A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & Tue Steen Müller
A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & Tue Steen Müller
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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.
… 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…
(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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
One afternoon – a tradition – I left the pitching venue at the Baltic Sea Docs to have a couple of hours with Davis Simanis Jr, documentary and fiction director, and now also rector of Latvian Academy of Culture. We…
You must have been at least 50 times to Riga, the driver next to me said. Uldis Cekulis is his name, a key person in Latvian documentary, producer and cameraman, a man who cannot sit still, always in action, and…