14th THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL - Images of the 21st Century
March 9 – 18, 2012
The 14th TDF focuses this year on documentaries from two different geographical regions, the country of Denmark and the general Balkan region; the year 2011 has been quite prolific for both in terms of documentary production and international success. 12 films from Denmark, amongst which 4 documentaries for children, and 6 films from 4 Balkan countries will be screened during the event.
DANISH DOCS
Denmark, with its long-standing tradition in the documentary genre and directors as varied as pioneer Theodor Christensen, Henning Carlsen and innovative filmmaker Jorgen Leth, holds this year’s EU Presidency. On this occasion, the 14th TDF showcases a number of films that exhibit the distinctive characteristics of Danish documentary production: Danish filmmakers -often funded by the state mechanism, as well as flourishing production companies- have their eyes to the world. They travel all over the globe to record a vast range of stories that deal with human rights, political and social upheavals, environmental devastation, as well as the extremes of human nature; keen on experimentation, they often propose cinematically novel viewpoints on such stories.
Amongst the films to be screened as part of the Danish Docs Spotlight, 1/2 Revolution provides an extraordinary insider’s view to the Egyptian Revolution via a group of family and friends living the early days of the Cairo uprising. The filmmakers travelled to Egypt to shoot a film about street kids, but grasped the opportunity to capture the beginning of the Arab spring –the result has an urgent, vibrant immediacy. Putin’s Kiss follows Masha, a poster girl for Russia’s nationalistic youth movement (in the first frames she refers to Putin as a “kindred spirit”), who becomes disillusioned with the establishment when she befriends a group of liberal journalists -the film won the Documentary Cinematography Award at the 2012 Sundance IFF for its stunning lighting and camera work. On the other end of the thematic spectrum, Love Addict explores the lives of people who suffer from a detrimental addiction to/obsession with love -the extraordinary amount of access to their lives and emotional states makes for a powerful, affecting film; and The Samurai Case, boasting the first film crew ever allowed to shoot in a Danish courtroom for the entirety of a trial, covers the case of a man who accidentally killed his friend with a samurai sword during a night of drunken revelries –suspenseful and harrowing, the film explores the grey areas between guilt and innocence, as well as the plight of a man who will always be burdened with horrific regrets.
THE FILMS:
The Ambassador, (Ambassadoren) Mads Brugger, Denmark, 2011, 93’
Au Pair, Nicole Horanyi and Heidi Kim Andersen, Denmark, 2011, 59’
Ballroom Dancer, Christian Bonke and Andreas Koefoed, Denmark, 2011, 84’
1/2 Revolution, Omar Shargawi and Karim El Hakim, Denmark, 2011, 71’
Love Addict, Pernille Rose Gronkjear, Denmark, 2011, 82’
Putin's Kiss, Lise Birk Pedersen, Denmark, 2011, 84’
The Samurai Case (Med doden til folge), Eva Mulvad, Denmark, 2011, 58’
DANISH DOCS FOR KIDS
As part of the Danish Docs Spotlight, the 14th TDF will present Siblings - For Better or Worse, a Danish series of four documentary films about children and for children from ages 8 to 12. Depicting families that have more than one child, the films focus on the wonderful, sometimes daunting and always complicated relationships between siblings.
The four shorts, which were all produced in Denmark in 2011 and will hold their international premieres during the 14th TDF, are: Jenni's Big Sister by Max Kestner (Jennis storesoster, 15’), Stuck in the Middle by Laila Hodell (Lige midt idellem, 18’), Me and My Twin by Mikala Krogh, (Mig og min tvilling, 20’) and Me Without You by Aage Rais-Nordentoft (Mig uden dig, 21’).
BALKAN FOCUS
The Balkan region, much celebrated in the last decade for its fiction production, has also exhibited a surge of filmmaking in the documentary genre. The transitional character of Balkan societies, and the political, social and economic turmoil typical of the area, makes documentaries a fruitful and useful means of discourse and expression. The films to be screened during the 14th TDF, which explore the many facets of such societal transitions, are indicative of the wealth of subjects and approaches. Amongst these are:
The documentary Two of Us (International Premiere), closely observing the life of a young gay couple in Romania, bears testament not only to their intimacy and love, but also to the difficulties and hardships of being openly gay in 21st century Romania. O Gringo (International Premiere) about Serbian football player Dejan Petkovic, an ebullient character and idol to his compatriots and to the Brazilians whose teams he’s played for over the years, is an entertaining and openhearted film: a genuine testament to what people all over the world find exhilarating about football. Turkish doc A Few Brave People takes a look at one of the unnoticed environmental struggles of the Black Sea region: in one of its valleys a small group of courageous locals tries to deter the government from destroying their rivers and the natural habitat by building hydroelectric plants. The film presents an uneven battle that has been going on for years, exposing the harsh truths of the everyman versus the establishment and profit versus ecological conscience. Visiting Room, co-directed by Radu Muntean and Alexandru Baciu -notable contributors to the recent history of Romanian fiction cinema as director and screenwriter (with films such as The Paper Will Be Blue)- permeates the world of convicts who find love while being in prison, and the intense emotion and fragile logistics of maintaining such a relationship; and the unadorned style of their fiction work translates into an honest, poignant take on the reality of such a life.
THE FILMS:
A Few Brave People (Bir avuc cesur insane), Ruya Arzu Koksal, Turkey, 2011, 85’
The King (Kralj), Dejan Acimovic, Croatia, 2011, 75’
Noosfera, Artchil Khetagouri and Ileana Stanculescu, Romania, 2011, 55’
O Gringo, Darko Bajic, Serbia/Brazil, 2011, 90’)
Two of Us (Noi Doi), Claudiu Mitcu Romania, 2011, 54’
Visiting Room, Radu Muntean and Alexandru Baciu, Romania, 2011, 62’
