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Re-enactments to Entertain
Re-enacting events is a growing trend in history documentaries. This was one of the issues highlighted at the third World Congress of History Producers which took place in Paris this past December.
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NEW AUSTRIAN DOCS: Trademark – Proper Research
In Austria several public bodies provide film funding for documentaries, giving filmmakers a base on which to deal with Austrian issues, instead of having to please several international co-producers. The filmmakers return the favour by making thoroughly researched documents on complicated historical and contemporary issues in their own country. TUE STEEN MÜLLER saw a selection…
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The birth of the cinema
"These are the first images of a country. One rainy night, one flag is taken down. Another takes its place." A woman's voice pronounces these simple words that with picture and sound constitute a masterly opening of a film, which takes a sentimental journey back to 1975, when Samora Machel and FRELIMO declared the independence…
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Constantly searching for the universal
In the year of homage to Henri Cartier-Bresson, it is good to be reminded of other great observers in the art of photography, such as Georg Oddner, Sweden. First of all he deserves world recognition for some astonishing documentary photos from Russia after the Second World War.
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SERGE LALOU: Auteur Films and Prime Time Television
If you have been keeping up with French documentaries over the last twenty years, you have undoubtedly seen a film produced by Les Films d'Ici, a large company with a reputation for high-quality documentaries that win prizes and frequently cross borders to festivals and television channels outside France. TUE STEEN MÜLLER met Serge Lalou, one…
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Not a Word about Belly Dancing
TUE STEEN MÜLLER visited Istanbul just before the Iraq War started. He found an isolated, politically engaged, relatively big documentary community that organizes a festival, a conference and numerous other promotional activities all based on a cultural political vision. A community of activists who prefer to debate the filmmaker’s role in society rather than dwell…
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A country tragically divided in several ways
“Imagine a bird in a cage. He has forgotten to fly. When he leaves the cage to learn, he either rebels or becomes a misanthropist, a loner, or he forgets to fly at all,” says a young Iranian to Thierry Michel’s camera.
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HERZ FRANK: 76 Years Older
Grand documentary filmmaker Herz Frank has been working for three years on his latest film "Flashback". The result is not only a new film but also an autobiography – an intimate record of an entire lifetime and many films. By TUE STEEN MÜLLER.
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How do we learn to live with others and their wishes?
A turtle moves across the floor of the small village school. It takes its time, the rhythm of life is slow and calm. There are no noisy events, nothing special to disturb the turtle as it crosses from a corner to the other end of the classroom that is the daily home of one teacher…