All artists transform reality, whatever their medium.  They look at the world and/or the people around them and then create their version of what they see, They are motivated by a variety of impulses, from simply wanting to please themselves, as an intellectual exercise, to wanting to convey a message and even change the world or inspire others to change it or themselves.  Some, simply report what they see, some fiddle around the edges of the truth, and some use metaphors to convey what they see.

And so it is with film.  At one end of the spectrum is the documentary and at the other fantasy.  However, even the documentary is never ‘as life is’.  The director has always selected what he wishes to show us, and he has also selected the manner in which he does it - the angle of the camera, the commentary, the music, even the very choice of subject.  This year we have no documentaries in our program, but we have films about real people, films based on real-life events and films that illustrate a specific cultural milieu.  At the other end of the spectrum are fictional dramas that deal with human emotions - recognisable to us all, if heightened for the screen - and fantasy - grand visions of how the world might be in the future, and allegories about how to find love.

Reality is transformed on screen by some of the most talented directors at work in the world today, using every possible cinematic technique.  We invite you to share their visions, troubling though they sometimes are, and hope that they may transform your own view of the reality we live with.