_{Shabu by Shamira Raphaëla}

Feature-length Productions at BFI

Shabu* by Shamira Raphaëla and Tangerine Tree continues its successful festival run. The documentary debuted at IDFA 2021, followed with selections for the Berlinale, Barnefilmfestivalen, Hotdocs and CPH:DOX. When Shabu wrecks his grandmother’s car on a joyride, his whole family is angry with him. He has a summer to make amends before his grandmother returns from a vacation in Suriname. Sales are handled by Reservoir Docs. Shabu is selected for the Journey programme.

Four Dutch minority co-productions have also been selected for BFI. Screening in the same programme as Shabu is Nayola**, directed by José Miguel Ribeiro and co-produced by il Luster. Cannes Grand Prix winner Close**, directed by Lukas Dhont and co-produced by Topkapi Films, is selected for the Love programme, while The Woodcutter Story**, directed by Mikko Juhani Myllylahti and co-produced by Keplerfilm, screens in the Dare programme. Minority co-production Mini-Zlatan and Uncle Darling, directed by Christian Lo and co-produced by Viking Film, completes the Dutch feature length productions line-up with its selection for the Family Competition.

Selected Shorts at BFI

A Sod State by Eoghan Ryan posits pre and post-Brexit ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland as repetitive political theatre, in which an inner demon performs binary contradictions of class, faith, identities, and borders; private, public, and political. A Sod State is selected for the Experimenta programme, while also being nominated for Best Short Film.

Furthermore, two Dutch shorts are selected for BFI's family programme. Quentin Haberham and Family Affair Films' Bristles* and Leon Golterman's Aeronaut round up the Dutch shorts at this year's edition.

Two VR projects in LFF Expanded Programme 

Two Dutch VR projects are selected for BFI's London Film Festival's Expanded programme: Line of Contact and Walzer. Visual artist Dani Ploeger takes us virtually to the frontline of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict to highlight our alarmingly vague perception of war and armed confrontations in Line of Contact, which celebrates its world premiere at BFI. Over the last eight years, the work of Dutch artist and activist Dani Ploeger has been pre-occupied with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the early days of fighting, he travelled to Mariupol, accompanying a group of Ukrainian soldiers and recording the seemingly endless waiting they had to endure. This footage has now been transformed into a powerful VR experience, presented on a custom-made headset.

Composer and performance artist Frieda Gustavs collaborates with visual artist and photography collector Leo Erken on this thought-provoking VR experience. Walzer, which also celebrates its world premiere, is a complex, three-dimensional virtual collage, created out of thousands of old photographs gleaned from private collections, online marketplaces and flea markets. It serves as a backdrop for non-linear narratives encompassing women’s rights and the first wave of feminism in Western Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

For more information on BFI London Film Festival, click here.
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*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund
**Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and Production Incentive