Ten films that bring you closer to some of the most fascinating minds of the last century
Not all heroes wear capes. Some write books. Others paint, make films, compose music, or draw comics. Some changed culture forever. Others are still shaping it today.
This year, AMFF’s Arts section is almost a miniature encyclopedia of creativity. A journey through the lives and work of ten essential figures in literature, cinema, music, comics, and contemporary thought.
You don’t need to have read all their books or listened to every album. All you need is curiosity.
Probably one of the most influential writers of our time. This year, we present a double focus on the author whose work transformed personal memory into a universal genre, following her visit to the festival in 2022, just months before receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature. On the one hand, Annie Ernaux à l’école, by Claire Simon, observes what happens when a group of teenagers read Ernaux for the first time. The result is beautiful: they discover that great books continue to ask the right questions. On the other hand, an adaptation of one of her most celebrated novels, Memoria de chica. Judith Godrèche directs this story about the French writer’s first sexual experience at the age of 17.
Novelist, essayist, thinker. For years she was often introduced simply as “Paul Auster’s wife.” This documentary gives her the spotlight she has always deserved. An intimate portrait of a writer whose work explores memory, the brain, art, and identity.
Few lives illustrate the power of literature more vividly. From the fatwa that forced him into hiding to the attack that nearly killed him, Rushdie has become a symbol of freedom of expression. But this film is about more than persecution. It is also about resilience, humour, and the enduring need to tell stories.
The queen of contemporary horror. The Argentine writer has turned ghosts, haunted houses, and disappearances into powerful ways of exploring Latin America’s deepest social wounds. This documentary enters her creative universe and reveals that monsters always hide something profoundly human.
Before she became an icon, she was a survivor. Singer, actress, muse of Swinging London, and one of Britain’s most distinctive musical voices. Her life has been so extraordinary it already felt like a film. Now, it finally is one.
Two centuries later, his music still sounds remarkably modern. This documentary looks beyond the romantic myth to rediscover the Polish composer and the man behind some of the most beautiful piano music ever written.
Writer, art critic, painter, screenwriter, and author of Ways of Seeing, the groundbreaking work that forever changed the way we look at images. If today we question who creates images and what they conceal, chances are Berger got there first.
Few comic artists have been as influential… or as controversial. A master of erotic comics admired by Fellini and Hugo Pratt, Manara continues to spark debate about desire, the representation of the body, and the limits of provocation. A portrait as captivating as his artwork.
Her name might not immediately ring a bell. But you certainly know her most famous creation: Pippi Longstocking. This documentary celebrates the writer who revolutionised children’s literature because she understood something ahead of everyone else: children deserve stories that never talk down to them.
Long before queer cinema became a fixture at festivals around the world, Barbara Hammer was filming lesbians, bodies, and desire with complete freedom. She was a pioneer, an activist, and one of the defining figures of American experimental cinema. Discovering her today remains a radical experience.
Why settle for watching a film when you can discover an entire life?
That’s what the Arts section is all about. A gateway into ten creative universes that continue to inspire, challenge, and change the way we see the world. If you’ve ever walked out of a cinema wanting to buy a book, listen to an album, or start drawing, this is where you’ll want to be at AMFF.