North By Northeast - Neighbours Exposed

Vitali Manski is one of the most interesting and harrowing names of the new Russian documentary. In his new film Virginity, Manski explores extreme forms of Russian capitalism. Moscow is portrayed as a "megamarket", where everything is for sale and everyone must participate. New products flow into the city to be sold, and even human beings are above all commodities. At the centre of the story are three young women, who each have a sought-after commodity – their virginity. Kristina, Karina and Katya each try to make their way in a world ruled by fame, popularity and money. Kristina auditions for a reality TV show, Karina wants to take Madonna’s place and Katya is simply looking for a fair price for her virginity on the internet.

This film is like a captivating, infernal chamber play in which an ageless mother and her 53-year-old psychiatrist son battle it out. The mother’s furious arguments flare up as her son gives his professionally restrained comments. Another woman has entered his life at last and the possessive mother cannot tolerate this. In its preciseness this grim and painful story is like family therapy, resembling Marcin Koszalka’s first work Such a Nice Boy I Gave Birth to, in which he untangled the relationship with his mother by shooting with a hidden camera in his home.

Alyosha broadens the view on the bronze statue dispute that strained ties between Russia and Estonia. Director Meelis Muhu interviews people near the statue. They either object to the symbol of national humiliation or remember the Great War and its victims; two groups build their own concept of history. Despite the different opinions, the greatest divide is surprisingly not between Estonians and Estonian Russians. There are pacifists with experience of the war in both camps, and the same applies to nationalists engaged in aggressive talk and action.

Herz Frank, the grand old man of Latvian documentary, took part in creating the school of poetic documentary in the 60s. In this film shot in Israel, Russia and the United States, he delves into the world of theatre.

Are people’s emotions the same everywhere? Or do culture and environment affect a person so strongly that a Dane’s experience of sorrow is different from a Zimbabwean’s, for instance. In this powerful documentary by Mikala Krogh, we see emotional events from around the world. Like a kaleidoscope, they illuminate the film’s themes, which include love, illness and happiness. How do the feelings of an American soldier shipping out once more relate to those of a young Danish woman beginning cancer treatment?

Three generations of the Lykken family live under the same roof. They take care of their farm and raise goats in a small Norwegian village.

Revue portrays the history of communism through old Soviet Union propaganda films. Its main focus is on the earthy life on the collective farms; the stages of industrialisation and modernization are touched upon with imagery that shows the bustle of factories and the wonders of mechanisation.

In the film people work with smiling faces. The episodes are punctuated by dance, song and theatre numbers which reflect the party loyalty of the time. Even children weigh their words carefully; the upbringing of an obedient communist begins at an early age.

The parents of Thai boy Mio send their eight-year-old son to live with his aunt in Sweden, so that in the future he could earn money for his family. But things do not go according to plan. At seventeen, Mio is living a suburban everyday life in Stockholm, far from his family’s dreams. Drugs and violence are commonplace. Things are not going well with his girlfriend either.