DOKLeipzig 2014/ 8/ Alina Rudnitskaya

The title refers to the 9th of May, where Russians celebrate the end of the WW2, the nazi capitulation, a day that is not celebrated by the gay and lesbian couples in the new film of Rudnitskaya. Maybe that angle is a bit subtle, anyway it is a well constructed film where the couples tell their private stories: where and how they met, how long they have been together, and they express their reactions to the law banning ”propaganda” for homosexuality. Their fear – what if something something happens to you, they say to each other – is mixed with television clips bringing outrageous opinions from politicians, hateful homophobia in its most ugly form.

It’s not a film that has the same high artistic quality as the director’s many previous works, but it is a precise statement, has a rythm and brings articulate people to our eyes and ears.

Watched at DOKLeipzig 2014.

Russia, 2013, 29 mins.

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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