Magnificent7 Belgrade/ Report 1

12. Festival Evropskog Dugometraznog Dokumentarnog Filma… the Serbian language version for 12th European Feature Documentary Film Festival that started last night with the screening of German Kral’s ”Our Last Tango” – click on www.filmkommentaren.dk and watch the photo to see how many found their way to the Sava Center. It was record breaking, more than 2000, the first time that the balcony was opened – for the screening of a documentary. I do not recall if I have ever seen so many people gathered for a documentary screening. And judging from the applause that followed the screening the audience appreciated the choice of the lovely, spectacular, elegantly edited story about the fantastic tango dancers Maria Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes. Cinema!

And a love story difficult to make, German Kral told us at the Q&A session after the screening. Maria and Juan Carlos did at one moment not want to take part, then they changed their minds, then he found out that she had more pages in the script than him, and then she got angry watching the final film because a scene she loved was not there… it ended well, the film is there, the two masters are treated with respect and tango is being danced. Playful and joyful.

Yes, Belgrade is a city of art, a city of culture. In between tv interviews together with Svetlana and Zoran Popovic, I had time to celebrate Saint Sava’s Day, an exceptional exhibition of Russian avantgarde art, a tango concert with local Aleksandar Nikolic on bandoneon accompanied by a string orchestra – and of course visits to both classical and modern restaurants downtown and along the river.

www.magnificent7festival.org

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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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