Maciej Drygas: Trains
“Trains” got the first prize at IDFA 2024. I got a screener from Lithuanian co-producer of the film Rasa Miskinyte, Era Film. I know of Drygas from the Balticum Film&TV Festival on Bornholm. Two of his films were shown there,…
Filmkommentaren.dk
A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & Tue Steen Müller
Filmkommentaren.dk
A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & 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.
Read MoreMaciej Drygas: Trains
Dok.Incubator Deadline Approaching
It’s a tradition that I advertise the approaching deadline for project submission to dok.incubator. Simply because the workshop has proved to be of great help for filmmakers from all over the world. To be sure of the project quality also…
Lielais Kristaps Latvian National Film Awards 2024
Being a fan of Latvian cinema, especially the documentary one, I have noticed the nominations that have been done for the yearly award ceremony, Lielais Kristaps, that will take place in February. Many films and filmmakers are nominated in several…
Ivars Zviedris – Documentarian – New Film: Faithful until Death
The never ending discussion of what is a documentary… Do you remember the story about the good old direct cinema icons (Leacock, Maysles, Drew, Pennebaker…) were sitting together on the first row at a festival, where Werner Herzog “attacked” them…
Robert Awards 2025
“The Robert-Prisen (Robert Award) is an annual award given by the Danish Film Academy, launched in 1984. It is the Danish equivalent of the American Oscars, British BAFTAs for films, Australian AACTA Awards or French César.[1] The award—voted only by academy members—is an acknowledgment by Danish industry…
The Beatles Revisited
When I was young and so much younger than today… I spent hours with the Beatles during these holidays. It was great nostalgia, fun, thought provoking, opening for sweet memories from when I was a lad and joined Ove from…
Francesca Scalisi: Valentina and the MUOSters
Take a look at the poster photo: A young woman kissing a tree with a bouquet of crocheted flowers. One of the themes of the fine film made by Italian director Francesca Scalisi. Valentina is her name, she lives with…
Mikael Opstrup: Iikka Vehkalahti
Iikka Vehkalahti is dead, and I am writing through tears. It’s not so easy, makes the screen blurry as are my thoughts. I was a little afraid of him before I got to know him, he was so big and…
Andreas Köchel-Steinmann – fylder 75
Andreas er født i Berlin, kom til Danmark i 1970, uddannede sig til pædagog…nej, det er for kedeligt. Jeg prøver igen: Jeg har kendt Andreas siden begyndelsen af 1970’erne, hvor vi fandt sammen i Taastrup Filmklub, dengang en af de…
Laila Pakalnina: Termini
In “Spoon” (2019) and “Homes” (2021) Latvian director Laila Pakalniņa worked with cinematographer Gints Bērziņš, a collaboration that continued with “Termini”, that is as the previous films formally interesting due very much to the work of Bērziņš following the ideas…
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Fifteen films will advance in the documentary feature film category for the 97th Academy Awards. One hundred sixty-nine films were eligible in the category. Members of the documentary branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
Eliza Kubarska: The Last Expedition
… which was in 1992 in Nepal at Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain, that Wanda Rutkiewicz wished to “conquer”, a word she hated as you can read below. The legendary Polish mountaineer, who had “taken” K2 and reached the…
Ulla Hjorth Nielsen: I sync med virkeligheden. Et portræt af filmfamilien Roos
(366 sider. Gennemillustreret. Omfattende noteapparat. Litteraturliste. Navneregister. Filmografier. Forlaget Politisk Revy. 299 kr.) Se, det er en rigtig filmbog! En bedrift simpelthen, researchet og forfattet over en årrække af Ulla Hjorth Nielsen, som skriver om “det mest forgrenede og betydningsfulde…
European Film Awards
European FilmEmilia Pérez [+] – Jacques Audiard (France) European DocumentaryNo Other Land [+] – Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Basel Adra & Hamdan Ballal (Palestine/Norway) European Animated Feature Film Flow [+] – Gints Zilbalodis (Latvia/France/Belgium) (PHOTO) European Short Film – Prix VimeoThe Man Who…
dok.incubator
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Movies on War Festival
I have copy-pasted from Modern Times Review this intro to a festival in my neighboring country Norway – a festival that starts today and lasts until November 17 with an impressive collection of films (alas!) that deals with conflicts and…
Verzio Film Festival 2024
Impressions from five days in Budapest for the Verzio FF. I already – the post before this – wrote about a day with Diana Groó and Judit Hoffmann, unforgettable, so much looking forward to the film “Dear Helena” with Diana…
With Diana Groó and Judit Hoffmann: An Unforgettable Day
I have known Diana Groó for 25 years. We met in Denmark at the European Film College in Ebeltoft for a film event. Since then we have met in different places and she was the one, who introduced me in…
EFA Awards Documentary 2024
5 out of 12 films were selected for me and colleague members of the European Film Academy. I have watched them all and am still thinking, where to put my vote. And as a good schoolboy I had done my…
Daniel Abma: The Family Approach
I was not in Leipzig for the festival but followed it and have written several texts about films and events. Of course having an eye on what happened for good film friends. One of them Daniel Abma with whom I…
Marek Šulík: Ms.President
Access… is what Slovak director and cameraman Marek Šulík was given to film Zuzana Čaputová during the five years she was president of Slovakia, from 2019 till 2024. An access – with limitations of course – that included Šulík was…
Verzio DocLab Budapest
The public pitch of the 6 selected projects of the 9th Verzió DocLab workshop and pitch platform! Verzió DocLab is the only workshop and pitch platform dedicated to nurturing new voices in Hungarian documentary filmmaking and supporting filmmakers of the region and…
DOK Leipzig 2024 Awards
Copy Paste of the press release tonight from the festival: “La Jetée, the Fifth Shot” by Dominique Cabrera Triumphs with the Golden Dove at DOK Lepzig’s International Competition Documentary Film Long animated film “Pelikan Blue” receives Golden Dove | Long…
Tomasz Wolski: A Year in the Life of a Country
Tomasz Wolski was a child when Jaruzelski introduced Martial Law in December 1981. I am from 1947 so I followed from a neighboring country what happened. From a distance. With Jaruzelski as the bad guy and Lech Walesa the good…
Jihlava FF: Support to Kovalenko, Turajlić and Kerekes
Strong move from Jihlava FF, copy paste from press release of today. Personal note – all three are for me important directors, who have in previous films shown their talent. And here comes what is to be expected: 110,000 EUR…
Olha Zhurba: Songs of Slow Burning Earth
I had big expectations after Olha Zhurba’s first long documentary “Outside” – – and I was not disappointed. “Songs of Slow Burning Earth” is a film that will stay in Ukrainian documentary history. And internationally as a film that…
Allan Berg om Jon Bang Carlsen
IT’S NOW OR NEVER OG HOW TO INVENT REALITY (1996) Når Jon Bang Carlsen i It’s Now or Never lader de medvirkende i Vestirland spille løs, ikke deres egne liv, men digtede liv, ikke i deres egne huse, men i…
Zeljko Mirkovic: Two Sport Documentaries
Serbian Zeljko Mirkovic introduces himself like this: “Dr. Zeljko Mirkovic is an award-winning film and TV director, educator, and lecturer with more than 20-years’ experience writing, producing, and directing diverse documentaries. He is a creative and innovative developer of feature…
Verzio Budapest Announces its Program
It´s the 21st Verzio Film Festival and it takes place in Budapest November 6-13. A festival with a selection of documentaries that are sectioned into competitions for national and international films as well as “Doc Future Competition”, where new talents…
IDFA 2024 International Competition: The Guest
Sometimes with the announcement of films for main documentary competitions you do not know the films or those who have made them as the festivals in some categories go for premieres, world or international. This is the case for IDFA…
Ji.hlava IDFF
IDFF stands for International Documentary Film Festival, number 28 it is, high quality always. A quote from the email I received yesterday from the festival: “We are thrilled to announce titles, which have been selected to the Opus Bonum and First Lights International Competitions…
DOK Leipzig Announces Full Program
Today the full program of the classic documentary film festival in Leipzig was announced. The 67th edition of the festival. 209 films and XR works from 55 countries. An international festival that is also famous for having both documentaries and…
DOK Leipzig Opens with new Film by Thomas Riedelsheimer
“We all think we know what light is. But if we take a closer look, we realise that we don’t,” the film “Tracing Light” tells us. DOK Leipzig will open at the CineStar in Leipzig on 28 October with the…
Verzio 2024: Reality Uncovered
The 21st Verzió program has been curated by a new programming team. Running from November 6-13, it offers both award-winning films and hidden gems. This year, Verzió will dedicate special sections to the themes of decolonization and disinformation, and will…
Nordisk Panorama 2024: City of Malmö’s Audience Award to Balomania
by Sissel Morell Dargis, 94 min, Denmark, Spain, 2024. Synopsis:In the heart of Brazil’s favelas a secret society of hot air balloon-makers risk arrest to create and fly their illegal masterpieces, painting the sky with colour. Condemned by the authorities…
Nordisk Panorama Forum 23-24.9 2024
This was the 21st edition of the classic Nordic meeting for documentary directors and producers held parallelly to the Nordisk Panorama festival here in Malmö, where it has had its home for years after – as in the beginning –…
Ivars Seleckis 90 Years/ 2
Lovely to have a correspondent who was at the celebration of legendary master of Latvian documentary Ivars Seleckis at his Birthday feast and the premiere of “To be Continued. Teenhood”. I wrote words to Ivars here In that text…
Göran Hugo Olsson: Reframing Documentary. A Talk at Nordisk Panorama
90 minutes at the Nordisk Panorama yesterday afternoon. With a great filmmaker, Swedish Göran Hugo Olsson, who together with Cecilia Lidin gave the audience an excellent introduction to his working method, and who characterised himself as a documentarian of existing…
Ivars Seleckis 90 Years Old
Dear Ivars. Paldies for your extraordinary life-long documentary work and congratulations on this birthday! If anyone, you have introduced me to your country, its history and culture and its citizens, in all ages. Much appreciated that you with “To Be…
Virpi Suutari: Once Upon a Time in the Forest
One of the most important European authors, one of the pioneers of modern documentary, Virpi Suutari creates a film in her own unique style, creating scenes in which we perceive reality as dreamlike and surreal. But this time she contrasts…
Nicolas Philibert: Nénette
The film of one of the world’s most significant documentary filmmakers, Nicolas Philibert, screened at the Berlin Film Festival as a distinctive, masterfully made, auteur documentary. Nénette is a charming orangutan, an unusual and irresistible being. She is the oldest…
Petr Lom: I am the River, the River is me
The Whanganui River in New Zealand is the first river in the world to be given the legal status of a person, a living and indivisible being. This happened in 2017 and confirmed the belief and philosophy of the Maoris…
Claudia Tosi: Mr. Beau
Claudia Tosi shared her brilliant, engaging film “I Had a Dream” with the viewers of Magnificent Seven 2019, but at the same time she herself was inspired by the great Hedy Honigman’s film “Buddy”. So, from this festival she brought…
Magnificent7 Opening Night 2024
You only have your 20th birthday once and that is to be celebrated. Even on a Friday the 13th… The celebration of the 20th edition of the Magnificent7, the European Feature Documentary Film Festival, took place at the MTS Hall…
Juha Suonpää: Lynx Man
This text is written by the festival directors of the Magnificent7, Svetlana and Zoran Popovic. This is one of the films that deal with the burning issues of today. We are in the middle of a process of galloping disappearance…
Anna Rubi: Your Life Without Me
A great work that was premiered at just ended festival in Sarajevo, where it had the honor to open the main competition programme for documentary films and where it was awarded with a special award for its exceptional values that…
Sissel Morell Dargis: Balomania
This text is written by Svetlana and Zoran Popovic, the Magnificent7 festival directors. The film will be screened tonight at MTS in Belgrade. If you also want to read my review of the film, click here Brazil, favela labyrinths…
Jakub Piątek: Pianoforte
This text is written by Magnificent7 Festival founders and organizers Svetlana and Zoran Popovic introducing the opening film of the 20th edition of the festival: A masterfully created documentary that in one fell swoop won over audiences at festivals in…
Magnificent7 – a Festival with a Big Heart
I am in Riga for the Baltic Sea Docs. I am with Uldis Cekulis, who has been to Magnificent7 twice. As the producer of “Ramin” by Audrius Stonys and “Bridges of Time”, that Stonys directed together with Kristine Briede. I…
DOK Co-Pro Market 2024 Selects 35 Projects
Projects explore family stories and various forms of resistance The 20th edition of the DOK Co-Pro Market welcomes 35 documentary projects from 30 countries that will have the opportunity to find international financing and co-production partners. This year sees a…