The first IDFA tip of the day is immediately a double bill and both films are decades old. They are in the top 10 of Errol Morris, this year's chief guest. Las Hurdes - Tierra sin Pan by Luis Bunuel is a half-hour film that made documentary history. Bunuel was also known then for Un Chien Andalou, his surrealist debut film featuring the blood-curdling scene of a razor approaching a woman's eye. In 1933, he made las Hurdes, about the poorest and most remote region in Spain, where people and animals lived in harsh conditions. But even more than about what poverty does to people, this film is about documentary filmmaking: the dry voice over and dramatic music challenge viewers in their viewing habits and expectations.
The second film of the double bill is Let There Be Light by John Huston. We associate Huston mainly with his wonderful film noirs like The Maltese Falcon and Key Largo. This docu proves that he is also unbeatable in this medium. He shows the horrors of the war by showing, as the first for that matter, what it did to the soldiers. He films the troops after returning home and it is disconcerting. So much so that the film sat on the shelf for ages. Partly to protect the privacy of the soldiers, but also because it might demotivate the entire army.
These films clearly show where Morris himself is coming from. Coupling critical content with questions about the medium itself, and strong auteurism. Mandatory viewing for film lovers, I would almost say.
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