The Art of the Document
Multimedia Festival
November 26 - December 5, 2010
Warsaw / Poland
Grand Prix
STOLEN
Director: Violeta Ayala & Dan Fallshaw
Producer: Tom Zubricki
Production company: United Notions Film
Australia, 2007, 77'
Two Australian filmmakers, Ayala and Fallshaw, follow Fetim Sellami who lives in the refugee camp Sahrawi in the area of Western Sahara controlled by Morocco. They want to make a film about the UN programme to reunite separated families. However, they discover something they did not expect - slavery. The filmmakers decide to change their plans and to explore the problem.
1st Award of the Future of Media
Themerson & Themerson
Themerson & Themerson , France, Poland, United Kingdom, 2010, 72 min, 16 mm, Digi Beta, Arts and Culture, Creative, Portrait
The film is retracing the love story of an unusual and unique creative union. It is a well-hidden treasure in the culture and art of the 20th century. Franciszka and Stefan Themerson lived and worked together for almost sixty years, first in Poland, then in France and eventually they settled in England. The only time when they were separated was the outbreak of WW2 but even then they remained connected. 52' version also available.
East European Forum 2008 / East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan / East Silver TV Focus
2nd Award of the Future of Media
FIGHTING CHOLITA
Director: Małgorzata Łupina
Producer: Małgorzata Łupina
Production company: Studiom
Poland, 2010, 27'
A documentary story about a woman who earns a living by participating in staged wrestling shows. Using the fights, Carmen Rojas creates her own space of freedom and independence from the domination of men and the traditional Indian community. The extremely violent pictures of the fights are accompanied by numerous accounts of the main character. The picture takes place in the Bolivian slums, where wrestling is one of few forms of entertainment.
Special Mentions
The Baluty Ghetto
Ghetto jménem Baluty , Czech Republic, Poland, 2008, 87 min, Digi Beta, DV, DVD, Creative, History, IDF Video Library, Politics, Social Issues
I discovered the Baluty district three years ago, almost by chance. It looks much like in surviving wartime photographs. Today, the devastated houses are inhabited by a highly unusual social group which differs distinctly from the remaining population of Lodz... as if the borders of the ghetto still existed. Our film illustrates human misery and the horror of a landscape touched by horror through the survivors' wartime stories.
East European Forum 2007 / East Silver 2008
Alyosha
Aljoša , Estonia, 2008, 67 min, DV, Politics, Society
Monuments serve the purpose to establish memory and create identity. Most monuments erected during the Soviet regime were taken away after Estonia regained its independence in 1991. The Bronze Soldier Alyosha, located in the center of Tallinn, remained in its place. For Estonian nationalists this monument was the symbol for Soviet occupation and marked the beginning of Stalinist repressions. However, for many Russians the monument was one of the few remaning symbols that connected them to Russia and Russian identity. Alyosha brings us the people who gathered to the Bronze Soldier in 2005-2007 and whose behaviour created a new line in our cultural memory. What mattered were the rituals around the monument, not the monument itself.
East Silver 2008
A BLOOMING BUSINESS
Director: Ton van Zantvoort
Producer: Ton van Zantvoort
Production company: NEWTON film
Netherlands, 2009, 52'
A strong and courageous film about the culture of roses exported all over Europe. Our roses are grown through the slavery work of Kenyans. But that is not all. The wildlife and natural resources of Africa are also being destroyed. Exposing himself and the film crew to trouble, and risking the jobs of the main characters, the director relentlessly drills the subject, revealing increasingly horrifying information.
A Blooming Business also won the Audience Award.
For more details, please visit the festival website.