4 best movies like Kulenkampffs Schuhe (2018)

Darwin meets Hitchcock in this documentary. Directors Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine have created a parable about the search for paradise, set in the brutal yet alluring landscape of the Galapagos Islands, which interweaves an unsolved 1930s murder mystery with stories of present day Galapagos pioneers. A gripping tale of idealistic dreams gone awry, featuring voice-over performances by Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, and Gustaf Skarsgard.

25 years ago, Louis Sarno, an American, heard a song on the radio and followed its melody into the Central Africa Jungle and stayed. He than recorded over 1000 hours of original BaAka music. Now he is part of the BaAka community and raises his pygmy son, Samedi. Fulfilling an old promise, Louis takes Samedi to America. On this journey Louis realizes he is not part of this globalized world anymore but globalization has also arrived in the rainforest. The BaAka depend on Louis for their survival. Father and son return to the melodies of the jungle but the question remains: How much longer will the songs of the forest be heard?

David Sieveking left home years ago to make films. Now he has returned – and for a reason: To help his mother, Gretel, who has Alzheimer’s, and relieve her long-time carer and his father Malte for a few weeks. The filmmaker takes on the role of carer and documents this encounter with his camera. Gretel no longer knows the people around her, but her puns and charm have not faded. The time spent with his mother becomes a journey into David’s unexpected family history. Once active in Zurich’s left-wing scene, David’s parents enjoyed a lifelong “open relationship”, characterised by a loving distance and mutual respect. VERGISS MEIN NICHT is a film about dementia, but it’s first and foremost a declaration of a love of life and family.

In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her. The film that resulted from this series of tense encounters is absolutely sui generis in the history of cinema: a 100% real-life thriller unfolding minute by minute before our eyes. Poitras is a great and brave filmmaker, but she is also a masterful storyteller: she compresses the many days of questioning, waiting, confirming, watching the world’s reaction and agonizing over the next move, into both a great character study of Snowden and a narrative that will leave you on the edge of your seat as it inexorably moves toward its conclusion.