Documentaries in Riga
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 be Young”. Readers of this blog will know how often I have claimed that “East Beats West” when it comes to creativity, originality and actuality in current documentaries. The festival demonstrates this point perfectly, showing films like “Blind Loves”, “Klucis – The Deconstruction of an Artist”, “Stone Silence”, “Music Partisans” and “Little Bird´s Diary”. You can read about these films on this blog. International premiere is given to a film from Belarus, “Journalists”, and there are also a couple of films from outside the East of Europe.
At the same time the Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries take place with more than 20 film projects to be pitched to a 15 persons strong panel of commissioners from channels like arte, BBC, YLE, svt, DR. Together with five colleagues I will be there to train the producers and directors to pitch in the weekend of September 6-7.
The organiser, the National Film Centre of Latvia, has, as in the previous years, made a beautiful catalogue that for me stands as an example on how to promote quality documentaries. The cover, and the picture that you look at, is from the film “Art Star and the Sudanese Twins” by Pietra Brettkelly, New Zealand.
