Festival director Teddy Groyua wanted suspense, when he was to announce the winners of the Film Fund Pitch Competition. He showed three trailers, the finalists, he said, and said afterwards ”you want to know who are the winners… they are all winners!”

”United Skates” pitched by Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler will received 9000$, ”The Penny Black” by William J. Saunders will receive 7000$ and ”Becoming April March” by Craig Jackson 5000$.

Brief descriptions from the catalogue:

”Becoming April March” – A former showgirl wants to go back to the glory years of her youth. Will she be able to in spite of age and a not so enthusiastic husband?

”The Penny Black” – Someone left some very expensive items behind for safe keeping. What will the friend do if the guy never comes back?

”United Skates” – A culture exists that most of white America has no inkling about, and yet it is rooted in their own history.

http://www.unitedskatesdocumentary.com/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4574640/

www.AmericanDocumentaryFilmFestival.com

Photo taken by John Osborne, one of the members of the jury, I was there as well – five voting members.

The last day of the American Documentary Film Festival 2016 was a good day. That started quietly for me with a film on the Swiss Guard of the Vatican, ”Escerito: The World’s Smallest Army” (86 mins.) by Italian veteran director Gianfranco Pannone, a very well made informative documentary that lets its audience inside the walls of the Vatican together with some Swiss born young men, who serve there in their colourful costumes. The film, a commissioned work by the Vatican, is beautifully shot by Tarek Ben Abdallah, who knows and demonstrates that images can tell stories. Good to be reminded about that after having seen several American documentaries that are edited through words with no real attention to the visual side.

”Zuluhoops” (56 mins.), a world premiere, later that day was a warm-hearted documentary by Kristin Pichaske featuring a young sympathetic teacher Ken Mukai and his effort to teach zulu kids in a rural outpost in South Africa. Language is a problem – ”after 3 weeks I discovered that they did not understand anything of what I was saying” – and the motivation was not there until the teacher had a basketball pitch set up and started teaching them how to play, took some of them to watch a tournament and made them create a team to compete. Teambuilding. The camera catches fine moments between the teacher and the charming kids, it is a film that deserves to go to European festivals as well.

As the closing night film, festival director Teddy Grouya had made an excellent choice, Moby Longinotto’s ”The Joneses” (photo) (80 mins.), a so-called ”Sneek Peak” with this catalogue text: ” FJheri Jones, a 74 years old transgender divorcee, and her family live in Bible Belt Mississippi. Reconciled after years of estrangement and now living with two of her four sons in her trailer park home, Jheri embarks on a new path to reveal her true self to her grandchildren while her son Trevor begins a surprising journey of his own…”

The English director told the audience afterwards that he had visited the family around 100 days, had got very close to them – you can see that in a film, that is full of respect and compassion. Official premiere at the San Francisco festival May 1st.

www.zuluhoops.org

www.AmericanDocumentaryFilmFestival.com

Margot Nash, experienced Australian filmmaker, whom I had never heard about, gave me the best documentary of friday in Palm Springs, ”Silences” (73 mins.) and demonstrated how beautifully English can be spoken with a text of high literary quality. Her family story about mental illnesses from generation to generation, about a sister who died as 12 year old after having been institutionalised away from the parents home, she was never talked about, a mother with no ability to express feelings, a father who travelled, was never at home and suffered from depression… was extremely well built on photos, letters, diaries, conversations between the director and her sister. A very private film that talked to me, who is from the same generation and have my own family stories. The film has been in cinemas in New Zealand and Australia, bravo that Amdoc brought it, and come on European festivals! The photo shows the three sisters, the director to the left.

”Be Robin the Movie” refers to late comedian Robin Williams, who also suffered from depression and therefore – the film says –  was a man, who could understand homeless people, many of whom also suffer from depression. The main character of this reportage-like film by Kurt Weitzmann (41 minutes) is Margaret Cho, a charismatic energetic young woman, who performs with musicians and comedians in the streets of San Francisco to collect food, clothes and money for the homeless.

Would be difficult to call that a film, whereas Marko Grba Singh from Serbia with his ”Abdul & Hamza” (49 minutes) shows great visual talent with many no-purpose, sometimes symbolic and surprising sequences. And silence. Two Somalian refugees at the Serbian/Romanian border in a film that is different from all the films we see about the biggest issue in Europe right now. The film was brought by the Kosovo documentary festival DokuFest as part of the NSDN (North South Documentary Network), initiated by Amdoc director Teddy Grouya.

http://www.margotnash.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_leEt1cXQA

AmericanDocumentaryFilmFestival.com

Same procedure as last year – the festival kicked off thursday morning with a film fund pitch competition led by its festival director Teddy Grouya. A dozen of projects were presented in a more than two hour long session, free and and open to the public. As one of the jurors for the competition – ”up to $50.000 in awards ia available” – I can not highlight which projects that I will support, when we have our decision meeting. The results will be announced at the end of the festival. What I can express is my appreciation of the competition itself that gives young American independent filmmakers the chance to put forward their works, most of them ”in progress”, many at the point of final editing, and several giving the comment that they have self-financed the production and need help to get a strong editor on board to complete the film. The pitch structure is very simple – 3 minutes of trailer/teaser, the filmmaker(s) on stage, some few questions/comments from the jurors, the session moderated in a relaxed manner by Teddy Grouya. As put last year, we Europeans should learn from this pitch format.

The opening night at the Camelot theatre brought a full hall to celebrate Joe Berlinger, who received the annual ”Seeing the Bigger Picture Award”, which has been previously been given to Oliver Stone, Harvey Weinstein and Peter Bogdanovich. Berlinger was there and a retrospective of his work will be shown at the festival, including works like ”Brother’s Keeper” (1992), ”Under African Skies” (Paul Simon in South Africa 25 years after ”Graceland” was released) and ”Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger” (2014).

Last night he showed his latest work ”Tony Robbins. I am not your Guru”, an almost 2 hour long – as the Americans say – vérité documentary about the life coach and best selling author, who was there to meet the audience, that was thrilled by the charismatic man, a true performer, who was filmed by Berlinger in a six day seminar with 2500 people attending. As put by the director, this film is for him a ”feel good” film, whereas his works always have been with a sceptical documentary eye, ”feel bad” films he jokingly said. It is a fascinating, well made documentary with a sympathetic main character, who – the film demonstrates – gives hope to people to overcome traumas and live a better life full of Love. ”I am addicted to help”, said Robbins, who was welcomed to the festival as a rock star in a film that shows a sooo American phenomenon, that I can only agree with a French director, who characterised the film as being – as well – an anthropological study of an American way of dealing with how to find yourself and overcome crisis and traumas. Made with respect and appreciation of Robbins, who is an overwhelmingly convincing character.

13th International documentary films about human rights festival has ended in Kyiv. The awards ceremony was held on March 31th in Cinema House. Hosts of the ceremony: festival moderators Marina Stepanska and Oleksandr Vynogradov.

Films were competing for prizes in categories: DOCU/LIFE, DOCU/RIGHT, DOCU/SHORT, DOCU/UKRAINE and for theSpecial Prize from Students’ Jury. The festivals’ Orzanizing Committee favorite is awarded with the Andriy Matrosov Award. After the ceremony was the Ukrainian premiere of the documentary film Mariupolis the Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius.

During the closing ceremony the results of “The Guardian Goes

Ukraine” national contest were announced as well. The final pitching included six documentary projects, three of which were awarded by the jury. The £5,000 grant from the British publication The Guardian has won the Match of Her Life project by Alisa Kovalenko. The British Council in Ukraine and Docudays UA have also chosen the winners. Docudays UA has granted £3,000 to Semen Mozhovy and his project The Story of the Winter Garden. The British Council gave the grant (£3,000) to the Lenin-Fall project by Svitlana Shymko.

Docudays UA 2015 Winners:

DOCU/LIFE

Main Prize

THY FATHER’S CHAIR

dir. Àlex Lora, Antonio Tibaldi

Italy-USA-Spain

2015, 74’

For its superb and precise depiction of a hidden and claustrophobic world full of memory and pain, the directors beautifully realize a work of cinematic accomplishment that makes for one of the most expansively human portraits we’ve ever had the privilege to see . It is, simply put, a big film.

Honourable mention

VARTA1, LVIV, UKRAINE

dir. Yuriy Hrytsyna

Ukraine

2015, 63’

This thoroughly original vision introduced us to an incredibly exciting cinematic voice in the Ukrainian landscape. Displaying artistic courage, the director dared to choose an off-road narrative of an epic event whilst completely exploding the documentary form in a thrilling way.

DOCU/RIGHT

Main Prize

CALL ME MARIANNA

dir. Karolina Bielawska

Poland

2015, 75’

For the humanity and the capacity to stand for your rights despite internal and external obstacles in spite of physical pain and everyone’s rejection.

Honourable mention

CENSORED VOICES

dir. Mor Loushy

Israel-Germany

2015, 87’ (diploma)

For the powerful and important archival work. For the musings over the difficult questions through the soldiers’ doubts that unveil the ugly face of war.

Honourable mention

AMONG THE BELIEVERS

dir. Hemal Trivedi, Mohammed Ali Naqvi

USA-Pakistan

2015, 84’

For showing the difficult contradictions inside the Muslim world and the ability of civic society to resist the inextricable circle of violence. For giving the word to each of the sides when it seems that the dialogue is impossible.

DOCU/SHORT

Main prize

END OF THE WORLD

dir. Monika Pawluczuk

Poland

2015, 40’

A film of natural insight, this emotional, balanced, well structured film discusses loneliness, and longing, caring, affection, and courage in everyday city life, making a strong statement about making a difference through humanity and the art of listening. 

Special mention

SALAMANCA

dir. Ruslan Fedotow, Aleksandra Kulak

Russia

2015, 41’

A film built around powerful visual compositions that truly stay with you. This harmonical, poetical film contemplates the crucial moments when we reach the most difficult choices in your lives, circling from childhood to old AGE, with a unique view inside an isolated community.

DOCU/UKRAINE

Main Prize

PEOPLE WHO CAME TO POWER

dir. Oleksiy Radynski, Tomáš Rafa

Ukraine

2015, 17’

This film is at the same time raw, controversial, and understanding. It’s powerhouse film making with immediacy you can’t turn your head away from. It offers insights, and allows access into an enormously difficult situation of violence, conflict and illusion.

Special mention

REVE TA STOHNE ON TOUR

dir. Nadia Parfan

Poland-Ukraine

2016, 30’

This bittersweet, tragicomical and universal story about artistic struggle and friendship was our emotional favorite, showing a wonderful chemistry between the two protagonists, and building the atmosphere in a genuine and organic way. 

STUDENTS’ JURY AWARD

PANORAMA

dir. Yuriy Shylov

Ukraine

2015, 27’

For the prosperty of film art.

ANDRIY MATROSOV AWARD FROM THE DOCUDAYS UA ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 

TEN SECONDS

dir. Yuliia Hontaruk

Ukraine

2016, 69’

For creating the convincing sensation of fragility and vulnerability of life. For the ability to hear, love, and accept the people with their contradictions. For the masterful visualization of overwhelming despair and unbreakable optimism combined in the same people at the moment of tragic Mariupol shelling.

AUDIENCE AWARD

David & Me

dir. Ray Klonsky, Mark Lamy

Canada

2014, 79’

Palm Springs, March 31, the official opening of the Amdocs takes place tonight after a morning pitch session and a film programme that runs during the whole day. Actually the festival screenings already started yesterday as one day has been added by Teddy Grouya, the founder and director of American Documentary Film Festival and Film Fund, also called Amdocs as mentioned: 150 films, 81 premieres, 35 countries

I am here for the third time and will keep you posted on films and discussions and atmosphere at this ”unique and special Desert, this mecca for the sun, fun, arts and culture…” as Teddy Grouya formulates it. Here is a slightly shortened version of his introduction from the catalogue:  

Much like a filmmaker working to make the best film possible under difficult circum- stances, AmDocs constantly pushes the boundaries of how a film festival is defined. Through our year-round activities, we continue to expand our education outreach throughout the community as well as increase our presence on the international stage with expanded programming opportunities.

With the ever changing landscape on this planet it becomes more

and more vital to embrace the arts and how they reflect on our sense of humanity. Documentary film is in a unique position to potentially affect change through the most important contribution of awareness and what can lead from that awareness.

This year’s festival possesses multiple themes related to our community, our environment, our political and social structure, our history, our family, and our sense of international understanding.

With our new alliance, The North South Doc Network (NSDN), we have added a dynamic element to the festival experience for both audience and filmmaker, affording both access to films and markets they may never have seen without this unique partnership.

As always we hope that you reach out to one another, audience and filmmaker, as we are one in this world and we each gain from sharing our experiences. Make our guests feel welcome, many of whom have never been to the United States, let alone to our unique and special Desert, this mecca for the sun, fun, arts and culture…

http://www.americandocumentaryfilmfestival.com/

Early monday morning. We arrive to the modern airport of Kiev, Borispil, to go back to Copenhagen after far too short a stay but with intense days at the Docudays UA festival. A familiar face meets us at the check in, Nadia Savchenko, the Ukrainian helicopter pilot, who was recently sentenced to more than 20 years of prison and who has been hungerstriking in the Russian prison, where she is.

The political reality is strongly present at the festival that goes on until April 1st. In the programme newspaper one headline introduces a new section in the festival, Ukrainian documentaries, as ”Docu in Warland”, and in the same newspaper you can find several daily discussions, conferences and masterclasses that raises political and human right issues.

The festival is a voice for a free and democratic Ukraine at a time of war. And documentaries play a role.

… not only in Kiev during the festival but all year round. Let me mention some initiatives and the connected websites.

www.docuspace.org

an online cinema with ”films created by the Docudays UA team with the support of various NGO’s”. Access to the site also for us outside Ukraine.

www.seeukraine.org

an amazing initiative for showing Ukrainian documentaries around Europe with discussions on the films and with the directors present. On the site there are teasers from the films included and information about the next stops: ATHENS, GREECE: MAY, 2016, MILAN, ITALY: JUNE, 2016, HAMBURG, GERMANY, SEPTEMBER, 2016, SPAIN: AUTUMN, 2016.

www.traveling.docudays.org.ua

the distribution of films around Ukraine. “In 2015 the festival visited 254 cities, towns and villages in 23 regions, including Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as Crimea, and gathered an audience of 108.000 viewers and participants.”

On top of that English newspaper Guardian, together with British Council and the festival has organized “a national contest of documentary projects in 2015-16”. 97 projects applied to “Guardian Goes Ukraine”, there will be 3 winners, which will be screened for the 2 million subscribers of the newspaper, and at the 2014 Docudays festival.

And of course you should follow the constant documentary reporting done by the festival team on

www.docudays.org.ua