Films this year:
16. Seiichi Motohashi, Nadya's Village (1997)
17. Peter Brosens, State of Dogs (1998?)
16 is the photographer Seiichi Motohashi's first full-length documentary, following people's life in a small quasi-abandoned village in Belarus. People were evacuated after the accident at Chernobyl, but some of them stayed, including 8-year-old Nadya's family. The film's tranquility and the beauty of the land is awesome. And then when you come to the gate of the village... I've got to go and watch his "Baobab" (now being released) soon.
17 is a surprising masterpiece. A decade ago when it was released in Tokyo I wrote a short essay for the booklet. Reviewing it after such a long time and I blame myself for not remembering the whole film well...even though I've watched it probably four times before. This makes a nice pair of Mongolian films with The Weeping Camel. There are more, too.
