51ST DOK LEIPZIG - International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film
October 27 - November 2, 2008
2008 will again see DOK Leipzig presenting outstanding new productions from all over the world. Euros 56,500 in prize-money will be awarded within the framework of four competitive sections - International Competition Documentary, International Competition Animated Film, German Competition Documentary Film, International Young Talent Documentary Competition „Generation DOK“. This year, DOK Leipzig received around 2,400 entries from 99 countries.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR DOCUMENTARY FILM
The selection committee nominated 19 extraordinary works from approx. 1,800 submitted documentaries for the International Competition Documentary. They are distinguished by high quality as well as wide diversity in form and subject matter. The international documentary jury will decide on the awarding of two Golden Doves and one Silver Dove. The Golden Dove for the best feature-length international documentary is donated by Telepool with a cash prize of € 10,000.
Till It Hurts (Do bolu) by Marcin Koszalka | Poland 2008 | 25 min
Above the Pavements (Ponad chodnikami) by Piotr Stasik | Poland 2008 | 24 min (participant of Ex Oriente Film 2008, The Last Day of Summer)
Alice in the Land (Alice en el País) by Esteban LarraÍn | Chile 2008 | 86 min
Ascention (Vozchozhdeniye) by Pavel Medvedev | Russia 2008 | 50 min
Blind Loves (Slepé Lásky) by Juraj Lehotský | Slovakia 2008 | 77 min (Juraj Lehotský and Marko Škop developed the film during Ex Oriente Film 2006, under the working title "Searching")
Blood and Incense (Darah dan dupa) by Carl Valiquet | Canada 2008 | 17 min
Children of The Pyre by Rajesh S. Jala | India 2008 | 73 min
Cocais the Reinvented Town (Cocais, a cidade reinventada) by Ines Cardoso | Brazil 2008 | 15 min
El Olvido - Oblivion (El Olvido) by Heddy Honigmann | Netherlands, Germany 2008 | 93 min
Gyumri by Jana Sevcíková | Czech Republic 2008 | 68 min (presented at the 2007 Docu Talents from the East)
Les plages d'Agnès by Agnès Varda | Frankreich 2008 | 110 min
Nine Forgotten Songs (Neun vergessene Lieder) by Galina Krasnoborova | Russia 2008 | 20 min
Pizza in Auschwitz (Pizza Be Auschwitz) by Moshe Zimerman | Israel 2008 | 66 min
René by Helena Trestíková | Czech Republic 2008 | 83 min (participant of the 2007 East European Forum, w/project Katka, René was presented at the Panel of Upcoming Czech Docuomentary Films in 2007)
Sleep Furiously by Gideon Koppel | Great Britain, France 2007 | 94 min
Sumi by Marina Fraga | Brazil, Japan 2008 | ca 13 min
Themis As a Lady of Loose Morals (Femida) by Viktar Dashuk | Belarus 2008 | 85 min
The Penalty Box - Senior Hockey Players Talk about Women and Love (Kiinnipitäminen - ikämieskiekkoilijat puhuvat rakkaudesta) by Arthur Franck and Oskar Forstén | Finland 2007 | ca 9 min
Z32 by Avi Mograbi | Israel, France 2008 | 81 min
GERMAN COMPETITION FOR DOCUMENTARY FILM
Created in 2004, the German Competition Documentary Film enables Leipzig to offer the wider public and the numerous foreign professional delegates a cross-section of the most important documentary productions from the Federal Republic. 10 films have made it through from the numerous entries to the
competition section which is extremely popular with the audience. What is really striking is the proportion of student works which make up about half of the competition entries. All of the films will be translated into English for the foreign guests. The best new German documentary will receive a Golden Dove which is donated by DOK Leipzig's main sponsor, Kinowelt GmbH, with a cash prize of € 10,000.
Bastion of Sin (Hochburg der Sünden) by Thomas Lauterbach | Germany 2008 | 78 min
A theatre project for Turkish women knocks a few world views out of whack. Swabian and Ottoman: the housewife and the director clash, with a big bang.
Cosmic Station by Bettina Timm | Germany 2008 | 30 min
Solaris in Armenia: six employees hold the fort at a deserted research station. How to explore the universe with a screwdriver and a fistful of cables.
Devil Hides in Doubt (Sollbruchstelle) by Eva Stotz | Germany 2008 | 61 min
A man who isn’t needed by his company but is still getting paid. Another who sits on a pole for days for money. People who learn how to sell themselves. Today’s working world.
Hotel Sahara by Bettina Haasen | Germany 2008 | 90 min
Mauritanian Nouhadibou, where thousands are stranded on their way to Europe, lies between the desert and the sea. Stories of waiting, of hopes and unfulfilled dreams.
On Sufferance (Status: Geduldet) by Silvana Santamaria | Germany 2007 | 60 min
A Roma woman, single mother of four, deportation stayed. The devastating effects of poverty, war traumas and an unclear status, observed with sensitivity.
pereSTROIKA - reCONSTRUCTION of a flat (pereSTROIKA – umBAU einer Wohnung) by Christiane Büchner | Germany 2008 | 95 min
Perestroika means restructuring. This film takes the complete renovation of a former Soviet communal flat, a ‘komunalka’, as an illustration of Gorbachev’s metaphor for the modernisation of society.
The Cousin (Der Cousin) by Mareille Klein and Julie Kreuzer | Germany 2008 | 43 min
Lively 70-year-old Marika Rökk double and mysterious cousin, in demand from here to Hollywood. Dreams on one side, imposture on the other. Affectionate, buoyant and light as a feather.
The Day (Der Tag) by Uli M. Schueppel | Germany 2008 | 84 min
Twelve stanzas about dying. Survivors talk about the last day, the camera roams their memories in long takes, F.M. Einheit associates soundscapes. Altogether unsentimental.
The Heart of Jenin (Das Herz von Jenin) by Marcus Vetter and Leon Geller | Germany, Israel 2008 | 89 min
A Palestinian who donated his murdered son’s organs – to Jews, too – visits the recipients. An emotional tale about humanity and a deep rift.
The Pier of Apolonovka (Am Pier von Apolonovka) by Andrei Schwartz | Germany, Ukraine 2008 | 86 min
Summer at the Black Sea, white beach, cool drinks, big yachts? You wish! Warships crowd the view at Sevastopol bay, concrete blocks have replaced the beach and lubricating oil is floating on the water. But the local young people don’t mind, they have taken possession of the pier.
GENERATION DOK
One of DOK Leipzig's central goals is to offer newcomer directors a platform, draw attention to talents and their works, and help them get their films distributed throughout the world. Thus, the International Young Talent Documentary Competition „Generation DOK“ was established in 2007 on the 50th jubilee of DOK Leipzig. Year „Two“ sees the presence of many innovative and artistically sophisticated films. In total, 14 extraordinary films were selected presenting the latest trends and fresh styles of directing. Since 2004 , the Media Foundation of the Sparkasse Leipzig has donated an extremely attractive young talent prize, the Talent Dove, which includes € 10.000 as seed-money for the next film project. Through this prize, outstanding young talents are to be supported in their work and brought closer to the festival.
A Certain Truth (Una Cierta Verdad) by Abel Garcìa Roure | Spain 2008 | 130 min
A simple diagnosis: a woman hears voices, sees strange things and talks to her television set. She writes down page after page of the most outlandish thoughts and is aggressive. The woman was sedated. Now she’s quiet. We are in the psychiatric ward of the Parc Tauli hospital in Sabadell, a suburb of Barcelona.
Cyanosis (Sianoze) by Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami | Iran 2007 | 31 min
A street artist in Tehran and his dreams of love and recognition. Animated and documentary images, expressionistic and powerful.
Focal Distance (Fokusnoe rasstoyanie) by Andrei Kutsila and Raman Ramashka | Belarus 2008 | 23 min
Sitting in the dark room, colouring pictures, writing letters to one’s daughter. A quiet film about age and loneliness.
Guest of Cindy Sherman by Paul Hasegawa-Overacker and Tom Donahue | USA 2008 | 88 min
The shrill New York art world, the inventor of „Gallery TV“, an interview with celebrity artist Cindy Sherman, a love affair, and its pathetic end.
Gugara by Jacek Naglowski and Andrzej Dybczak | Poland 2008 | 69 min
Once the Evenks followed the reindeer, but only one family still live in a tent. The rest are atching television,drinking, thinking of the past. An unsparing look at the arrival of modernity in Siberia.
Half Value Life (Dar dekadaye ke naakel aklam minamand) by Alka Sadat | Afghanistan 2008 | 25 min
The first and only female public prosecutor in Herat, Afghanistan: her fight against domestic violence and enforced marriage, her fears and the price she pays. A crime story, observed more closely than most.
Himalaya, a Path to the Sky (Himalaya, chemin du ciel) by Marianne Chaud | France 2008 | 80 min
Child monks on an arduous hike to their families. We see merry brats instead of solemn pilgrims – a refreshing look at a different kind of Buddhism.
Lotman's World (Lotmani maailm) by Agne Nelk | Estonia 2008 | 56 min
A Jules Verne rocket, a traffic signal and the Knights of the Round Table, all animated in order to tell the story of semiotician Yuri Lotman’s life. As an art of signs, of course.
Mr. Edison's Ear by Francisca Duran | Canada 2008 | 32 min
The invention of the phonograph as a fast-paced collage of historic sound and film recordings, photos and documents, interviews and animations.
Stolen Art by Simon Backes | Belgium 2008 | 57 min
The search for a guerilla artist whose forged works once scandalized New York and the art market. A cinematic investigation into the high art of fake – not excluding documentary films.
The Revolution That Wasn't (Revolutsioon, mida ei olnud) by Aliona Polunina | Estonia, Finland 2008 | 100 min
A father and his sons in the National Bolshevik Party: a drama of crime and punishment played out backstage behind political slogans. A disturbing study of the “Other Russia” movement.
Today, the Same Day is Different (Hoy el día se repite diferente) by Xavier Baig,Oscar Moreno | Spain 2008 | 102 min
Toni, 49, drug user since adolescence. An unsentimental monologue about one way of living life to the full and dying for it.
Tributary (Nebenlauf) by Anja Schwyzer | Switzerland 2008 | 14 min
The filmmaker’s friends and relatives talk about what she was like then – after she was raped. A very personal attempt at coming to terms with a traumatic experience.