Eye For Film >> Festivals >> Glasgow >> 2011 >> Stranger Than Fiction

A series of eye-opening documentaries present the world as we thought we knew it in new, unusual ways. There's great work here from all around the world, including the latest film by legendary director Werner Herzog. Educating yourself has never been more of a pleasure.

View other Glasgow Film Festival Films by strand: Best Of British, Beyond Bollywood, Ceol's Craic, European Cinema, Fashion In Film, FrightFest, Galas, Ginger Rogers Retrospective, Great Scots, It's a Wonderful World, Meryl Streep Retrospective, Music and Film, Out of the Past, Short Film Festival, Superheroes in Glasgow, The Stasi Are Among Us, The State Of Independents, Youth Film Festival

Waste Land and The Big Uneasy

The Big Uneasy (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Harry Shearer; Writer: Harry Shearer; Stars: Harry Shearer, John Goodman), Official Site, Trailer

Why was New Orleans so desperately unprepared for Hurricane Katrina? This documentary explores the corruption and dodgy political dealings that made the disaster's impact worse.

Full Review See: Article about the UK Green Film Festival 2011

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (Caves of Forgotten Dreams) (Year: 2010; Director: Werner Herzog; Writer: Werner Herzog; Stars: Charles Fathy, Werner Herzog)

An exploration of the Chauvet caves in Southern France where the oldest known human paintings can be found.

Full Review

Fire In Babylon (Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: Stevan Riley), Official Site

A documentary about the golden age of West Indian cricket.

Full Review

A Letter To Elia (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Kent Jones, Martin Scorsese; Writer: Kent Jones, Martin Scorsese; Stars: Martin Scorsese, Elia Kazan)

A fresh exploration of the work of the director widely loathed for breaking down before the House Unamerican Activities Commission and turning in his colleagues.

Marwencol (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Jeff Malmberg; Stars: Mark Hogancamp)

An introduction to the world of Mark Hogancamp, who reconstructed World War II era European town Marwencol in miniature in his back garden as he recovered from a coma.

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams and Fire In Babylon

Nostalgia For The Light (Nostalgia De La Luz) (Country: France, Germany, Chile; Year: 2010; Director: Patricio Guzmán; Writer: Patricio Guzmán)

A documentary about astronomers in Chile's Atacama Desert who gather to consider the stars while beneath the ground lie the remnants of ancient civilisations.

Full Review See: Diary article on the Glasgow Film Festival

Norman Mailer: The American (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Joseph Mantegna; Stars: Norman Mailer, Muhammad Ali, Beverly Bentley, William F. Buckley)

A documentary portrait of the American literary phenomenon also known for his filmmaking, his boxing and his aggressive attitude to women.

Full Review

One Thousand Pictures: RFK's Last Journey (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Jennifer Stoddart)

Documentary on the journey of Robert Kennedy's funeral train.

Full Review

Pearls On The Ocean Floor (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Robert Adanto; Stars: Shadi Ghadirian, Shirirn Neshat, Parastou Forouhar), Official Site

Leading female Iranian artists discuss the social and political importance of their work.

Full Review

Steam Of Life (Miesten Vuoro) (Country: Finland; Year: 2010; Director: Joonas Berghäll, Mika Hotakainen; Writer: Joonas Berghäll, Mika Hotakainen; Stars: Timo Aalto, Martti Åhman, Pekka Ahonen)

Conversations in a sauna reveal the diverse lives, personalities and philosophies of its visitors.

Norman Mailer: The American and One Thousand Pictures: RFK's Last Journey

Waste Land (Country: UK, Brazil; Year: 2010; Director: Lucy Walker)

Portrait of garbage pickers in Rio who participated in a project with artist Vik Muniz.

Full Review

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within (William S Burroughs: A Man Within) (Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Yony Leyser; Stars: William S. Burroughs, Peter Weller)

A biopic of revolutionary writer William S. Burroughs, exploring his drug use, his sexuality, his methods, his madness and his work.