CPH:DOX 2013 /1

The festival in Copenhagen has started. For Copenhageners it started a long time ago with prologue events, the programme newspaper in cafés, banners and posters in the streets… the organisers are masters of marketing… but now the festival programme runs with an opening last night and an overwhelming offer to the audience – today, as an example, you would have to choose between 45 films/events (the latter = a concert or a debate or a prize ceremony).

Yes, how to choose – the staff has suggested some films to be picked, so-called ambassadors, well known Danes, make their recommendations, or you sit down, go through the website (that is brilliantly layout’ed) or download the 338 pages of the catalogue, all in English.

Sections are many. The Dox:Award is the main one, the New:Vision and the Nordic:Dox have been there before, whereas the F:Act Award is new. This is what is written about it:

“This year CPH:DOX is launching a new award dedicated to films in the field between documentary filmmaking and investigative journalism. Films that not only document the world, but actively takes part in it. With the new F:act Award we wish to honor and acknowledge the often time consuming work in a genre, which is at the same time threatened by short deadlines and in creative growth. 12 films are nominated for the F:act Award, which is kindly sponsored by the Danish Union of Journalists.”

The film by Callum Macrae, “No Fire Zone”, reviewed by Allan Berg, see below, is one of the contenders as are Alex Gibney’s “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks” and Errol Morris Rumsfeld-film “The Unknown Known” (photo).

And Ai Weiwei and The Yes Men have curated each their section, there is music films, new Danish docs, new Chinese, Claude Lanzmann… I could go on, and many other industry related activities. Difficult to be negative if you are a documentary lover.

www.cphdox.dk

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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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