10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

Bellingcat, Truth in a Post-Truth World (2019 Feature Film)

Hans Pool | Netherlands | 2018 | doc | color | DCP | 88′ | English | d.s.

In a complex world in which we are inundated with fake news, it is hard to decide which media and government bodies we can actually trust. In this documentary about international investigative collective Bellingcat, we meet various passionate amateurs who conduct intensive digital research on our behalf to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Sceptics may consider them a bunch of amateurs, but the – mainly male – members of the Bellingcat research collective that operates internationally, take their self-imposed  tasks extremely seriously. In a world in which fake and real news are hard to tell apart, they tease out the truth from online data. What was Russia’s role in the 2014 MH17 disaster? Who was responsible for which bombing raid in Syria?

In this insightful documentary, Hans Pool follows and portrays a number of researchers during their work. Starting with the organization’s British founder who, just like his colleagues spread throughout Europe, uses sources ranging from social media to Google Earth to provide detailed reports on the cases investigated. The documentary uses the director’s footage as well as online video to factually support the cases discussed. These online investigations are extreme painstaking. Bellingcat’s research offers hope in times of uncertain news, but we see that the collective’s work is not without its dangers.

Place: The Cinemas 3

Date: 11 April 2019

Time: 15:45

Duration: 1:05

Place: The Cinemas 3

Date: 13 April 2019

Time: 19:30

Duration: 1:05

Place: The Cinemas 3

Date: 14 April 2019

Time: 10:45

Duration: 1:05

Year in
Festival

2019

Director

Hans Pool

Camera

Hans Pool

Country

Netherlands

Editor

Simon Barker

Language

English

Length

88′

Music

Binkbeats

Producer

Femke Wolting

Production Company

Submarine

Scenario

Hans Pool

Year of Production

2018

Na een universitaire studie Nederlands koos Hans POOL (1962, Nederland) voor de opleiding audiovisuele vormgeving aan de Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten Den Haag, afstudeerrichting camera en regie. Sinds 1992 is hij actief als cameraman, televisieregisseur en documentairemaker. Hij maakte onder andere het met een Zilveren Nipkowschijf bekroonde Van Dis in Afrika (2008).

Filmography

(selection) Van Dis in Afrika (2000-2009, doc series), Van Moskou tot Magadan (2000-2009, doc series), Vensters op Vermeer – 10 korte verhalen (2009, doc, co-dir), Nederwiet/Dutch Weed (2010, doc, co-dir), Van Moskou tot Moermansk (2010-2019, doc series), De jacht op de match (2017, doc), Bellingcat – Truth in a Post-Truth World (2018, doc)