I got a mail from the producer of this film, Sandor Mester: “Hungary 2018 is not at the IDFA Forum because it is already in the Feature Length Competition this year and it was not there last year because it was not possible going to public pitching because it could risk, potentially stop this kind of production. We made this new film with a very hard and painful work, it is very complicated to do a project like this in Hungary and finally it was produced by our Portuguese company. Some of the members of our Hungarian crew did not want that their names appear in the credits because they are afraid of the revenge of the government. “Hungary 2018” is about right-wing populism, far-right extremism from the perspective of the last elections in Hungary in 2018 showing how Hungary is in 2018 and how the extreme-right propaganda works on the government level. We have to stand-up against far-right politics and right-wing populism because it generates fear and hate based on lies, semi lies, lies and manipulation.”

The film was screened at IDFA and the main character of the film, former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, who fought against Orbán and the Fidesz party at the election for president in April 2018, was invited for the talk after the film. I knew Hajdu and Mester from their previous brave work, “Judgement in Hungary” reviewed here http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/2966/

and on my list of best documentaries in 2014.

“Hungary 2018” does not bring anything new, the political situation in the country is pretty well covered in the media I follow. And yet here we get on film a documentation of how disgusting the propaganda is from the Fidesz leaders and those, who campaign for Orbán. It is simply amazing, how xenophobia flourishes and how fear is playing a role, when speeches are held: Hungary will be overflooded with muslims, who will rape women in miniskirts – and Soros, the Jewish billionaire, is enemy number One, who supports Gyurcsány and his gang of traitors and is running the EU. Gyurcsány is followed in his campaign, you can only have sympathy for him, as far too few Hungarians had when the election results were clear. Huge victory for Orbán and his non-European attitude.

The film is partly financed by the EU, which is of course used against it: See, the EU is paying for propaganda against Hungary.

Are you going to screen it, I asked a festival director from a country close to Hungary. Of course he said, we are having the same political tendencies in our country… and in Denmark it looks like a new party will enter the parliament at the next election in 2019. It has the same policy as Fidesz.

www.idfa.nl

IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary 

Anand Patwardhan won the IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary (€ 15.000) with Reason (India). The film is a broad-ranging examination of Indian society, where secular rationalists are hunted down as they attempt to stem the rising tide of religious and nationalist fundamentalism. 

“The IDFA Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary is unanimously given to Reason by Anand Patwardhan for the epic storytelling of the rise of the far right in one of the most populated countries of this planet, the violence of religious and ultranationalist militias with the support of authorities and dominant medias, the dignity of resistance in multiple forms, often at life-cost, in a way that acknowledges the complexity of the situation but put it in a very understandable shape,” the jury reported. 

In addition, the jury presented the IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary (€ 2.500) to Los Reyes (Chile, Germany) by Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff. In this almost fairy-tale-like film, the phenomenal, dreamlike camerawork centers almost entirely on the subtle interaction between two dogs, as they play with a ball, a stick, a stone, and each other.

“The IDFA Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary goes to Los Reyes by Bettina Perut and Iván Osnivikoff (Chile, Germany) for the creative

and beautiful way it displaces the viewer gaze by associating a sensible look at non-human wonderful characters and the soundtrack that connects daily lives of animal and human stray dogs,” the jury said. 

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary this year were Daniela Elstner, Jean-Michel Frodon, Tala Hadid, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, and Alina Marazzi. 

IDFA Competition for First Appearance

Sebastiano d’Ayala Valva won the IDFA Award for Best First Appearance (€ 10.000) for Giacinto Scelsi. The First Motion of the Immovable (France, Italy). 

Aboozar Amini won the IDFA Special Jury Award for First Appearance, in memory of Peter Wintonick (€ 2.500) for Kabul, City in the Wind (Netherlands, Afghanistan, Japan, Germany). (PHOTO).

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for First Appearance this year were Catherine Dussart, Ross McElwee, Avi Mograbi, Jean Perret, and Adina Pintilie. 

Made possible by the Friends of IDFA.

IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary 

The IDFA Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (€ 10.000) was awarded to Andrei Kutsila for Summa (Poland, Belarus). 

The IDFA Special Jury Award for Mid-Length Documentary (€ 2.500) went to In Touch(Poland, Iceland) by Pawel Ziemilski. 

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary this year were Leah Giblin, Everardo Gonzalez, and Marc Isaacs.

IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling

Ross Goodwin won the IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling (€ 5.000) for 1 the Road(United States). 

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling this year were Dries Depoorter, Joël Ronez, and Mandy Rose.

IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction

The IDFA DocLab Award for Immersive Non-Fiction (€ 5,000) went to Eat | Tech | Kitchen(Netherlands, United States) by Klasien van de Zandschulp and Emilie Baltz. 

The jury members for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Immersive Non-Fiction this year were Mads Damsbo, Ali Eslami, and Luna Maurer.

IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary 

The Beeld en Geluid IDFA Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 7.500) went to ‘Now something is slowly changing’ by mint film office. 

Carin Goeijers received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Dutch Documentary (€ 2.500) forBut Now Is Perfect. 

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary this year were Catherine Bizern, Eduardo Escorel, and Alisa Lebow. 

Made possible by the Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid.

IDFA Competition for Short Documentary 

I Signed the Petition (United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland) by Mahdi Fleifel won the IDFA Award for Best Short Documentary (€ 5.000). 

The IDFA Special Jury Award for Short Documentary (€ 2.500) went to And What Is the Summer Saying (India) by Payal Kapadia. 
The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary this year were Catherine van Campen, Inadelso Cossa, and Haruka Hama.

IDFA Competition for Student Documentary

Beryl Magoko won the IDFA Award for Best Student Documentary (€ 5.000) for In Search…(Germany, Kenya). 

The IDFA Special Jury Award for Student Documentary (€ 2.500) was presented to Dana Gelman for Backwards (Israel). 

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Student Documentary this year were Klaudiusz Chrostowski, Serra Ciliv, and Pauline Terreehorst.

IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs

The IDFA Award for Best Children’s Documentary (€ 5.000) went to Dancing for You(Poland) by Katarzyna Lesisz. 

Martijn Blekendaal received the IDFA Special Jury Award for Children’s Documentary (€ 2.500) for The Man Who Looked Beyond the Horizon (the Netherlands). 

The jury members for the IDFA Competition for Kids & Docs this year were Ingvil Giske, Pawel Lozinski, and Shamira Raphaëla.

I was at the opening of The PiterKiT International Student Film Festival in Piter – Saint Petersburg. On Wednesday. Huge celebration, three hours with music, clips from films and speeches, maaany speeches due to the celebration of 100 years of the film school, St. Petersburg Institute of Film and Television. Even if the festival carries the name “international” all words were in Russian! I was lucky to have Polish Krzysztof Kopczyński next to me, who whispered translation of some important words. Some names were understandable and I was happy to see Sokurov on stage being honoured.

Several “old boys” were on stage and Kopczyński whispered that they were addressing the audience of students saying that they should make films about “good people”!

As moderator of the conference “How to Educate Students to Meet the Cinema and TV Audience – art and/or craft” at the film school I picked up on this point of view, when the Dean of the faculty of screen arts and Head of the Producer’s Department, the sympathetic, open-minded Pavel Danilov was on stage explaining to us how the school functions as a state institution according to a film law with standards to follow, as the equivalent VGIK in Moscow. Is this what you tell your students, that they should make films about good people, I asked the Dean. Well, he said, there are too much negativity in films right now, we have to remember that cinema is an educational tool – words to that effect from the Dean, who also said that the school suffers from far too much bureaucracy. And there are too many F… words in films, he said, which made the representative from Perm, Pavel Pechenkin – who earlier spoke passionately about the media education projects they run in his city – remind us all that we are in the city of Dostojevski! “Crime and Punishment”! No polished words.

The conference took place in a small room, the interpreters were excellent, the technique functioned and the invited speakers were prepared and inspiring: Kopczynski, Pechenkin, Danilov, Ruth Olshan, Riho Västrik, Ivan Zolotukhin, Andrijana Stojkovic, Elena Khoroshkina. You can find more on the conference here:

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4397/

and in a couple of months a Russian and an English version will be available on Youtube.

The speakers and the audience, primarily teachers from the school, there were from 25 to 7 listeners – the teachers had to go back to their classes – agreed that a continuation of the conference would be of great value. It lies in the hands of the organizer Viktor Skubey.

This text is taken from the website of the IDFA festival:

The 31st IDFA has just officially been opened by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag in Koninklijk Theater Carré with Aboozar Amini’s film Kabul, City in the Wind.

This is the first festival under new artistic director Orwa Nyrabia, who in his opening speech referred to the inestimable importance of artistic authenticity, pluralism, and dialogue. The festival, which takes place at several venues around Amsterdam, runs until November 25. The winners of the various competitions will be announced on Wednesday, November 21.

Before the screening of the opening film, Minister Kaag gave a speech in which she spoke about the importance of filmmakers and film programmers who are able to transmit and depict the ideas, images, and emotions of others. Creative documentaries can make us reflect, see, and experience in such a way that we, as audiences, are prepared to stand up for others and build better societies with more democracy, more openness, and more humanity.

Nyrabia, who has taken over as artistic director for IDFA 2018, then talked in his opening speech about the focus devoted to inclusivity within the festival. According to Nyrabia, this is something that lies at the heart of IDFA: a deeply rooted belief in the value of artistic freedom, in pluralism, and the importance of pluralism in our everyday lives, both locally and in the wider world. A film festival is a place for dialogue, for questions, for curiosity, and for discoveries. Nyrabia expressed the view that artistic authenticity is the antidote to lies and manipulation. Nyrabia also announced a new cooperation between the Netherlands Film Fund with the IDFA Bertha Fund to stimulate international co-production between Dutch producers and filmmakers from non-Western countries…

www.idfa.nl

It’s about creating the feeling of being there. To quote Richard Leacock. First time feature length director Afghan Aboozar Amini, who emigrated from the country when a teenager, was educated in Holland and in the UK, does that. Takes us there, to the dusty and windy and dirty Afghan capital Kabul, where he lets us meet three protagonists: a bus driver Abas and two kids, brothers, the small Benjamin and the bigger Afshin.

The brothers live up the hill of the city – with another brother Hussein, too

small for the film and a mother, who we do not see. But we hear her worried voice, when the brothers are late from a tour down to the city below. The crowded and noisy Kabul. The father, however, is present in the beginning of the film, where he takes his boys to a memorial for victims of a bomb. “My best mate was killed” on this occasion, I was injured, he says and explains that he has to leave the home – someone is after me. Later on in the film Afshin tells us that the father was in Kandahar – Taliban area – resigned from the military, came home and now he is leaving, giving Afshin, as the oldest male in the family, the task to be responsible for the family. Don´t forget to water the trees, that stand outside the house without leaves as something that could bring some hope in a war-torn country. The father leaving serves as a frame for the touching story about the brothers, who at the end of the film in a telephone conversation tell the father, what they have done so well, they held their promises but the last sentence from the tiny Benjamin goes like this: Come Home Dad!

Amini follows the brothers in wonderful scenes, where they are going down the hill to do shopping. Big brother scolds little brother for not moving quick enough – next time I am taking Hussein instead of you! – it is quite recognizable, they have a childhood like kids everywhere, they play, they talk about what they want to be when they grow up – Benjamin a policeman, of course – but their games are games that boys play in a country, where bad things can happen any time: “Yellow Kitty, stay at home, don’t go to war, you’ll die”, sings Benjamin. Both kids add to the film the sense of fear through close ups, where they face to the camera tell their dreams and thus express their feelings, as does the driver right upfront in the film.

Abas has bought a bus, rather outdated and in poor shape. He is pretty much visiting the mechanics, joking with them, smoking all kind of stuff with them promising to pay for the repair of the car but he has no money, and he leaves the bus business (did I write business!) to earn in other ways – “honesty does not work in Afghanistan”. He sees friends – it´s a location that comes back regularly – in the café, where they talk about where the last bomb fell and with how many casualties. At home you see him playing with the daughters while his wife (would have loved to have some more with her) is sewing nice things that give them an income. He feels bad, he says, that he can´t contribute. “I have wasted 30 years of my life on problems and survival”, he says, and also he, like the kids, tell his dreams… about loss and death.

Amini elegantly cuts from the kids to the adult, the rhythm is right, the mood as well, and there is space for great almost wordless scenes like the one, where Afshin plays football with a can on the way down, a sequence that the debutant feature length director with his documentary eye dares to hold for a long time. And the songs they sing, I have mentioned the kid singing, Abas sings when he is sad with lyrics like “Afghanistan my homeland, my homeland of bandits”.

We have seen films from New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen… here is one, a very good one from Kabul. About three human beings you get to know and love. Thank you!

The film was yesterday the opening film of IDFA, there are many screenings coming up. Watch out for them.

2018, Netherlands, Afghanistan, Japan, Germany, 88 mins.

I have for years been visiting Saint Petersburg – for the Message2Man festival or for seminars/workshops organized by dear friends Ludmila Nazaruk and Viktor Skubey. In 2016 Skubey organized the conference “How to Reach the Audience”, which was filmed and is to be found on

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXGMu-9ScJZDOvizeYvODkUzJsAql15e7

This year a one-day conference will take place with the headline “How to Educate Students to Meet the Cinema and TV Audience. Art and/or Craft”. With 4 speakers from outside Russia and 4 from Russia. Viktor Skubey (producer, president of the filmmakers non-fiction/tv guild and teacher at the St. Petersburg Institute of film and television, were the conference takes place) asked me to moderate the conference and pick the non-Russian speakers for a set-up that is classical: 30 minutes presentation, 15 minutes of discussion.

Polish Krzysztof Kopczynski will be the first foreign speaker. I have asked him

– apart from giving information on the many Polish film schools – to bring up basic questions like “can you learn to make films?”, “can you learn to make artistic films for a bigger audience…”. Do we need film schools?

Teaching at the International Film School in Cologne, Russian born Ruth Olshan, awarded director of fiction and documentary films, will give examples from the methodology, she uses, when she prepares students for a professional life outside the school.

The same goes for producer and director Riho Västrik from the Baltic film school in Tallinn, where he from 2009 has built up the documentary department and shared his experience from the many years as an active producer and co-producer in the international documentary world.

Finally Serbian filmmaker Andrijana Stojkovic, who has made documentary and fiction films, and teaches both “documentary filmmaking” and “contemporary expression of directing” will evaluate on the big step from being at a film school to the “jungle life” outside.

From Russia Pavel Pechenkin from the renowned Flahertiana in Perm will be present to talk about his building up a media education in Perm. As well as Elena Khoroshkina, who will talk on “creative thinking and innovative business development in education in culture”. From the hosting institution, Pavel Danilov (Dean of the faculty of screen arts and Head of the producers Department of the St. Petersburg Institute of film and television) will talk about a Complex (project) approach in film education. The basis of this approach is the formation of full-fledged creative and production groups of students for diploma (diploma) film (project).

Two more names have not been announced yet, coming from Moscow film schools.

The conference is held within the framework of the international student film festival Piterkit, that is part of a huge Cultural Forum in wonderful St.Petersburg-

The photo is from the 2016 conference… The two presenters from the Danish Film Institute Liselotte Michelsen and Lisbeth Juhl Sibbesen and a technician working on getting the computer working, with the moderator telling the audience that everything will be ok in a minute, which it was, just check the youtube link above.