Festival films

The film examines the evidence surrounding the political assassination of left-wing deputy Grigoris Lambrakis – as it was revealed during the investigation, chiefly by journalists covering the story – against a backdrop of the fringe urban environment that fosters the kind of person that para-state organizations will seek out and enlist in order to serve shady political objectives. Thus, a political assassination emerges as primarily a social phenomenon.

The title refers to the length of the renowned Paris to Dakar rally as it was raced in 2007, this time from Lisbon, Portugal to Dakar, Senegal. For the time being, it would be the last race through the north African desert due to fears of terrorist attacks. This road documentary begins where the race cars leave their dust clouds behind: with the people who live along the route, in Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Senegal.The contrast between the motorised might and the simple population is striking. One local is surprised that the racers trust their navigation systems more than his knowledge of the land, a goatherd nervously keeps the city and TV at a safe distance, the owner of a movie theater explains why he shows “white porn”, and politicians make promises to the impoverished people, who in turn decry the Western big business that is plundering their mineral resources. Many of them want to immigrate to Europe, assuming that they would have a chance at a better life there. Most of them talk as if they’re giving a museum tour, at a leisurely pace and in ameasured tone, which also stands in sharp contrast to the hectic world of the race.

Flowers love people. Anyway, that is what the flower growing industry is trying to propagate. But whether flowers actually do love people, well, that remains the question. a Blooming Business is a poetic documentary about people in Kenya who are imprisoned by the power of the global flower growing industry. The dilemmas of the industry grow painfully clear and a dark world of oppression, sexual abuse and terrible working conditions unfolds. There is only one conclusion possible: the smell of the imported rose is not sweet, but bitter. The film combines pure observation with direct comments by the main characters. The camera is present and absent at the same time and reshapes the documentary. With great humanism van Zantvoort shows us a different world where all human life is valuable.

Some have described Naples as a city in a constant state of decay. Others have called it the Keith Richards of cities. But to the Neapolitans, it is just another day in “Bella Napoli”. How does one describe a city-especially one like Naples? In this documentary, six questions are asked of the Neapolitans themselves.The responses provide an intimate look at what makes this chaotic, beautiful, and sometimes dangerous city. With perspectives from every walk of life, young and old, rich and poor, sophisticated and simple, the story is told with an insider’s view of the daily machinations that are required to live in one of Europe’s oldest cities and cultures. It provides an anthropological/sociological look at a city that has all but been abandoned by the government infrastructure and yet still maintains itself, creating its own city state in a contemporary world.

Five highly individual musicians from different countries get together to form the “Accordion tribe” and to achieve the seemingly impossible: to return their long disregarded instrument to the worldwide recognition it once enjoyed as a powerhouse of emotions. The film follows the charismatic musicians as they journey through Europe, resplendent with rich musical heritage, searching for new beginnings, looking to the past and to tradition, while at the same time embracing the contemporary. Accompanied by exciting aural landscapes of trance-like intensity, this film is a magnificent showcase for the transforming power of music.

In Among the Rocks, thirty-three women testify about the persecution they and their families suffered following the ratification of the Varkiza Peace Agreement on 2 February 1945. To save themselves, many joined the Democratic Army, while others were arrested and imprisoned or sent into exile. The film attempts to reveal the role of a social group which, voiceless until now, has been ignored by official written history. As a relatively new discipline, oral history investigates first-hand accounts and the experiences of ordinary people in order to shed light on the past and on historical potential that was never fulfilled. In this film, the “voiceless” group are Women.

Shot over a two-year period in four countries on four continents – Ecuador (South America), Mexico (North America), Democratic Republic of Congo (Africa), and Cambodia (Asia) – Another Planet unfolds as a cinematic poemin the tradition of Koyaanisqatsii, exposing the unequal distribution of wealth around the world as a major humanitarian crisis. Framed by pastoral sequences in which a Tarahumara shaman imparts a dream of paradise on earth, the film moves quickly and seamlessly between the lives of seven children inextricably linked by their shocking and tragic experiences of daily exploitation and abuse. We meet lonely, aimless urchins, barely eking out a living on the streets. We see child laborers toiling in brick factories, garbage dumps, and brothels, only to be beaten when business is down. And perhaps most harrowing of all, we get to know the child soldiers of Congo as they are turned into killing machines. Throughout this journey, Moldovanyi’s unwavering vision reminds us of the eternal coexistence of beauty and horror all over the world.

The real and imaginary life of Antoine, a boy detective who runs, drives, makes decisions, hosts radio shows and adores simultaneous telephone conversations. Over the course of two years he uses a mini boom microphone to discover and capture the sounds surrounding him. In this manner he co-created the soundtrack of this film. This child, who is of Vietnamese origin, was born one hundred days prematurely. He is integrated into the regular school system in Montreal with unprecedented success. Antoine is five years old and he is blind.

This is not a film about roads or cars, but about what traffic turns us into. I chose five people whom I accompanied all over town, in their everyday lives. For five months I sat in the passenger seat of their car, listening to them. They are all ordinary people: a delivery boy who spends about 14 hours a day driving around Bucharest; a half paralyzed man who not only drives a car, but also helps other people to avail themselves of cars; a Peruvian-born woman who was raised in a city with equally crazed traffic; a father who recently lost his daughter in a traffic accident; and a policeman who, before December ’89, was beaten up by the militia.

Centering on Aris Velouchiotis, the leader of the Greek People’s Liberation Army (ELAS), the film narrates the struggle of the National Liberation Front (EAM) and its military branch ELAS during the German occupation, as well as Velouchiotis’ solitary course, following the Treaty of Varkiza and the EAM-ELAS surrendering their weapons in February 1945, up until his tragic death in June of the same year. Through the portrait of Aris Velouchiotis, the film presents the EAM movement and the armed resistance during the German and Italian occupation.

In the early 1920s, Leopold Weiss, a Viennese Jew, traveled to the Middle East. The desert fascinated him, and Islam became his new spiritual home. He left his Jewish roots behind, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Asad. He became one of the most important Muslims of the the 20th century, first as an advisor at the royal court of Saudi Arabia, and later translating the Koran into English. The director follows his fading footsteps, leading from the Arabian desert to Ground Zero. He finds a man who was not looking for adventures but rather wanted to act as a mediator between East and West. A Road to Mecca takes this opportunity to deal with a heated debate which is currently becoming more and more important.

How is Arta related to Florina? What’s the connection between a bunch of reeds and giant beans? The only thing we can be sure about is that the road belongs to the lorries.

A Tickle in the Heart captures the past, present, and future of Max, Julie and Willie, the remarkable Epstein brothers – Klezmer music legends – on a joyous international comeback tour. This is a cinematic celebration with three of the funniest men in show business. The Epsteins are natural performers, and their sense of life, music and family as they tour through places they love – from Poland to Brooklyn to Florida – is as life affirming and intoxicating as the joyous music they play. A Tickle in the Heart is a uniquely American story that has the elegant, polished feel of a European art film. It honors the Epstein brothers with the wide-eyed admiration they deserve.

The film chronicles the controversial Sea Shepherd’s Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign against a Japanese whaling fleet. The international volunteer crew, working with limited resources and mixed levels of experience develop a combination of bizarre and brilliant tactics with which to stop the whalers. But first they must find the Japanese ships, a far more difficult challenge than ever imagined. Long-time activist Paul Watson and first-time captain Alex Cornelissen employ an array of strategies in the hopes of finding an elusive adversary in the vast expanse of the Ross Sea. With one ship (the “Farley Mowat”) too slow to chase down the whaling fleet, with their second ship (the “Robert Hunter”) unsuited for Antarctic ice conditions, and with no country supporting their efforts to enforce international law, the situation becomes increasingly desperate. Against all odds, however, a real-life pirate tale unfolds – a modernday David vs. Goliath adventure which becomes the most dramatic environmental campaign ever filmed.

A different portrait of the outstanding surrealist poet; one that doesn’t refer to the opinions of analysts and experts on his work. Rather, by using the footage that Andreas Embiricos filmed in Super 8 and in 16mm and the countless extraordinary photographs he took over a period of over forty years, we attempt a unique journey into the world of the poet, through the images that he himself captured.

For many years, in Greece, the name Jules Dassen has been inextricably tied to that of his wife, Melina Mercouri. Honoring the American filmmake rwho passed away recently, this documentary sheds light on another, less well-known period of Jules Dassen’s life. Through the use of rare audiovisual material and narrated by Dassen himself, the film chronicle’s the director’s life and career. A journey from Harlem during the Great Depression, on to Broadway and then Hollywood of the big studios and McCarthyism, and finally to Europe of the 1950s.

Tata, Huit Huit, Sonko, Waterman and Georges are successful artists both in Africa and in Europe, where their performances in Afrika! Afrika! have greatly contributed to the success of this Andre Heller circus show. Back to Africa follows the five protagonists over a period of one year: during rehearsals, during the show, but mostly during their visits to their home countries in Africa. The film explores the extraordinary energy and adventurous life stories of these artists, conveying very personal insights into the African way of life and, using spectacular images, showing their immediate environments and the vast landscapes in which they live. In fascinating images shot in Senegal, Ghana, Gambia, Congo, Guinea and Europe, Othmar Schmiderer’s documentary tells a story of a love for life and of everyday culture, of dance and music, of hope, diversity and inspiration.

From a Dakar suburb, flimsy boats set sail for Europe, their passengers in danger of disappearing into the Atlantic. Local fishing has died out and the country is struggling hard to offer its youth a future. In each family there is someone who dreams of leaving, at any price.

The film follows a summer season in the lives of a group of retired Greek men and women who are regular visitors to various Greek spa towns. Life around spa towns moves slowly, at a pace that is reminiscent of past times. Within this listless atmosphere, people feel free to do and say things they would never be allowed to in their regular social circles. A sense of freedom and lightness is in the air. Instead of being among elderly people, one often feels as if one were around a group of teenagers at a summer camp.This joyful atmosphere often alternates with reflections on the past or on death.

The parallel course of the Russian church and the Russian state from the Christianization of the Slavs in 9th century Kiev, up until the 1992 coup that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.This is an hour-long version of the seven half-hour episodes that make up the series by the same name, and chronicles the landmark events of this parallel journey.

Behind this Convent features revealing interviews with survivors of both the modern Rwanda and those who are still trapped in its past. Intercut throughout this film is footage taken from 600 faces and voices, survivor testimonies, murderer testimonies, and the silent witnesses. In this film, Rwandan filmmaker Gilbert Ndahayo faces his own demons and those of his country in an impassioned moment when he faces his father’s killer in the “gacaca” court. A non-chronological time line of Rwanda’s 1994 Tutsi genocide is dissected and includes a review of both survivor and murderer ideologies, and a look into one of the locations where the tragedy hit hardest, behind a convent in Kigali. Behind this Convent is a profoundly intense and emotional journey into Africa’s most intense killing campaign in recorded history, and the filmmaker’s testimony to the power of film and forgiveness.