Vancouver’s DOXA Documentary Film Festival starts today, and Asparagus Magazine has again partnered to present some documentaries we think will appeal to our readers. As always, the festival’s program is packed with compelling storytelling from around the world. To help you narrow down your choices, we’ve put together a roundup of additional films we think Asparagus readers might find especially interesting this year.

Once you’ve booked your tickets to join us at Sanctuary Station or UNEARTH on Friday, May 9, consider adding some of these films to your schedule! (The following list is ordered based on the date and time of the first screening of each film or program.)

To Use a Mountain

The festival’s paraDOXA program features films that “push the boundaries” of documentary-making. To Use a Mountain—focused on rural American communities’ fight against a nuclear waste dump—is one such boundary-pusher. Through the juxtaposition of personal stories, archival materials, and creative data visualizations, the film explores the activism and resistance provoked by the US government’s decision to bury 70,000 tonnes of radioactive waste under the Nevada desert.

To Use a Mountain (99 min) screens May 2 at 8:10 pm, at The Cinematheque, and is followed by a discussion with the director.

Rachel

This year’s festival features a look back at the work of award-winning Jewish French-Moroccan filmmaker Simone Bitton. Included in the retrospective is her 2008 documentary Rachel, about the 23-year-old American peace activist who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 as she attempted to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza.

Rachel (100 min) screens May 3 at 2 pm, at The Cinematheque, and is followed by a discussion.

Nechako—It Will Be a Big River Again

In this world premiere, filmmaker Lyana Patrick documents the decades-long fights of two Indigenous nations (including her own home community of Stellat’en First Nation) against mining giant Rio Tinto Alcan over damage done to the Nechako River in northern BC.

Nechako—It Will Be a Big River Again (91 min) screens May 3 at 5 pm (at the VIFF Centre) and May 9 at 5 pm (at the SFU cinema), and will be followed by discussions.

Threadbare shorts program

Shorts programs treat film-festival goers to a buffet of cinematic treats enjoyed in a single sitting, like a festival within a festival. This year’s DOXA offers 6 programs of shorts, including Threadbare, whose films examine “landscapes scarred by colonialism and exploitation.” Under that broad theme, these four shorts deal specifically with human interference in whale navigation, makeshift oil refineries in Syria, the experience of exile in a time of genocide, and a Palestinian elder’s ongoing fight for dignity.

The Threadbare shorts program (94 min) screens May 3 at 8 pm, at the VIFF Centre, and is followed by a Q&A with Ali Vanderkruyk.

Direct Action

This winner of the 2024 Berlinale Encounters Award takes us to rural Notre-Dame-des-Landes, France, where a 150-person-strong collective of farmers and environmental activists successfully resisted the development of a new international airport over the course of six years.

Direct Action (213 min) screens May 7 at 6:45 pm, at The Cinematheque.

King Arthur’s Night

This world premiere brings the 2017 play of the same name—produced by East Van’s own Neworld Theatre—to the big screen. The “genre-defying” documentary brings viewers behind the scenes as artists with and without Down Syndrome work together to explore Arthurian legend through theatre and song.

King Arthur’s Night (113 min) screens May 7 at 7:30 pm (at the VIFF Centre) and May 8 at 10 am (at the SFU cinema), and will be followed by discussions.

Valentina and the MUOSters

The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is a US military satellite communication system. It relies on ground stations featuring massive antennae in four locations: Virginia, Hawaii, Western Australia, and the small town of Niscemi, Sicily. This award-winning film takes us to Niscemi, where local protagonist Valentina reckons with the impact that electromagnetic radiation from MUOS may be having on her father’s health.

Valentina and the MUOSters (81 min) screens May 8 at 5 pm, at the VIFF Centre.

Among Mountains and Streams

Painter Meng Huan and writer Ma Jian journey through a forest, reflecting on their shared exile from China and the power of art in resisting oppression.

Among Mountains and Streams (99 min) screens May 8 at 6 pm, at The Cinematheque, and is followed by a discussion.

The Tree of Authenticity

Congolese photographer and director Sammy Baloji pairs the words of agronomist-turned-human-rights-activist Paul Panda Farnana with lush landscape imagery to explore the human and environmental legacy of colonialism in his homeland.

The Tree of Authenticity (89 min) screens May 8 at 8:30 pm, at The Cinematheque.

Saints and Warriors

When colonial laws forbid Indigenous people from gathering outside of church or sports, the Haida people gathered on the basketball court. The festival’s closing film follows the Skidegate Saints’ 2023-24 season, charting the role of the game in preserving Haida culture alongside the team’s fight to defend its legacy at the All Native Basketball Tournament.

Saints and Warriors (99 min) screens May 10 at 6:30 pm (at the SFU cinema) and May 11 at 3 pm (at The Cinematheque), and will be followed by discussions.

Honourable mention

In addition to the films listed above, we have also published a preview article about The Pickers, a documentary highlighting the lives of migrant agricultural workers, screening May 2 and 3.

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