This text is written by Svetlana and Zoran Popovic, directors of the Magnificent7 Festival in Belgrade.

Buenos Aires nights echo with the sounds of the bandoneon, with stories of love, and with the unique and unmatchable beauty of tango. During such nights one of the greatest dancers in the history of tango, Maria Nieves, and her legendary partner, Juan Carlos Copes, share their memories with a group of young dancers and choreographers, who in turn convert their stories into breath-taking choreographies. These are stunning in their execution, not only supremely sophisticated and masterful, but also powerful in the emotions they embody with their movements. Before our eyes the dances transform into stories of love and passion, of tenderness and pain, of vulnerability and strength imbued by harmony.

Masterful photography and camerawork, echoing unforgettable cinema cast a permanent spell with the scenes and images unfolding on the screen. Equally so, the close-ups of the two charismatic dancers, whose faces still radiate the fullness of emotion and dignity. Also extraordinary are the reconstructions of the milongas of Buenos Aires, those seminal events and places where energies crossed to create tango, where dancers’ steps wrote out its living history, whose essence the participants and authors of the film aim to reach. There is no doubt that German Kral is the ideal author of this documentary – Argentinian by birth, a European filmmaker by education and experience, and long-time collaborator of Wim Wenders, his professor at the Munich film school, whose influence extends beyond the role of executive producer on this film.

An exciting work which interweaves a dramatic love story with unforgettable inspired movements of tango’s finest dancers captured by fascinating and kinesthetic shots.

Germany, Argentina 2015, 85 minutes 

This text is written by Svetlana and Zoran Popovic, directors of the Magnificent7 Festival in Belgrade.

A documentary that tells an equally exciting story about the colorful world and the music that fills and transforms it.

A poignant drama about a hero torn between his extraordinary talent and the dark abyss of mental illness. Discreet, simply recorded scenes of a psychiatric institution and urban spaces without splendor, scenes that are always on the verge of drama, reveal an unusual, charismatic hero in a constant struggle for dignity and preservation of his precious ability to express himself artistically. His contacts with other patients of the psychiatric clinic, or admirers of his virtuoso playing of the piano, reveal complex layers of a person in states of agitation or rare moments of calm. From restraint to victory and vice versa, we follow a story told without prejudice and with the deepest empathy that expands our understanding of the human psyche and condition.

Collisions of existential anguish with music that ennobles and liberates.

Czech Republic, France, Argentina, Austria 2019,  84 minutes

This text is written by Magnificent7 Festival directors Svetlana and Zoran Popovic:

Awarded a special prize for artistic excellence at a major international festival in Moscow, this film by a young Danish director with its exceptional style is one of the few close to the works of some of the most important film artists. 

This unique documentary is an exclusive journey through the world of the Danish aristocracy as a privileged tour of estates and forests closed to ordinary people and pleasant walks through the rich, luxurious interiors of laird homes. This whole world, precisely determined by inherited protocol and captured by tradition, is presented to us by the author almost as a gallery of exceptional paintings by old masters, painted with modern digital means. A film that creates a view that does not exceed a precisely defined limit of respect, where we perceive the heroes and their dramas with a discreet presence and careful observation. As we enjoy discovering fascinating details, the author develops a story about the burden of birth. 

A documentary in which, in enchanting scenes, history and the modern world meet.

Denmark 2019 74 minutes  

Words from Svetlana and Zoran Popovic:Here we go again! After a delay due to the pandemic from which we all suffer, and from which we have learnt to take measures into consideration; Where we are, Whatever we are doing. Let’s continue to do so during the Magnificent7, 16th edition in Belgrade.

And words from me, selector together with the mentioned Popovic’s: Here we are to again enjoy to be together – respecting distance and wearing masks – in a cinema to see films on the big screen as they were meant to be seen, when they were made.

I have been to many festivals this year. Online. I have even been a juror. Online. Alone in front of my MacBook! So, like many of you in the audience, I look forward the moment when films come back to cinemas, come back to big screens…

And I say so that because we have chosen excellent films for you. Films that 

have important themes of our time, appealing to heart and brain. Emotional, informative, thought provoking. Taking you to countries like Argentina, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands and to Nature. Several of the films have already been awarded at other festivals, now the award given is to be screened at Magnificent7. Am I too overwhelming in my phrases? No, I am simply proud of being part of the selection team with Svetlana and Zoran Popovic.

And happy that we can start with „Gunda“ by the master Victor Kossakovsky. It has been to big festivals so far, on a big screen, as the director wants it solely to be shown in theatres. It features a mother sow, Gunda, two ingenious cows and a one-legged chicken…

Equally happy we are to welcome back – unfortunately not physically – Oeke Hoogendijk and Jerzy Sladkowski. Hoogendijk (who was here with “The New Rijksmuseum”) has again put herself behind the scene of art with “My Rembrandt” that invites us to experience – with humour and insight – how the best painter ever is being treated by art historians and sellers and buyers.

And Polish – living in Sweden – Jerzy Sladkowski  comes with “Bitter Love”, a visual cruising tour on a boat named Maxim Gorki, where he (as in “Don Juan”) with the help of – again – the magnificent cameraman (and director) Wojciech Staroń, catches love in all its Russian – Chekovian – aspects. It is a tour full of tears and smiles and music! 

Yes, music, piano music by Martìn Perino in the film “Solo” that takes place in Buenos Aires, mostly in a psychiatric hospital, where Perino is being treated for his mental disease. Get ready for a touching, superbly told story about the pain, the suffering, the joy, the introvert side of Martìn Perino, who is full of energy and comes out of the hospital to live on his own. “I have to get rid of the genius” he says to his therapist. The film was directed by French Artemio Benki, who tragically passed away in April this year. RIP.

And we stay in Buenos Aires to make a special screening, “Un Tango Mas” (Our Last Tango) by German Kral. Tango is thedance that always reminds us how important it is to stay close and understand the other. To stay close in a time where we at the same time are advised to keep distance…

From Buenos Aires to my home country Denmark, from where comes “Patrimonium” by Carl Olsson, who is born in Sweden, educated in Denmark, with quite an eye for a phenomenon that I as a Dane knew existed but had never seen so well depicted as here, “the noble landed gentry, constantly renegotiating the borders between history and modernity”. We wanted the film for the 2019 edition of the festival but the prestigious Moscow IFF saw its qualities as well and Olsson won a special award for its “artistic excellence”. No objections and here it is for the Belgrade audience.

Finally, the film that ends the festival takes us Further North, to Finland, country with a strong tradition for original documentaries – we have had several Finnish films at the festival – and “The Happiest Man on Earth” is no exception. Joonas Berghäll puts himself into the film together with 6 other men, who – like in his previous film “Steam of Life” – break the stereotypes that Finnish men are not able to express emotions and their wishes for a happy life, for love. It is touching and full of special humour as you could expect from Finland.

This is Magnificent7 2020!

Tue Steen Müller

Copenhagen, October 19 – December 15, 2020 

http://www.magnificent7festival.org/en/filmski_program.php   

A mail came in with the announcement of the films selected for the Sundance Festival in Utah in the US. That starts January 28. I have been looking at the list of the 10 films selected for the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

I have had the pleasure – a couple of times –  to present Russian master director Viktor Kossakovsky at festivals. For instance at DocsBarcelona, where I was meant to be the moderator. Not really a possible job as the director takes over immediately, talks with passion and love about what filmmaking means to him. Entertaining. No need to have someone asking questions.

With surprise I saw that Kossakovsky was to be moderator in a Q&A session with Chilean Maite Alberdi as director. It was organised within IDFA by Chiledoc. And the film to be talked about was Alberdi’s newest work „The Mole Agent”, a lovely and playful film. See below if you want to know what else the director has done… She’s is excellent. And that was exactly how Kossakovsky started the Q&A. Declaring his love to the film and the director. Followed by a couple of questions and Kossakovsky:   

„I want to cry now”… „I am very happy for you”… „tell us what you want to say”. Kossakovsky had got answers to his questions, had been touched by scenes in the film and there were not really other questions coming in from the online audience. A bit more than 30 mins. Enough for the passionate moderator – and good answers from the smiling equally charismatic Maite Alberdi. The film – here is a copy paste from the IDFA catalogue  

„In this quirky blend of spy flick and observational documentary, 83-year-old Sergio goes undercover in an old folks’ home. This friendly, elderly man is hired by private detective Romulo to act as the “mole agent” for a client, who suspects that her mother is being mistreated in the home. 

Director Maite Alberdi deploys the film noir tropes convincingly, but Sergio is no natural-born detective. His first obstacle is all the technology—pen cameras, smartphones, and the other devices he’ll need to gather evidence and report back to Romulo. But an even bigger stumbling block is that Sergio, a recent widower, is unable to maintain the emotional distance necessary for carrying out his tasks as a spy. He quickly befriends several other tenants. 

With a wryly comical undertone continuing throughout the film, what begins as a detective yarn gradually evolves into something more intimate, resulting in an original view of affection and loneliness in old age.”

Maite Alberdi, Chilean director, is known for her warm-hearted films, to be mentioned ”Tea Time” from 2014 and ”The Grown-Ups” from 2016, many times awarded, both of them got the main award at DocsBarcelona. She co-directed in 2016 the short film ”I’m Not from Here”, with Giedre Zickyte from Lithuania.

I enjoyed the show. Professional it was. Festive Onlining. Warm and respectful to the filmmakers. It opened at 17h and closed at 19h. Many awards were to be given. The programmers of the different sections came to the stage, where Ghanese/Dutch Ama van Dantzig was a shining host linking it all, making the introductions and finding “the beat” that is necessary, so we don’t get bored. “We”, in this case of course being us who have been watching films, have our favourites and hope for the best for those makers we know. On the guest list of IDFA we are called professionals.

The show – starting with Orwa Nyrabia, the artistic director, who was asked by Ama van Dantzig how it had been, the festival, answering “as imperfect as Life is…” He saluted his IDFA team for their work, ”everyone has done a massive job” and told that 16.000 had been to the cinemas and 70.000 online – and the festival continues till December 6. The future…, he was asked, “I don’t know. Everyone tells me about what they think should happen with IDFA… I don’t know”. Clever man, this old friend Orwa, who has the word in his power, passionate and inspiring for the documentary community.

The winners were presented – good time for clips and for thank you’s from the awarded directors from everywhere in the world; best when they did not know that they won – to see the spontaneous joy of Alina Gorlova and Firouzeh Khosrovani, when they were told that they had won, was wonderful. Magic documentary moments. I was happy that I had watched “Radiograph of a Family” in beforehand and written a positive review before the world premiere (sorry IDFA!) and to see Ukrainian Alina Gorlova receiving first prize for “This Rain Will Never Stop” warms my heart. In Kiev and in Riga I have followed the development that she and Maksym Nakonechnyi have performed. Teaser after teaser and a story that changed, a film that changed it all, filmmakers looking for their form, the aesthetic choices to be made. They succeeded and this film will travel, for sure. I have told Alina Gorlova a couple of days ago that the film is amazing, and I have promised myself to make a review to explain why I think so. 

And tomorrow I will watch – from the short film section – Marlén Viñayo’s ”Unforgivable”, that was the winner in that category. I know Marlén Viñayo (El Salvador) from DocsBarcelona, where her “Cachada” was awarded in 2019 – a film that travelled for many other awards. Big talent!

And I will watch – from the Kids and Docs section – the awarded “Shadegan”, “Dormant” from the Archive section, special mention, also here “Radiograph of a Family” was a winner. In her “thank you speech” for this award Firouzeh Khosrovani had placed herself in a room with a table full of photos and mirrors on the wall, a true image composer. 

Was happy to see another old friend, the excellent film critic Neil Young (with a tie!) from Sunderland, motivating the winners in the mid-length section and reflecting on this section’s constant dilemma, not being for theatres and not being for television. The host, again Ama van Dantzig, characterised his speech as creative and innovative, I liked that. And I miss talking film and football with Neil Young. Sorry Neil, I did not really get which of the winners I should watch. By the way, happy to see that Audrius Stonys was on the same jury, maybe he can advise me.

And at 19h it was over, the show, and I went to prepare supper on this thanksgiving day. And at 19.02 the press release entered my email from Petra Blašković, the always helpful IDFA press officer, who has advised and directed me around the IDFA internet – and from whom I probably will still need help until the closing of the festival. Thanks Petra!

By the way, you can still watch the award ceremony, click below and find it.

www.idfa.nl