Dokufest. Breaking Borders
DokuFest, The International Documentary and Short Film Festival is pleased to be able to present the most comprehensive special programme in its 12 years of existence. Not only because of a superbly curated Focus Nordic, encompassing 5 countries and more than 40 films, but also because of long awaited retrospective of Jay Rosenblatt, among others.
Homage to Chris Marker, spotlight on Arab world filmmaking, highlights of the work of Nicolas Provost, films on poverty, on sport and on film, best European shorts, rising Balkan talents and a selection of best from festival circuit are part of this year’s eclectic side bar and non competitive programs at DokuFest.
VIEW FROM THE WORLD
Dirty Wars / Richard Rowley / USA, 2013 – The film follows investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of the international bestseller Blackwater.
Pablo’s Winter / Chico Pereira / Scotland/Spain, 2012 – The story of a retired mercury miner trying to stop smoking, with the end of the mining culture as an important backdrop.
Elena / Petra Costa / Brazil, 2012 – Elena, a young Brazilian woman, travels to New York with the same dream as her mother, to become a movie actress.
Leviathan / Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel / France/UK/USA, 2012 – Leviathan captures the collaborative clash of man, nature, and machine.
Our Nixon / Penny Lane / USA, 2013 – Throughout Richard Nixon’s presidency, three of his top White House aides obsessively documented their experiences.
Running from Crazy / Barbara Kopple / USA, 2013 – Join actress Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of legendary author Ernest Hemingway, as she examines the mental illness and suicide that colors her family’s history.
Searching for Sugarman / Malik Bendjelloul / Sweden/UK, 2012 – Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock ‘n’ roller, Rodriguez.
The End of Time / Peter Mettler / Switzerland/Canada, 2012 – Peter Mettler takes on the elusive subject of time, and once again turns his camera to filming the unfilmmable.
The Gatekeepers / Dror Moreh / Israel/France/Germany/Belgium, 2012 – Six former heads of Israel’s counterterrorism agency, discuss with remarkable openness the successes and mistakes of their individual tenures.
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear / Tinatin Gurchiani / Georgia/Germany, 2012 – It shows a world where tradition and modernity subtly intermingle
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology / Sophie Fiennes / UK/Ireland, 2012 – Slavoj Zizek and Sophie Fiennes use their interpretation of moving pictures to present a cinematic journey into the heart of ideology – the dreams that shape our collective beliefs and practices.
RIOTS, REVOLUTIONS AND REMINISCENCES: SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARAB WORLD
A World Not Ours / Mahdi Fleifel / Lebanon/UK/Denmark, 2012 – An intimate, humorous, portrait of three generations of exile in the refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh.
As If We Were Catching A Cobra / Hala Alabdalla / Syria, 201 – The Syrian writer and journalist Samar Yazbek provides us with her insight and impressions from Damascus in the months preceding the Syrian revolution.
Fidai / Damien Ounouri / Algeria, 2012 – In Arabic, ‘fidaï’ means ‘one who dedicates his life to a cause’.
Fix ME / Raed Andoni / Palestine, 2009 – Raed has a headache – figuratively and literally. It is distracting him from his work, so he decides to seek treatment.
Granny’s Flags / Naziha Arebi / Libya, 2012 – Haja Fatma, a mother to eight children, tells the tale of family life in Tripoli during the Libyan Revolution.
In Search of Oil and Sand / Wael Omar, Philippe L. Dib / Egypt, 2012 – A documentary that shows never before seen footage from a film made by members of the Egyptian royal family.
Lebanese Rocket Society / Khalil Joreige, Joana Hadjithomas / Lebanon, 2012 – The story of a group of Lebanese scientists who formed a rocket society in the 1960s.
Nation Estate / Larissa Sansour / Palestine, 2012 – A film that offers a clinically dystopian, yet humorous approach to the deadlock in the ‘Middle East conflict’.
Pipe Dreams / Ali Cherri / Lebanon, 2011 – Two moments in the history of contemporary Syria that echo the situation across all Arab countries
HOMAGE: CHRIS MARKER
2084 / Chris Marker / France, 1984 – Marker’s critique, from a Socialist perspective, the role of the trade union movement in France at the dawn of the era of global web economies.
The Embassy / Chris Marker / France, 1973 – Chris Markers anecdotal response to Pinochet’s 1973 coup d’état in Chile.
A Grin Without a Cat / Chris Marker / France, 1977 – Film-essay on the worldwide political wars of the 60′s and 70′s and the fate of the New Left.
We Maintain It Is Possible / Chris Marker / France, 1973 – Explores the revolution of the working class.
EFA SHORT MATTERS!
Back of Beyond / Michael Lennox / UK, 2011 – A dark psychological thriller centring on Petesy who works in a petrol station in the arsehole of nowhere.
Beast / Attila Till / Hungary, 2011 – István Balogh, a not very affluent Hungarian farmer, lords over his wife, children and his “hired” slave.
Tomorrow Will Be Good / Pauline Gay / France, 2011 – Portrait of two lost girls.
Objection VI / Rolando Colla / Switzerland, 2012 – The story of a deportation which ended with the tragically death of a recurrent of asylum.
The Ambassador & Me / Jan Czarlewski / Switzerland, 2011 – His Excellency, the plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Belgian Crown sacrificed his entire life for his country but never had time for his son.
Morning of Saint Anthony’s Day / João Pedro Rodrigues / Portugal, 2012 – On Saint Anthony’s Day lovers must offer small vases of basil with paper carnations and flags with poems as a token of their love.
How To Pick Berries / Elina Talvensaari / Finland, 2010 – An exploration of the Finnish mind and the absurdities of the global economy.
Silent / L. Rezan Yesilbaș / Turkey, 2012 – Zeynep, who lives in Diyarbakır with her three children, wants to visit her husband in prison.
Superman, Spiderman or Batman / Tudor Giurgiu / Romania, 2011 – 5-year-old Aron wishes, like the superheroes in the comic books, to save his mother from her heart condition.
Out of Frame / Yorgos Zois / Greece, 2012 – Advertising on exterior billboards has recently been forbidden in Greece.
Two Hearts / Darren Thornton / Ireland, 2011 – Lorna has worked hard to stay on the right track. But now a man from her past is released from prison.
Two Ships / Justine Triet / France, 2012 – Life in the big city.
Villa Antropoff / Kaspar Jancis, Vladimir Leschiov / Latvia/Estonia, 2012 – A man has nothing to lose except his dream.
SHADOW PLAY: FILMS ON FILM
A Story of Children and Film / Mark Cousins / UK, 2013- The world’s first movie about kids in global cinema.
DRIVE IN Holy Motors / Tessa Louise-Salomé / France, 2013 – The portrait of a discreet artist, all of whose films marked their era and will continue to deliver their aesthetic and visionary wealth.
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction / Sophie Huber / Switzerland, 2012 – The film explores Harry Dean Stanton’s enigmatic outlook on his life and his unexploited talents as a musician.
Radioman / Mary Kerr / UK, 2012 – The story of New York street bum Craig Castaldo, who became an unlikely movie legend with over 100 cameo appearances in films and TV shows.
Room 237 / Rodney Ascher / Ireland, 2012 -The numerous theories about the hidden meanings within Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining
A story for the Modlins / Sergio Oksman / Spain, 2012 – An uncertain journey, from New Hollywood to Spain in the late Franco years, where the Modlins share a decadent reclusion.
FUTURE IS HERE: FILMS FROM WORKSHOPS IN BALKANS
DOKUFEST WORKSHOP
Daughter / Rrita Berisha / Kosovo, 2013 -A film about a girl and her relationship with her dad. She tries to fix it in many ways. And then, she decides to give him a surprise.
Seljim / Edin Alija / Kosovo, 2013 – Painting as life changing experience and never fulfilled plans in life are what we hear from Seljim, an autodidact artist.
Kapllan / Kenan Pallusha / Kosovo, 2013 – An old couple lives alone in the Village which is abandoned by the villagers during the war.
This Film Lusts for Interpretations / Vernon Shukriu / Kosovo, 2013 – The human mind has one imperative: to be fed with the glow of shock.
Laetitia / Laureta Paçarizi / Kosovo, 2013 – Laetitia is a French woman who loves everything about life. When she is 41, she becomes terminally ill. Her strength, love, and faith start to grow in an amazing way.
The High Fame / Lorik Mustafa / Kosovo, 2013 – A movie that shows the willingness, character and strength of an adolescent to reach what he wants—regardless of the risks.
FREE ZONE WORKSHOP
The Test of Maturity / Smirna Kulenović / Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2012 – Author’s mother and her peers celebrate their high school prom night with a 20 year delay, due to the war in Sarajevo in the early 1990s.
How’s Everyone at Home? / Kaja Šišmanović / Serbia/Croatia, 2012 – A story of two people’s turbulent divorce as seen through their eighteen-year-old daughter’s eyes.
On Barking and Running / Ana Irga / Serbia, 2012 – Film About barking and running takes up a subject described in many documentaries, but from a slightly different angle.
Super Mario / Filip Topolovec / Serbia/Croatia, 2012 – Mario, Philip buddy classroom breaks all stereotypes about people with disabilities.
PRAVO LJUDSKI WORKSHOP
In Desert and Wilderness / Bojan Josić, Emily Šoljić / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2012 – Following a working day of the people, the camera records the state of society, a community, and culture.
Buddies / Jelena Simović, Adnan Tiganj, Minel Haskić / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2012 – An interesting, dynamic film about two young people who come from one world that to them appear like they are two different worlds.
Museum / Džemila Mešić, Belmin Mustajbašić, Benjamin Ramić / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2012 – Young film directors used historical motive in partly autobiographical monologue to reflect on the state of culture in the country.
Trough the Time of Memory / Zerina Kapo, Adnan Sahdan, Adis Hukanović / Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2012 – The authors, originally inspired by a motive of half full – half empty glass, interpreted as half life time path, created a film based on the folk custom of setting glass of water on the window for the deceased ones.
MASTERS: JAY ROSENBLATT RETROSPECTIVE
Afraid So / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2006 – The film is based on a poem where each line forms a question with the implied response being “afraid so”.
Beginning Filmmaking / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2008 – Beginning Filmmaking takes us through one year of trying to teach a pre-schooler how to make a film.
Four Questions for a Rabbi / Jay Rosenblatt, Stacy Ross / USA, 2008 – A film that touches upon issues of identity, persecution and mortality.
Human Remains / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 1998 – The film illustrates the banality of evil by creating intimate portraits of five of the 20th century’s most reviled dictators.
I Just Wanted to Be Somebody / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2006 – What do the religious rights and the gay liberation movement have in common? Both were fortified by the efforts of Anita Bryant.
I Like it a Lot / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2004 – A two year old, an ice cream cone and a clean, white shirt.
I Used to Be a Filmmaker / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2003 – A film about fatherhood and the bond between a father and his infant daughter.
I’m Charlie Chaplin / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2005 – Ella is two and a half years old. She has two great loves: Charlie Chaplin and candy.
Inquire Within / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2012 – A hypnotic, apocalyptic examination of false choices, double binds, vulnerability and faith.
King of the Jews / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2000 – A film about anti-Semitism and transcendence.
Phantom Limb / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2005 – A film about the death of Rosenblatt’s brother (when he was a little boy).
Prayer / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2000 – Faith and fear. Duck and cover. One response to the events of September 11, 2001.
RESTRICTED / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 1999 – Take a chance. Don’t do it. This is America. Do it. ‘Restricted’ is a cinematic haiku about self-control and anxiety.
Short of Breath / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 1990 – Short of Breath is a haunting, emotional collage about birth, death, sex and suicide. It’s like a punch in the stomach.
The D Train / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2011 – An old man reflects on his entire life. How quickly it all goes by.
The Darkness of Day / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2009 – The Darkness of Day is a haunting meditation on suicide. It is comprised entirely of found 16mm footage that had been discarded.
The Smell of Burning Ants / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 1995 – The film provokes the viewer to reflect on how our society can deprive boys of wholeness.
Worm / Jay Rosenblatt / USA, 2001 – Worm is a true story about an inexplicable childhood event.
NICOLAS PROVOST: PLOT POINT TRIOLOGY
Plotpoint / Nicolas Provost / Belgium, 2007 – The crowded streets of New York City turn into fictive, cinematographic scenery.
Stardust / Nicolas Provost / Belgium, 2010 – Provost films everyday life with a hidden camera and edits the images into a fiction film using narrative tools from the Hollywood film language.
Tokyo Giants / Nicolas Provost / Belgium, 2012 – The film infiltrates the daily life of the Japanese metropolis following a serial killer character played by an actor.
FOCUS NORDIC
DENMARK
Creature / Malene Choi Jensen / Denmark, 2011 – Yin Yin is a black cat. His mother is killed in an accident as she and Yin Yin flee a collapsing city.
Expedition to the End of the World / Daniel Dencik / Denmark/Sweden, 2013 – An epic journey where the brave sailors on board encounter polar bear nightmares, Stone Age playgrounds and entirely new species.
Rent a Family Inc. / Kaspar Astrup Schröder / Denmark, 2012 – Ryuichi runs a small Japanese company to help other people hide their secrets and make their life look better of just …perfectly normal.
Walking Blues / Luc Perez / Denmark, 2012 – A trip from the Niger river to the fences of Ceuta, where dreams are confronted with the harsh reality…
Searching for Bill / Jonas Poher Rasmussen / Denmark, 2012 – Bob Maser had his car and money stolen by a con man called Bill.
Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto / Johan Oettinger / Denmark, 2012 – Samek, an eight year old boy peeks through a hole in the ghetto, unaware that two SS men are posted nearby and are following his every move.
The Act of Killing / Joshua Oppenheimer / Denmark/Norway/UK, 2012 – In a country where killers are celebrated as heroes, the filmmakers challenge unrepentant death squad leaders to dramatize their role in genocide.
DOX LAB
Girl in the Water / Jeppe Rønde, Ming Jin / Denmark/Malaysia, 2011 – The woman, Fern, has fled from Thailand with husband and child in search of a better life.
Glorious Accidents / Marcus Lindeen, Mauro Andrizzi / Argentina/Denmark/Sweden, 2011 – Accidentes Gloriosos tells nine different stories of death and transformation.
Resistente / Renate Costa, Salla Sorri / Paraguay/Finland/Denmark, 2012 – There is a house where the rain cuts in to a broken roof and an old man inside that old house. Who will resist longer, the house or the man?
FINDLAND
Dance of Outlaws / Mohamed El Aboudi / Finland, 2012 – A story of modern day outlaws, children of prostitutes, abandoned child brides and those who have had to escape to the Moroccan society
Gates of Life / Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen / Finland, 2012 – This progressive documentary plays with form and sound to create a unique perspective on human nature.
When One Stops / Jenni Rahkonen / Finland, 2012- The world won’t stop turning even when one stops turning with it. Scribbly notes on grief and loss.
All Hallows’ Week / Jussi Hiltunen / Finland, 2011 – A short film about helplessness.
The Child of Silent Winter / Iiris Härmä / Finland, 2011 – Katja is only 24, but nonetheless living in a circle of solitude, spending her days walking her dog and looking out of the window.
The Punk Syndrome / Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi / Finland, 2012 – Finland’s most notorious punk group is called Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät and consists of four members, all with mental health problems.
Six Day Run / Mika Taanila / Finland, 2013 – The ultimate spiritual exertion takes place on a tarmac road through a park.
Finnish Blood Swedish Heart / Mika Ronkainen / Finland/Sweden, 2012 – Kai and his father Tauno drive from Oulu in northern Finland down to Gothenburg where they lived during the ’70s.
The Date / Jenni Toluoniemi / Finland, 2012 – Tino’s manhood is put to the test in front of two women when he has to host a date for Diablo, the family’s stud cat.
Two Islands / Jan Ijas / Finland, 2013 – The film is about two enormous rubbish dumps in New York’s Staten Island and Hart Island.
ICELAND
Last Days of the Arctic / Magnús Viðar Sigurðsson / Iceland, 2011 – A celebration photographer Ragnar Alexsson and his subjects, the film is an elegy for a disappearing landscape and the people who inhabit it.
Backyard / Árni Sveinsson / Iceland, 2010 – Árni Rúnar had the idea of gathering a few bands together in his backyard to do some live recording. Many of the most exciting Icelandic musicians of their generation show up to play.
Gnarr / Gaukur Úlfarsson / Iceland, 2010 – Iceland’s most controversial and cynical comedian puts his career aside to enter the country’s chaotic political scene.
Whale Valley / Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson / Iceland/Denmark, 2013 – The film follows a seven-year-old boy who accidentally interrupts his older brother’s suicide attempt.
Valtari Experiment – A collection of Sigur Ros videos / EKKI MÚKK – Inga Birgisdóttir; ÉG ANDA – Ragnar Kjartansson; VARÚÐ – Inga Birgisdóttir; FJÖGUR PÍANÓ – Alma Har’el; REMBIHNÚTUR – Arni & Kinski; ÉG ANDA – Ramin Bahrani; VARÚÐ – Ryan Mcginley; VARÐELDUR – Melika Bass; DAUÐALOGN – Henry Jun Wah Lee; SERAPH – Dash Shaw & John Cameron Mitchell; EKKI MÚKK Nick Abrahams; DAUÐALOGN – Ruslan Fedotow; FJÖGUR PÍANÓ – Anafelle Liu, Dio Lau and Ken Ngan; VARÐELDUR – Clare Langan; VALTARI – Christian Larson; VARÚÐ – Björn Flóki; LEANING TOWARDS SOLACE – Floria Sigismondi.
NORWAY
To Guard a Mountain / Izer Aliu / Norway/Macedonia, 2012 – The only yearning 12-year-old Isa has is for his father to perceive him as a man – and men don’t cry
Nowhere Home / Margreth Olin/ Norway/Sweden, 2012 – In 2009, the Norwegian government introduced several measures to restrict immigration.
Gulabi Gang / Nishtha Jain / Norway/India/Denmark, 2012 – In Bundelkhand, India, a revolution is in the making among the poorest of the poor, as fiery women of Gulabi Gang empower themselves themselves and take up the fight against gender violence.
North of the Sun / Inge Wegge, Jørn Nyseth Ranum / Norway, 2012 – Inge and Jørn spent nine months of cold, Norwegian winter in the isolated and uninhabited bay of a remote, arctic island by the coast of Northern-Norway.
Premature / Gunhild Enger / Norway, 2012 – The story of Norwegian Martin and his pregnant Spanish girlfriend, Lucia.
Bravehearts / Kari Anne Moe / Norway/Sweden, 2012 – Four youngsters will make the world a better place.
Video Boy / Stian Kristiansen / Norway, 2011 – The relationship between 13 year old Hasse and Pål is tested the day they accept an offer to visit a boy who is famous for his collection of videofilms.
SWEDEN
A Society / Jens Assur / Sweden, 2012 – The film reflects the world in microcosm, a world in which everything ultimately comes down to survival.
Belleville Baby / Mia Engberg / Sweden, 2013 – A film about love, time and things that got lost along the way.
Dance Music Now / Johan Jonason / Sweden, 2012 – A neurotic session in the studio releases violent emotions.
No Burqas Behind Bars / Nima Sarvestani / Sweden, 2012 – A documentary that takes us into one of the world’s most unique settings: an Afghan women’s prison
Killing the Chickens to Scare the Monkeys / Jens Assur / Sweden/Thailand, 2011 – Meticulous reconstruction of an everyday event in China that culminates in a public execution.
My Stolen Revolution / Nahid Persson Sarvestani / Sweden/Norway/UK, 2013 – The film is about Nahid Persson’s journey to find out what happened to her brother in prison before he was executed.
Palme / Kristina Lindström, Maud Nycander / Sweden, 2012 – It’s 25 years since the night when Olof Palme was shot dead on the streets of Stockholm, changing Sweden forever overnight.
Sharaf: An Animated Documentary / Hanna Heilborn, David Aronowitsch / Sweden, 2012 – 17 year-old Sharaf is one of many refugees who have arrived in Gran Canaria in recent years.
BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER / SPORTS ON FILM
Bigger, Stronger, Faster* / Chris Bell / USA, 2008 – Director Bell humorously explores America’s disturbing and sometimes life-destroying win-at-all-costs mindset.
Moon Rider / Daniel Dencik / Denmark, 2012 – A coming-of-age story about young bike racer, Rasmus Quaade. An honest and heartbreaking picture of the extreme and lonely life of a champion.
Senna / Asif Kapadia / UK, 2011 – This is the remarkable story of young and handsome Brazilian racecar driver, Ayrton Senna.
The Crash Reel / Lucy Walker / USA, 2013 – Director Walker collects fifteen years of footage to establish the epic rivalry between half-pipe snowboard legends Shaun White and Kevin Pearce.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters / Seth Gordon / USA, 2007 – Seth Gordon’s documentary follows the exploits of the two best Donkey Kong players in America.
CITIES BEYOND BORDERS
The Venice Syndrome / Andreas Pichler / Germany/Austria/Italy, 2012 – The film shows what remains of Venetian life.
Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits / Imre Azem / Turkey/Germany, 2011 – The film tells the story of Istanbul and other Mega-Cities on a neo-liberal course to destruction.
The Human Scale / Andreas M. Dalsgaard / Denmark, 2012 – Architect Jan Gehl argues that we can build cities in a way, which takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
The Second November / Viktor Gjika / Albania, 1982 – A sweeping historical drama centering on Albania’s fight for freedom from the Ottoman Turkish empire
The Condition of the Working Class / Mike Wayne, Deirdre O’Neill / UK, 2012 – A documentary film based on the book by Friedrich Engels. Everything changes and yet everything stays the same.
WHY POVERTY
Finding Josephine / Tomás Sheridan / UK, 2012 – For the last three years, Tomas and his family have been sponsoring a little girl in Uganda.
Give Us the Money / Bosse Lindquist / Sweden, 2012 – Nearly 30 years ago, harrowing images from the Ethiopian famine led to a new kind of anti-poverty campaign led by unlikely champions in the form of rock-stars.
God is Rain / Rehad Desai / Kenya, 2012 – Around 500,000 people rely on Lake Turkana for fishing and for water for their crops and cattle. But the lake is drying up.
Hunger for Profit / Caroline Nokel, Valentin Thurn / Germany, 2012 – On one side of the world investor Jim Rogers explains how large investments and movements of money affect prices. On the other side of the world market vendors in Kenya feel the effects.
Love and Rubbish / Hanna Polak / Russia, 2012 – This film takes an unflinching yet poignant look at the lives of a group of children living in a garbage dump outside of Moscow.
Lullaby / Victor Kossakovsky / Russia, 2012 – A couple of homeless men lay sleeping on the floor of a bank vestibule. Kossakovsky captures the economic crisis in a single image.
Mama Illegal / Ed Moschitz / Austria, 2011 – They gave the smugglers all their money and risk their life on their journey across borders: Three women from Moldavia, living now in Austria as cleaning women.
Poor Us – An Animated History of Poverty / Ben Lewis / The Netherlands, 2012 – There are still very poor people, to be sure, but the new poverty has more to do with inequality.
Rafea: Solar Mamas / Mona Eldaief, Jehane Noujaim / Denmark, 2012 – Rafea from Jordan is 30 years old. She has 4 children and a husband who’s eager to take a third wife.
Waste / Valentin Thurn / Germany, 2012 – Why do more than one billion people go hungry? What happens to all the food?
