13th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century
March 11 - 20, 2011
Thessaloniki / Greece
The festival has dedicated its Tribute programme to Russian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa who has for many years been based in Germany. In a complete retrospective, TDF will screen Loznitsa's 11 documentaries: Artel / Blockade / Factory / Landscape / Life, Autumn / Northern Light / Portrait / Revue / Settlement / The Train Stop / Today We Are Going to Build a House. Mr Loznitsa will also present a master class to discuss his films and his approach to documentary filmmaking.
In Spotlight: Helena Třeštíková, TDF will introduce 10 films by Czech filmmaker Helena Třeštíková whose achievements include the 2008 Prix ARTE for René: Hitler, Stalin and I / Katka / Marcela / Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: Ivana and Václav / Marriage Stories 20 Years Later: Zuzana and Stanislav / Marriage Stories: Ivana and Václav / Marriage Stories: Zuzana and Stanislav / My Lucky Star / René / The Sweet Century.
At the Thessaloniki Doc Market (March 16 - 21, 2011), the East Silver Caravan will be open to industry professionals. Click here for all documentary films included in the ES Caravan.
Section: Stories to Tell
A Man Came and Took Her
Przyszedł człowiek i wziął , Poland, 2009, 81 min, Digi Beta
When eight-year-old Ola goes missing, her rural community grows abuzz with gossip and rumour. Her grief-stricken mother remains convinced that her daughter is alive, placing more faith in fortune tellers than the police investigation.
Family Instinct
Ģimenes lietas , Latvia, 2010, 58 min, HD, Drama doc, Portrait, Social Issues
"Family Instinct" is a film about incest - an illegal act, social taboo and a violation of religious norms. Zanda is a 28-year-old woman, worn out by hard work. Surrounded by poverty and despair, she is trying to survive with her two children in a god-forsaken Latvian village. Her hardships can be traced back to living in a relationship with her brother Valdis. When Valdis is put in jail, the local community forces her to make a difficult choice: to stay with him or with her children. Despite her ill fortune, she manages to express her love for the children, still hoping to save her family. The film offers a tragicomic but highly authentic insight into the bleak reality of Latvian countryside today.
Doc Launch 2010 / East Silver 2010 / Silver Eye Award / East Silver Caravan 2010
Little Bride
Przyrzeczona , Poland, 2010, 14 min, Digi Beta, Human Rights, Music, Social Issues
There is about 2.5 million Turkish minority members in Germany. Every year there is at least a dozen of Turkish women beaten to death by their husbands or other family members. The actual scale of those crimes in Germany, where law and order are so highly valued, is unknown — according to the official data, in Turkey there are committed more than 300 so-called honor killings annually and 40% of wives are violence victims. A Turkish girl was sent to Germany and forced to marry when she was 13 years old. Soon after that, her hell has begun; she was beaten and abused in different ways. After several years she managed to run away; she has been hiding until now – only because of that she is able to tell us her life story.
East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan 2010
The Sea Through Your Eyes
Morze twoimi oczami , Poland, 2010, 25 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Portrait
Alice sets off on an unusual voyage – a trip on the sailing ship “Zawisza Czarny”. Full of doubts and anxiety about the wisdom of her decision, she slowly starts to see the value of the situation. This is not just a trip. It is hard work, adventure, but most of all, the chance for her to see her life from a different perspective... The main character of this 25' long documentary, is one of the blind people who are half of the crew of the ship. Until the last minute of the film we may doubt if she is really blind, as she behaves as if she could see. She's even not wearing dark glasses. We may observe her changing, sailing from Holland to Poland, across the North sea and the Baltic sea.
East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan 2010
Section: Portraits: Human Journey
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu
Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceausescu , Romania, 2010, 180 min, 35 mm, History, Politics, Portrait
"After all, a dictator is simply an artist who is able to fully put into practice his egotism. It is a mere question of aesthetic level, whether he turns out to be Baudelaire or Bolintineanu, Louis XVI or Nicolae Ceausescu." (Andrei Ujica). During the summary trial that he and his wife were submitted to, Nicolae Ceausescu is reviewing his long reign in power: 1965-1989. It is an historical tableau that in its scope resembles American film frescos such as those dedicated to the Vietnam War.
The World According to Ion B.
Lumea vazuta de Ion B. , Romania, 2009, 60 min, HD, Arts and Culture, Portrait
Ion B. is a 62 year-old homeless man. His bed is a filthy foam mattress at the bottom of a garbage chute. Ion sorts through the daily household garbage of the block, avidly reading the books, magazines and newspapers he finds. Since the 70s he has been creating collages from them that he calls "my films".
East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan 2010
Section: Habitat
North from Calabria
Na polnoc of Kalabrii , Poland, 2009, 67 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Personal View, Society
The film is an attempt to create a place – a town, where living is easy. Where people know each other, tolerate their faults, meet each other to talk and just be together. Making of this film was a kind of a happening. Actors and outside people moved into a small Silesian town and along with its inhabitants they were organizing a big fest. In a confined space of market and a few small streets, working, talking and spending time together has dominated life of Chełmsko Śląskie. For one summer month Chełmsko has become a decoration in the film about an ideal town.
Paradise Hotel
Hotel Rai , Bulgaria, 2010, 54 min, Beta SP, Human Rights, Social Issues, Society
The young Demir dreams of a wedding. But his Roma tower block at the outskirts of a provincial town in Bulgaria is no place for romance. 25 years ago it had all it takes for panel socialist heaven: from parquet floors to intercom, the coveted hot water central, street lamps, benches under murmuring apple trees. Someone called the place Paradise Hotel – and the name stuck. But now? The parquet disappeared. The water stopped. The lights went off. And if you cross the field behind Paradise Hotel, you will see Bozhidar “The God Given” who protects everyone from evil and excessive happiness in a documentary about panel integration, love, misery, a lot of dreams, a little lyrics and one Gypsy wedding.
For more details, please visit TDF.