Maysles Brothers Competition

It is the fourth time the programmer Cian Smyth organises the documentary festival ”within” the Belfast Film Festival, March 26- April 4. And again it is a pleasure to see a varied selection of high quality films, 44 in all, ” from experimental to cinema verite in form” as said in the press release, with observational “gaze” perspectives in the spirit of Albert Maysles like Helena Trestikova’s manyfold awarded “Réné”, and more “staged” titles like “Blind Loves” by Jura Lehotsky and “Z32” by Avi Mograbi, and several new Irish films.

From the press release: Finally, a section of the festival that is extremely important to us, Truth/Memory/Transition, attempts to present and discuss documentary films and their worldwide stories in the context of conflict resolution, managing the emotional impact of history and the flexible nature of memory. This strand centres around debate and Pray the Devil Back to Hell will provide a thrilling centrepiece discussion in the presence of filmmaker and subject as it sits alongside a fascinating discussion about the consequences of fame in politics with world-renowned Northern Ireland civil rights campaigner Bernadette McAliskey (nee Devlin) and the film Bernadette. Photo: A mural with Bernadette Devlin.

The films in this category: Pray the Devil Back to Hell: dir. Gini Reticker, USA, 2008, Ireland Premiere. Bernadette: dir. Duncan Campbell, Northern Ireland/Ireland, 2008, World Premiere. AWingBigCell: dir. Seamus Harahan, Miriam deBurca, Northern Ireland/Ireland, 2008, World Premiere. For the Record: dir. Mairead McClean, Northern Ireland/Ireland, 2009, World Premiere. An Phailistin – Disturbing the Silence: dir. Sonia NicGiolla Easbuig, Ireland, 2004

www.belfastfilmfestival.org

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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