Category Archives: EN

EN

Ukraine is not a brothel

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poster

Femen is the story of Ukraine's eponymous topless feminist sensation activist group, which has created a media frenzy across Europe. But before they take the world by storm, these bold and beautiful women must confront the dark and perverse forces that power their organisation.

Director: Kitty Green
Stars: Inna Shevchenko, Sasha Shevchenko, Anna Hutsol

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Inna Shevchencko, pictured with a friend at idfa in November 2013.

Inna is the soul of Femen. She is also a protagonist of the film Every Day Rebellion by Mira Films.

Who would have thought back in November what would ensue in Ukraine?

Don't miss the screening in Thessaloniki!

every_day_rebellion_idfa.femen
http://www.ukraineisnotabrothel.com/UINAB_-_PRESSBOOK.pdf

http://www.ukraineisnotabrothel.com/

EN

Greek docs in Thessaloniki on Tuesday 18.3

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Here is the programm

OLYMPION CINEMA
13.00
The Noose 12’, Greece 2013
Vassilis Loules & ANIMART
o.v. greek/eng. sub

Panayotis Tetsis “Playing with colors” 100’
Yannis Vamvakas Greece 2014
o.v. greek/eng. sub

18.00
The Godmother 105΄
Stelios Kouloglou Greece 2014
o.v. greek, english, german, italian, spanish, portuguese/eng. sub

20.30
Kalavryta – People and Shadows 112’
Elias Yannakakis Greece 2014
o.v. greek, german/eng. sub

PAVLOS ZANNAS CINEMA
15.00
Salt Flats 35’, Ira Dika, Yorgos Savoglou, Greece 2014
o.v. greek/eng. sub

TONIA MARKETAKI CINEMA
13.00
A Breath in the Aegean 65’
Apostolis Asimakopoulos Greece 2013
o.v. greek/eng. sub

Voy – A Blind Football Match 18’
Eleni Chrysomalli Greece 2013
o.v. greek/eng. sub

17.30
Theodoros Papayannis: The Return to Elliniko, 48', Greece 2014
Panayotis Kravvaris
o.v. greek/eng. sub

Trip to Delphi 61’
Apostolia Papaioannou Greece 2013,
o.v. greek/eng. sub

20.00
The Red Bank. James Joyce:
His Greek Notebooks 29’
Vouvoula Skoura
Greece 2013, o.v. english, greek/eng. sub

Geneviève Clancy, Instants of Life 75’
Iro Siafliaki, Greece-France 2013,
o.v. french/eng. sub

22.30
The Other Human, 34', Greece 2013
S. Galazoulas
o.v. greek/eng. sub

Hope on the Line 73', Greece-France 2013
A. Papanikolaou, E. Yannoukou
o.v. gr., eng., de, fr./eng. sub

FRIDA LIAPA CINEMA
15.30
The Void: The Musical Case of Katerina Petrakou, 19', Greece 2013
Dimitris Papoulias
o.v. greek/eng. sub

Yusef’s Song 75’
Kostas Pliakos Greece 2014
o.v. arabic, english/eng. sub

JOHN CASSAVETES CINEMA
13.00
Relentless 53’
Dimitris Statirirs
italy-switzerland-greece 2013
o.v. italian/eng. sub

STAVROS TORNES CINEMA
13.30
Unplugged 10’, Greece-Switzerland 2013
Tzortzis Grigorakis
o.v. greek, french/eng. sub

Doc-making, EN, Interviews

An interview with Alexandros Papanikolaou & Emily Giannoukou about their film Hope on the Line

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How did you approach your main character?

Hope on the line is an observational documentary without commentary. The content approach is direct and tells the story from the inside. We had exclusive access to Alexis Tsipras’s daily schedule.

The main aim of this documentary is to remain close to the character at all times. We tried, and believe we managed, to quickly gain his trust in order to create an honest and fair portrait. We wanted to have a successful portrait of his personality, so we initially tried to make ourselves “invisible” to the campaign team. Alexis Tsipras and his officials were not at all distrustful and did not hesitate to open their doors and let us into the core of the party.

We followed him throughout the campaign, right up until the final results. We have tried to reveal his personality by following him closely, listening to his speeches, meeting his friends, relatives and colleagues, but also by filming him in contact with voters. Each day we added more brushstrokes to his portrait in a bid to understand his goals and motivations.

By observing only one candidate in these elections and then his rise to the position of main opposition leader, we tried, with the aid of several events that occurred during shooting, to highlight the current state of democracy in Greece and feel the pulse of Greek society.

A&E-web

How did you manage to get behind the surface of the public person?

This was the challenging part because from the beginning it was clear with Alexis that we could do this documentary by filming him at work only. He didn't want us to film him with his family and we respected that. Accepting to do this documentary was tricky for him too. So we tried to film him as if we filmed any other person at work and focused on Tsipras the political person. We also asked him unconventional questins, more about his personal beliefs or about his past, rather than on current political issues.

HOPE_ON_THE_LINE_11

Are you satisfied with the way Alexis Tsipras is portrayed in the media (Greek and international)? Would you want to change that?

To be satisfied or not with the image of Alexis Tsipras in the media is not a question that we really ask ourselves - that is how the world functions. We are more interested in how the political system functions in our society. We are not image makers and we don't aim to change the course of things. We did this documentary because we wanted answers to our questions, even if in the end new questions come along. We think that the political situation in Greece makes the whole political picture even more dramatic. This makes sense because the situation is very tense, with big changes, scandals and injustice. Public opinion, the media and other countries are sceptical about all Greek politicians, not only Alexis Tsipras, and this is reflected in his image in the media.

What is he really like?

He is really friendly as a person. Also, without knowing us at all, he accepted our proposition to do this documentary and kept his word that he wouldn't interfere in the final cut, and that he would give us access to his office. He seems confident and calm, and is not afraid of his image, even when most of the media are punching him.

On the other hand, we won't make any comment on the politician, that's for the documentary audience to decide.

What was the challenge for you telling this story?

The challenge was that this doc is a portrait, but it's also the portrait of a politician. When you make a portrait of someone, you need to be fair with what you see and with the person that accepted you to film them. You need also to get closer to this person, and try to understand their way of thinking, even when you don't always agree. Then, when you do a documentary involving current affairs and politics, it gets tricky to balance the proximity you have with the person you film and the observational part filming the politician.

What was also challenging was to show the general feeling of a complicated period for Greece from the perspective of the offices of a political party during an election campaign.

How did you approach co-directing the film?

We are used to working together for years now; our experiences are common experiences. When we start a new project, with new challenges, we try to remember our past experiences and to go on. We discuss a lot about what we can expect. As independent directors and producers, we work together all along a project, from early writing until the end of post-production.

How did you work visually?

The conditions were not ideal because we had to work as a very small team. It was challenging to try to be creative at all times in these conditions. We tried to do nice outdoor images and close portraits in indoor scenes.

Could you give us some details about the production?

We started the production on our own. Then we did a rough cut with the help of our editor, Angelos Angelidis, who was selected with it at Berlinale's Talent Campus. We were thrilled! Angelos is a great editor, calm and wise. His mentor at Berlinale was touched by the work Angelos did on our doc. Then we found a co-producer, Ilias Bovalis, at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. He was very exited about our project and for that we thank him because we needed the support. It's always nice to find people who believe in your project and that can help you to continue to work on it. Finally we got the support of the French script fund SCAM.

HOPE_POSTER_A0_GR_horizontale

The film premiers at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival "Images of the 21st Century", Tonia Marketaki Cinema Theatre, 16/03/2014 at 20.00 and 18/03/2014 at 22.30.


CREDITS

Production: Persona Production (France)

Co-Production : Elibo Productions (Greece)

Script, Direction and Production:

Alexandros Papanikolaou & Emily Giannoukou

Co-Producer: Ilias Bovalis

Editing: Aggelos Aggelidakis

Camera: Alexandros Papanikolaou

Sound: Stavros Avramidis

Research: Makis Malafekas


PERSONA PRODUCTION

http://www.personaproduction.com

http://www.facebook.com/personaprod

http://www.youtube.com/personaproduction

EN

Is this Greece’s next prime minister?

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HOPE_ON_THE_LINE_10_web

Hope on the line (Greece, 2013, 73 min.), directed by Alexandros Papanikolaou & Emily Giannoukou, follows the leader of the Greek radical-left party Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, during the course of a year, from the campaign for the close-call June 2012 elections to the sudden shutdown of the Greek public broadcasting corporation (ERT) in June 2013. Shedding light on Tsipras' personality, political views and ambitions, the film includes insider's footage from the party, the views of militants and high-ranked members, and witnesses decision-making processes both in Greece and abroad. From the frontline man, Alexis Tsipras, up to the party's Political Bureau, strategy is being built, political lines evolve, another future for the nation is timidly being imagined. Within the political turmoil, Greek citizens seek answers to their fundamental and dramatic questioning. The very status of the country is at stake: its place in Europe, its future and destiny.

What is so fascinating about this story?


The economic crisis in Greece, as well as elsewhere in Southern Europe led public opinion to take an introverted turn and installed a sense of distrust toward traditional politicians. Thus, the center parties, as in most European countries, are struggling to stay in power, while extreme groupings and radical parties are rising in the polls. In Greece, where the crisis worsened dramatically in a very short period of time, and where democracy is expressed directly as a result of the country's electoral system, the fact that Syriza might take power becomes all the more significant. Syriza rose from 4.5% to 27% in less than three months, and became the second-largest party in Greece and the leading opposition party.



Alexis Tsipras has an intriguing personality. An ambiguous and lesser-known figure until recently, he now stands a great chance of becoming the next prime minister of Greece. He is fairly experienced despite his young age. Thus, he was able to change the political scene in the country and win the support of voters who have grown disenchanted with the old parties.



This film shows the transformation of Syriza during the month that preceded the election, also seeking to reveal the actual goings-on within the party in order to provide a better understanding of the way decisions are taken. During the last campaign, we saw the young and charismatic Alexis Tsipras emerge as a true threat to his opponents, even if he was narrowly defeated in the end because of the debate over the euro. He managed to change the way his party is perceived by centre-ground voters and got a spectacular number of votes.



Through this documentary, we focus on Alexis Tsipras' personality during a crucial historical moment. We also try to provide insight into the political views that emerge from discussions behind closed doors, inside the party, how these views evolve and how Tsipras presents these ideas to the public, as well as how he shapes public opinion and becomes a symbol of opposition to the memorandum. Our aim was to sketch the image of a political persona during this difficult political juncture in Greece at which society is trying to regain its bearings.

Read the complete interview with Alexandros Papanikolaou & Emily Giannoukou.

Watch the official trailer.

EN

Kismet Production Details

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Writer | Director: Nina Maria Paschalidou

Cinematography: Michalis Aristomenopoulos, ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY: Christophoros Loupas, George Karvelas. CAMERA: Dimitris Michalakis, Snorre Wik, Ozgur Baykal, Gabriel Psaltakis, Umut Kebabci.
Research: Hilal Bakkaloglu (Turkey), Mohamed El Tohami (Egypt), Danae Leivada (Greece), PRODUCTION MANAGER: Eleni Christodoulou
Editing: Thodoris Armaos
Music: Spyros and Michalis Moshoutis
kismet3

Producers: Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof & Nina Maria Paschalidou. Produced with Forest Troop. Co-produced with Agitprop, Nukleus Film and Veritas Films in association with AL JAZEERA, ARTE, SVT, YLE, RTS, CYBC, KNOWLEDGE CHANNEL, CHANNEL 8, MRT and BTV., Supported bu MEDIA, the CROATIAN AUDIOVISUAL CENTRE, the BULGARIAN NATIONAL FILM CENTRE and the GREEK FILM CENTRE..

World distribution: FILMS TRANSIT International JAN ROFEKAMP 252 Gouin Boulevard East Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3L 1A8 Phone (514) 844 3358 Fax (514) 844 7298 www.filmstransit.com e-mail: [email protected]

EN

Suleiman in Thessaloniki

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KISMET explores the phenomenal success of Turkish soap operas from Turkey to the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans, capturing their poignant impact on women across the region.

Kismet by Nina Maria Paschalidou premiert at idfa 2013 in November, it was one of the documentaries of ARTE for the special Theme Week "Starke Frauen", Power Women and was broadcasted on Sunnday March 9 under the title “Kismet, Emanzipation auf Türkisch”.
kismet1

In Istanbul, Cairo and Abu Dhabi, the film discovers how prime time Turkish soaps are breaking taboos and inspiring women to change their lives. In ‘Fatmagul’, a woman is raped but finds the courage to take her case to court. In ‘Life Goes On’, a girl is forcibly married to a 70-year-old man. In ‘Noor’, the protagonist suffers before discovering true romantic love, and in ‘Suleiman the Magnificent’, our sympathies lie with a Christian slave who becomes the most powerful woman of the Ottoman Empire.
The film uncovers how these melodramas are capturing Muslim audiences by showing how Turkish women handle modernity. Featuring unprecedented secular liberties -extramarital affairs, women struggling to assert themselves in the workplace, divorce- these soaps also question current practices, such as arranged marriages, violence against women, child marriages and honor crimes.

Kismet will make its Greek premier at the Thessaloniki Doc festival on March 20 and 23, it will make an Avant-Premiere on Tuesday 25-3 during the Festival du Film Francophone in Athens and after that starting March 27 it will be distributed by CineDoc (Rea Apostolides, Aura Georgiou and Dimitra Kouzi) in the cinemas in Athens (Danaos and Sporting) and Thessaloniki (Olympion).

trailer: http://you.tube/aPTgLPf8x00

EN

Lets talk about KISMET

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Interview with the Director Nina Maria Paschalidou about her documentary KISMETpasxalidou1
What is so fascinating about this story?
When you first watch Turkish Soap operas, or any soap operas, you cannot imagine that they can actually affect women in this way. But there are many levels to a story and one has to be open to see them. Especially when you are filming a documentary, I believe that the secret is to see beyond the obvious elements in a story and dig deeper.

How did you approach casting for your main characters?
We conducted a lot of pre-production and we spent months in Egypt and Turkey, locating our mail characters and also obtaining access to the industry and Turkish actors. We actually found many women whose lives have been affected by watching the series. Especially in Egypt, we met women, who don’ t have Egyptian role models any more, especially after the failure of the Arab Spring, they don’t even have hope in finding role models any more. This is why Turkish women, presenting a modern type of Muslim women, who are fighting for what they want and are getting it appear inspiring. In finding characters we also had a lot of help from our co-producers in the United Arab Emirates, in Bulgaria and Croatia.

What do these women have in common and what makes them different?
What these women have in common is the need for love, respect and happiness. I know it sounds cliché, but these are very common for women around the world. So the struggle for women’ s rights is common, and it spreads from the Arab World to the Balkans to the West. Look at what is happening in Spain right now on the issue of abortions. The fight never ends even in parts of the world we consider to be modern. On the other hand, we must not forget that each country has its unique characteristics. And so do the women in these countries. What divorce means to one woman is not the same to what it means for another. One can see this difference in the film, in the story of Samar, who is inspired by the series Fatmagul and breaks her marriage after 13 years of suppression and violence. It is not the same to divorce in Abu Dhabi, as it is Athens. Traditions are also very different and one has to always consider them when studying or filming women. But it is all these that make women magnificent to film, I find that women characters are complicated, and fascinating at the same time, and very intriguing to follow in a film. Being a woman also helped very much with gaining access to these women’ s lives. There are some things that a woman only tells a woman.
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What was the challenge for you telling this story?
The challenge was to be sincere. And this is the challenge in every documentary. Not to fall into your own premonitions, prejudice, and to follow the story where it takes you. And I am insisting on this, because so far in Greece, the only approach to Turkish Soap operas, was negative, and they are considered Turkey’s cultural weapon.

How did you change after finishing this film?
I think I have a better understanding of myself as a woman, and also I have learned to never ignore something that can be considered “cheap” in some people’s dictionary. Even soap operas can be useful in society, and I don’ t believe in those who snob them, because I think that these are the very same people who secretly watch them when no one is around.

What is success for you?
Success is to do what you love the most. Creating documentary films is what I love, but my prime need for this comes from my wish to understand the world. Maybe this is a method to understand myself, as well as humanity. It is a lonely process, sometimes you lose yourself in the lives of others, but it is worth it.

EN

Be at the Pitching 2014 in Thessaloniki !

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A must place to be during the Festival are the Open Pitching Sessions in Pavlos Zannas, Olympion cinema, on Saturday 22 March from 10:00-15:00 and on Sunday 23 March 10:00-13:00.
The pitching Forum is the place to see the latest developments in the documentary sector, learn about changes in the market and watch the presentation of 21 fresh projects ready for co-production. It is like always organized by the EDN.news-thessaloniki-documentary-festival

The Pitching Projects this year are:
After the Dream director: Loraine Blumenthal, produced by Rob Mitchell, Firstborn Studios, UK
Andreas Papandreou – The Making of a Political Maverick directors: Yianni Drakos and Stan Draenos, produced by Magnus Briem, Schadenfreude Films, Greece.
Carbon Trade/Off director: David Soto-Karlin, produced by Aaron Soto-Karlin, NoMoha Media, Mexico and USA
Digitalcurry director: Francesca Scalisi & Mark Olexa, produced by Mark Olexa, Italy
Falc/Harm director: Dénes Nagy, produced by Sara Laszlo and Marcell Gerö, Campfilm Production, Hungary
Five Times a Stranger director: Vangelis Efthymiou. Producer: Maria P. Koufopoulou, Land Art Productions, Greece
The Forgotten Army director: Signe Astrup, produced by Jesper Jack, House of Real, Denmark
The Fragments director: Rojda Akbayır, produced by Zeynep Köprülü, Periferi Film, Turkey
The Honorable Generation director: Nima Sarvestani, produced by Maryam Ebrahimi, Nimafilm AB, Sweden
Il non detto director: Tim De Keersmaecker, produced by Emmy Oost, Cassette for timescales, Belgium
In Dependence director: Henriikka Hemmi, produced by Sami Jahnukainen, Mouka Filmi, Finland
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life director: Tomer Heymann, produced by Barak Heyman, Heymann Brothers Films, Israel
Leaves of the Horn directors: Davide Morandini, David Chierchini, Matteo Keffer, produced by Lucio Mollica, GA&A Productions, Italy
Life and Death of Max Linder director: Edward Porembny, produced by Monika Bednarek, AMP Polska, Poland
The Most Boring Thing in the World directors: Christina Pitouli, Carlos Muñoz Gomez-Quintero, produced by Joan Soler, Cinefilms Productions, Spain
Next Stop: Utopia directors: Apostolos Karakasis, produced by Marco Gastine, Minimal Films, Greece & Carl Ludwig Rettinger, Lichtblick Film, Germany
The Promise director: Zeljko Mirkovic, produced by Zeljko Mirkovic, Optimistic Film, Serbi & Dusan Gajic, SEETV, Belgium
Samuel en las nubes director: Pieter Van Eecke, produced by Hanne Phlypo, Clin d’oeil films, Belgium
Three Lives director: Yan Ting Yuen, produced by Reinette van de Stadt, Trueworks, Netherlands
Transit Havana director: Daniel Abma, produced by Iris Lammertsma, JvdW Film, Netherlands
Violence director: Åsa Ekman, produced by Oscar Hedin, Film and Tell, Sweden

The following financiers have confirmed their participation in the open pitching session:
Hanka Kastelicova, HBO Europe, Slovenia/Hungary / Kerime Senyücel, TRT, Turkey / Wim Van Rompaey, Lichtpunt, Belgium / Jenny Westergård, YLE, Finland / Jan Rofekamp, Films Transit, Canada / Kathrin Brinkmann, ZDF/ARTE, Germany / Lars Säfström, SVT, Sweden / Flora Gregory, Αl-Jazeera English, UK / Ivana Pauerová, CT, Czech Republic / Anne Grolleron, ARTE France, France / Claudia Neuhauser, ORF, Austria

Doc-making, EN, Festivals

IDFA is looking for emerging documentary film talent!

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IDFAcademy Summer School 2014

From June 30 through July 5 2014, IDFA organizes the seventh edition of the Summer School: a tailor-made training program for emerging filmmakers, taking place in Amsterdam and aimed at strengthening the narrative structure of documentary projects. Around sixteen projects from all over the world will be selected for the Summer School 2014. The deadline for submission is April 1, 2014.

IDFAcademy Summer School offers the opportunity to meet and work with highly esteemed filmmakers and film professionals who are willing to share their knowledge and experience with emerging film talent. The Summer School combines individual coaching with group sessions and an inspiring cultural program in a relaxed atmosphere. It offers two types of training possibilities: Script Development and Editing Consultancy.

Participants will be coached by eight international documentary experts. In previous years experts like Gianfranco Rosi (Director, Italy), Audrius Stonys (Director, Lithuania), Emma Davie (director, Scotland), Kate Townsend (Executive Producer BBC Storyville, UK), Sabine Bubeck-Paaz (Commissioning Editor ZDF, Germany), Debra Zimmerman (Distributor Women Make Movies, USA), Jesper Osmund (Editor, Denmark) and Peter Wintonick (Producer/ Director, Canada) were tutors at the Summer School.

Filmmakers who are selected have the opportunity to bring a sparring partner: a creative producer, a co-scriptwriter, or an editor in the case of participation in Editing Consultancy. If a project is selected, a participation fee for two persons of a total of €1000,- (excluding VAT) or in case of one person for a total of €750,- (excluding VAT) is due. This fee does not cover travel, accommodation or food expenses. There is a scholarship available per project (accommodation) for international participants.

For more information IDFAcademy Summer School how to apply, see http://www.idfa.nl/industry/idfacademy/attend-summer-school.aspx

EN, Festivals, Interviews

Interview with Gudrun Sommer, doxs!

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Dimitra Kouzi talked with Gudrun Sommer, the director of the unique festival Doxs!, which just took place in Duisburg, Germany (November 4-10). Watch the interview.(video in German with Greek subtitles)

doxs! is the oldest German film festival exclusively presenting documentaries for children and adolescents. The international film programme is part of the well-known documentary festival Duisburger Filmwoche. Each screening is accompanied by a moderated Q&A. The entry to all screenings is free for accredited festival guests and pupils.

doxs! works in various fields of media education and constantly develops new pilot-projects that set pace and break new ground.
doxs! jointly produced with the Goethe Institut a unique European Documentary film package, Young Heroes, in 2006.