Docu Talents in Karlovy Vary

It’s such a fine idea and it works: Docu Talents from the East, the 13th edition, to take place during the festival in Karlovy Vary, July 4 14.00-16.00, organised by the always innovative people from the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival that I have had the pleasure of visiting a couple of times.

The concept is well-known: Director/producer behind 12 selected projects get 8 minutes to present their projects, all of them to have premiere late 2017 or in the first half of 2018. In other words a great opportunity for festival representatives, sales agents, broadcasters etc. to check out what is coming up from Eastern and Central Europe.

There are films from Kazakhstan, several from Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Serbia, Ukraine/Luxembourg/Estonia, Lithuania.

I know of some of them so these are the ones I will mention, read about all of them on the site, link below.

”D is for Division”, in post-production, is directed by Davis Simanis

from Latvia, praised on this site many times. Documentary and feature film director. I am very curious to see where this film ”had landed” – I know it from pitchings in Riga and Prague where it has created a lot of discussion. A quote from the description: ” A Latvian woman named Hermine Purina is shown in an archival photograph: she became the first victim of the Soviet invasion of Latvia in 1940 whilst trying to save her son, Voldemärs, with her body. It becomes an inspiration for contemplating film’s boundaries – both geographical and metaphorical. Russians and Latvians sense the import of historical realities in a completely different way. One side associates it with liberation; for the other side, it means the loss of freedom.” Production is in good hands: Latvian Guntis Trekteris and Czech Radim Procházka.

History is indeed also the theme of “Occupation 1968”, which has well-known director Peter Kerekes as producer. Description: “Occupation as occupants see it. Five countries from the Warsaw Pact occupied Czechoslovakia in 1968. Fifty years later, five directors from those countries will shoot short films about the invasion from the point of view of people who took part in it.

To get the most diverse views on this complicated topic, we chose one director from each of the former Warsaw Pact countries that participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia – Russia, Poland, Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria. The result will be five 26-minute documentaries – five different view from inside the five countries. Mosaic subjective portraits will form a documentary series of five 26 minutes episodes for television, and a 130-minute documentary feature for distribution.” So interested to see what the directors Evdokia Moskvina, Magdalena Szymkov, Stefan Komandarev, Linda Dombrovszky, Marie Elisa Scheidt will come up with!

One more, directed by the eternal talent, Latvian Laila Pakalnina, pitched in Riga at the Baltic Sea Forum in 2016, “Spoon” is the title, super cinematographer Gints Berzins is behind the camera and Lithuanian Dagnė Vildziūnaitė is co-producer. Description: “Men can drill very deep, down to where the oil is. Large groups of qualified men equipped with machines can extract oil and transport it far away, to a place where other qualified men can transform it into plastic. The plastic is then taken to a factory, where still more men can turn it into spoons, which will be transported even further to all sorts of eateries and, likely, will be available free of charge. This meaningful life will last for one unceremonious meal. The film examines what society invests into the creation of a plastic spoon that effortlessly can be thrown out.” Yes, it will be different, surprising and that’s the kind of films we want, right?!

Photo from a previous Docu Talent session in Karlovy Vary.

http://www.dokument-festival.com/industry/docu-talents/2017#dt2017

Tamar Tal: Shalom Italia

The director name seemed familiar, Tamar Tal, and looking back at the posts on the site I found this on the wonderful one hour film that I saw at DOK Leipzig in 2011:

”Life in Stills” by Tamar Tal from Israel … is a very funny and warm film with a 96 year old grandmother and her grandson, who keep a photo shop alive in Tel Aviv. The scoop photos are from the declaration of independence of the state of Israel…

Now her newest film is Documentary of the Month at the Danish Cinematheque from June 22-June 28. I saw the trailer, link below, you should do the same, it will make you want to go and watch ”Shalom Italia”. Here is the synopsis of the film:

Three Italian Jewish brothers set off on a journey through Tuscany, in search of a cave where they hid as children to escape the Nazis. Their quest, full of humor, food and Tuscan landscapes, straddles the boundary between history and myth, both of which really, truly happened.

In Danish: Tre jødisk-italienske brødre på 73, 82 og 84 sætter hinanden stævne i Toscana. Som børn måtte de under 2. verdenskrig flygte fra nazisterne fra Firenze ud i en toscansk skov, hvor de skjulte sig i et helt år med deres familie i en hjemmebygget hule blandt nogle klippesten. Nu har de sat sig for at finde stedet i skoven, hvor de i frygt og stilhed levede et helt år og på den måde overlevede krigen. Der er masser af humor og varme imellem de tre brødre, der husker deres fortid meget forskelligt.

Israel, 2016, 70 mins.

http://tamartal.com/shalom-italia/

www.dfi.dk/Filmhuset/Cinemateket/Billetter-og-program 

Celebrating Syria – a Festival of Arts and Culture

… in Manchester, July 10-23, organised by Rethink Rebuild Society: ”A fortnight of exhibition, films, theatre, live music, talks by writers, panel discussions and interactive art workshops exploring Syrian arts and culture before and after 2011.The first of its kind in the UK, this festival is a celebration of a hopeful, inspiring and imaginative face of Syria and the Syrian people and their rich contribution to the collective history of human expression.”

And it is indeed an inspiring program that is offered. CHECK THE WEBSITE, LINK BELOW. When it comes to films there are three works to be screened:

The masterpiece “Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait” from 2014 by Wiam Simav Bedirxan and Ossama Mohammed. The latter will be in Manchester for a masterclass.

“La Dolce Siria: A Short Film Trilogy” by Ammar Al-Beik”. The wonderful photo is from “La Dolce Siria” (2014), that has this description from the site of the event: A satirical response to Federico Fellini’s 1960 comedy-drama La Dolce Vita, this film unfolds as a poignant narrative of the dramatic events affecting Syria and leading to the extinction of love and happiness, which Fellini’s protagonist Marcello Rubini was unsuccessfully looking for decades ago. “Vita’ is not ‘dolce’ in Syria Federico! No fireworks around the tent Federico. Scud and bombs are the fireworks that we recognise, my friend. No one can tame the lion here in this tent. It’s smashing everything and everyone. I forgot to tell this earlier: Lion in Arabic means Assad’.

And finally “Tadmor” by Monika Borgmann and Lokman Slimvia, feature length: Tadmor is the Arabic name for the Syrian city Palmyra, home of one of the most magnificent ancient cities dating back to the 3rd century BC.  Palmyra became the centre of an empire, headed by Queen Zenobia, which took over most of the Roman East, including Egypt.

Tadmor is also associated in the Syrian people’s collective consciousness with one of the most notorious political prisons in recent history, where prisoners, often detained for many years without trial, have been subjected to the most horrendous forms of systematic torture…In the film, 8 former Lebanese detainees (yes, people from all over the world were detained there, not just Syrians) decide to break their silence about the years they spent in Tadmor prison and to tell their story. They rebuild Tadmor in an abandoned school near Beirut so that they can re-enact their experience, overcome it and move on…

https://celebratingsyria.org

Vit Klusák: The White World According to Daliborek

It is a great film that will evoke a lot of reactions and maybe legal questions: Are you in Czech Republic allowed to express, in public, racism as he does?

… Dalibor’s view on the world is bad – at the same time as he is (no irony) a poor guy who lives at home with mum and her boyfriend, who are also racists. Dalibor wants to get out of his boring life, so he puts himself into some roles, singing, recording… and he does not seem to have luck with the girlfriend, to say the least!

These were my short email-comments from months ago when I was asked whether there are festivals for this strong, pretty controversial documentary, Vit Klusák’s “The White World According to Daliborek”, that will have its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival that takes place June 30-July 8.

And will go around to lots of festivals is my estimate. Here follows the intro text to the film from the catalogue of the festival, written by Martin Horyna:

Industrial painter Dalibor K. is approaching 40 but he still lives with his mother Věra. He makes amateur horror movies and writes angry songs; he likes PlayStation and Facebook. And he admires Adolf Hitler. His search for a full-fledged relationship with a woman hasn’t yet panned out, but at least Jana, a new acquaintance from the neighborhood, brings him a little joy. Czech documentarist Vít Klusák has come out with a stylized portrait of a gentle neo-Nazi from Prostějov, Czechia. And despite the fact that he’s yet to attack anyone, he can’t stand many things: his job, Jews, Roma, refugees, homosexuals, Angela Merkel, spiders, and dentists. His mother’s new boyfriend Vladimír also irritates him despite dropping choice nuggets such as “I’d turn gypsies into asphalt” in order to ingratiate himself with the young man. The upshot is that Dalibor hates his life, but he doesn’t know what to change. Corrosively absurd and starkly chilling in equal measure, this tragicomedy investigates the radical worldview of “decent, ordinary people.” And just when it seems that its message can’t get any more urgent, the film culminates in a totally uncompromising way.

The IDF (Institute of Documentary Film) brings a very interesting interview with Klusák on its site, made by Mark Pickering. Link below.

Czech Republic, 2017, 105 mins.

http://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/4823691-the-white-world-according-todaliborek/

https://dokweb.net/articles/detail/332/interview-vit-klusak-about-his-latest-film-the-white-world-according-to-daliborek 

FolkeBio Allinge /LØRDAG

FILM & DEBAT

Det Danske Filminstitut inviterer i samarbejde med Politiken til film og debat under Folkemødet 2017 i Allinge. Se programmet for FolkeBios tredje dag her med Filmkommentarens anbefalinger føjet til:

LØRDAG DEN 17. JUNI

10:30 | MON DE KOMMER OM NATTEN?

Instruktør: Emil Langballe. For år tilbage flygtede 14-årige Rokhsar og hendes familie fra Afghanistan. De bor nu i en lille jysk provinsby, hvor Rokhsar går i skole og til fodbold. Familien venter på den endelige afgørelse om asyl, men ventetiden har forvandlet Rokhsar for altid. // Marina Janell Søndergaard, forkvinde i bestyrelsen for Dansk Flygtningehjælp Ungdom DFUNK, introducerer filmen.

FILMKOMMENTAREN

Vi har ikke set Mon de kommer om natten endnu, men vi glæder os. Tue Steen Müller har i sit arbejde ved internationale festivaler været opmærksom på instruktøren Emil Langballes tidlige arbejde: ”… Velican theatre (St. Petersburg) where we watched young Danish Emil Langballe’s graduation film from the National Film School in England, ”Beach Boy”, a well balanced, cinematic non-moralistic portrait of a young black man and his relationship to a middle-aged British woman in Kenya. The young man makes a phone call to his girl friend, who is pregnant but is aware of his profession. The film is light and pretty much less demonstrative than the feature of Ulrich Seidl.” http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/2857/

og i Kalovy Vary ”… Best documentary film under 30 minutes was “Beach Boy” by Emil Langballe, 27 mins., a film from the National Film School in England.” http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/2423/

13:30 | DE SIDSTE MÆND I ALEPPO

Instruktør: Feras Fayyad. Prisvindende dokumentar om civile hjælpearbejderes daglige kamp og afmagt under krigen i Syrien. Medlemmer af De Hvide Hjelme kommer den nødstedte befolkning til undsætning efter de utallige bombeangreb, og gennem dem skildres, hvad det vil sige at leve under belejring.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

… The quality of the relationship the cinematographers on ground have with the characters makes you feel the sincerity in the scenes. The cinematography (shot with Canon cameras) is admirable, even more so with the difficult and highly dangerous circumstances in mind. The director of photography, Fadi al-Halabi, and the cinematographers, Thaher Mohamad and Hasan Kattan, from the Aleppo Media Center, risking their lives every moment of filming, have done an amazing work. The superb cinematography and editing is lifting the story up from film to cinema. But it is something else than that: it is documentation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, right there in front of your eyes. It is extremely disturbing and hard to watch… Læs hele Sara Thelles lange analyserende anmeldelse her: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3858/

DEBAT

15:30-16:00. Med afsæt i de to film om Syrien er der debat med Naser Khader, MF (K), og Andreas Kamm, generalsekretær i Dansk Flygtningehjælp.

16:30 | THE WAR SHOW

Instruktør: Andreas Dalsgaard, Obaidah Zytoon. Filmen følger Syriens skæbne og en gruppe venner, hvis liv og drømme forvandles til mareridt, alt imens landet synker sammen i kaos. Radioværten Obaidah Zytoon og hendes venner rives med af opstanden mod regimet – en opstand, der udvikler sig til blodig borgerkrig.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

Obaidah Zytoon tager i en scene som programvært begejstret styringen af sit radioprogram med populær musik. Det er tilbage i 2011 vel. Det er filmens første scene og det er dens ramme. Men straks efter kommer så hendes dæmpede stemme. Eftertænksom og fem år senere. Nu fra mikrofonen i filmens lydstudie begynder hun i sin voiceover at fortælle, hvad der herefter skete. Og det her er en alvorlig og intens og en god film, det er man allerede nu sikker på.

Men før filmens første scene med Zytoon i radiostudiet er der imidlertid titelskiltet The War Show og før det er der titelsekvensen, som er en forrevet, styrtende optagelse fra en gadekamp under en demonstration vil jeg tro, et kamera som falder eller tabes, et lille kamera, en telefon måske. Obaidah Zytoons medinstruktør Andreas Dalsgaard og klipperen Adam Nielsen har således med kyndigt overblik anbragt filmens ramme og dens billedmateriale i front. Dette er fortællingen og dette er fortælleren og dette er hendes position. Filmens fortællested er klipperummet før biografen og tv. Og fortællingen er beretningen om Syriens historie disse år… Læs resten af min anmeldelse her: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3727/

19:00 | UNDERVERDEN

Instruktør: Fenar Ahmad. Actiondrama om lægen Zaid, der begiver sig på hævntogt i den københavnske underverden for at opnå retfærdighed for sin myrdede bror. Det er et valg med omkostninger for ham og hans familie, og han må overveje, om hævnens pris bliver for høj.

https://www.facebook.com/underverdenfilm/

https://www.facebook.com/fenar.ahmad

FILMKOMMENTAREN

Vi har desværre ikke set filmen, men ser frem til at kunne det.

HELE PROGRAMMET

for de tre dage i FolkeBio Allinge:

http://www.dfi.dk/Nyheder/FILMupdate/2017/juni/Program-til-aarets-Folkebio-er-klar.aspx 

Silver Crane Awards 2017 Lithuania

It’s been some good weeks for Lithuanian director Audrius Stonys. He won an award at DocsBarcelona and one at Krakow Film Festival and last night he received for the fourth time the national award for the best documentary 2017, “Woman and the Glacier”. The award is a trophy statuette of Silver Crane created by the sculptor Audrius Liaudanskas, given out for the 10th time.

Viewers of “Woman and the Glacier” will agree that the award for best cinematography went deservedly to Audrius Kezemys for his work on “Woman and the Glacier”. Superb is the only word that fits.

And no surprise that the award for best co-production went to Giedre Zickyte for her work with Chilean Maite Alberdi “I am Not from Here”.

Same Zickyte was not present at the ceremony as she was pitching a project at the Sheffield Doc/Fest together with director Marija Stonyte, who won the award for Best Student film, “Mountains Mountains”. Yes, Marija is the daughter of Audrius…

Photo of the two x Audrius, Stonys and Kezemys.

More winners for fiction and animation… check the website of Lithuanian Film Centre, an English list must be on its way:

http://www.lfc.lt/en/

FolkeBio Allinge /FREDAG

FILM & DEBAT

Det Danske Filminstitut inviterer i samarbejde med Politiken til film og debat under Folkemødet 2017 i Allinge. Se programmet for FolkeBios første dag her med Filmkommentarens anbefalinger føjet til:

FREDAG DEN 16. JUNI

10:30 | BIG TIME

Instruktør: Kaspar Astrup Schröder. Få indblik i de kreative processer hos den verdenskendte og innovative arkitekt Bjarke Ingels, mens han kæmper for at fuldføre sit største projekt til dato. Vi følger arbejdet og de mange kompromiser, det kræver, og vi er med, når privatlivet presser sig på.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

Bjarke Ingels er sjov at være sammen med. Han er, når han taler dansk, den 40 årige uhøjtidelige drengerøv som elsker sit fede job, ”vil gøre en forskel”, er visionær og får den internationale anerkendelse som han fortjener, når man ser de mange bygninger, han har lagt navn til i Danmark and all over. Hans drømme er gået i opfyldelse.

Og han er den fremragende fortæller, når han på engelsk ved det hvide papir tegner og fortæller – om tankerne bag forbrændingsanstalten og dens skibakke og om arbejdet i New York med at omforme verdens mest berømte skyline. For at bruge hans eget udtryk, på dansk, er det sindssygt spændende at se arkitekten med en tuschpen ved det hvide papir, filmet en face eller fra oven. Her træder filmens instruktør ind og arrangerer for tilskueren. Visualiserer hvad det er arkitekten kan og gør. Det er medlevende og oplysende… Læs hele Tue Steen Müllers anmeldelse her: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3908/

13:30 | VENUS

Instruktør: Lea Glob, Mette Carla Albrechtsen. Filmen fortæller ærligt og sårbart om kvinders forhold til sex – om lysten, ulysten, fantasierne, følelserne, opdagelserne og alt det, vi aldrig taler om. En række unge kvinder deler modigt deres tanker foran kameraet. // Efter filmen er der samtale med instruktør Mette Carla T. Albrechtsen, Emilia van Hauen, kultursociolog, og Anders Haahr Rasmussen, journalist og forfatter.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

I enjoyed Venus (great title by the way). I found it very true, the women who appear show honesty and not always, of course, security or self-confidence. Actually they show embarrassment sometimes too. It’s incredible how you get into their intimacy, it’s like you get little by little into their sexuality until they, at the very end, are naked. It’s beautiful. It is very natural and simple. I like the way it has been shot too… Læs hele Martina Rogers her: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3852/

16:30 | … når du kigger væk

Instruktør: Phie Ambo. Hvor går bevidsthedens grænser – og er vi forbundne på måder, vi ikke anede? Phie Ambo stiller de store spørgsmål i et filmisk eksperiment med overraskende svar. // Efter filmen er der Q&A med instruktøren.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

Phie Ambos vidunderlige film træffer mig øjeblikkelig mens jeg er uforberedt åben et meget personligt ellers næsten glemt sted, en næsten glemt erindring, en erkendelseshemmelighed, min tidligste tanke om kosmos. Juno, filmens første medvirkende, ligger og skal sove, det er åbningsbilledet. ”Er jeg et menneske eller et dyr?” spørger hun Phie Ambo som taler sagte med hende.

Da jeg var barn og lidt større dreng husker jeg med ét, at jeg ustandselig var optaget af enten at jeg var hele verdensaltet og, inspireret af atommodellen, at utallige solsystemer og levende verdener var indeholdt i eller faktisk udgjorde min krop, var mig, eller at nu der kun var mig, så var det mine sanser som producerede hele min omverden, hvad jeg så af ting og dyr og mennesker, hvad jeg læste og lyttede til og følte med mine fingre. Alt var mine sansninger og jeg selv var helt alene. Tanken forlod mig, svækkedes lidt efter lidt, men forsvandt aldrig helt… (Begyndelsen til min anmeldelse som bringes på Filmkommentaren senere.)

19:00 | DER KOMMER EN DAG

Instruktør: Jesper W. Nielsen. Året er 1967. På Nørrebro fjernes to brødre fra deres syge mor og anbringes på et børnehjem, hvor tiden står stille, og forstanderen har sin egen filosofi og barske reglement. Drama om tyranni og oprør, baseret på virkelige hændelser på drengehjemmet Godhavn.

FILMKOMMENTAREN

Vi har på Filmkommentaren ikke set filmen endnu, men vi glæder os…

http://www.dfi.dk/Nyheder/FILMupdate/2017/juni/Program-til-aarets-Folkebio-er-klar.aspx  (her er hele programmet for de tre dages film i FolkeBio)

Folkebio Allinge Shows Docs

And then you should know what that means. Allan Berg introduces the films that will be shown in Allinge on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, where Folkemødet, Denmark’s Political Festival on Bornholm takes place June 15.-18. 2017. The idea behind the Folkemødet is a meeting of people and politicians, where Bornholm provides the venue for Danish politicians to debate current political issues. All events are free and within walking distance of each other. Each political party represented in Folketinget has the opportunity to hold a major speech…

And there are films, selected by the Danish Film Institute and the newspaper Politiken. The first ones to be shown on thursday are Lise Birk Pedersen’s Italian based ”Tutti à Casa”, followed by Danish photographer activist Jabob Holdt and the film about him, and Pernille Rose Grønkjær’s portrait of stand up comedian Anders Matthesen, ”The Other Side” – of the artist.

Follow Allan Berg and his recommendations on this site.

FolkeBio Allinge /TORSDAG

FILM & DEBAT

Det Danske Filminstitut inviterer i samarbejde med Politiken til film og debat under Folkemødet 2017 i Allinge. Se programmet for FolkeBios første dag her med Filmkommentarens anbefalinger føjet til:

TORSDAG DEN 15. JUNI

14:00 | “TUTTI A CASA

– Al Magt til Folket?”. Instruktør: Lise Birk Pedersen. Filmen følger det italienske protestparti Movimento fra outsider til magtfaktor i det italienske parlament og skildrer dermed en generel udvikling inden for de vestlige demokratier.// Populisme og politikerlede er temaet for den efterfølgende debat, hvor instruktøren fortæller om sin kommende film “Demokratiløftet”. Mød Lise Birk Pedersen, Victor Boysen, RU, Lasse Quvang Rasmussen, DSU, og Tobias Weische, DFU.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

Vi er 83 minutter inde i filmen, her er det dramatiske højdepunkt, i billedet ser vi de egentlige medvirkende bortset fra en. Kvinden i midten er Paola, manden til højre er Alberto, manden til venstre er Mario. Den fjerde hovedperson er fraværende, det er den på det tidspunkt i filmens forløb ekskluderede Luis. Scenen sammenfatter filmens to vigtigste dramatiske forløb, den pludselige vækst, men så også uenighederne og eksklusionerne i det nye parti i Italien, Movimento 5 Stelle og nedturen for den tidligere regerende partikoalition og især den dominerende Silvio Berlusconi… Læs hele min anmeldelse her: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3793/

16:30 | JACOB HOLDT

– Mit liv i billeder. Instruktør: Niels-Ole Rasmussen. Kom tæt på Jacob Holdt, manden bag Amerikanske Billeder, som her gør status over sit begivenhedsrige liv. Filmen er en hyldest til rejsen, eventyret, visdommen og kærligheden. // Efter filmen er der Q&A med Jacob Holdt.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

Fotografen Jacob Holdt er tilbage i et fotografi han optog for fire årtier siden. Eller rettere han er tilbage det sted hvor han optog fotografiet. Det var et hus, hvor der boede en kvinde med sin lille søn. Nu er kvinden borte og alle spor efter hendes nænsomhed og omhu i hverdagene dengang. Sønnen er også væk, sporene som Holdt møder i huset er efter sønnens opløsning som menneske i en vanrøgt af barndomshjemmet som er en ruin omkring et mere end trist rod. Jacob Holdt opsøger på den måde en suite scener fra sine optagelser dengang. De er bestemt ikke alle nedslående som denne, de fleste er opløftende fortsættelser af mødet for så længe siden, som var årene siden sidst ikke disse mange… Læs hele min anmeldelse her: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3704/

19:00 | DEN ANDEN SIDE

Instruktør: Pernille Rose Grønkjær. Anders Matthesen har netop rundet de 40 år og har længe været et fænomen i dansk underholdning. Med samme råhed og ærlighed, som vi kender fra scenen, bliver vi for første gang inviteret med ind i hans private øjeblikke. En hæsblæsende fire år lang rejse gennem kaos, succes, tvivl og grin.

FILMKOMMENTARENS ANBEFALING

Jo for pokker, der bliver hoppet rundt i tid og sted. Det er film og her leges der, her forsøges der noget. Som passer til hovedpersonens nogle gange platte, nogle gange sofistikerede ordekvilibrisme og hans konstante associationer. Det er herligt at se, hvordan Grønkjær med sine klippere Kasper Leick og Jacob Thuesen giver fortællingen et dynamisk flow; nogle gange er det akkurat som konen siger til Matthesen at hans show skal være: totalt poetisk og vildt sjovt. Et eksempel er en scene i bilen – Grønkjær har kørt meget i bil med Matthesen – hvor han fortæller, hvordan han kan huske landene i Asien. Bahrain, ja regn, og så klippes der regn ind. Thuesen som klipper, jeg tænkte undervejs tilbage til hans arbejde på Jørgen Leths Haiti-film… Læs hele Tue Steen Müllers anmeldelse her: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3909/

http://www.dfi.dk/Nyheder/FILMupdate/2017/juni/Program-til-aarets-Folkebio-er-klar.aspx (her er hele programmet for de tre dages film i FolkeBio)

Peace Award Comeback at DOKLeipzig

At the 60th edition of DOKLeipzig (October 30 – November 5) the so-called Leipziger Ring Film Prize returns to the festival after having been away for one year due to lack of funding. It comes back in a new form, here are quotes from the press release that reached us this morning:

”After a one-year break, the Stiftung Friedliche Revolution (the Peaceful Revolution Foundation in Leipzig) will once again be awarding the Leipziger Ring film prize at DOK Leipzig. The 2,500 euro prize will honour a documentary film about human rights, democracy and civic action. From 2010 to 2015, the prize was awarded annually but the foundation had to break with this tradition last year because of a lack of funds. The response of dismay encouraged the foundation and DOK Leipzig to re-launch the prize. In its new form, the festival audience will decide on the winning film instead of a jury of experts.

“Thanks to the overwhelming reactions of Leipzig citizens, the international audience and the resolve of the Stiftung Friedliche Revolution, this significant prize has returned to DOK Leipzig,” says festival director Leena Pasanen. “The response showed how important this award is for the city in which the Peaceful Revolution began. The prize is also extremely necessary at a time when political developments indicate that democracy and human rights are at stake all over the world.”

… DOK Leipzig will nominate five documentary films (at least 25 minutes long) from its Official Selection for the award, which will reward artistic documentary films that focus on the civic action of people all over the world and explore the non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights and participation in societal processes. The prize might also honour the achievement of directors who make films in a courageous way and with great personal commitment against the odds and despite a lack of freedom of speech and press.”

http://www.dok-leipzig.de