DMZ국제다큐멘터리영화제

Verite

The Verite section honors documentary cinema’s enduring commitment to truth (vérité), while grappling with an urgent question: what does truth mean in the world we live in today? What truths must we seek, speak, and share through the realities these films confront? And how do we ensure the tragedies they witness are not repeated?

Such questions feel ever more pressing in an age defined by war, hatred, sensationalism, and unchecked power—where technology bombards us with information faster than we can ethically process it. In response, the films in this year’s Verite section return to documentary’s critical essence: resisting haste, slowing judgment, and urging us to look again—and more deeply.

These works traverse a wide spectrum of places and crises: the U.S.–Mexico border, both sides of the war in Ukraine and Russia, the scorched streets of Lebanon, a forgotten bobsled track in Sarajevo, virtual game worlds, silenced histories, and the long journey home. Across these varied landscapes, a shared insight emerges: truth is not a fixed endpoint, but an ongoing, relentless pursuit.

But truth need not always be solemn. These films also find truth in moments of joy—in discovery and reflection, in music’s rhythms, and in honoring a performer’s extraordinary life. Verite invites us to experience truth not only as burden or warning, but as a layered and often beautiful process of understanding.