35. Dick Johnson is Dead (2020, Kirsten Johnson, USA)

Dick Johnson is Dead is a documentary film about the approaching end of the life of director Kirsten Johnson’s father Dick. When her father started to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in 2017, she was determined to document the rest of the life of her father. Regretting that there was so little footage of her mother who had died of the same disease in 2007, she decided it would be different with her father. He responded to the idea and together they set out on this project to face candidly the different stages of increasing frailty and decline and the reality of impending death. It gives us a remarkable record of an open-hearted, joyous, trustful relationship of a father and his daughter. They stage deathly accidents with him involved, his funeral and even a heavenly place he enters into. With seriousness and humour, with tears and laughter it approaches grief and loss giving us hope that even death can be dealt with in a life-affirming manner. A moving, unique film!

34. Stories We Tell (2012, Sarah Polley, Canada)

One of the assumptions Nexus operates on is that reflecting on the stories of our lives and sharing them with others is a deeply foundational quality-of-life activity. It is valuable for our personal growth. It is a way to reach out to others. It creates understanding and community. For that reason you can call Stories We Tell the ultimate Nexus movie!

Sarah Polley is a Canadian actor and director who made her feature film debut with the successful Away From Her in 2006. In her first documentary film Stories We Tell she brings her family history to the screen, dealing with secrets, memory, intimacy and family myths. The film starts with a Margaret Atwood quote: ”When you are in the middle of a story it isn’t a story at all, but only a confusion … It’s only afterwards anything like a story at all. When you’re telling it, to yourself, or to someone else.” Courageously she guides the family into family secrets, not backing off from sadness, shame, guilt and confusion. Polley shows that a respectful, constructive search for the truth by allowing different stories to co-exist can be medecine for all who are involved. There is hurt in the family circle, but telling the story is a healing process. The family shows to be able to respect frailty and vulnerability among one another, bringing them closer together. A film with all potential to inspire us to share our family stories and mysteries!

33. Wadjda (2012, Haifaa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia)

In an earlier article on female empowerment in the Arab world I wrote about Haifaa Al Mansour, who was the first Saudi female filmmaker who made a feature-long film. I referred to her first film Wadjda, which deserves a place on this list were it only for that reason. But there is a lot more to enjoy and to be inspired by in this film.

Wadjda is a simple, heartwarming story of a 10-year old girl, living in a suburb of Riyadh. She is a creative and courageous girl questioning the many restraints this society puts on girls like riding a bike, talking loudly and laughing in the street, uncovering your head, etc. Her eyes fall on a green bike, that she desires for the sense of freedom it would give her and for the chance to compete with the boy next door. She enters into a Koran reciting contest in order to win the money she needs for the purchase of the bike. She has many barriers to overcome to fulfill her dreams. An inspiring film for those who feel that the odds are against them!

32. Transit (2018, Christian Petzold, Germany)

Petzold’s three films Barbara, Phoenix and Transit, made during this 2011-2020 decade, have confirmed him as one of the major film directors of contemporary Europe. Special to all three films is that they start out as one kind of genre film and then move far beyond its genre limits. That makes them demanding, but also surprising and deeply meditative.

Transit starts as a story of refugees stuck in an occupied, tense Marseille while they wait on their transit to a safer destination. The script is based on the 1944 novel by the German writer Anna Seghers, but Petzold has placed it in contemporary Marseille. We are aware of the historic, threatening context, but see no city life of the 1940’s, nor SS presence in its streets. This makes you feel that it is as much about the refugee crisis in our time. It turns it from a history lesson into a psychological thriller about what happens with people when they are left to await their fates. It becomes a study in the liminal space, the time between the past and the future, the time of waiting and not knowing, the time of homelessness and lack of direction. It challenges us to reflect on how we can turn any liminal space we enter into during our lives into new, hopeful beginnings.

31. Still the Water (2014, Naomi Kawase, Japan)

Whenever I settle down to see a Naomi Kawase film, I know I need to mobilize all my senses. I know I will be offered beauty and gentleness in stories of human pain, that give hope through the redemptive power of relationships and of nature. I will be offered sounds of the sea, wind in the trees, shadows and light asking me to trust their communicative strength rather than spoken words. Images have stayed with me: the beauty of the cherry trees signifying hope in Sweet Bean, the caregiver and her patient’s 2-days trek through the magnificent forest in The Mourning Forest, the sunset views at the seaside in True Mothers, the ‘life, death and love’ breathing nature of the subtropical island in Still the Water.

Still the Water is so far my Kawase-favorite. This coming-of-age story on this beautiful island has emotional power, is breathtakingly filmed and carries huge themes like the mysteries of death, its place in nature and man’s need to come to terms with death in order to be able to live. Kyoko’s struggle in coming to terms with her mother’s death and Kaito’s emotional deficits, living with his hardworking single mother and a distanced father, and their growing need for one another make it into a deeply engaging story.