist Paula Ďurinová (Lapilli). It will screen in the Proxima Competition at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (July 4–12) and concurrently in the International Competition at the 36th edition of FIDMarseille (July 8–13).
Alaa Minawi’s The Liminal gives an alternative definition of “immersive” from the typical technological, digital one. In his practice, the Palestinian-Lebanese-Dutch interdisciplinary artist explores the possibilities of merging installation and performance art. The Liminal—the first part of his speculative series about Arabfuturism—is a 3.5-meter wall with 24 speakers placed inside, programmed to take the audience on a listening journey.
In Made in Ethiopia, filmmakers Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan tackle a topical behemoth through the intimate lens of three women on the precipice of change. Made in Ethiopia explores the complexities of the characters’ search for prosperity, while also reflecting the filmmakers’ own quest for balance in telling a nuanced story. In a conversation with Documentary, directors Yu and Duncan discuss how they navigated these challenges.
Brown Girls Doc Mafia, commonly referred to as BGDM, has officially announced the 2025 cohort of the Sustainable Artist Fellowship. This year’s Sustainable Artist Fellows are Thien Dinh, Sara Husain Chishti, and Caron Creighton.
Documentary is proud to debut a clip from Europe’s New Faces, directed by Sam Abbas. The film is an empathetic, unfiltered depiction of both the challenges and triumphs faced by migrants—from the harrowing journey across the Mediterranean sea from Africa to the closely-knit communities they create in the squats of Paris.
On the brink of America’s bicentennial, two filmmakers, a then-couple, filmed their cross-country road trips from the backseat of a car. The United States of America (1975) is the 27-minute product of these journeys and directors Bette Gordon and James Benning’s third and final collaboration. This short film typified the structuralist movement of avant-garde filmmaking, while also establishing documentary strategies that carry over to today.
Documentary is thrilled to debut the trailer of Divia, the latest film by Ukrainian filmmaker Dmytro Hreshko (Snow Leopard of the Carpathians, King Lear: How We Looked for Love During the War), set to celebrate its world premiere in the Crystal Globe Competition of this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Sunday, July 6.
Alanis Obomsawin is one of the most important artists in the history of Canadian cinema, a major influence both on the country’s mode of documentary filmmaking and on the way its film business incorporates the voices of people from the First Nations. In 2022, Richard Hill and Hila Peleg curated the exhibition 'Alanis Obomsawin: The Children Have to Hear Another Story.' We spoke with Obomsawin about the exhibition, her films, and her practices of listening and storytelling.
Documentary is proud to unveil the trailer of A Quiet Love, a powerful new feature from acclaimed Irish filmmaker Garry Keane (GAZA, In the Shadow of Beirut), which will have its world premiere later this week at Doc Edge 2025 in the festival’s Being Oneself strand.