The daughter of King Michael 1 of Romania (who died in 2017), Princess Margareta, and her husband Radu, travel in the train of her father to meet the people and have them remember him and the good old monarchy that came to an end in 1947, when the communists took over. The train stops at small stations, where the local authorities are nervously preparing the royal welcome. Red carpet and all that. And the royal staff prepares equally how to arrive, a scenario is needed.

That’s the red thread of a film, that with humour and warmth takes the viewer to the venues of the couple in Bucharest introducing the staff that helps them to keep the memories of the monarchy and the King alive. The most important person in that respect is for me the young man, Adrian, who searches for documents and artefacts of interest for the Princess. He is a passionate monarchist searching/ hoping for the return to old times – you are a Don Quichote, an old lady says to him, if you need a Sancho Panza, I am there for you – he is the one, who visits the old ladies, who remember the King and the royalty with big love.

In scenes like that the director manages – with his flair for creative storytelling – to balance all the wonderful absurd scenes of royal protocol, like how to approach the Princess in a correct way. Three steps backwards, when you have got your diploma and then you can turn around… like if it had been the Danish queen. It’s still very much alive and popular. What is most interesting in this film is, when the old royalists remember the time, where they were not allowed to celebrate the monarchy during the time of Ceaușescu.

Austria, Germany, 2019, 90 mins.

I knew Audrius Mickevičius from several meetings in his wonderful Vilnius. As I remember it, he lived in the ”freetown” of the Lithuanian capital, Uzupis. He made in 2006 the film ”Man – Horse” that he pitched at Baltic Sea Forum with the most radical teaser I remember to have seen. And I knew very well this film project ”Exemplary Behaviour” from my time as a reader for Eurimages, where the detailed script written by Audrius Mickevičius and Nerijus Milerius was submitted and given funding because of its professional cinematic presentation, the fascinating approach to the subject and the multi-layered narration.

Yes, I write about Audrius Mickevičius in the past tense. He died in 2017 and

the scriptwriter Nerijus Milerius finished the film. Producer is experienced Rasa Miškinyte together with Bulgarian Martichka Bozhilova, Slovenian Igor Pedicek and Italian Edoardo Fracchia. A strong team around the Lithuanian director and his crew that included another Audrius – Kemezys, who died in February 2018 having been the cameraperson for all the important documentarians in the country : Audrius Stonys, Arunas Matelis, Giedre Beinoriute, Giedre Zickyte and Audrius Mickevičius. A big loss for Lithuanian cinema !

For « Exemplary Behaviour » several cameramen worked but the stamp of Kemezys is obvious in this film that works with so many angles and layers : the need for an aesthetical red thread, a visual virtuosity. It’s there.

It’s an essay. A reflection that starts from a personal point of view. The one of the director, whose brother was killed. You hear and see Audrius Mickevičius in the film. He was filmed and caught on the prison’s surveillance camera material. He has a beautiful text voice-off. Sometimes recalling the facts around his brother’s death and the release of the murderer after 6 years because of “good behaviour”!

Sometimes the text is like a poem, presented with the mild voice that was Audrius Mickevičius. You get to like – as the director did during his stay in the príson – the characters Rolandas and Rimantas and you find it unfair that Rolandas – as he himself puts it – has not spent a full day together with his wife Ingrida, who is also in a prison, after half a year of their marriage. Rimantas is the creative craftsman, who sculptures motorbikes and cars, he is an artist, he has been in jail for 20 years, where he has developed his skills. Audrius Mickevičius helps both of them in his journey towards forgiveness. And he raises the question if these prisons are helping anyone? As does the French philosopher in the film, who himself was a prisoner: a prison is a school for crime, he says.

Watching the film I was constantly amazed of how inventive and original many scenes were. Every little detail was cared for.

And here comes the motivation of the jury to choose to give the film the Golden Dove:       

”The film EXEMPLARY BEHAVIOUR has been awarded the Golden Dove International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film. In this work, Lithuanian filmmakers Audrius Mickevičius and Nerijus Milerius explore guilt and atonement as experienced by two convicted felons serving life sentences. When his brother is murdered, Audrius Mickevičius wonders whether there is a statute of limitations for guilt and whether anyone can really ever atone for murder. Before the film was completed, Audrius Mickevičius fell ill and died. Nerijus Milerius finished the project. In its statement, the jury said: “It’s at the darkest of times when we’re confronted with the worst that we discover our true selves and that the human spirit shines the brightest. With grace and dignity, the filmmakers take us on a unique and unexpected journey of redemption.” This film is a co-production of Lithuania, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Italy. The Golden Dove was sponsored by German public broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR). Since 2018, the award-winning film in the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film automatically qualifies for the OSCAR® in the category of documentary feature provided it fulfils the Academy’s formal criteria. EXEMPLARY BEHAVIOUR also received the International Critics Prize of FIPRESCI and the Prize of the Interreligious Jury, and thus with a total three awards the most honours of the evening…”

Lithuania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Italy, 2019, 85 mins.

www.dok-leipzig.de

The 23rd edition of the annual Ji.hlava IDFF closed its doors yesterday. The festival programme showcased 277 films in nine screening halls, hosting almost two hundred discussion sessions. The overall attendance again exceeded 40,000 visitors; with 5,330 accredited visitors and guests.

“I am very proud of our quality festival programme, unveiling especially the face of the up-and-coming filmmaking generation raising new topics and techniques in the context of filmmaking. It is enriching to see this concentration of creative diversity at a single place. Our aim was to have this year’s Ji.hlava IDFF reflect the world around, provoke us to become active and open up a space for a dialogue. And we are pleased to see it happen”, says Festival Director Marek Hovorka.

This year’s Ji.hlava IDFF hosted 5,330 accredited visitors. Out of 277 screened films, 91 were shown in their world, 17 in their international and 47 in their European premiere. This year, films competed in 11 sections. Films were shown in 8 screening halls in Jihlava and one in Třešť. The programme offered 130 discussions in the form of Q&A sessions, and almost 40 debates as part of the Inspiration Forum.

This year the platform took place during six festival days and focused on topics such as crisis of democracy, women in the third millennium or contemporary China. This year, the Inspiration Forum hosted four hundred guests from across the globe: including American climate expert Bill
McKibben, Afghani human-rights activist and presidential candidate Fawzia Koofi and future generations commissioner in Wales Sophie Howe.

Among the films that impressed the audience was The Cave (PHOTO) by Feras Fayyad about an underground hospital in Syrian city of Ghouta. The film also won the award for the best film in section Testimony on Politics. Among other successes was the investigative documentary The State Capture by Slovak
director Zuzana Piussi presenting a devastating portrayal of contemporary Slovakia thirty years after the fall of the Communist regime.

Section Fascinations: Eroticism also attracted much attention showcasing a retrospective of various forms of representation of physical desire, attraction and manifestations of physical love. The VR zone offering the VR-cinema and installation was a very popular feature.

Five hundred children enjoyed the Ji.hlava for Kids programme. The six-day platform for kids offered twenty-four blocks with workshops, nineteen film screenings and other off-screen events.

Ji.hlava’s this year’s topic was environmental protection. The climate crisis issue was the main focus of one full day of the Inspiration Forum as well as the Closing Ceremony with the presentation of the awards. During the Ceremony, representatives of Czech and foreign environmental initiatives (Instituto Terra, Greenpeace, Fridays for Future) made their appearance.

Chief curator of Tate Modern Gallery, Andrea Lissoni, and environmental ombudsman of the Ji.hlava festival, Luboš Slovák, talked about the
possibilities of changing the attitude of large institutions in this respect. “Unfortunately, in Czechia, the climate crisis is discussed more by its deniers. The situation is so serious that the topic should pervade all of our activities including film festival award ceremonies. This was also one of the reasons why we invited Extinction Rebellion who brought a dead tree on the stage as a symbol of climate crisis in Czechia and invited the government and Czech people to take action and prevent environmental collapse, ” says filmmaker Tereza Nvotová who was the host of the evening together with Jan Foukal.

The festival spot was made by Kazakhstani filmmaker Sergei Dvortsevoy and the festival trophy was designed by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

Dozens of activities also took place as part of the Industry Programme, intended for 1,163 attending film professionals from both the Czech Republic and the whole world. The festival again hosted the educational workshop Emerging Producers, Festival Identity, Conference Fascinations focusing on
experimental film distribution. “This year’s edition has proven that Ji.hlava is becoming more and more popular as a destination for film professionals. Many of them appreciate not only the vibrant festival atmosphere, but also the quality Industry Programme. Ji.hlava is a meeting point of talents which
fosters unexpected collaborations and original documentary projects,” said Head of Industry, Jarmila Outratová.

The Jihlava IDFF was this year attended by 5,330 accredited participants, including 1,163 film professionals, 146 festival guests and 300 journalists. Out of the total of 277 films, 91 will be shown in their world, 47 in their international, and 17 in their European premiere. 3,700 films altogether have
been registered for the Ji.hlava IDFF 2019.

The 23rd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival will take place on October 27–November 1, 2020.

http://www.ji-hlava.com/

Below a link to the awards that were given at the 23rd edition of the festival in Ji.hlava. There were many. I take the liberty to mention only a handful of them, films that I know about:

● Best Czech Documentary Film 2019:

Solo (Artemio Benki, Czech Republic, France, Argentina, Austria, 2019)PHOTO

Jury statement:

We appreciate the lightness, nonviolence and concentration used by the author to portray a strong human story of a suffering person and to get as close as possible without disturbing formal effects and pathos.

The winner will receive an award of 10,000 EUR

A brilliant film, read http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4542/

● Best Central and East European Documentary Film 2019:

TEACH (Alex Brendea, Romania, 2019)

Jury statement:

This is an essential film that needs to be seen around the world. A math teacher working on the fringes of a failing educational system becomes a transformative mentor for a group of young students. Through his dedicated tuition, these young people discover the most important lesson in life: you must fall “tragically in love with what you do”. For its celebration of the unconventional, for its embrace of messiness, imagination and passion in teaching Between the Seas award goes to TEACH.

The winner will receive an award of 10,000 EUR

I met the film-to-be in Romania 4 years ago, when it was a project, at the One World Romania workshop. Here is what I wrote: „…The pitching ended with an award ceremony, where Ana Alexieva (co-tutor) went to the stage to invite Alex Brendea to take part in the Rough Cut Boutique at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where he can have his rough material evalutated. His ”Teach” about a charismatic, energetic excentric teacher of mathematics, who lives alone with cats and dogs, and does his teaching at this his home is very promising and the choice was very well received by colleagues at the ”Cooking a Doc”.“ Love that film that was also awarded at the Astra Film Festival recently.

CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CINEMA AWARD

● Sergey Dvortsevoy

● Silver Eye Award feature length category:

Transnistra (Anna Eborn, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, 2019)

Jury statement:

Beautifully shot on 16mm, this is a powerful film that captures an in-between moment, at the end of adolescence, a play of youth and light located in a rural place, in an unrecognized country. A very loving view on a dynamic group focused around an unusual and unforgettable female character.

I agree, read http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4475/

● Special mention:

The Wind. A Documentary Thriller (Michal Bielawski, Poland, Slovakia, 2019)

Jury statement:

Through mystical images and enigmatic protagonists the filmmaker suggests an extreme connection between human faith and fortune, nature and the weather. Often Lynchian, the director’s filmmaking achieves a true thriller as the title suggests.

Again I agree, read

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4555/

https://www.ji-hlava.com/novinky/23-ji-hlava-udelena-oceneni

Awards were given in Riga last night for the International FF and for the ArtDoc Fest. I mention the awards in the latter, which, as the name says, include documentaries plus a special mention to a documentary in the Feature Film Competition of the intl. festival, see below. Several have been reviewed/reported upon on this site, links are given:

Grand Prix
Immortal, dir. Ksenia Okhapkina (Photo)
http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4572/

Best Director
Maxim Shved, Pure Art

Jury award
School of Seduction, dir. Alina Rudnitskaya

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4485/

Special mention
Daymohk, dir. Masha Novikova

Special mention
State Funeral, dir. Sergei Loznitsa

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4642/

Special Mention in Feature Film Competition of the festival:

Animus Animalis (A story about people, animals and things), dir. Aistė egulytė

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4476/

https://rigaiff.lv/2019/lv/

The fine Astra Film Festival in Sibiu in Romania placed Sergey Loznitsa’s “State Funeral” as the opening film. The Head of Programming Csilla Kató explains why in an interview with Cineuropa, below a link to the whole interview, made by  Stefan Dobroiu.

Cineuropa: The 26^th edition of the Astra Film Festival has ended. What would you consider to be the strong points of this edition?
Csilla Kató: For example, the fact that we selected as our opening film Sergey Loznitsa’s State Funeral [+]. In my opinion, it is a sign of maturity, as at every festival, the opening film is chosen with great care – it is, after all, a statement about the festival’s spirit and agenda. A movie with a running time of 135 minutes, made entirely from archive footage, in which the soundtrack is the only intervention by the director, proved to be the right choice for us. In State Funeral, Loznitsa plays with both the conventions of cinema and the expectations of the audience: the audience is allowed to get lost among archive-footage sequences and is also left to interpret what they see according to their own background and personal perspective. This example of documentary cinema could not have been imagined by any screenwriter and would have been impossible to make within the conventions of fiction cinema. And the film worked well for the audience gathered to attend the opening of this edition.

https://cineuropa.org/en/index/

I missed the live streaming of the IDFA press conference yesterday afternoon, where artistic director Orwa Nyrabia was on stage to tell the documentary community, which films he and his programmers had chosen. But the website says it all – also that ”64% of the competition titles are by female filmmakers, with 47% in the total program”.

Having mentioned this important point for festivals around the world, let’s go to the films. I will surf a bit on the lists of selection, where it is obvious that Nyrabia’s ambition of also showing films that are not from the US or from the UK, is fulfilled:

Happy to see that Iranian Mehrdad Oskouei opens the festival. I saw his ”Starless Dreams» at the Dokufest in Prizren 3 years ago, ”an interview based observational documentary about, no with young girls in a prison, it is also called a rehabilitation centre. They are there because of drugs, robberies, even murders, and they are talked to by the director, whose soft and mild voice communicates understanding and compassion…” (http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3647/)

The opening film seems to pick up on a similar subject, a quote from the press release, ”Sunless Shadows steps into the enclosed world of five young Iranian women, all accomplices in the murder of their abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law…”. I have reserved a ticket!

In the Feature-Length Documentary section, I am even more happy to see Italian Valentina Pedicini with “Faith”: ““Warrior Monks” and “Guardian Mothers” they call themselves, the martial arts champions who are members of an Italian sect living together in a monastery. Led by a Kung Fu master, they are like Shaolin monks but with a Catholic twist. Utterly devoted to their faith, they train constantly so they are able to combat evil in the name of the Father. Director Valentina Pedicini was granted access to a way of life defined by discipline, and the resulting black-and-white film is surprisingly intimate…” Pedicini and her cameraperson Bastian Esser graduated from the Zelig Film School in Bolzano, super-talented theyt were and are; as teacher at the school I kept on telling Valentina, “make documentaries”; after a couple of feature films, here she is. Wow!

And it is difficult not to be emotional mentioning that my hero since I started dealing with documentary, Danish Jørgen Leth is there, in competition, with “I Walk” – have mentioned before that he will receive an award at the festival for his oeuvre.

And there are films by Sung-Jun Yi, Marlene Edoyan, Maasja Ooms, Pushpendra Singh, Hilal Baydarov, Laura Herrero Garvín, Marianne Khoury, Heidi Hassan & Patricia Pérez Fernández and Kivu Ruhorahoza…

Look at the names, this is definitely a change in IDFA selection policy. Chapeau!!!

Blogposting should not be too long, so I kindly ask you to check the website of IDFA to see the mid-length section as well as the digital DocLab as well as the “immersive non-fiction” as well as the DocLab Spotlight, not to forget the documentaries for children competition, always exciting.

Click here and you get all 321 films:

https://www.idfa.nl/en/collection/documentaries?page=1&filters[edition.year]=2019

Back to the competition “For First Appearance” – debut feature films, where the Georgian “A Tunnel” is listed. I know Nino Orjonikidze and Vano Arsenishvili very well from visits to Tbilisi, have seen their short films including the middle length “The English Teacher”. So curious to see the final result and glad to observe that good old Hans Robert Eisenhauer is helping and that arte/zdf is on board as broadcaster. The story, taken from the website, a quote:

“People are hard at work extending the railroad in a remote Georgian mountain village. When they’re done, the new Silk Road Express will run through here. But before this high-speed connection between China and Europe can go anywhere, a tunnel has to be dug—a tunnel that goes right through a mountain where villagers have their fields and pastures. In his office at the station, an old-time stationmaster prepares for his role in the future, when a lot more trains will be coming through the station…” I have high expectations, dear friends!

Again the names of the directors communicate that these are films far away from the Anglo-Saxon mainroad: Alux Ayn Arumpac, Alejandro Salgado, Ilya Povolotsky, Carol Benjamin, Malgorzata Goliszewska & Katarzyna Mateja, Tali Yankelevich, Meng Han, Lucy Parker, Marija Stojnic, Simón Uribe Martinez and then a Danish name Eva Marie Rødbro, first appearence, new also for me.

Looks indeed very promising!

www.idfa.nl