The Power of Silence – Docs in Riga

The Baltic Sea Docs has announced its mini film festival programme that runs parallel to the pitching of 24 new documentary projects primarily from the Baltic countries but also producers from Western European countries turn up with proposals that have a link to the Eastern part of Europe. Two Russian projects will be presented this year where no Ukranians are on the list. But, as the organisers informed me: … a Polish project deals with the experience of four young people at Maidan Square and one of the Russian projects, by Vitaly Mansky, is a reflection on his Ukrainian roots on the background of Ukraine today.

Back to the film programme: 9 films are screened, all carefully selected with a wide spread in geography… “Dance for Me” by Danish Katrine Philp, “My Name is Salt” by Indian Farida Pacha, “Two Raging Grannies” by Norwegan Håvard Nustnes, ”The Square” by Egyptian/American Jehane Noujaim and Bulgarian “Uncle Tony, Three Fools and the Secret Service” (photo) by Vesela Kazakova, Mina Mileva.

The title of the mini festival is “The Power of Silence”. Quite a subtile, sophisticated headline – I asked why and got this fine answer from Lelda Ozola and Zanda Dudina:

…There are a lot of under-water currents in each film that you keep thinking about after having watched. In other words you watch as if lightly, but then think a lot about issues raised – children travelling to other countries to reach their aims, adoption, economic growth, the quite silent people at the square of Cairo or in the salt field in India, etc, AND the wonderful lady Freda who worked with BEATLES during the whole existence of the group without walking around bragging about it. Keeping SILENT working in Liverpool as a book-keeper (title “Good Ol’ Freda”) … She is so simple, so positive and so natural in her modesty, it’s wonderful and powerful silence! … Hope that people who watch the films will understand. And hope that our good old friend from Danish screaming democracy will also understand us…

Of course, he will, I am looking forward to come back to wonderful Baltic Sea Docs in Riga for the 18th edition.

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http://www.mediadesklatvia.eu/baltic-sea-docs-2014/film-programme-power-of-silence/

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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