Tag Archives: Documentaries

And the winner of Prix Europa 2013 is…

PRIX EUROPA - Best European TV Documentary of the Year 2013

THE PUNK SYNDROME - A FILM ABOUT PERTTI KURIKAN NIMIPÄIVÄT / Kovasikajuttu Directed by Jukka kärkkäinen, J-P Passi

entered by Yle, Finland, produced by Mouka Filmi, co-produced by Indie Film, Auto Images, Film I Skåne

This film is about Finland’s most kick-ass punk rock band, Pertti kurikan Nimipäivät. The band members, Pertti, kari, Toni and Sami, are mentally
handicapped and they play their music with a lot of attitude and pride. We follow these professional musicians on their journey from obscurity
to popularity. We watch them fight, fall in love and experience strong emotions. We witness long days in the recording studio and on tour.
They laugh, cry, drink and fight over who gets to sit in the front on the tour bus. Then it is time to make up and go talk to people in the audience
and tell them how great their band is. Their songs are about the problems in society as well as about things that
they face in their everyday life: how going to the pedicurist sucks and the misery of living in a group home. The guys give a piece of their minds
to both politicians and people whose attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities need improvement.
This film is about the essence of punk. It is a story of handicapped people rebelling against the mainstream. This time you are allowed to stare and
wonder why they act the way they do. And you will fall in love with them as you watch how the most kick-ass punk band in Finland conquers the
world.

trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM58kP_JHkQ

and at the category of
TV IRIS - Under the Patronage of the Dutch Public Broadcaster NTR

PRIX EUROPA Best Intercultural TV Programme of the Year 2013

the documentary

DISPLACED PERSSONS / Familjen Persson I främmande land, Directed by åsa Blanck and Johan Palmgren

Per Persson left Sweden 40 years ago in search of adventures. He drove eastward in his Land Rover and ended up in Pakistan where he
fell in love with Shamim. They married, settled down in Lahore and had two daughters, Zahra and Maria. Per raised his daughters to be free and
strong women which wasn’t very popular with neighbours and relatives. As Zahra and Maria grew older the family felt more and more threatened
by the surrounding society. At last, when the girls are in their mid-twenties, the family takes the difficult decision to move to southern Sweden, back to Per’s roots. Shamim, Zahra and Maria have great hope for their lives in the new country but once in Sweden nothing turns out as expected. The family have to live in a small caravan while being stuck in the Swedish bureaucracy, with endless meetings and paperwork. Money is scarce and their dreams slowly fades away.
After a while Zahra falls in love with Aun, a fellow Pakistani also trying to find a new life in Sweden. When Aun’s Swedish visa expires he moves
back to Pakistan and from there he proposes to Zahra, which she accepts. After a tearful goodbye Zahra leaves for Pakistan but promises she will be
back in Sweden, in a year or so. In the meantime Per, Shamim and Maria slowly begin to build a decent life in Sweden and especially Maria likes
her new country more and more. And finally, after years of longing, the family is reunited when Zahra and
Aun comes back to Sweden.With them they bring their son Lille-Pelle, Per’s first grandson. The whole family celebrate and rejoice, but will they live happily ever after?
Well, as Per says: ‘Right now things are pretty good, but how the future will be? Inshallah!’

entered by SVT, Sweden, produced by Strix, co-produced by The Swedish Filminstitute, NRK, Yle
http://www.svt.se/kultur/film/familjen-persson-i-frammande-land

More about Prix Europa here.

ARTE Greek Day on YouTube!

WATCH my presentations of the ARTE THEME GREEK DAY on August 15 2013 on YouTube!
Available in German (original language) and French.

PRESENTATIONS in GERMAN : http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlQWnS27jXh8tc9hu53lhwlwfQYlJYLmE

PRESENTATIONS in FRENCH : http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmfiCnVD2LL6kKEXGltuRbemuVYD2jwjY

Who is Michael Haneke ?

In 25 years, Michael Haneke established himself as one of the most important directors in cinema history. From his early work to AMOUR, he created a unique universe, revealing like no other the dregs of our society, or existential fears and emotional outbursts. Through the vision of his actors and previously unseen footage, MICHAEL H. depicts the work of a rare artist. images

Yves Montmayeur talked to Dimitra Kouzi about his new documentary Michael H. Profession: Director when visiting Athens for the screening at CineDoc on October 9, 2013.Yves MONTMAYEUR

Listen to the interview he gave me (in English).

Watch the official trailer.

Films to watch in Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2013

TDF Poster
Films to watch in Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, starting March 15, 2013:

  • One Step Ahead, a film by Dimitris Athiridis on Yannis Boutaris, mayor of Thessaloniki (ERT/ARTE co-production)
  • To the Wolf, on two families of shepherds living in a mountainous region in the Peloponnese, by Aran Hughes and new-comer Christina Koutsospyrou, which also participated in this year’s Berlinale,
  • Little Land, by Nikos Dayandas, based on my original idea and research (ERT/ARTE Anemon co-production), filmed on location in the magical island of Ikaria
  • Hardships and Beauties, by Kimon Tsakiris, starring a farmer-cowboy in Messinia (ERT/ARTE co-production)
  • Hippie! Hippie! Matala! Matala!, a documentary on the 1960's hippie scene on Crete, with excellent archival material and a great sense of humour, produced by ERT with research and script by Maria Koufopoulou and directed by Yorgos Varelas
  • Democracy The Way of the Cross, by Markos Gastin
  • a film on the Greek anarchist poetess Katerina Gogou by Antonis Boskoitis Reinstating the Dark Side (also screened at Danaos Cinema in Athens until Wednesday March 20)
  • Salma, a girl in India, a film by Kim Longinotto, a great director of films on women,
  • Cassandra's Treasure, on the controversy surrounding the gold mine in Halkidiki, in northern Greece, by Yorgos Avgeropoulos,
  • the special tribute for the festival’s 15th anniversary (watch out for my special post to follow), and of course
  • the tribute to Chilean director Patricio Guzmán, with nine of his films. Unfortunately the director broke his leg and cannot attend - Patricio, get well soon!

Documentary Partially Shot on iPhone Wins Oscar

Sunday February 24, 2013 by Husain Sumra
"Searching for Sugar Man" won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th annual Academy Awards, making it the first time a film that was partially shot with an iPhone has won the prestigious award.

Director Malik Bendjelloul said that he had run out of money while making the movie and had to film his remaining shots with his iPhone and the 8mm Vintage Camera app. The iPhone and app's performance were so impressive to Bendjelloul that he re-shot footage playing on his laptop screen with the app.

This isn't the first time directors have used iPhones to shoot films, but it's an important milestone that shows that footage shot with phones and apps are good enough to be recognized at the highest level and not distract from the overall quality of the film.

Culinary Cinema at the Berlinale

“Dig Your Food – From Field to Fork” is the motto of the 7th Culinary Cinema of the Berlinale to be held February 10-15, 2013. Sixteen films about food and the environment will be presented in the Martin-Gropius-Bau.

"If you want maximum freshness and pesticide-free foods, you should garden. If you want a green city, you may become a guerrilla gardener and throw seed bombs. In Berlin, urban gardening has taken root. The Prinzessinnengarten at Moritzplatz will now be able to remain where it is, while other grassroots movements are spreading all around the world. Gardeners are among us! As can also be seen in the programme of the 7th Culinary Cinema," says Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.

"Our Culinary Cinema pleasure garden is freshly stocked. Many of this year’s films include some aspect of gardening, be it concretely or figuratively," comments Thomas Struck, Programme Curator.

The documentaries:

Peru sabe: Cuisine as an agent of social change with Ferran Adrià
After this film is screened in Berlin, we had better copy this system in Greece.

L'Amour des Moules
Everything - and I mean everything - about mussels, including pearls!

Slow Food Story
Carlo Petrini and his movement - and the philosophy behind it.

Red Obsession
About China's obsession with Bordeaux wine

GMO OMG
Monsanto and Co. in our lives

Make Hummus, Not War
A kitchen conflict in the Middle East - unfortunately not the only one.

The Moo Man
A farmer and his cows in a world damning full-fat products

Following the main-programme screening, at 7:30 pm, Michelin-Star chefs Nils Henkel, Michael Hoffmann, Kolja Kleeberg, Hendrik Otto and Tim Raue will each serve a meal inspired by the films in the “Gropius Mirror” restaurant, an elegant tent lined with mirrors (85€ Film and dinner). (I wish I could be there!)

The late screenings, at 10 p.m., will focus on social and ecological topics.

See the programme brochure (pdf file in German only).

Master Class Werner Herzog online

The Polish Planete+ Doc Film Festival and the VOD platform DAFilms.com present a master class with Werner Herzog at DAFilms.com. Meet the living legend of feature and documentary film, author of more than 50 films and the director who throughout his life has posed questions about the limits that nature and mankind impose on each other. As a filmmaker, he overcomes these limits and presents to the audience what he has found on the other side.

Stream for FREE until 20 January.

dafilms.com

Madeleine Avramoussis (C.E. ARTE) about co-producing in Greece

Madeleine Avramoussis, ARTE's renowned Commissioning Editor has a long experience in Co-Producing. She has been doing it for the past 20 years! In this television interview she gave me for ERT in Spring 2012 she talks about co-production in Greece, the festival, the prices and future plans. Arte is planning a special theme day about Greece in August 2013.

Watch the complete interview:

CineDoc Τετάρτη 24/10/2012 στις 20.00- Marathon Boy


Gemma Atwal / 90’ / 2011 / UK

Τους ενώνει ένα όνειρο, τους χωρίζει ένας ολόκληρος κόσμος.
Η ιστορία ενός τετράχρονου αγοριού και του προπονητή που το
έβγαλε από μια φτωχογειτονιά της Ινδίας για να το μεταμορφώσει
στον μεγαλύτερο μαραθωνοδρόμο της χώρας. Μια ταινία που
ξεκινάει σαν το Slumdog Millionaire, αλλά εξελίσσεται σε φιλμ
νουάρ – σε μια ιστορία απληστίας, φθόνου και χαμένων ονείρων.

Μια διεθνής συμπαραγωγή του HBO με το BBC και το ARTE, της οποίας τα γυρίσματα διήρκεσαν πέντε ολόκληρα χρόνια. Η ταινία σαρώνει τα βραβεία σε δεκάδες από τα σημαντικότερα φεστιβάλ ντοκιμαντέρ στον κόσμο και είναι υποψήφια για EMMY.

Μετά την προβολή του ντοκιμαντέρ Marathon Boy, θα ακολουθήσει συζήτηση με καλεσμένο τον Νίκο Πολιά, δρομέα και προπονητή, πολυνίκη στον Μαραθώνιο, κάτοχο του πανελλήνιου ρεκόρ στην Κλασική Διαδρομή και 24ο στους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες 2004, διευθυντή του περιοδικού Runner.

Η ταινία προβάλλεται την Τετάρτη 24/10/2012 στις 20.00 στο Γαλλικό Ινστιτούτο. Θα προβληθεί επίσης στους κινηματογράφους ΔΑΝΑΟΣ(Κυριακή 28/10/2012, Αθήνα), Παύλος Ζάννας(Κυριακή 21/10/212) και Μουσείο Κινηματογράφου (Τετάρτη 24/10/2012) (Θεσσαλονίκη), καθώς και στο Λιθογραφείον (Τετάρτη 19/12/2012, Πάτρα).

Χορηγός: περιοδικό Runner

Μετά την προβολή θα κληρωθούν:

  • 5 ετήσιες συνδρομές του περιοδικού Runner (10 τεύχη) και
  • 2 ζευγάρια αθλητικά παπούτσια για τρέξιμο
  • Όλοι οι θεατές με εισιτήριο CineDoc θα δικαιούνται μια δωρεάν προπόνηση τρεξίματος με το Runner στο ΟΑΚΑ.