Robert Frank’s Don’t Blink In New York
I got an email from Laura Israel this morning, the director of the film on Robert Frank, with whom she has working for years as an editor. “Getting the Word Out” she wrote and told that the film is running…
Filmkommentaren.dk
A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & Tue Steen Müller
Filmkommentaren.dk
A film blog by Allan Berg Nielsen & Tue Steen Müller
Film History
Read MoreRobert Frank’s Don’t Blink In New York
Ung i Randers/Youth in Randers 1978-1979
Later this week I will visit an exhibition in Øksnehallen in Copenhagen. An exhibition that has been set up by the two photographers Finn Larsen and Lars Johansson, wholived and worked in Randers, the sixth biggest city in Denmark, around…
Svend Johansen: Cykelmyggens far
– med undertitlen “et portræt af tusindkunstneren Flemming Quist Møller” er en herlig film, hvor jeg sad og klukkede af glæde over at se og gense. Det er nemlig en film, som er en del af min egen historie som…
Til lykke med fødselsdagen JØRGEN LETH
… ønsker vi her fra Filmkommentaren. Vi gør det med et af vores yndlingsportrætter af dig, det er godt nok dit, fra din blog, men vi tilegner os det lige, for det er et af de mest inspirerende, et af…
Doker 2016 Profile
A thoughtful and clear text taken from the site of Doker: Moscow International Documentary Film Festival DOKer has stemmed from the project of the same name which screens independent non-fiction. DOKer project is aimed at analyzing and screening in Russia…
Lars Movin versus Jørgen Leth
MOVIN MØDER LETH, Lars Movin meddeler det på sin Facebookside, og jeg skynder mig at meddele videre, især at det er NU! NU I AFTEN I ÅRHUS! Movin skriver: ”Så er det i aften, at jeg har den ære at…
Andreas Fischer-Hansen hædres
Andreas Fischer-Hansen er igen i Tallin, han er selvfølgelig nødvendig for evalueringen på Baltic Film and Media School ved universitetet i Tallin disse dage. Han var leder af fotograflinjen, Head of Cinematography 2006-2009. Men der er derudover en særlig årsag…
Film Uni Babelsberg Konrad Wolf
It’s nice to teach. I have done so for three days and have the final round today in green and rich Potsdam, at the impressive film school (now Universität) named after Konrad Wolf. Invited by Peter Badel for the second…
6 Types of Documentaries
It’s the never ending story – the discussions around the definition of what is a documentary and which words to use. We still go to literature to characterise, using phrases like ”a film poem”, ”an essay”, ”novelistic” etc. And we…
Michael Madsen Posts/Blogindlæg
There is still time to pick up on the free retrospective of Michael Madsen on DocAlliance, an event that made editor Allan Berg update our posts on the Danish director, quite many actually, from Celestial Night to The Visit, written…
Michael Madsen Retrospective For Free
– with this headline on the DocAlliance website: Visual Philosophy of the Unknown. The (unsigned) article on the website is a very fine introduction to an original auteur, who with few films have reached international fame. Here is a full…
Christian Braad Thomsen: Fassbinder /2
Danish documentary master Christian Braad Thomsen’s Fassbinder portrait opens in theatres in New York today. Richard Brody praises the film in a great article in The New Yorker (April 28 2016), in which he compares it with another portrait film…
DocsBarcelona 2016
The program is announced for DocsBarcelona 2016, May 23 to May 29. I have below copy-pasted the press release that came out today. As one of the programmers for the festival part, I am looking forward to attend and participate…
Torben Skjødt Jensen: Eksil /2
Scenen er fra Teater Nordkraft i Aalborg fra Mikkel Flyvholms opsætning i 2013 af ”Eksil” skrevet af Andreas Garfield på grundlag af Jakob Ejersbos roman fra 2009 med samme titel. Skuespilleren med front mod os er Sofie Saaby Mehlum. Hun…
Jonas Mekas See Everything Like for the First Time
Renowned critic and writer Richard Brody has – in the New Yorker – written a long and extremely interesting article on – as he calls him – ”Jonas Mekas, Champion of the ”Poetic” Cinema”. This time the theme is not…
Audrius Stonys: The Truth of Life…
… this is just a natural thing in documentary filmmaking, the moment you think you know everything and it only remains to capture your “discoveries”, the truth of life takes over and turns against you. So, I let my visions…
DOK Leipzig 2016: Disobedience
“This year’s edition of DOK Leipzig, which runs from 31 October to 6 November, stands under the motto “Disobedience”, in German “Ungehorsam”. The term acts as an integral aspect throughout the Special Programmes. For instance, the Retrospective explores the styleshaping…
Peter Greenaway: A Medium for Visual Intelligence
Always provoking, always exaggerating as part of the provocation, and yet there is always some truth in what he says – Peter Greenaway, this time as part of his getting a BAFTA recognition for his work at an event in…
Visions du Réel – Barisone, Stonys, Greenaway
… takes place in Nyon Switzerland from April 14 to 23 and presents as usual – under the direction of Luciano Barisone – a strong program with the emphasis on the artistic documentary.. Barisone was interviewed by cineuropa (by Muriel…
50 Documentaries You Need to See…
… according to Joshua Oppenheimer, Lucy Walker, Alex Gibney, James Marsh, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Franny Armstrong, Khalo Matabane, Molly Dineen, Angus Macqueen and Kim Longinotto, is a good read from The Guardian end of March. I have taken three statements from…
IDA – Magazine & Essential Doc Reads
After the death of the DOX magazine there is a lack of longer and deeper articles about the documentary genre as an art form – where to find reflections on aesthetics and ethics, historical articles, interviews with important directors and…
Amdoc 2016: Brother’s Keeper
There is indeed a diversity in the programming of American Documentary Film Festival 2016, the fifth edition held here in Palm Springs. Reportage, documentary films of artistic quality and also a chance to dig into film history, this time Joe…
Docudays UA: Jon Bang Carlsen
I am a landscape painter, said Jon Bang Carlsen at his masterclass at the Docudays in Kiev last night. I found it to be a perfect auto-description after having seen his ”It’s Now or Never”, that came out in 1996,…
Docudays UA: The Nordic Contribution
I want to say Bravo Sweden. Our neighbouring country has for years been the main sponsor of the Docudays UA Human Rights Festival here in Kiev. From the state organisation SIDA, channelled through the Swedish embassy 4 mio. SEK (426.184…
Greek Tribute to Mark Cousins
Along with Jon Bang Carlsen the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival pays a tribute to Mark Cousins, also an original filmmaker, loved by this site, a man who knows his film history (buy the 930 minutes long dvd compilation he made with…
Greek Tribute to Jon Bang Carlsen
The 18th edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival includes a retrospective of films by Danish director Jon Bang Carlsen, indeed not the first time this director has been, much deserved, presented as one of the most interesting documentary directors of…
Avi Mograbi-Collected Posts on his Works
”… Mograbi is exactly as his films are: tense, sometimes comic, but always dealing with the embarrassing reality of the country he lives in. A frustrated artist, as he says himself, who wants to move something, raise a debate in…
Cinéma du Réel 2016
A classic among the many documentary festivals – and in Paris. The selection for this year’s edition, taking place March 18-27, primarily at the Centre Pompidou, has been made: there is an international competition, a French, one for First film…
Joshua Oppenheimer’s works
Som alle andre har vi her på Filmkommentaren meget længe været optaget af Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence og den tidligere The Act of Killing. Jeg har samlet det meste af det vi skrevet om de to film her:…
Finn Larsen og Lars Johansson: Ungdomsbilleder
Jeg har lige set den fine nye kopi af den 35 år gamle Ungdomsbilleder, som nu bliver præsenteret på museet i Randers som en del af Finn Larsens og Lars Johanssons udstilling Ung i Randers 1978-1979, som åbner 4. marts.…
Alexander Gutman 1945 – 2016
A fine filmmaker and a good friend has passed away. Suddenly, two days ago. I got the message from Ludmila Nazaruk from St. Petersburg, the hometown of Sasha. I saw him last time at the ”Message to Man” festival in…
02-16-2016 Vilnius The President and Us
So this is the official photo from the award ceremony. The President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite is in the middle with (from left to right) Alge and Arunas Matelis, my wife Ellen and me, the President, Audrius and Aida Stonys,…
Dragon of Dragons to Marcel Łoziński
My first reaction to the press release sent out by the Krakow Film Festival was… why not before? But I will not use it against the fine people of a festival that I have always loved a lot and intends…
Tue Steen Müller: Lithuanian Docs
LITHUANIAN DOCS – collected posts by Tue Steen Müller on Lithuanian documentaries, directors, photographers and producers Lituania is a Baltic country, the most southern, and the most exciting when it comes to documentaries. They are mostly short and based…
Helena Třeštíková: Mallory
Colleague Allan Berg wrote a review of “Mallory” when it was shown at CPH:DOX, here is how festival directors Svetlana and Zoran Popovic introduces the film that will be shown at Magnificent7 tonight, taken from : The most recent documentary…
DAFilms Portal Celebrates 10 Years
… and you will, as one of the presents from this excellent ”online documentary cinema” vod, be able to watch 5 films for free, three of them by directors Peter Liechti, Viktor Kossakovsky and Sergei Loznitsa… until January 31. More…
Mark Cousins: Dear John (Grierson)
I love Mark Cousins, his passion for film and his constant pointing at the fact that film history is so much more than American and French and British. That goes for documentary as well. Read this text of his and…
Iikka Vehkalahti: A Good Documentary is
Thanks to our own archive at www.filmkommentaren.dk I am able to bring forward clever words from Iikka Vehkalahti, who – it has been announced – is to receive an award at the upcoming Hot Docs Festival in Toronto. Here they…
Avi Mograbi in Berlin Forum
Israeli Avi Mograbi is one of the most remarkable “auteurs” of our time. If you want to know more you are welcome to check posts made on this site on his work – since 2008, more than 30 that includes…
Peteris Krilovs: Klucis – the Deconstruction
Det har været med stor fornøjelse, at jeg har fulgt det store arbejde, som var forbundet med produktionen af denne film (Peteris Krilov: Klucis – the Deconstruction of an Artist, som i går blev vist i Øst For Paradis i…
Christian Braad Thomsen: Fassbinder
Det var sent efter fremkomsten jeg fik set Christian Braad Thomsens efter premieren i Berlin meget omtalte nye film. Først da jeg læste Rune Kühls anmeldelse i Information blev det til noget, og det var fordi en bestemt formulering ramte…
Haskell Wexler 1922-2015
Legendary Haskell Wexler died yesterday, 93 years old. Long obituaries giving information on his impressive career are to be found in Hollywwod Reporter, Variety and Indiewire (links below), several FB friends salute his strong contribution to film history and social…
DocAlliance: From All of Us to All of You
Yes, this is how one the partners, CPH:DOX, of the very generous DocAlliance, ends the year with a Disney quote. And it IS a veeery good present that you should accept. The online platform – after a brilliant series of…
Mogens Rukov 1943-2015
ALT KAN SKE I VIRKELIGHEDEN ”Det er en stor film. Den samler flere af Filmens traditioner. Det er en surrealistisk film. Man kommer til at tænke på Buñuels ‘l’Age d’Or’ fra 1930, som handler om Roms grundlæggelse, statsmagten, banditter,…
Machaidze, Karumidze & Meskhi: When the Earth…
Some facts: Full title: When the Earth Seems to be Light Full names of directors: Salome Machaidze, Tamuna Karumidze & David Meskhi. A Georgian/ German coproduction. Produced by Goslab & Jörg Langkau. Co-Produced by Zaza Rusadze, Zazarfilm. … and a…
Herz Frank – Collected Posts on his Works
Always with a camera at hand, be it to catch a moment in life… THE JEWISH STREET (1992) by Allan Berg Nielsen The camera from high above shows me Riga. The city set in its landscape. I’m drawn…
Robert Frank – Collected Posts on his Works
… it becomes indirectly an adaption of Ginsberg’s poem. And at the same time it is a film about Frank’s doubts about filming this. It sounds wild and it is. It is radical and most unique. Avant-garde and uncompromising, not as…
Miroslav Janek – Collected Posts on his Works
Three persons in one room. Plus a film crew. Not a lot of space but the great Czech director and cameraman Mira Janek manages to move around to observe and catch the intense atmosphere of quite a unique family:…
Miroslav Janek
I have run into a slate of giving verbal flowers to documentarians, whose work I appreciate a lot and who are to be highlighted right now for one reason or the other. Earlier today it was Sérgio Tréfaut who visits…
Claude Lanzmann
Yesterday Claude Lanzmann could celebrate his 90 year birthday. It gave me the inspiration to celebrate him by visiting youtube, where you can find a lot of clips from from Shoah and other of his films plus a long, very…