Since the COVID-19 shutdown the Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival (C-Doc) team has been fermenting and bubbling along in hibernation, unable to resist the urge to bring audiences a 2020 C-Doc and a ‘break in the clouds’ in the middle of winter, C-Doc In The Clouds.
As with so much of our lives, 2020 C-Doc will hit our screens online in a distilled – but not diluted – form. It will consist of three films shown online over three evenings and will take place across the originally scheduled weekend of 17-19 July 2020.
“C-Doc In The Clouds will preserve the festival’s cherished and essential films and forums, bringing together people and ideas, vigorous provocation, debate, and laughter. It is a much needed coming together in the way of our times,” said Festival Director Claire Jager.
“C-Doc In The Clouds will present three wonderful, entertaining and illuminating films with accompanying events and panels to remind us of the importance of sustaining culture, welcoming difference, reflecting on what’s happening around us and to celebrate that what we do each day is precious.”
The 2020 C-Doc In The Clouds program is as follows:
Friday 17 July: Picture Character
Chances are, you use emojis every day and know very little about them. Emojis don’t spring into being all by themselves, they must be approved by something called the Unicode Consortium. Starting out as a limited set of simple icons, emojis have now
ballooned into a pop culture phenomenon.
Screening on World Emoji Day, Picture Character demystifies the process of creating emojis by profiling three activists behind new additions – emojis wearing the hijab, variable skin-tone emojis, and the cultural emojis, like the traditional South American mate drink.
“Enlightening. Everything you ever wanted to know about emoji’s but were afraid to ask.” – Hollywood Reporter
Saturday 18 July: Into The Jungle
Newlywed zookeepers Jim and Jean Thomas pack up their safe suburban lives in Melbourne to try to save one of the world’s rarest animals, the Tenkile – a species of tree kangaroo, in the remote jungle of Papua New Guinea.
Into The Jungle is an inspiring film about two remarkable young Australians zookeepers who bring about change that would seem on the face of it impossible — persuading 10,000 people to not hunt an endangered species that has been a staple of their diet for centuries.
Just months after Australia’s horrific bushfires, Into The Jungle is a timely reminder of individual’s capacity to have a lasting impact on the survival of our native species and natural world.
Sunday 19 July: What Is Democracy?
If we want to live in democracy, we must first ask what the word means. Coming at a moment of profound political and social crisis, What Is Democracy? reflects on a word we too often take for granted.
Featuring a diverse cast including celebrated philosophers, trauma surgeons, factory workers, refugees, and politicians, What Is Democracy? spans millennia and continents: from ancient Athenians’ ground-breaking experiment in self-government to capitalism’s roots in medieval Italy; from modern-day Greece grappling with financial collapse and a mounting refugee crisis, to the United States reckoning with its racist past and the growing gap between rich and poor.
“… a sharp political reminder to pay attention to politics and to remember that the personal and the local are political.” – The Guardian
Each film screening will be followed by a live streamed panel discussion. Tickets are now available online and can be purchased by anyone living in Australia or New Zealand. For more information, visit: www.cdocff.com.au for details.
Image: Into The Jungle (supplied)