DOXA Documentary Film Festival reveals robust 2024 lineup

by Kristi Alexandra on April 3rd, 2024 at 5:44 PM

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The DOXA Documentary Film Festival has finally revealed its film lineup in tandem with ticket sales—and consider our interest piqued!

Now in its 23rd year, the annual festival is back with 48 new feature- and mid-length documentaries along with 34 short films that run the gamut of Indigenous storytelling, music, history, and gender identity. From May 2 to 12, the films will be screened in select venues and theatres across the city.

Opening the festival will be Shannon Walsh’s Adrianne & the Castle: the whimsical story of Alan and Adrianne St-Georges, who built an ornate castle by hand, signifying their enduring love—even posthumously.

Mid-week, the world premiere of Conor McNally's nanekawâsis explores the life and art of Two Spirit Nêhiyaw (Cree) artist George Littlechild.

Other world and Canadian premieres include Ryan Dickie’s Tea Creek, chronicling Indigenous food sovereignty; Niall Patrick McNeil and Mike McKinlay’s The Originals, exploring the history of BC’s legendary outdoor theatre company, Caravan Farm Theatre; and shorts Cake and Death; Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying; and Twig.

Finally, closing the festival is Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, a story that follows pioneering transgender performer Jackie Shane from the 1950s Nashville R&B scene to 1960s Toronto nightlife and beyond.

Additionally, guest curation by New York Film Festival artistic director Dennis Lim brings Italian documentary Anna to Vancouver.

“The film is an extraordinarily precise record of a particular time and place: the mythical tinder box of militancy, rage, repression, paranoia, and nihilism that was Italy in the 1970s,” Lim explains in a release. “Anna seems to hold all the possibilities of cinema—even as it acknowledges its limits.”

Explore all films and programming here.