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The aim of the Screening segment is to provide the audience with an opportunity to view a great number of excellent works, and to explore and draw conclusions for the industry on how documentary film can be incorporated into the cinema system.
The Documentary Sector has selected eleven domestic and foreign films of particularly high quality which will be screened in several theatres. The opening film in the Documentary Sector is Roof of the World. The Documentary Sector will also organize television screenings, salon screenings and press conferences with directors.
——2015 BJIFF Documentary Sector Openning Film
 | Name: Roof of the World
Synopsis: This documentary film reveals the relation between nature and human beings on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The high-altitude plateau with harsh natural environment has taught local people to respect environment and reasonably utilize natural resources; it has also helped them develop strong sense of responsibility for their families, and reverence for pure and noble hearts. This film tells several stories in an attempt to show how the relation between nature and human beings is formed, and how local people’s morals and wisdom can make a difference in these stories. The film will reveal the vast land of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its diverse terrain, the living conditions of rare wild animals here, and local people’s living styles that are typical of an ethnic group. The core of their living styles is spirit. In this film,“Roof of the world” is less a geographic concept than a spiritual notion. At the spiritual level, it is the sense of nobleness and happiness for people living in the high-altitude region. |
 | Name: Cotton
Synopsis: Four principal characters, a farmer, a cotton picker and workers in cotton factories are the protagonists of this character-driven odyssey into the heart of China’s cotton industry, in which we witness the workings of a very labor intensive industry. From the planting and growing of Cotton in the North-Western province of Xinjiang to the fashion weeks organized in China’s Southern province of Guangdong. |
 | Name: The Salt of the Earth Country/Area of Origin: France Running Time：109 minutes Language：French/English Director：JulianoRibeiro Salgado/WimWenders Year: 2014 Production Company：Decia Films 5 wins and 6 nominations, including Won Audience Award in San Sebastián International Film Festival 2014, Won Un Certain Regard - Special Jury Prize in Cannes Film Festival 2014, and Nominated Oscar Best Documentary, Feature Wim Wenders Juliano Ribeiro Salgado David Rosier in Academy Awards, USA 2015, etc. Premiere: China Premiere Synopsis: For the last 40 years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed some of the major events of our recent history; international conflicts, starvation and exodus. He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of wild fauna and flora, and of grandiose landscapes as part of a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet’s beauty. Sebastião Salgado’s life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last travels, and by WimWenders, himself a photographer. |
 | Name: Night Will Fall Country/Area of Origin: U.K/USA/Israel/Denmark Running Time：75 minutes Language：English Director：André Singer Year: 2014 Production Company：Angel TV/ Spring Films Awards: 2 wins and 3 nominations, including Won Special Mention in Sheffield International Documentary Festival 2014, and Won The Jewish Experience Award in Jerusalem Film Festival 2014, etc. Premiere: China Premiere Synopsis: Night Will Fall tells the story of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration camps. Using remarkable archive footage and testimony from both survivors and liberators, it tells of the efforts made to document the almost unbelievable scenes that the allies encountered on Liberation. It explores how a team of top filmmakers, including Sidney Bernstein, Richard Crossman and Alfred Hitchcock came together to make a film to provide undeniable evidence of what the allies found. Each new generation deserves access to this evidence. |
 | Name: Brave Miss World Country/Area of Origin: USA/Israel Running Time：88 minutes Language：English Director：Cecilia Peck Year: 2013 Production Company：Linor Documentary, LLC Awards: Won Primetime Emmy Awards 2014, Nominated Audience Choice Award in Chicago International Film Festival 2013 Premiere: China Premiere Synopsis: Miss Israel LinorAbargil was abducted, stabbed, and raped in Milan, Italy, at age 18. She had to represent her country in the Miss World competition only six weeks later. When to her shock she was crowned the winner, she vowed to do something about rape. The film follows her from the rape, to her crowning and through her crusade to fight for justice and break the silence. During her travels to speak out and meet with other rape victims, her own trauma begins to resurface. Her serial rapist becomes eligible for parole, and she has to hunt down his previous victims in order to help keep him behind bars. The film explores the trauma of sexual assault through one young woman’s journey from teenage rape victim to Miss World to empowered lawyer and activist. |
 | Name: Photo-eddy Country/Area of Origin: Netherlands Running Time：84 minutes Language：Dutch Director：David de Jongh Year: 2013 Production Company：Pieter van Huystee Film Awards: 2013 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam --Nominated Competition for Dutch Documentary Premiere: International Premiere Synopsis: De Jongh senior's private life was not exactly picture-perfect, and his son doesn't shy away from dealing with painful issues. Friends, colleagues, his many former wives and his children all attest to how difficult a man he was to deal with, with his alcohol abuse and a traumatic war past. The sometimes hard-to-face interviews are interspersed with photos from Eddy's archive, home movies and many audio recordings. The many messages Eddy left on his son David's answering machine are particularly revealing. |
 | Name: Life Itself Country/Area of Origin: USA Running Time：120 minutes Language：English Director：Steve James Year: 2014 Production Company：CNN Films/Film Rites/Kartemquin Films Awards: 20 wins and 21 nominations African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Award: Best Documentary Film Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) 2014 Award: Best Documentary Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2015 won Critics Choice Award: Best Documentary Feature Premiere: China Premiere Synopsis: Based on his bestselling memoir of the same name, Life Itself explores the impact and legacy of Roger Ebert’s life, from his Pulitzer Prize-winning film criticism at the Chicago Sun-Times to becoming one of the most influential cultural voices in America. |
| Name: Cotton Country/Area of Origin: China Running Time：84 Minutes Language：Chinese Director：ZhouHao Year: 2014 Production Company：SMG、ICTV、21st Century Media Awards: Best Documentary of 51st Golden Horse Award, Taiwan. Grand Jury Award & Best Photography, 4th China Academic Award Synopsis: Four principal characters, a farmer, a cotton picker and workers in cotton factories are the protagonists of this character-driven odyssey into the heart of China’s cotton industry, in which we witness the workings of a very labor intensive industry. From the planting and growing of Cotton in the North-Western province of Xinjiang to the fashion weeks organized in China’s Southern province of Guangdong. |
 | Name: Manufacturing Romance Country/Area of Origin: China Running Time：97 Minutes Language：Chinese Director：Chai Hong fang/ Fan Jian Year: 2014 Production Company：China Agriculture Film and Television Center Premiere: World Premiere Synopsis: China's economic boom has seen young, aspirational men and women abandon their provincial homes for the cities to find work. While some are able to break free of their filial responsibilities, choose a spouse and settle down in an affluent metropolis like Shenzhen, others are bound by their families. While the children look to make a better life, their parents face the very real fear that their family legacy will soon disappear forever. |
 | Name: Planting for Life Country/Area of Origin: China Running Time：75 Minutes Language：Chinese Director：GuXiaogang Year: 2014 Production Company：CNEX Synopsis: Old Jia was a white-collar worker who gave up his city life and returned to the countryside with his wife, Lizi. He abandoned chemical fertilizer to practice natural farming. His attitude and philosophy attracted a big group of admirers from the city, whereas local villagers found his approaches disagreeable. When Old Jia finally left and looked back this part of his life, he saw the germination of seeds, the birth of new life, the harvest of crops, and the betrayal of love. And as always, life goes on. |
 | Name: After the Wave Country/Area of Origin: Australia Running Time：81 Minutes Language：English Director：Amanda Blue Year: 2014 Production Company：Flaming Star Films Premiere: China Premiere Synopsis: The 2004’s Boxing Day tsunami was the most devastating natural disaster in modern times, killing 228,000 people across 13 countries. AFTER THE WAVE tells the untold story of this epic forensic operation in Thailand to identify and return home the bodies of over 5,000 victims. The best forensic specialists from around the world were in a race against time to give back every victim their identity. Creating forensic history, the international team’s mantra was ‘we will take them home’. Forensic science intersects with powerful stories of survival and loss, attempting to make some sense out of a tragedy so bewilderingly complete that a decade out it still seems far-fetched to most. |
 | Name: Deadly Depths Country/Area of Origin: France, China, Japan Running Time：90 Minutes Language：Chinese Director：Bob Coen/Eric Nadler Year: 2014 Production Company：Georama TV Productions/HLJTV Screenwriter: Nicolas Koutsikas Awards: Rainier III Special Award, 2014 Monte Carlo International TV Festival Golden Red Cotton Award, GZDOC International Golden Panda Award, Sichuan TV Festival Grand Award of Germany Green Screen TV Festival Premiere: China Premiere Synopsis: From 1917 to 1970, the armies of the world’s greatest powers systematically dumped these highly toxic and explosive cocktails into the oceans. A military secret so well-kept that these underwater dump sites remained hidden for several decades. Deadly Depths investigates this untold story of the global risk of a chemical pollution. More than 26 international channels took part in this project during the last three years. |
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