THE PROGRAMMERS AND FILM EVALUATION CRITERIA

The group of Selectors are of different ages and nationalities, authors, filmmakers or experts in the field view over the course of two quarters around 700 films from the Faito Doc Calls for Proposals, proposals or suggestions from a group of advisors and experts from different countries, from discoveries made by the selectors themselves during other International Documentary Festivals. They then select up to 50 creative documentary films (feature, short and ultra-short films) from around 27 countries, by filmmakers whose visions of reality inspire a variety of evasions in us spectators. 

The diverse origins and professionalism of the selectors, their critical sense and in-depth look at particular realities, allow for intense debates and comparisons before providing a final selection of high quality. The poetic and human qualities of the films are always favoured over the quantity of works submitted.

Twice a month, the selectors meet in the house of artistic directors Nathalie Rossetti and Turi Finocchiaro (in presence and in visioconference) and discuss auteur documentary films from direct to experimental cinema, from intimist films to animated documentaries. Both the director’s point of view and the form and originality of the work are taken into consideration, as well as the theme and its multi-senses.

The debates mainly revolve around certain evaluation criteria.

MARIA HERMOSILLO (MEX)
I’m from Mexico and I’ve been living in Belgium for 9 years, where I work as a production manager for various types of audiovisual productions. I am passionate about Art and Cinema. I hope you enjoy the program we’ve prepared for you, a program that explores the theme of “roots” from different points of view. 

FLORIAN FANIELLE (BE)
I graduated from ESRA Brussels in 2023 (documentary) with the subject of my dissertation being the link between erotic cinema of the 60s and 70s and the Japanese far left. I am currently directing my first self-produced feature-length documentary. From this first experience in the role of selector, I am very happy with the diversity of the films we have chosen, ‘different roots’ in both form and content. Enjoy the show!

JULIETTE AUROY (FR)
Franco-Belgian and Italian at heart, I’m based in Brussels and work in audiovisual postproduction. As a great lover of cinema and its human stories, I was delighted to be part of this year’s selection of films for Faito Doc. I hope you’ll enjoy discovering the films presented as much as I did, which come from different horizons but ultimately deal with a subject common to us all: roots.

THIBAULT FLAMENT (NL)
I am a documentary producer and director based in Brussels, passionate about subjects that explore the humanity of cultures and the sharing of knowledge. I love tacit observation and appreciate the small details that subtly adjust situations. I have worked in Africa and Central Asia, where I have been able to delve into various cultures and tell unique stories. I enjoy swimming and working out regularly. I am glad that one of my photographs has been chosen and adapted for the poster of Festival 2024.

LOUISE DE BAER (BE)
I am Flemish, passionate about music and art. Documentaries allow me to observe the world from deeper perspectives and discover different realities. Being a selector for Faito Doc is a new experience; through films, it feels as if I can hear the world breathe. The exchanges with other selectors have revealed both the beauty and our fragility: sometimes a film has triggered tensions and prejudices among us and made communication challenging. But the best part has been the humility with which we emerge from conflicts, simply and with a hearty laugh.

EMANUELE MAMMARELLA (IT)
Born in Abruzzo and adopted by Brussels, a musician by passion and clarinettist as profession, documentary cinema is a novelty with witch I have been living with for 4 years, since I’ve been with the Finocchiaro family. My perspective sometimes clashes with their tastes and those of the selectors who work in the field of cinema. That’s why my voice probably opens a different path that enriches the selection.

CAROLINE AMET (FR)
As a young jury member at Faito Doc in 2023, I was pleased to contribute this year to the selection of short films from film schools by sharing my opinions and critiques. The work of the entire team deserves praise, especially for the films in the “International Competition of Short Films from Film Schools” section, which, for this 2024 edition, appear diverse and particularly interesting to me.

 

We thank NINA ALEXANDRAKI and SEDA SAT for their magnificent work in pre-selecting the short films from film schools, and GABRIEL LAUVIGE for optimizing communication with the schools.

 

Evaluation criteria :

  • The director’s point of view: the original gaze that the director places on reality, his vision ;
  • The director’s empathy with the people he films and who become his characters ;
  • The cinematographic language: the way of telling, the original way of staging the story told through authentic and surprising shots at the service of the story and which never settle for a simple “reportage”, through personal visual and sound editing, the sense of rhythm and the art of mixing; a poetic, sensitive and original language ;
  • Taking into account the theme of the edition ;
  • Finally, the need to show, through cinema, visions of the historical reality of the human being and the world in which we live, thus choosing films that provoke reflexion, positive “conflicts”, to enrich knowledge and encourage the life journey of each spectator, attentive to both social and environmental issues by retracing the past in the present and in anticipation of the future.