Monday, November 27----Nick Broomfield has won or been nominated for every award in the book in his varied career. He won a BAFTA Award for SOLDIER GIRLS (1981). His unforgettable portrait of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the celebrated AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER (1992) and its follow up AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER (2002) were nominated for prizes from the European Film Academy, the International Documentary Association and the Sundance Film Festival. The latter film also won the Amnesty International/DOEN Award at the 2003 IDFA. Broomfield is back at IDFA, with a double dose....two celebrated films that showcase the continued virtuosity of this documentary master.

GHOSTS, a reconstruction of the drama of illegal Chinese immigrants in the United Kingdom, focuses on a young Chinese girl, who is illegally smuggled into the country, so she can support her son and family in China. The tragedy in Morecambe Bay in February 2004, in which 23 Chinese cockle pickers lost their lives, served to throw the British immigration crisis into sharp relief. Working for pittance wages, forced to live five to a room and subjected to vicious, often physical abuse by the local community, these workers came to this country to give their families a chance, and found themselves struggling to survive.

GHOSTS is not strictly a documentary, nor is it a traditional fiction film either. It is best described as a dramatic recreation of actual events, as often as possible using real people to play themselves. In this haunting film, Broomfield mixes documentary footage and dramatic technique to create a hybrid form that still feels honest, emotional and harrowingly real. The film recently won the Solidarity Award at the 2006 San Sebastian Film Festival and also premiered at the London Film Festival last month. It is currently screening in Amsterdam at IDFA.

HIS BIG WHITE SELF is more traditional Broomfield, as he revisits the subject of his celebrated earlier film THE LEADER, HIS DRIVER AND THE DRIVER'S WIFE (1992). This time, the director offers a follow up portrait of extreme right-wing South African Afrikaaner suprematicist leader Eugene Terreblanche (whose name literally means "white land"), a man made rather ineffectual by the dramatic changes that have taken place in his country since the earlier film was made. The film, which is basically a dialogue between Broomfield and his subject, is similar to his Aileen Wuornos documentaries, in finding the human core inside a monstrous person and making audiences feel some sympathy for someone they would normally revile and shun. No mean trick. HIS BIG WHITE SELF screens at IDFA this week.

Sandy Mandelberger
Online Festival Dailies Editor