European Film Academy Shortlists Documentaries
The selection system is a bit heavy and complicated: 10 festivals – including all those which are part of DocAlliance – suggest titles for a committee of documentary connaisseurs, who have chosen 15 films. These will be watched and voted on by members of EFA to end up with 5 nominations – and then the European Documentary 2017 will be announced in Berlin in December. Having said so – yes, there are many good films on the list, but I miss Miroslav Janek’s “Normal Autistic Film”, Audrius Stonys “Woman and the Glacier” and Pawel Lozinski’s “You Have No Idea How Much I Love You” – all films that cross borders, where most of the ones below are pretty run-of-the-mill in terms of storytelling. My favourite: Loznitsa’s “Austerlitz” (photo) but I can not vote…
Austerlitz | Director: Sergei Loznitsa | Producer: Sergei Loznitsa | Germany
Communion | D: Anna Zamecka | P: Zuzanna Krol, Anna Wydra, Izabela Lopuch, Hanka Kastelicova | Poland
Dead Donkeys Fear No Hyenas | D: Joakim Demmer | P: Margarete Jangård, Heino Deckert, John Webster | Sweden, Germany, Finland
How to Meet a Mermaid | Director: Coco Schrijber | Producer: Frank van den Engel | Netherlands, Denmark
La Chana | D: Lucija Stojevic | P: Lucija Stojevic, Greta Olafsdottir, Deirdre Towers, Susan Muska | Spain, Iceland, USA
Libera nos Liberami | D: Federica Di Giacomo | P: Francesco Virga, Paolo Santoni | Italy, France
Nothingwood | D: Sonia Kronlund | P: Laurent Lavolé & Melanie Andernach | France, Germany
School Life in Loco Parentis | P: Neasa Ní Chianáin, David Rane | P: David Rane, Montse Portabella, Angelo Orlando, Efthymia Zymvragaki | Ireland, Spain
Stranger in Paradise | Director: Guido Hendrikx | Producer: Frank van den Engel | Netherlands
Taste of Cement | D: Ziad Kalthoum | P: Ansgar Frerich, Tobias Siebert, Eva Kemme | Germany, Lebanon, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Qatar
The Good Postman | Director: Tonislav Hristov | Producer: Kaarle Aho | Finland, Bulgaria
Le Venerable W | D: Barbet Schroeder | P: Margaret Menegoz, Lionel Baier | France, Switzerland
The War Show | D: Andreas Dalsgaard, Obaidah Zytoon | P: Miriam Nørgaard, Alaa Hassan | Denmark, Syria, Finland
Ultra | D: Balazs Simonyi | P: Laszlo Jozsa, Balazs Simonyi, Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof, Hanka Kastelicova, Anna Zavorszky | Hungary, Greece
West of the Jordan River | D: Amos Gitai | P: Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, Romain Icard, Stéphanie Schorter, Amos Gitai, Shuki Friedman & Laurent Truchot | France