Baltic Sea Docs 2021 announces call for projects

Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries (BSD) is the most important documentary training and pitching event in the Baltic countries, taking place in Riga, Latvia. The 25th edition is scheduled to take place in a hybrid form from 1 – 12 September 2021, with the industry events held mostly online. The call for projects is open now and will close on 11 June. 

BSD is looking for applications from independent production companies from the wider Baltic Sea region countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden), Eastern Europe and Caucasus region, and from other countries if the documentary subject relates to the region. The main focus of the BSD is on full-length creative documentary projects, but cross-media applications are also welcome to apply. The international selection committee will select 18 projects to be pitched for the international broadcasters, sales agents, film funds and other industry representatives. 

 

 

Participation at BSD is free of charge. The selection results will be announced by 12 July.

Guidelines and application form is accessible on BSD website.

Every year BSD gathers around 150 film professionals from the Baltic Sea region, Eastern Europe, and Caucasus. Participation in the preparatory workshops, pitching sessions and seminars is an opportunity for filmmakers to find funding for the production of their projects and to ensure that their films reach a wide audience across Europe and beyond. 2021 marks 25th edition of the BSD, and it will be reflected in various activities of this year’s program. 

To name just a few of the films presented in recent editions of the BSD – The Jump (2020, directed by Giedrė ickytė, 2020, Lithuania/Latvia/France, Best Documentary Feature award at Warsaw IFF), My Favorite War (2020, directed by Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen, 2020, Norway/Latvia, Feature Film Contrechamp Award and the Prix du Jury Senscritique at Annecy IA, This Rain Will Never Stop (2020, directed by Alina Gorlova, Ukraine/Germany/Latvia/Qatar, Award for Best First Appearance at IDFA). 

BSD is organised by the National Film Centre of Latvia, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia and Riga City Council. In parallel to the industry activities, BSD is presenting a film program of recent documentaries, which will be screened online and in cinemas (if the epidemiological regulations will allow it).

For further information, please contact:

Zane Balčus

Project Manager 

Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries

Phone + 371 26054287

E-mail: balticforum@nkc.gov.lv

balticseadocs.lv 

IDFF Artdocfest / Riga announces winners

With permission from FilmNewEurope and its Latvian correspondent Zane Balčus, we bring her article about:

Riga: International Documentary Film Festival Artdocfest / Riga run from 28 April to 3 May in Riga and outside the city. The main prize of the Artdocfest competition was awarded to the film Silent Voice, directed by Reka Valerik (a pseudonym of the director to conceal the identity of a filmmaker for the safety reasons). The film focuses on a young wrestler from Chechnya, who faces death threats due to his homosexuality and is forced to relocate to Brussels.

The main prize of the Baltic Focus competition was awarded to Restless Memories by Latvian director Elīna Lange-Ionatamishvili, who created a portrait of two children who live in the 2008 Georgia-Russia war refugee village.

As the cinemas in Latvia are still closed, the films of the programme were screened for a limited number of audiences consisting of one household in various venues (a farm, a film studio, a women’s prison, and others) followed by Q&A with film’s director. The rest of the screenings are planned to be held in August in cinemas. 

The festival has two competition sections – an Artdocfest competition (with 21 films) and Baltic Focus competition (films produced in or co-produced with Baltic countries, 10 films). The main award of the Baltic Focus competition is named Herz, honouring Latvian documentary filmmaker Hercs Franks (1926 – 2013).

The jury of the international competition gathered in Riga. The jury members were Russian film critic, editor of the film magazine Iskusstvo kino Anton Dolin, Latvian film critic, the director of the National Film Centre of Latvia Dita Rietuma, and journalist of music and politics Artemy Troitsky, who is currently based in Estonia. Baltic Focus competition jury worked remotely, and it was formed by documentary film consultant Tue Steen Müller (Denmark), director Alina Rudnitskaya (Russia), and associate professor of University of Cagliari Massimo Tria (Italy).

Full list of winners:

Artdocfest Competition

Grand prix

Silent Voice (France/ Belgium, 2020)

Directed by Reka Valerik

Best Director 

Viktor Kossakovsky for Gunda (Norway/ USA, 2020)

Special mention

The Earth is Blue as an Orange / Земля блакитна, ніби апельсин (Ukraine/ Lithuania)

Directed by Iryna Tsilyk 

Co-produced by Moonmakers

Baltic Focus Competition

Main Award

Restless Memories / Nemierīgās atmiņas (Latvia, 2020)

Directed by Elīna Lange-Ionatamishvili 

Produced by Mistrus Media

Co-produced by Latvian Academy of Culture

Best Director                           

Giedrė ickytė for The Jump / Šuolis (Lithuania/ Latvia/ France, 2020)

Produced by Moonmakers

Co-produced by VFS Films

Supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre, the National Film Centre of Latvia

Special mention

One Life / Vienas gyvenimas (Lithuania)

Directed by Marija Stonytė

Produced by Moonmakers

Supported by the Lithuanian Film Centre

Artdocfest was established in Russia in 2007. Since 2015 it was partnering with Riga International Film Festival as a non-competitive section of documentary films, but since 2018 it was running as an international documentary competition section within Riga IFF. The first single standing festival was planned to run in November/ December 2020, but was postponed to late April 2021 due to pandemic. Along the film screening, the festival also had a symposium dedicated to theoretical discussions on documentary cinema.

CPH:DOX – Forum/ 2

I knew it from visits to Kiev, the film project ”Expedition 49”, presented by director Alisa Kovalenko and producer Stéphane Siohan, with film and ArtdokFest festival director Vitalyi Mansky as ambassador recommending. But I had not seen the teaser they had produced especially for the CPH:DOX presentation. Absolutely great, 7 minutes of energy in images and a fine and personal voice-off by the director, motivating why she wants to make this adventurous documentary – adventurous as the five teenagers picked to go to the Himalayas with an old explorer are full of life and will, ”…in search of themselves, stuck in their bleeding little town, Zolote-4, Donbas, a shithole place shaken by the rumble of a lingering war with Russia and the haunting collapse of the coal mines…”. Very charming and dynamic presentation avoiding the usual pitch clichés of events like this: ”We are looking for funding blablabla”. Obvious that is, hope they will be succesful, the talent is, yes, obvious!

And of course I took a look at the pitch trailer of “Handheld”, which is a film about one of my heroes… read this text from the website of CPH:DOX: ”Pioneer of direct cinema, Albert Maysles redefined documentary film in practice and in meaning. With unfettered access to his entire filmography, personal archives, and never-before-seen footage, oldest daughter Rebekah will trace her father’s life.” It is especially the latter I look forward to see, the personal and not-seen-before as I am sure it will confirm the passion and curiosity of the Albert Maysles we have had the pleasure to meet in Denmark on several occasions. Old of age, young in spirit, I remember the tribute Jørgen Leth made to him at the European Film College in Denmark. Lovely, probably not filmed. In the clip there is a wonderful moment with Rolling Stones in the studio where bass guitarist Bill Wyman asks Maysles to leave… it’s disturbing to have you here!

CPH:DOX – Forum

In between watching films, mentoring for the CinéDoc Tbilisi, having the first corona vaccination and being tested in mouth and (luckily not so often) nose… I had the pleasure to check some of the pitches at the CPH:DOX Forum. More than 30 projects, well presented on the website with all necessary information, with an ”Ambassador” to recommend each project and with trailers that included presentations of what the producer/the filmmakers wanted in terms of financial and/or creative support. I have no idea of what happened at the individual meetings, hopefully good contacts were made. Chapeau for the Forum organisers, professionalism at highest level.

… and there he was again the forever young Jørgen Leth, together with talented Andreas Koefoed with an energetic and inviting teaser for their upcoming film on jazz, „Cold and Warm“. A quote from the description of the project, „Cold & Warm“ is like a grand catalogue of great musicians. For them, music is a way of being. Through images, music and words, we discover the art-form that keeps them alive. What does it mean to play? How does it feel to listen? As director Jørgen Leth poses existential questions to the musicians, long pauses occur. Because is it even possible to put the emotions of music into words?…“ Jørgen Leth praises the looseness of jazz and sees the film as a collection of notes. I was totally seduced.

… and Mads Brügger was there with „Double Trouble“ in his usual staged style and with a fascinating project, read this: „A feature length documentary about the secretive world of political decoys. The film explores how various dictators and strongmen have been using doubles as stand ins for themselves. The aim of the film is to find as many former real life political decoys as possible, and bring them all together for a lavish dinner at a luxury hotel, where they will be in character as their old masters.“

CPH:DOX – Skál

… which means Cheers in Faroese language and is the title of the film by Cecilie Debell & Maria Tórgarð

The CPH:DOX programme is launched. The festival runs from April 21 to May 12. The cinemas are scheduled to re-open in the beginning of May so the festival intends to be part of this (cross fingers…) festive celebration of watching (also) documentaries on a big screen. Otherwise the festival’s 177 films will be available (for those who are in Denmark) online as well as an enormous line-up of events. Check the website: https://cphdox.dk/film/

On this site – www.filmkommentaren.dk – we will follow the festival from now on with recommendations of films to be watched. It will be in English as many of the films will show up to be watched at other festivals around the world.

“Skál” is excellent, simply, full of poetic moments between two young people, who express themselves through music and poetry. The cinematography is including the landscape of the Faroe Islands in the lovely portrait of Dania and Trygvi, who you can read more about in this CPH:DOX text: 

”Dania is 21 years old and grew up in a Christian community in the Faroe Islands’ Bible belt. She has just moved to Tórshavn and is seeing Trygvi, a hip-hop artist and poet locally known as Silvurdrongur (Silver Kid). He comes from a secular family and writes poems and texts about the shadow sides of humanity. Dania herself sings in a Christian band but is fascinated by Trygvi’s courage to write brutally honest lyrics. As she tries to find her place in the world and understand herself, she starts to write more personal texts. Her writings develop into a collection of critical poems called ‘Skál’ (‘Cheers’), about the double life that she and other youths must live in the conservative Christian world. A world she does not want to abandon, but to change. Where do you draw your lines when you are young and Christian? Is it a sin to drink or dance? Is it a sin to have sex before marriage? Is it a sin to have a boyfriend who is not a Christian? And how long can you endure living between two worlds?”

Welcome to DocsBarcelona 2021

At a press conference today the DocsBarcelona programme was announced. In Barcelona. The Head of Programming – me – living in Copenhagen – was not there but I had in beforehand sent these welcoming words:

Here we go again… No, here we sit again, at home watching documentaries on our computers or i-pads or phones (!), or maybe some have purchased a small projector and created their own cinema with a bigger image? Whatever, the pandemic is here and DocsBarcelona goes online as in 2020.

Good, as last year showed a huge interest from viewers from all over Spain with one of the best attendance statistics among festivals in Europe. Nailing the fact that there is an audience for the documentary genre. And that many outside the “normal” documentary community were interested and joined the party. Reaching a new audience.

Bad, as documentaries are Films and Films should be seen in cinemas. Nothing compares to being seated in a big room full of people watching and listening: Perfect image, Perfect sound. Cross your fingers: Depending on the evolution of the pandemic several films will also be screened in cinemas in Barcelona.

The program committe has done its best to make a strong selection for you. We have watched hundreds of films. There are documentaries from all over the world and about the world we live in. Social, political, historical, personal. There are documentaries that challenge the mainstream way of telling stories – stories that can give you food for thought and make you share a tear. Of joy or sadness. A sow and its piglets, floating trees, lobster soup in Iceland, demonstrations in Hongkong, several films from the Middle East, colonialism in Mexico and Africa, a cuban dancer, Gorbachev, women’s rights, female volleyball players, artists, a kiosk in Paris… films for all tastes, but not for the bad!

We hope you will find time and energy to check out the list of films and find one or more that appeals to you. It’s up to you to make up your mind, what you want to see, we have done our best to offer you the best of the best.

Enjoy! www.docsbarcelona.com including “Gunda” by master Kossakovsky.

OBS! The programme of the festival films, are available solely for the audience in Spain. BUT for professionals there is a unique chance to get acquainted. Read the news I got from the HQ in Barcelona: This year all the accredited professionals will have access to the catalog of our Festival films and the films will be exclusively available for professionals until the end of this year 2021, so people accredited outside Spain not only have access to the activities of Industry but also to the films. early bird registration has a discount: 50 euros until 29th of April. https://docsbarcelona.com/en/industry/edition-2021-industry/accreditations#

 

An offer you can not refuse !

CPH:DOX – Jon Bang Carlsen

The CPH:DOX programme is launched. The festival runs from April 21 to May 12. The cinemas are scheduled to re-open in the beginning of May so the festival intends to be part of this (cross fingers…) festive celebration of watching (also) documentaries on a big screen. Otherwise the festival’s 177 films will be available (for those who are in Denmark) online as well as an enormous line-up of events. Check the website: https://cphdox.dk/film/

On this site – www.filmkommentaren.dk – we will follow the festival from now on with recommendations of films to be watched. It will be in English as many of the films will show up to be watched at other festivals around the world.

”The Banality of Grief”… I watched it on the big screen months ago and last night on my mac. It moves me immensely and again – as for decades – reminds me of how important a poetic filmmaker Jon is. For the Danes his last film is right now available at CPH:DOX and it also works online because of its intensity and beautiful images and words. Here is what Jon writes about his love letter to Madeleine:

“Nothing is. Everything is becoming. Even life already lived. After my wife died I tried to quick start my days again by throwing myself into shooting a new film, but when I looked through the viewfinder I felt the motives I was focusing on with my camera were hiding what I really wanted to see. Everything in the little American town reminded me of your absence. Thus this little stammering love letter came into being.”

CPH:DOX – Artists and Auteurs

The CPH:DOX programme is launched. The festival runs from April 21 to May 12. The cinemas are scheduled to re-open in the beginning of May so the festival intends to be part of this (cross fingers…) festive celebration of watching (also) documentaries on a big screen. Otherwise the festival’s 177 films will be available (for those who are in Denmark) online as well as an enormous line-up of events. Check the website: https://cphdox.dk/film/

On this site – www.filmkommentaren.dk – we will follow the festival from now on with recommendations of films to be watched. It will be in English as many of the films will show up to be watched at other festivals around the world.

… this one will not recommend individual titles as such but stress that the festival pays respect to the masters of the documentary genre as it unfolds right now: Fred Wiseman is there with City Hall (classic duration from Wiseman: 275 mins., already mentioned in a previous post is Kossakovsky and his Gunda, Sergey Loznitsa is the master of historical event interpreted through his unique and creative treatment of archive like in State Funeral, Avi Mograbi is back at his best with The First 54 Years. An abbreviated Manual for Military Occupation, not to forget Notturno by Gianfranco Rosi and Ulrike Ottinger’s Paris Calligrammes (Photo).

There are many other auteurs and artists in this section, the ones I mentioned are all established filmmakers who keep the flag high for the documentary. Check it out.

 

Positive News from Ji.hlava IDFF

“After several years of preparations, we started revamping the festival’s competition sections, the jury structure as well as the award categories. The aim is to pay tribute to documentary cinema which has been undergoing enormous changes, at the same time being the real drive behind contemporary filmmaking,” said festival director Marek Hovorka introducing a new festival concept during the opening of Ji.hlava’s Echoes on March 11. As of this year’s 25th edition, Ji.hlava IDFF will feature a main competition section comprising up to 18 feature films screened in world, international and European premieres.

In addition to the new competition concept, there will also be an innovation with regard to the award giving. Aside from the main award, the jurors will also hand out awards for the best cinematography, editing, and sound design. At the same time, outstanding formats, such as the best film essay, will be highlighted.

The jury will award a prize to the most significant debut film and film from the region of Central and Eastern Europe but Ji.hlava’s traditional sections First Lights and Between the Seas will become a natural part of the main competition. The main jury will be composed of seven members who will ensure a varied reflection on contemporary cinema.

“I’ve always considered it a pity how many talented and exceptional professionals have not been rewarded for their documentary work. Documentary cinematographers, editors, sound engineers and producers are only rarely recognized, even at the level of national film awards. And also with regard to American or European Academy Awards, it seldom happens that these professionals are nominated alongside feature filmmakers. This isn’t fair and we are determined to encourage the change,“ explains Hovorka.

In addition to the main competition section, Ji.hlava will offer three other categories: “Fascinations” for the best experimental films, “Testimonies” for the best films with political, ecological or scientific themes, and the traditional national competition “Czech Joy”.

The festival takes place 26-31.10

CPH:DOX – Captains of Zaatari

The CPH:DOX programme is launched. The festival runs from April 21 to May 12. The cinemas are scheduled to re-open in the beginning of May so the festival intends to be part of this (cross fingers…) festive celebration of watching (also) documentaries on a big screen. Otherwise the festival’s 177 films will be available (for those who are in Denmark) online as well as an enormous line-up of events. Check the website: https://cphdox.dk/film/

On this site – www.filmkommentaren.dk – we will follow the festival from now on with recommendations of films to be watched. It will be in English as many of the films will show up to be watched at other festivals around the world.

This is the catalogue text of CPH:DOX:

”Fawzi and Mahmoud are best friends. They are two teenage boys who, like so many others their age, love football and dream of an international career on the pitch. And they live in Zaatari, the world’s largest camp for Syrian refugees. When a scout from a football club in Qatar visits the camp to spot new talents, the boys eye their lives’ opportunity. This becomes a journey that culminates in a finale (literally), which is just as emotional and nerve-wracking as a football match where everything is at stake. And that’s exactly what it is here. The director Ali El Arabi met Fawzi and Mahmoud when they played football in the desert sand with bare feet as young boys, and he has built mutual trust with them over many years. The resulting film was a hit with both reviewers and audiences at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. With its two irresistible protagonists and moments of true friendship, it is also a story that hits you straight in the heart.”

The film was at the Sundance FF, I have not seen it but as one who is a football-idiot and played when a teenager, I am not gonna miss it!