I have recently returned from attending the third edition of DOCS DF, Mexico City’s International Documentary Film Festival. It was fantastic. The range and number of films presented were vast.

Docs like Aaron Wolf’s King Corn and Bomb It! by Jon Reiss were showed for free at the magnificent Ciudad Universitaria (the main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, catering to 100,000 students).

One of the highlights of the comprehensive festival was a retrospective of Robert Gardner, with the notable filmmaker in attendance.

Additionally, there was a pitching session, with Mexican producers and television executives as panelists; a documentary scriptwriting workshop that showcased its participants in a script pitching event; and a 100-hour “Reto DOCS DF,” in which five teams (four Mexican, one Chilean) had the aforementioned 100 hours to research, shoot, and edit a short documentary. The five resulting films were presented in sold-out screenings, and audiences voted for their favorite, who won a Panasonic DVX 100B camera and post-production package.

A conversation with Serbian writer and director Goran Radovanovic was one of my favorite events.  Goran used the platform to advocate that filmmakers should not get bogged down by the structure of “proper” documentary filmmaking, and all that it entails, (fundraising, minute research, writing of outline and treatment, etc.) and to instead focus on ideas.

What he meant was that often filmmakers become too preoccupied with plan A, and when it falls apart, they cannot see beyond their “treatment.” As an example, he recalled going to visit his aunt, living in a remote village, to document her and the family cow, source of her subsistence.

Upon arrival at his aunt’s house he learned that she had sold the cow. No more film, you may ask? On the contrary, his aunt happened to own a cell phone and the film became an intimate short about her learning how to use the phone, and generally, to adapt to a modern world.

DocuClub had been invited to hold a screening and feedback session at Docs DF, which would feature a local filmmaker and audience. We had our session on October 1. A rough cut of Havan York, by Mexican filmmaker Luciano Larobina was shown.

Larobina is an accomplished filmmaker who was trained in Mexico and Cuba where he studied storytelling with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. To assist in the completion of his film, he has received a fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation as well as support from Mexico’s Fondo Nacional Para la Cultura y las Artes.

The documentary, shot on Super 8 and mini-DV, portrayed a non-linear conversation between musicians and artists in Cuba and New York about the history and practice of hip hop in both locations. The soundtrack, of course, provided the rhythmic foundation for the film, and it featured Pablo Valero, The Last Poets and Los Aldeanos among many others.

Director Larobina and I during DocuClub session

I served as moderator for the lively feedback that followed the screening. Director Larobina was concerned with how the different “blocks” of material would be integrated without the use of voiceover.

He was adamant about not narrating the film, but after the many comments encouraging him to use his voice, he seemed more amenable to the idea.

DOCS DF is a wonderful festival, and it was inspiring to meet so many dedicated filmmakers and audiences. The staff and volunteers went out of their way to make sure everything ran perfectly.

Read more about DOCSDF here: www.docsdf.com.