Cinéma du Réel Report 2

It is raining cats and stones in Paris. No spring feeling yet. Nevertheless the cafés are full outside as all the smokers are situated there now. No smoking inside. 

Full houses at the festival for the two screenings in the Cinéma 1 that I attended. The series “Americana” draws a lot of people. Not only people who experienced the happy 60’es but also a young generation, who wants to know what it was all about. Ed Pincus “One Step Away” and “Pictures from Life’s Other Side” by Jim McBride. The first one far the most interesting about the totally stoned long haired hippies, who live in a commune in the year of 1967. Harru wants to leave for New York with child and girl friend but it takes a looong time before he realises his intention. Funny to look. Nostalgia? Not for me even if the main character reminds me of a good friend, who also had big difficulties in moving.
And then “Holunderblüte” by our old friend Volker Koepp, this time from Kaliningrad with a complete children cast. Allan will review this later in this place.
Full houses but a lot of audience leaving the cinema before the films are over. Why this disrespect for the film? It disturbs the rest of us and it is seldom that I experience this. French arrogance?
Joaquin Jorda, the late Catalan documentarian, said that “you only sleep at good films, for the bad ones you stay awake”. Volker Koepp does not make bad films. Grand old man in (East)German documentary, wonderful memories from his films that we showed on Baltic Film/TV Festival on Bornholm in the 90’es. 
Neil Young is played in the café where this is written. The 60’es never end. 
www.cinereel.org Still: Ed Pincus to-day.

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Tue Steen Müller
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.

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