Festival

First full day at a festival in the South that does only schedule one film in the morning, the neo-classic ”The Long Holiday” by Johan van der Keuken. The hall was full of young people taken there by their cinéphile…

I am in Lisbon for the festival. The 6th International Documentary Film Festival. A success in terms of attendance, and a festival with an excellent programme. So much to watch. International and national competition, a competition for investigative documentaries, Frederick…

It’s festival time. And classics change leadership.  Since 1986 Mario Simondi was the symbol of the documentary festival in Firenze, always searching for the high quality and hosting his guests perfectly. I can witness this as can Allan Berg, my…

10 years have passed since the death of Jørgen Roos (1922-98), who for decades was THE Danish documentary and short film director. He was – as Hans Christian Andersen, subject for several films by Roos – a brilliant storyteller, who…

Here is another fine initiative that enables you to watch documentaries from the UK online. Let the Scottish Film Institute make their own presentation: ”SDI is an internationally recognised documentary research centre at Edinburgh College of Art specialised in documentary…

A festival that is very dear to me has made its selection. I am working as a scout for Leipzig festival director Claas Danielsen and his team, when it comes to films from the Baltic and other Eastern European countries.…

Guard dog or lap dog? Seems to be a very actual and relevant question that journalists in Belarus (and other countries as well) have to ask themselves. In the country of Lukashenko no criticism of the President and his regime…

I am writing this in my room on the 8th floor at Hotel Albert (Einstein) in Riga, where the Baltic Sea Forum and the ”Is it Easy to be Different” mini festival starts today. Yesterday I had time to take…

Riga hosts two important documentary events this coming week. On wednesday, September 3rd, a small festival opens for everyone under the title: “Is it Easy to be Different”, a reference to the Juris Podnieks perestroika classic, “Is it Easy to…

The festival has finished and prizes have been given:Grand Prix: “Milosevic on trial” by Michael Christoffersen.Best Danish Documentary: “Kun med hjertet kan man rigtigt se” by Ulla Boye.Audience Award: “Fra Thailand til Thy” af Janus Metz. All three films have…

This is one of those films that you can only appreciate: It takes you to a place in the world that you (I) don’t know anything about. It has some charismatic characters who fight for a cause. You get to…

If you search “Kites” on this site, you will find both a salute to a very fine film and a warm congratulation because of the selection to take part in the prestigious Locarno Film Festival – that has just ended.…

Three Danish male directors stand behind this reflecting impressionistic collage on Life and Death, joy and pain, sorrow and happiness. The background is Denmark in this beginning of a new century, a country that is at war in Iraq, a…

They have the same name. One lives in Santiago, the other in Valparaiso at the coast. One has a hard life as a parking guide in the big city, with a drug addicted husband and two small children totally dependent…

At the Odense Film Festival one of the special programmes is very much welcomed. It is a selection of short documentaries, a genre that is very rarely seen. Read what Cecilia Lidin, festival director of Odense Film Festival writes on…

If you want a qualified overview of what has happened in Danish documentary, short fiction, animation and children film during the last year – you should go to the 23rd Odense Film Festival that takes place next week, August 19-24,…

Riga, the city where came to life so many great documentaries during Soviet times and around the fall of the empire. I was invited to teach at the Discovery Campus session that was held at the coast, 40 minutes from…

I went to Tallinn, Estonia to update my almost 20 year long love story with Baltic documentary. And to watch films for DOK Leipzig. I saw more than a dozen from last year’s Estonian documentary production at the premises of…

This blog has constantly – through my writing – stressed that originality and creativity in documentary filmmaking of today mostly is to be found in the Eastern part of Europe. When it comes to films for 2008/2009 there are many…

A brief and warm salute to the director of the film from Afghanistan that we sneak-reviewed on this blog almost half a year ago. It will have its international premiere at the prestigious Locarno film festival, see site below. A…

Surprise me, please, it is often said to filmmakers when films are to be thought of, written, pitched, filmed and put together. Nothing is worse, or more boring, than the predictability in narration where you know where it goes, from…

A documentary animation film. Quite innovative. Based on a visual diary made by Latvian Irina Pilke, an old woman, who has drawn episodes from her life since 1947. Made into a film through the script and interview from writer Nora…

Tuesday evening May 6, Riga, the old fine cinema in the middle of the city. I am invited to the premiere of a film, that I have had the privilege to follow for a couple of years. The director Peteris…

This music documentary film is about Swiss music – the famous and for many, including me, unbearable yodel – and Swiss artists who have developed their music from the yodel into a great innovative and fascinating rythmic play with the…

Catherine Destivelle is the name and after numerous films (at the Trento Film Festival) about people dying in the mountains, and about heroes who save people, or fight the mountains – it was such a relief to meet a female…

Normally you say that something must be wrong if you leave the cinema to say that the cinematography was excellent, but the rest of the film… You do say so with this ambitious film but it is justified because it…

Here are the results of the jury work. 4 of the films will be reviewed in the coming 3 days. Plus one that did not get a prize: Stranded. Gran Premio “Città di Trento” – Gold Gentian and 5000 Euro…

Time for banalities. My own ones and examples from the films I have seen. Word banalities. My own first: Wow, how much the viewing situation means for your evaluation of a film. Being in a jury you will always watch…

Last day of watching. I write this while another commercially thought tv documentary is running on the screen. Makes me think about this genre where you can argue that the scenography – the mountains with or without snow – is…

The jury has seen 25 films in 3 days. Diversity is the word that applies to the selection. But also quality in most of the films, in very different formats and storytelling traditions. Diversity because there are several films for…

I am in Trento, in the jury of the Trento Film Festival that has the thematic subtitle: Montagna. Esplorazione. Avventura. The festival starts today and goes on until May 4. 34 films are in competition, short and long. It is…