A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & Tue Steen Müller
A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & Tue Steen Müller
Aspiring critics and writers interested in documentary cinema are invited to apply for the 4th Verzió Documentary Film Critics Workshop, held as part of the 22nd Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival. The event will take place from 11–19…
He texted me yesterday, “watching?”, as he has done dozens of times, when “our” football club FCBarcelona plays. If I am not at the computer here in Denmark, he updates me on how the match goes. I am writing about…
Rada Šešić, the programmer of the Competition Programme – Documentary Film, included 20 films in the competition programme; 12 feature-length and 8 short documentary films, four of which will have a world premiere, four international, 10 films will have a…
This film totally blew my mind. Its freshness, its originality, its playfulness, giving information so it’s never dull and using the cinema language wonderfully. Archive – moving images and photos to make history alive, citizens of Rijeka today, all centered…
I had a very rich experience watching this film. I was pleasantly surprised of the way it was told. The filmmakers took me by surprise by giving me several layers to dig into.Thank you for that but before I go…
And now words about the new photos on top of this site, www.filmkommentaren.dk. I have mentioned the three by their last name. I could also have chosen to name them by first names: Alisa, Niels, Eva. That’s how I address…
There is a short text at the beginning of the film bringing us to the location: “… a network of rural communities (that) provides shelter to individuals struggling with addiction and mental health issues”. A former abuser is running the…
I took this from the website of the producer Onassis Culture to have a precise content description of the film: Filmmaker Eva Stefani follows the preparations behind Transverse Orientation and its tour across theatrical stages in Europe, observing from a close distance Dimitris…
At numerous workshops in Eastern Europe I have told filmmakers from that part of the world that to call all characters or protagonists “heroes” is not a good idea – as in English they are people, who have done something…
Take a look at the photo/still from the film from Bucha, the city that experienced, what has been called a massacre, where Russian crimes against humanity took place in February 2022. Documented it is by several sources. Including the Office…
The 22nd Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival has announced its winners. However, Docudays UA does not end there: the winning films can be watched during the screening day 13 June. Some recordings of the festival discussions will…
How to pitch your upcoming documentary here and now? And how to successfully promote it once it’s completed? On June 11 and 12, the DOCU/PRO platform will host events that will help industry-accredited participants explore the tools of development, effective pitching,…
Look at the photo… A douce painting by Edgar Degas, for me the first true documentarian? No, an edited still from a Danish documentary – coproduced with a Spanish company – directed by Robin Petré and with Ecuadorian cameraperson María…
I am not in Kyiv but I follow what’s going on in a festival that I have visited some times before the war. With pleasure and I have no doubt that the organisers will take good care of every visitor,…
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge“, one of many quotes from Albert Einstein that I was thinking of while watching this well made originally thought documentary from Ukraine. Take a…
Thanks to Filmin I could watch some more documentaries that were shown at DocsBarcelona from a soft armchair in a town at Costa Brava. After the festival. All good, some better than the other of course, some more artistic, some…
Milit – lat. for soldier. Antropos – gr. for human: “A persona adopted by humans when entering a state of war. The chaos of war not only tears apart the physical world but also fractures the Militantropos’ sense of self”.…
If I could, I would take many images from this beautiful documentary and put them on the wall. Most of them B/W images in academy format with many of them colored in blue, yellowish for instance. All is so well…
Tonight the winners of the DocsBarcelona festival 2025 were announced at the ceremony at the CCCB, that hosted industry activities duirng the festival and some screenings as well. Here is a copy paste from the festival’s website: THE FESTIVAL SURPASSES…
Nine projects took part in this year’s edition of DocsBarcelona’s Artistic Consultancies. It was a pleasure to meet the filmmakers, who came from all over the world: Ukraine, Portugal, India, Italy, France, Azerbaijan, Chile, Uruguay, Montenegro, Colombia, Argentina, Spain! Stories…
DocsBarcelona Industry has announced the winners of the 2025 edition this Thursday evening, with Capitán by Laura Otárola taking home the DocsBarcelona Award for Best Project. The awards ceremony was held at Casa Montjuïc and marks the conclusion of DocsBarcelona Industry, the leading…
Gosh, what a film, what a woman, a sad comedy, but also a documentary with a message… Let me give you the precise logline from the website of the director’s company: “Carmen’s life has always been a Quixotesque comedy. Living…
Det er en film med så mange indfald at jeg var forpustet efter først gennemkig. Men filmen satte sig og jeg fandt den røde tråd, min røde tråd. Børnene! Og det er ikke kun fordi Stevie Wonder synger “Give the…
… and goes until May 18. The opening film is “RIEFENSTAHL” by Andres Veiel, a film that premiered at the festival in Venice and goes all over, of course, praised by critics. I will not be in Barcelona for the…
Years ago I was the mentor for a film from Belarus. It takes time – and it should – to make documentaries that follow a young person, who is dealing with very hard family conditions like Katya does. She is…
I have known Heino Deckert for decades. I have a big respect for his contribution to current documentaries that have traveled the world. He has taken risks being the producer of demanding directors like Victor Kossakovsky and Sergei Loznitza, and…
Apr302025 As previously reported, the Azerbaijan Union of Filmmakers announced an open call for applications for AKIDocs – Documentary Film Development and Pitching International Project on April 1, 2025. A total of 11 participants and 4 observers were selected for…
Tomorrow will be the final day of a training week in Baku in Azerbaijan arranged by The Azerbaijan Union of Film-makers (AUF). With filmmaker Afaq Yusifli as the workshop leader, taking care of everything, the perfect organizer behind this project…
“Turning pain into happiness” is a key sentence in the film that deals with a Gaza, before it was totally destroyed after October 7 2023 and the consequent events. The pain of the director Areeb, Palestinian living in the US,…
Wolski pitched “The Big Chief” in Sarajevo last August. During a workshop at ZagrebDox he told me that the film was to have its premiere at Visions du Réel in Nyon. It had, the other day. He sent me a…
Barcelona, April 8, 2025 · The Barcelona International Documentary Film Festival DocsBarcelona will hold its twenty-eighth edition from May 8 to 18 at the CCCB, the Renoir and Phenomena cinemas, and the Filmoteca de Catalunya, the festival’s regular venues, in addition to Casa Montjuïc and Espai Texas.…
I was invited to the premiere by Marie (Schmidt-Olesen), who with her company Northern Soul produced first time long documentary of Camilla Arlien, who has graduated from the film school in Copenhagen. I could not attend and later on in…
6.4.2025. The Big Stamp went to Mr. Nobody Against Putin by David Borenstein and Pasha Talankin in International Competition and My Dad’s Lessons by Dalija Dozet in Regional Competition. The Little Stamp for best short film went to Arshia Shakiba…
Best International Film:Mr. Nobody against Putin (Denmark, Czech Republic) (PHOTO)Directed by David Borenstein, Pasha TalankinProduced by made in copenhagenCoproduced by PINK in association with BBC Storyville, DR, ZDF/ARTESupported by the Danish Film Institute, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, FilmFyn, Fritt…
Second time I saw this film. Same reaction. Emotional reaction. A mother decides to go to war to fight for her country. And first and foremost for the future of her child with whom she video-communicates during the film and…
Foreword to the festival catalogue: With all the explosions, sirens howling, cries andfights pervading our small endangered planet, all Ican hear is – silence.The silence of intelligence, reason, dialogue and –humanity.The world is dominated by bullies, some new ‘gold’defines the…
I still have some films that I would like to watch from the CPH:DOX festival program but I will catch up with some of them. I was in the position that I had seen all films in the main program,…
The juries have deliberated and the winners of the international competitions at CPH:DOX 2025 have been announced this evening at the festival’s Award Show at Kunsthal Charlottenborg. The international competition lineup included a total of 71 films in competition, in…
Brilliant film, full of life, observing and arranging, lots of music, the end credits invite you to dance, young people, well read the intro from the catalogue to know where we are in the world: “There is a lot of…
Eleanor Mortimer’s debut feature might be the most inspiring science doc of the year. Funny and serious, light and dark, poetic and informative. “Why we called it planet Earth when more than 70% of its surface is water?” says Mortimer’s…
To have a pitching session at The Royal Theatre at CPH:DOX with full house… Amazing! And to have the individual meetings in the afternoon at the Odd Fellow Palæet. Amazing. Atmosphere in both places and all works so well. There…
Look at the photo and the drawing… two filmmakers from Azerbaijan pitching their project “Kura”, the river that flows into the Caspian Sea coming from Turkey and Georgia. In their upcoming film the two will travel on the river and…
I will write about this film again and again. Here just some few notes. The film will travel to all festivals and it will win awards. Happy that it simply has been made. It was not the idea, Alisa told…
Of course there is a film by Nicolas Philibert at CPH:DOX. And of course it is placed in the category “Highlights”. This time the third of the triptych that started with “On The Adamant” followed by “Averos & Rosy Parks”…
Olha Stefanishyna er “The EUkrainian” med formentlig akkurat så mange rejsedage som Jens Stoltenberg havde på sit sidste år som NATO’s generalsekretær i flg. festivalens åbningsfilm “Facing War”. Svenske Nordenskjiöld har været tæt på hende, hun er diplomat, men holder…
Jeg vender tilbage til min afdøde kollega Allan Bergs tekst om “Testamentet”, som han skrev I 2013. Her er i citat det meste af det smukt formulerede oplæg til en visning af filmen I Randers. ”Der er Andreas, Christian og…
It’s looking at you, the bull. From the big screen in the cinema Grand in Copenhagen. Together with an almost full hall on a Wednesday afternoon, the first day of CPH:DOX 2025, I booked a ticket for Catalan Albert Serra’s…
This is not a review. The film is already known and has been shown in Denmark and came home from Sundance with an award. Adrian Horton wrote this (a quote) in Guardian to refresh your memory and for all those…
Unique access to film is what is written in the festival press about the opening film of CPH:DOX 2025. Unique access to former General Secretary of NATO Jens Stoltenberg during his last year in that position. And this is what…
Jeg har sakset lidt i en pressemeddelelse fra cph:dox for at fremhæve festivalens landsdækkende success, hvor mere and halvdelen af Danmarks kommuner er med i festivalen. Sådan skal det være skriver denne tidligere ansatte ved Statens Filmcentral, som netop var…