DOCAGORA 2007: Dead Ducks and Digital Dust
DocAgora events promise to be at the forefront when it comes to talking about the digital future of documentaries
A lyrical and critical portrait of life among a marginalised people
The title refers to a favourite Uyghur pastime, and, of course, is a good metaphor for their situation as a people.
Haunting documentary
Bruno Ulmer’s haunting documentary “Welcome Europa” adds an aching testimony to the list of films on immigration to the “fortress” of Europe
SODA KAZUHIRO: Soda Kazuhiro on Not Being to the Point
The Japanese doc “Campaign” premiered in Berlin and is now on a tightly-booked festival tour round the world. DOX met the director Soda Kazuhiro at SXSW in Austin, Texas.
CINEMA DU REEL 2007: Far from Hollywood
The social profile is strong at Cinéma du réel, which for the 29th time offered cinematically strong pieces of reality from around the world
ARTE : FACES OF EUROPE
Arte has launched “Faces of Europe”, an impressive series of half-hour docs documenting how we live, broadcast each weekday at 6.30 p.m.
ARTE 2007: The Cultural Channel of Europe
By contrast with most other European public service channels, Arte still keeps flying the European flag of culture.
Dying city
The city of Leningrad and the blockade during the Second World War. No words. No music. Only sounds and black and white images of a dying city.
The Monastery – Mr. Vig & the Nun
The film’s title announces two central characters: Mr Vig, an old, quirky Dane who dreams of having his derelict castle turned into a Russian Orthodox monastery, and Sister Ambrosija, the tough but all-smiles representative of the Moscow Patriarchate who is called in to take over the estate from Vig.
ARAB-EUROPEAN COOPERATION: Fulla Issues and Freedom
For the first time ever, a Syrian documentary project was pitched at the Amsterdam FORUM and was one of the most successful pitches to boot. Broadcasters queued up to land a deal with Proaction (the Syrian production company) and Final Cut (the Danish co-producer)
A collage about the reality of five different smoking rooms
“The Smoking Room” is filmed solely in various smoking rooms: a train’s smoking compartment and smoking rooms at a hospital and a factory