Idfa and cph:dox 2014

After DOKLeipzig and Jihlava IDFF have announced their programme, these (idfa and cph:dox) two significant documentary festivals have press released selection decisions, ambitions and visions.

Idfa (November 19-30) first – take a look at the website, link below – seven competition sections, six non-competitive and eight so-called ”special focus”, including one on Heddy Honigmann, so well deserved, and Honigmann is also the one who has made the ”top ten”, which is always interesting: Which films have important directors chosen? Lovely to see films by Victor Erice, Fernando Birri and Wang Bing on the list as well as two films by Johan van der Keuken, one ”The Reading Lesson”, 10 mins., that I have never heard about. By the way, Honigmann’s great new film ” Around the World in 50 Concerts” opens the festival this year.

It is impossible to go through all categories, and title-dropping is boring but let me just express joy that Danish Camilla Nielsson’s ”Democrats” is in competition as well as Hanna Polak’s ”Something Better to Come” and Nima Sarvestani’s ”Those Who Said No”, all three films that I know about from workshops and pitch sessions, and all three films that characterise idfa as a place for social and political interpretation of our world today. Also happy to see Davis Simanis (photo ”upstairs” on our website) represented in the Panorama programme with his cinematic ”Escaping Riga” and Egyptian Nadine Salib’s ”Mother of the Unborn” (photo) in the ”First Appearance” competition.

Cph:dox (November 6-16) is launching its full programme today, monday the 13th, and we will talk about that as we have already done, announcing the opening film, ”1989” by Anders Østergaard. The festival, however, wants to be

much more than a film festival. Read this edited version of a press release that came out a week ago:

CPH:DOX launches a completely new programme called MEGATRENDS focusing on five of the fundamental changes that affect the world as we know it and will shape our common future. CPH:DOX and MEGATRENDS offer a cross-disciplinary programme of films, debates, events and interactive workshops dedicated to the latest social, technological and economic changes in the world.

“Our goal has always been to be the best documentary film festival in the world. With MEGATRENDS we now want to become the best documentary film festival for the world” says festival director Tine Fischer.

With MEGATRENDS, CPH:DOX aims to eventually create a completely new democratic forum for participation and reflection. A place that makes a qualitative inventory of the main concerns facing society, where everyone can learn about how to help shape and change the future.

Sustainability: RETHINKING RESOURCES – creative and constructive solutions to the climate crisis

The New Economy: MOVERS & MAKERS – open source, the maker movement and the digital paradigm shift

Inequality: POLARIZED – the growing economic inequality and its social consequences

Expanding technologies: WE ARE THE ROBOTS – revolutions in the field of technology, biology and psychology

A rediscovered continent: AFRICA RISING – the world_s highest growth rates are in Africa, but at what cost?…

Think Big, and YES, documentaries are there to raise debate and make us think, and react! They are gonna be busy the documentary viiewers in Amsterdam and Copenhagen!

http://www.idfa.nl/industry/festival/program-sections-awards.aspx

http://cphdoxnews.dk/d/nyhedsbrev.lasso?n=822

 

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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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