For a moment, you think Ester Gould has done the impossible with 'A Strange Love Affair With Ego'. Reversing time. Filming what is only memory. Because as we learn how she always admired her two-year older sister Rowan, we see something similar happening in a group of children playing in the Scottish countryside. The ringleader is a girl brimming with self-confidence. Destined to prove you can 'be anything you want'. A girl who, we understand, could be a doppelganger of Rowan.
'A Strange Love Affair With Ego' was awarded best Dutch documentary at IDFA.
Making the personal general. Gould has found a wonderful way to do this that, as far as I remember, I have not seen before. That touching introduction with the children is already a gem. It is the beginning of a series of encounters with other women who are all the centre of attention, or would like to be. Who, longing for fame and recognition, reflect something of Rowan in their own way. She herself is present only in the form of short texts from conversations with Ester.
Apart from a short acted fragment and a meeting with a psychologist, this is how Gould breathes life into her sister's story while giving it a broader scope. A very free, original form in which the intimate personal portraits grow into a poignant impression of contemporary narcissism and oversold individualism. A moving and melancholic reflection on the tragedy that lurks. All this in an open manner, based more on wonder than on densely held opinions.
In its report the 'unique voice of the author', and sees a groundbreaking documentary that plays experimentally but masterfully with ideas about human nature.
The Special Jury Prize went to Tom Fassaert's 'A Family Affair'. About that unsettling investigation into a family history, also IDFA opening here already posted earlier.
Overview of all prize winners is on the IDFA website. 'Don Juan' by Jerzy Sladkowski won the VPRO IDFA Award for best feature-length documentary.
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