2022 DOCUMENTARY SERIES
CHECK this page for monthly program announcements!
Monthly throughout 2022, Stronger than Fiction will present one of the latest and greatest documentary features from around the world - the most moving stories, the most relevant topics, and the most cutting-edge cinematic craft, accompanied by director Q&As, expert panels, and chats about the films in the Dendy Premium Lounge.
Keep up to date with the program and special events on our website, and follow us on socials or join the STF mailing list to hear about special offers like Club Dendy bonuses and free childcare at selected sessions!!
Yoyogi Haiku
Sunday 20th Nov | 3pm
Friday 25th Nov | 6.30pm
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Stronger than Fiction’s 2022 Documentary Series closes with an immersive, soothing, and sublimely beautiful visit to YoyoGi Central Park in Tokyo, Japan.
Estonian filmmaker Max Golomidov takes us on a meditative journey through the park, indulging the pure pleasures of both nature and people-watching. The result is a paradox: despite being a collection of simple shots of everyday actions, Yoyogi Haiku manages to be completely fresh and unexpected. The perfect confluence of light, time and space transforms ordinary human activity into poetry, helping us to find beauty and transcendence within the rush of our daily lives. It’s an exquisite, singular cinematic experience.
Country: Japan, Estonia, Belarus
Language: Japanese & Estonian with English Subtitles
Year: 2022
Director: Max Golomidov
Rating: CTC (Unclassified, All Ages)
Length: 74 min
Please join us for a closing night reception after the screening on Sunday 20th November to celebrate the end of our 2022 series.
ALL ABOUT MY SISTERS
SUNDAY 16 October | 3.00pm
FRIDAY 21 October | 6.00pm
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This complex, ambitious and affecting portrait of a family fractured by the One Child Policy asks how documentary can help us deal with the ghosts of the past.
At the height of the One Child Policy in China, many baby girls were unwanted. Twenty years ago, when film director Wang Qiong’s parents, who were desperate for a boy, learned that they were instead expecting another daughter, they made a series of decisions that have haunted the family ever since.
In a quest to understand and bring healing, 22 year old Qiong picked up her camera and began exploring her fractured family with unflinching honesty. At the centre of the film is her sister Jin, who remains profoundly affected by her parents’ abandonment of her as a baby. Qiong gradually teases out the full story of Jin’s birth and childhood, a subject that nobody has been able to talk about for years. More than an observer, she often intervenes gently from behind her hand-held camera, as the personal and psychological effects of the past on everyone in the family are uncovered.
Filming over the course of seven years, Qiong captures moments of vulnerability, anguish and joy with insight and delicate artistry, connecting us with the universal desire for love and belonging that lies beneath her family’s difficult history.
"Wang Qiong establishes herself as a major new voice in nonfiction cinema.” – New York Film Festival
Runtime 174 mins
Classification CTC (Unclassified 15+)
Language Chinese with English Subtitles
Please join us in the Dendy Premium Lounge after the screening for a glass of wine and conversation about the film!
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL
SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER| 3.00pm
FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER | 6.30pm
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Canberra
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Sasha is a trans man from Tbilisi, Georgia – a place where many LGBTQ+ people do not feel safe to live openly.
Being unable to change his gender on his passport means that Sasha cannot legally find work or safely access medical care, and the consequences of being recognized on the street by friends, family or colleagues who knew him pre-transition could be life threatening.
Sasha finds acceptance, dignity and humour in the home he shares with his wife Mari, but the ever present threat of violence beyond the front door holds them both in a vice of fear. It’s an untenable way to live, and aided by Sasha’s unflappable aunt Zhanna, the couple begins the process of seeking asylum in another country.
Director Yana Ugrekhelidze collaborated closely with Sasha and Mari to capture both the intense difficulty and tender beauty of their lives together. The camera is deeply empathetic, always close but never intrusive. The result is a fresh, candid portrait about choosing your own family and imagining a future beyond the margins.
“In its quietly powerful and deeply humane way, Instructions for Survival captures both the heartbreak and profound joy of ordinary love in extraordinary circumstances.” – Frameline
DIRECTOR : Yana Ugrekhelidze
COUNTRY : Germany, Georgia
LANGUAGE : Georgian and Russian with English subtitles
YEAR : 2021
CLASSIFICATION : CTC (Unclassified 15+)
RUNNING TIME : 72 MINS
Presented in partnership with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Canberra. Join us in the Dendy Premium Lounge after the screening to discuss the film over tea, coffee or a glass of wine!
FIRE OF LOVE
SUNDAY 21 AUGUST | 3.00pm
FRIDAY 26 AUGUST | 6.30pm
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DENDY CINEMAS, CANBERRA
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Katia and Maurice Krafft had a burning passion for two things – each other, and volcanoes.
When geochemist Katia and geologist Maurice met in 1966, sparks flew immediately. In the decades that followed, the intrepid and unconventional scientists devoted themselves to their shared obsession: chasing lava around the world. Unfazed by extreme heat, acid lakes and flying boulders in their quest to film volcanoes up close, their pioneering research has helped save countless lives and resulted in some of the most spectacular natural imagery ever recorded. Narrated by Miranda July, their terrifyingly beautiful images — and red hot love story — are not to be missed on the big screen.“The greatest lava-fuelled love story ever told.” – Rolling Stone
DIRECTOR : Sara Dosa
COUNTRY : USA, Canada
LANGUAGE : English and French with English subtitles
YEAR : 2022
CLASSIFICATION : PG
RUNNING TIME : 93 MINS
Presented in partnership with Dendy Cinemas, Canberra. Join us in the Dendy Premium Lounge after the screening to discuss the film over tea, coffee or a glass of wine!
MIDWIVES
SUNDAY 24 JULY | 3.00pm | dendy canberra
FRIDAY 29 JULY | 6.30pm | dendy canberra
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In a remote corner of Rakhine state, a Buddhist midwife and her Rohingya Muslim apprentice form an unlikely alliance amidst escalating ethnic violence.
Despite their religious differences, sharp-tongued Hla and her headstrong trainee Ngo Ngo are brought together by shared resourcefulness and a desire to help women in their community. It’s a deeply complicated relationship: the two women’s personalities and ambitions couldn’t be more different, and although Hla puts herself at risk to help Rohingya women, her demanding standards and casual racism are a source of strain for Ngo Nyo.
Director Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing filmed this remarkable documentary in her hometown over five years of escalating turmoil in Myanmar. Her ability to tell Hla and Ngo Ngo’s story from the inside results in a deft character study that’s as layered and complex as a novel. Midwives offers unmatched insight into life behind the headlines.
“An intimate ode to women and the strength of sisterhood, in all its complexities.” - POV Magazine
“A tale of clashing ambitions, tough love tinged with casual racism, and the highs and lows of motherhood, all set against the backdrop of societal expectations, competing armed forces, and ultimately a military coup.” - Lauren Wissot, Filmmaker Magazine
91 minutes | Burmese/Rakhine Language with English Subtitles | CTC (Unclassified)
Join us in the Dendy Premium Lounge after the screening to discuss the film over tea, coffee or a glass of wine!
A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS
SATURDAY 18 JUNE | 4:30pm | dendy canberra
PRESENTED IN COLLABORATION WITH CAPITAL FILM FESTIVAL
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20km from the front line in eastern Ukraine, a small group of social workers provide temporary comfort and safety for the children left abandoned due to the ongoing effects of war.
Filmmaker Simon Lereng Wilmont has been honing his craft on the Ukrainian front for many years – his previous film, 2017’s The Distant Barking of Dogs resulted in an Oscar nomination. In A House Made of Splinters, he captures the world through the eyes of several children trapped in limbo at the Lysychansk shelter. Unflinchingly truthful but astonishingly gentle, this remarkable depiction of childhood brims with patience and compassion both in front of and behind the camera.
Marked by unusual tenderness and human interest...an affecting diary of life continuing in the worst of circumstances, disrupted equally by sorrow and fleeting joy. - Vanity Fair
87 minutes | Ukrainian & Russian with English subtitles | CTC (Unclassified 15+)
Screening at Dendy Canberra Centre, Saturday 18th June at 4.30pm
Second screening Sunday 26th June at 12.30pm
Join us in the Dendy Foyer after the screening on the 18th June to celebrate the launch of our 2022 Series over complimentary canapés and wine!
NAVALNY
SUNDAY 19 JUNE | 11:45Am | dendy canberra
Presented in Collaboration with capital Film Festival
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Equal parts politician, provocateur and investigative journalist, Putin opponent Alexei Navalny refuses to be cowed by anything – including his own attempted murder.
Shot in the months following the assassination attempt on the pro-democracy Russian opposition leader in August 2020, Navalny unfolds with the pace of a thriller, offering extraordinary access into the murder investigation. As unbelievable details of the plot emerge, so too a striking portrait of its intended victim forms – a pragmatic and charismatic leader attempting to handle the precarity of his situation with a sense of humor and dedication to the cause. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Navalny is one of the most gripping films you will see this year.
One of the most jaw-dropping things you’ll ever witness, this terrifying documentary enters the realms of the far-fetched spy thriller - The Guardian
98 min | English & Russian with English subtitles | CTC (Unclassified 15+)
Screening at Dendy Canberra Centre, Sunday 19th June at 11.45am
Second screening Tuesday 21st June at 9.15pm