Antalya Film Forum 2017

For the second time I am at the Antalya Film Forum in Turkey that is the industry event connected to the festival that celebrates its 54th edition. Last year I was in a documentary jury that gave awards to two Turkish projects, and did a pep talk on documentaries with clips – http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3728/ – this year I have been part of the committee that selected the projects to be pitched this year. There are 6 of them, two will be awarded with $ 8000, each.

I had the pleasure of making a training session for the filmmakers behind the 6 projects that will be pitched on wednesday. With follow-up meetings like the one on the PHOTO, where I am looking at a trailer for a film called ”Ada” (The Island). To the left the director Sevinc Baloglu, to the right the producer Su Baloglu, mother and daughter, who are making a film from Cyprus from a personal point of view and including a 99 year old woman, who is living in the buffer zone in the divided island. She just published a book called ”My First Hundred Years”!

This morning I went to watch AiWeiWei’s ”Human Flow” at 9. But

the screening was cancelled because the DCP was not ok… The festival has issued a long statement explaining why the screening last night had to be stopped and the screenings today cancelled. The management calls the incident ”painful beyond belief” and we are currently in discussions to confirm a screening venue and slot, to allow the public to watch in full Wei Wei’s extraordinary film. It would seem we are all owed an apology from Deluxe technicolour in London, but at this stage apologies, apportioning of blame, and pursuit of the guilty would seem to be irrelevant. It is our sole aim and goal to get the jury to see the film in the best possible conditions and to arrange a supplementary screening and deal with all the concomitant advertising and ticketing issues.”

Back to The Forum that takes place in a pyramid building with meeting rooms and whatever is needed to make the visitors network and have informal meetings. It is in the middle of an amusement park so there are kids running around in the sunshine and there were crowds of kids queuing up to watch youth films. It is said to be part of the new concept of the festival, to reach a young audience. No objections.

There was a pitching of short films – works in progress – this afternoon, 8 of them, awards will be announced on thursday. I was not impressed of what I saw, I have to confess.

But I was happy to listen to the panel on women in the audiovisual industry including strong optimistic speakers with good information like Francine Raveney from Eurimages and Debra Zimmermann from Women Make Movies… Harvey Weinstein was not talked about, just mentioned. Thanks!

www.antalyaff.com

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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