SIDFF Movie Descriptions

as of Mar 30, 2003

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 5

 

DOCUMENTARY FILM STUDIO: KALEJDOSKOP

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN

Country of production: Poland
Year: 1995
Language: Polish
40 min

Tomek, the director's six-year-old son, makes friends with some old people sitting on a park bench. Naiveté and curiosity confront experience. This is a film essay about initiation, bitterness, the passage of time, and life's power.

Director: Marcel Lozinski
Script: Marcel Lozinski
Cinematography: Arthur Reinhart
Editing: Katarzyna Maciejko-Kowalczyk
Sound: Halina Paszkowska
Producer: Wojciech Szczudlo
Production Company: Kalejdoskop Film Studio, TVP
 

 

SO THAT IT DOESN'T HURT

 

Country of production: Poland

Year: 1998

Language: Polish

48 min

 

23 years after their first meeting, a film crew visits a lonely woman, a farmer-intellectual. She decided to stay in a village, though she could have comfortably moved to the city. This film scrutinizes the reasons for her decision, of which she herself has not been certain. What price must be paid for the choice of freedom and self-fulfillment?

 

Director: Marcel Lozinski

Script: Marcel Lozinski

Cinematography: Jacek Petrycki

Editing: Katarzyna Maciejko-Kowalczyk, Lidia Zonn

Sound: Malgorzata Jaworska

Producer: Janusz Skalkowski, Wojciech Szczudlo, Jerzy Herman

Production Company: Kalejdoskop Film Studio, TVP, ARTE

 

 

89 MM FROM EUROPE

 

1993, 12 min

Director: Marcel Lozinski

Script: Marcel Lozinski

Cinematography: Jacek Petrycki, Artur Reinhart

Produced by Kalejdoskop Film Studio

 

 

Brest – Litovsk – the border between Poland and the former Soviet Union.  European railway tracks end here: further on they are wider.  So that the number if international trains can pass through this place every day, Byelorussian workers have to change several thousand wheels under the wagons.  This work is observed from the train windows by passengers from France, Germany, Holland….

 

Marcel Lozinski was born in Paris, France, in 1940. He holds a degree from the Lodz Film School, and was nominated for an Academy Award(r) in 1994. His filmography includes: WHEEL OF FORTUNE (1972, Critics' Award in Oberhausen); HAPPY END (1973); THE VISIT (1974); THE KING (1975); FRONT COLLISION (1976, Grand Prix in Cracow); HOW TO LIVE (1977); MATRICULATION (1978, Prize-winner at Cracow); MICROPHONE'S TEST (1980, Prize & FIPRESCI -winner at Cracow); PRACTICE EXERCISES (1984); MY PLACE (185); WITNESSES (1988); 45-89 (1989); KATYN FORREST (1990, Prix Europa); SEVEN JEWS FROM MY CLASS (1992); 89 MM FROM EUROPE (1993, nearly 20 prizes at international festivals including the Grand Prizes in Oberhausen, Leipzig, and Montreal; Felix and Oscar nomination); ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN (1995, numerous award including the Golden Spire in San Francisco and the Grand Prix in Cracow); POLAND AFTER VICTORY 89 - 95 (1995); SO THAT IT DOESN'T HURT (1998); and I REMEMBER (2001).

 

Saturday, April 5

1:00 p.m.

 

  

SPOTLIGHT POLAND: TWO GENERATIONS

 

REED DANCE

 

Country of production:Poland

2000, 57 min 

Director: Andrzej Fidyk

Cinematography: Mikolaj Nesterowicz, Adam Fresko

 

Colorful and bright, moving and humorous, the movie offers insight into an African society, exploring its traditions, beliefs, and HIV/AIDS epidemic.  Of the 33 million people infected with HIV/AIDS in the world, two-thirds - 23 million - reside in sub-Saharan Africa.  In Swaziland in 1999, one in every four adults between the ages of 15 and 49 was infected with the HIV virus.

The reed dance, and annual Swaziland tradition, lasts 6 days.  Young girls set out to cut reeds and dance in front of the King, hoping to be chosen as yet another wife or at least a fiance.  As they gather reeds among hippos and other animals, the young dancers discuss their sexual encounters, and share their views about AIDS, condoms, and sex.

 

Saturday, April 5

3:00 p.m.

 

 

 THE GIRLS OF SZYMANOW

1997, 29 min.

 

Director: Magdalena Piekorz

Cinematography: Dariusz Szymura

 

The story of the mutual, none too easy relations between the pupils of the girls' grammar school run by the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and their preceptresses.  This debutant film by Magdalena Piekorz, a graduate of the Faculty of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia, shows the world enclosed behind the convent walls from the point of view of both the pupils and the nuns, and tries to be objective about their respective arguments.

 

Saturday, April 5

3:00 p.m.

 

 

ROBERTO ROSSELLINI

 

Country of production: Italy

Year: 2001

Language: Italian

60 min

 

The story of Roberto Rossellini unfolds as we look back at his formative years in Rome, and with his family. We see the places he lived and made films: Rome, the Amalfi Coast, and Paris. We hear the eyewitness reports of his collaborators, his children, the women he loved, and others. This documentary also takes a compelling new look at the relationship between Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman, the relationship between Italian Neorealists and Hollywood, and many other aspects of the great director's life.

 

Director: Carlo Lizzani

Script: Vittorio Giacci, Carlo Lizzani

Cinematography: Diego D'Innocenzo

Music: Pasquale Filasto

Editing: Danilo Perticara

Sound:

Producer: Laura and Silvia Pettini

Production Company: RAI Cinema and Felix Film

Source:

RAI Trade

Via Novaro, 18

00195 Rome, Italy

info@raitrade.it

 

Saturday, April 5

4:30 p.m.

 

 

MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI

 

Country of production: Italy

Year: 2001

Language: Italian

55 min

 

A great portrait of an Italian director. We are in Ferrara: an odd province, where the memory of the past sparks curiosity, and where the landscape moves people to paint pictures, write novels, and make films. Not far off, Visconti directed OSSESSIONE, and the young Michelangelo Antonioni created the early documentary PEOPLE OF THE PO, with its suggestive hints of the artistic explosion that would soon come.

 

Director: Sandro Lai

Production Company: Teche RAI

Source:

RAI Trade

Via Novaro, 18

00195 Rome, Italy

info@raitrade.it

 

Sandro Lai has directed several films for Italian television.

 

Saturday, April 5

4:30 pm

 

DOSTOYEVSKY’S TRAVELS

 

Country of production: UK

1991

45 min.

 

Direction: Pawel Pawlikowski

Script: Pawel Pawlikowski

Produced by: Pawel Pawlikowski 

 

Though “Dostoyevsky's Travels” feels like the stuff of fiction, it is a documentary about Dmitri Dostoyevsky, who works as a tram driver in Petersburg and whose life dream is to own a Mercedes. He sets forth for the West as the guest of the German Dostoyevsky Society, but lecturing about his great-grandfather does not prove satisfying or lucrative for Dmitri, who couldn't care less. The film is hilarious, and we almost forget that it is about fraud and decay, not only in Russia but in all of Europe. We think back with a tinge of nostalgia, to a time when the Soviet regime could be blamed for all of Russia's and the world's ills.

 

Saturday, April 5

6:30 p.m.

 

 

TRIPPING WITH ZHIRINOVSKY

 

1995, 40 min.

Direction : Pawel Pawlikowski

Script:  Pawel Pawlikowski

Produced by : Pawel Pawlikowski

 

Hilarity and horror cruise side by side aboard the campaign ship of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, extremist leader of Russia's so-called Liberal Democratic Party (with its slogan "We're not picky like the Communists, we'll take anyone!"). Mr. Z's buffoonery, both on and off the boat, is almost too pathetic and silly to believe, yet as we follow him to New York, his proclamations, hyperbolic threats and mad grab for power on the world stage seem very real and dangerous in this adroit handling of a tricky subject.

 

Saturday, April 5

6:30 p.m.

 

                                                            OPENING NIGHT

 

SECRET TAPES OF SECURITY POLICE

 

Country of production: Poland

Year: 2002

Language: Polish

35 min

 

In the late 60s, opposition to the Polish Communist regime grew. The secret service had more and more difficulty extinguishing protests. So they increased their surveillance of opposition leaders by filming them. Between 1966 and 1985, countless films were shot, most of which were destroyed with the collapse of the regime. This film is composed of extracts that were preserved in one way or another. Some of the technicians responsible for making the films discuss them in a voice-over, explaining the mundane details of how they documented the opposition. The footage depicts street protests, meetings, a hunger strike, a self-immolation, and protests against the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. These are ghastly testimonies from a dark period in European history, a time when order was maintained with all possible means and treachery.

 

Director: Piotr Morawski

Cinematography: Andrzej Adamczak

Editing: Bogdan Saganowski

Sound: Bogdan Lmirek

Producer: Miroslaw Chojecki

Production Company: Media Kontakt

Source:

TVP S.A. Channel 1

Ul. J.P. Woronicza 17

00-999 Warsaw, Poland

Anna.Korzeniowska@wor.tvp.com.pl

 

Piotr Morawski is a veteran Polish documentarian. He holds a master's degree in Sociology from Warsaw University, and a degree in film directing from Silesian University. From 1984 through 1989, he worked for the K. Irzykowski Film Studio. Currently, he works mostly for Kalejdoskop Film Studio and Media Kontakt. He has made roughly twenty-five documentaries for Polish television, including BYTOM (1987), CARRIAGES (1988), AQUARIUM (1995), and TATO, I LOVE YOU (1999).

 

Saturday, April 5

8:15 pm

 

 

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

 

Country of production: Netherlands

Year: 2002

Language: English

77 min

 

A vivid portrait of the retirement community of Sun City West, Arizona, where some 32,000 senior citizens savor the sun and their free time. The retirees feel reborn in this community, where new romances begin and hidden talents - such as dancing - are discovered. There is a lot of joy, but also the lack thereof, as abilities ebb away and children never come to visit. And yet, at the golf course, the swimming pool, the theatre, and elsewhere, we meet dynamic and exciting people who experience their second youth as they dance into the future.

 

Director: Hans Heijnen

Script: Hans Heijnen

Cinematography: Erik van Empel

Editing: Hans Dunnewijk

Sound: Alex Booij, Bert van den Dungen, Paul Veld

Producer: Frank van den Engel

Production Company: Zeppers Film & TV

Source:

Frank van den Engel

Zeppers Film & TV BV

Joh. Verhulststraat 174

1075 HC Amsterdam, The Netherlands

zeppers@xs4all.nl

 

Hans Heijnen has directed over a dozen documentary films for television and cinema. Many of these have been nominated for or won the Golden Calf award for best Dutch documentary.

 

Saturday, April 5

8:15 p.m.

 

 

  

SUNDAY, APRIL 6

 

 

IVAN MOZJOUKHIN,

OR THE CARNIVAL CHILD

 

Country of production: Russia

Year: 1999

Language: Russian

65 min

 

One of film's most famous faces, Ivan Mozjoukhin was a leading actor in the silent era. With the transition to sound, his fortunes did not endure. Based on detailed documentation, this film presents rare images of Mozjoukhin on film, as well as his private photographs, his letters, and his notes. The result is a strong portrait of a man and his artform, all within the context of European bohemia between the wars.

 

Director: Galina Dolmatovskaya

Script: Galina Dolmatovskaya

Cinematography: Pavel Sukhov, Vladimir Lozowsky

Music: Taras Buyevsky

Editing: Nelli Zhdanova

Producer: Tatiana Nechayeva

Production Company: Institute of Cinema Arts

Source:

Galina Dolmatovskaya

Institute of Cinema Arts

125009 Moscow

Degetyarny pereulok, 8, Russia

dolmatovskaya@mail.ru

 

Galina Dolmatovskaya graduated from the Department of Journalism at Moscow State University. She worked for nearly ten years as a correspondent on LITERATURNAJA GAZETA. She the joined the Institute of Cinema Arts, where she is now Head of the Documentary Film Department. Her books include: ROD STEIGER (1976), WHO IS WHO IN THE SOVIET CINEMA (1979), NOTES TO THE PAST. Her filmography includes COME TO TREPHRUDNY LANE (1992), THE MATCHMAKER (1993), CINEMA ADDRESS: KRASNOGORSK (1996), THE WATCH (2001), and ILYA ILF-DOUBLE EXPOSURE (2003).

 

Sunday, April 6

11:00 am

 

 

THE FAIRYLAND

 

Country of production: Finland

Year: 2002

Language: Swedish

35 min

 

Satumaa is a personal portrait of a tourist community on the Finnish countryside. The film depicts a small society, and offers touching and incisive comments on life there.

 

Director: Johan Karrento

Script: Johan Karrento and Ulrika Gustafsson

Cinematography: Johan Karrento

Music: Hansi Gucluer and Henric Mattsson

Editing: Johan Karrento

Sound: Ulrika Gustafsson

Producer: Johan Karrento

Source:

Johan Karrento

Akervagen 10

22100 Mariehamn, Finland

johan.karrento@berlin.de

 

Johan Karrento was born in 1975. He studied art, sociology, philosophy, and film in Sweden, Austria, and Germany. He currently lives in Germany, working on music videos and preparing a feature film. Mr. Karrento reports that SATUMAA was not very well received in the community it depicts.

 

Sunday, April 6

11:00 a.m.

 

 

BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI:

WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF CINEMA?

 

Country of production: Italy

Year: 2001

Language: Italian

55 min

 

 Bernardo Bertolucci's rich and often controversial career is carefully reconstructed by means of dozens of interviews, specials, backstage clips, and awards ceremonies. What emerges is the portrait of a complex artist whose work is constantly evolving; a thinking man who enjoys talking about himself and his experiences. The documentary follows Bertolucci's career chronologically, from his encounter with Pasolini to the making of BESIEGED. In between we see his early switch from poetry to cinema; his start as a director; his periods of political commitment; scandal and censorship with the release of LAST TANGO IN PARIS; his partnership with the American studios to produce 1900; and his flight from Italy's corruption scandals, which led him to work abroad for many years. In 1987, Bertolucci won nine Oscars for THE LAST EMPEROR which was followed by THE SHELTERING SKY, and LITTLE BUDDHA. In the 90s, STEALING BEAUTY marked his discreet return to the Italian cinema. Now, with BESIEGED, Bertolucci displays his growing interest in the language of television. This documentary concludes with a statement by the director on television today. Here is final proof - if any were needed - of Bertolucci's impressive ability to keep pace with the times.

 

Director: Sandro Lai

Cinematography: Daniele Piccioni

Editing: Giuseppe Balderi

Production Company: Rai

Source:

RAI Trade

Via Novaro, 18

00195 Rome, Italy

info@raitrade.it

 

Sandro Lai has directed several films for Italian television.

 

Sunday, April 6

1:00 pm

 

 

 

SERGIO LEONE

 

Country of production: Italy

Year: 2002

Language: Italian

55 min

 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. This documentary profiles Sergio Leone, director of these and many other classics, many of them Spaghetti Westerns. Leone himself describes his early days as a gofer and an extra on the set of BICYCLE THIEVES, his early directing attempts, and some of his greatest successes. From behind the wry smile and sense of humor emerges a stubborn, determined, and fascinating man and director. Featuring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Claudia Cardinale, Bernardo Bertolucci, and others.

 

Director: Sandro Lai

Source:

RAI Trade

Via Novaro, 18

00195 Rome, Italy

info@raitrade.it

 

Sandro Lai has directed several films for Italian television.

 

Sunday, April 6

1:00p.m.

 

DADDY, I LOVE YOU

 

Country of production: Poland

Year: 1999

Language: Polish

55 min

 

An American couple decides to adopt five siblings from Poland. The language barrier turns out to be the easiest obstacle to overcome in their joint effort to establish a new, genuine family.

 

Director: Piotr Morawski

Script: Ryszard Kaczynski, Piotr Morawski

Cinematography: Andrzej Adamczak

Music: Anka Morawska, Jacek Bak

Editing: Tadeusz Wudzki

Sound: Lukasz Nowicki

Producer: Wojciech Szczudlo

Production Company: Kalejdoskop Film Studio, TVP Channel 1

Source:

Kalejdoskop Film Studio

ul. Chelmska 21

00-724 Warsaw, Poland

kalejdoskop@polbox.pl

http://www.kalejdoskop.com

 

Piotr Morawski graduated from the Warsaw University (sociology) in 1977 and the School of Film and TV in Katowice (film directing) in 1983. He worked for the Irzykowski Film Studio (1984-1989), and is now associated with Kalejdoskop and Media Kontakt. He has made about 25 documentaries for Polish Television, including BYTOM (1987), CARRIAGES (1988), AQUARIUM (1995); TATA, I LOVE YOU (1999, Prize-winner at IDFA and INPUT); SECRET TAPES OF SECURITY POLICE (2002).

 

Sunday, April 6

3:00 pm

 

 

TWIN SISTERS

 

Country of production: Poland

Year: 2002

Language: Polish

48 min

 

A tragic accident at a hospital leads to the separation of twin sisters. The truth is discovered after 18 years. The lives of two Warsaw families are turned upside down.

 

Director: Krzysztof Kalukin

Script: Krzysztof Kalukin

Cinematography: Krzysztof Kalukin

Editing: Krzysztof Kalukin, Leszek Starzynski

Sound: Jacek Stepinski

Producer: Zbigniew Domagalski

Production Company: Kalejdoskop Film Studio, TVP Channel 1

Source:

Kalejdoskop Film Studio

ul. Chelmska 21

00-724 Warsaw, Poland

kalejdoskop@polbox.pl

http://www.kalejdoskop.com

 

Krzysztof Kalukin was born in Vilnus, Lithuania in 1945. He graduated from the Lodz Film School (cinematography). Since 1968, he has been a journalist. He was cinematographer on a number of documentary films, including THE PARADE, directed by Andrzej Fidyk. His filmography includes: FAREWELL TO SUMMER IN LIDA (1995); THE MOST FORTUNATE MAN (1997); AND THE STORKS WILL COME IN THE SPRING (2000); TWIN SISTERS (2002); and THE PROFESSIONAL (2002).

 

Sunday, April 6

3:00 pm

 

 

 

 WELCOME TO NORTH KOREA

 

Country of production: Netherlands

Year: 2001

Language: Korean, English

45 min

 

WELCOME TO NORTH KOREA is an unusual tour document from the perspective of a Dutch film crew. In this country like no other, gigantic monuments to heroic leaders are seen by almost no one, deluxe hotels hold next to no guests, and traffic police direct traffic that does not exist. Those few foreigners who do visit the country are told straightforwardly about the superhuman feats of the supreme leader Kim Il-Sung, and his son, the dear leader Kim Jong-Il. Those feats seem to be the subject of every public event. Meanwhile, somewhere on the countryside, scores of people die of hunger and are buried three bodies to a body bag. WELCOME TO NORTH KOREA's filmmakers certainly revel in the exoticism of their subject, especially in the pervasive voiceover. But they also show something of the reasons for that self-cultivated exoticism.

 

Director: Peter Tetteroo

Script: Peter Tetteroo with Dr. Raymond Feddema

Cinematography: Pieter Groeneveld

Production Company: KRO Dutch Television

Source:

Andrea Traubner

Filmakers Library

124 East 40th Street

New York, NY 10016, USA

andy@filmakers.com

 

Peter Tetteroo has worked as a senior reporter for KRO Television Netherlands since 1987.

 

Sunday, April 6

4:30 p.m.

 

PARADE

 

1989, 60 min.

 

dir. Andrej Fidyk

Editing: Jolanta Kreczanska

Produced by: POLTEL Film Studio

 

"The Parade" filmed during the festivities commemorating the 40th anniversary of Korean People's Republic functions in the realm of political force.  Assembled of fragments of interviews with the Koreans, excerpts from articles published in local press, the film is all the same a report on the Korean quotidian reality dominated by idealogy that stretches beyond the most remote outposts of the absurd.  The cult of the country's leader, Kim II Sung, called "The Great Sun of the Nation" is inculcated in the Koreans from the moment of birth and does not compare even with the cult of Stalin.  If it finds any historical parallel at all, it is perhaps the aura of divinity ascribed to Caesar in Ancient Rome.  "Even if oceans turned into ink, and the tallest of trees into a feather, it would be still impossible to describe him," say the Koreans of their leader.  And the leader treats his people to reality tailor-mode to fit his idea of his own grandeur, in which his childhood playgrounds have been turned into historical monuments, and the noble name of art is bestowed upon "masterpieces" with him in the lead roles.

 

Sunday , April 6

4:30 p.m.

 

 

FROM MOSCOW TO PIETUSHKI

 

1990, 45 min.

Direction :Pawel Pawlikowski

Script:  Pawel Pawlikowski

Produced by:  Pawel Pawlikowski

 

The novel “Moscow to Pietushki” is the masterpiece of Vyenedict Yerefeyev, one of the finest Russian writers of the late Khruschev period, a time when hope for liberalization faded, and an entire generation of Russians sought escape through alcoholism. Pavlikowski's evocation of the novel uses a mixture of humor and of bitter insight. It is immensely affecting, it suggests that Russia may indeed be incurable, and yet affirms the powers of friendship and poetry, even in a hellish environment.

 

Sunday , April 6

6:30 p.m.

 

 SERBIAN EPICS

 

1992, 50 min.

Direction : Pawel Pawlikowski

Script : Pawel Pawlikowski

Cinematography: Bogdan Dziworski, Jacek Petrycki

Produced by: BBC TV

 

Director got complete access to Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, now an indicted war criminal on the run. Pawlikowski records Karadzic's personal life, his home, his daughter's wedding... and his controversial views on ethnic cleansing. Through this interview, we come to understand how Serbian tradition and mystique were distorted into a rallying cry for war.

 

Sunday, April 6

6:30 p.m.

 

 

REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH

 

 

Country of production: Belarus

Year: 2001

Language: Russian

39 mins.

 

Soviet tyranny lives on, and REPORTING FROM A RABBIT HUTCH exposes it. This is a film with rare guts, made by filmmakers who are clearly putting their lives on the line. The film documents the unusual status of a forgotten corner of Europe: Belarus, which is wedged between Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltics. Politically, the country is something of an anachronism - Belarus still follows something very similar to the old hardline Soviet system, and now has the inauspicious claim to be "Europe's last dictatorship." In this film, filmmaker Victor Dashuk and colleagues shower President Alexander Lukashenka and the system Lukashenka represents with ridicule and dissent. Lukashenka himself appears, as do several henchmen who try to destroy the camera. But the filmmakers persevere. This is rough-hewn, hard-core, must-see, front-line filmmaking.

 

Director: Victor Dashuk

Script: Victor Dashuk

Cinematography: Victor Dashuk

Music: S. Beltiukov

Editing: Victor Dashuk

Sound: Victor Dashuk

Producer: Victor Dashuk

Production Company: Spadar D

Source:

Victor Dashuk

Village Kliuchniki, 21

Post-office Astrashycki

223054 Minsk Region, Belarus

spadard@hotmail.com

 

Victor Dashuk is a graduate of the Journalism Faculty at the Belarussian State University. He studied scriptwriting and direction in Moscow under the supervision of Andrei Tarkovsky. Mr. Dashuk has more than forty years of experience in fiction and non-fiction filmmaking.

 

Sunday, April 6

8:15 p.m.

 

THE MEN FROM THE AGENCY

 

 

Country of production: UK

Year: 2002

Language: English

68 min

In the 1960s, three men, all of them social outsiders, began working together at the same London advertising agency. They are now the ultimate insiders, thanks to their success in advertising. David Puttnam, Alan Parker and Charles Saatchi all worked for the agency that revolutionized British advertising: Collett, Dickenson, Pearce. When they started there, advertising was seen as a backwater. Thanks to Colletts, it turned itself into one of the most glamorous industries in Britain. THE MEN FROM THE AGENCY is a detailed examination of what made this trio of admen as influential as they were; and how life in Britain changed - thanks to the lessons learned from advertising over 30 years ago.

 

Director: Michael Wadding

Script: Michael Wadding

Cinematographer: Paul Lang

Music: various

Editing: Nicholas Packer

Sound: Adrian Bell

Producer: Michael Wadding

Production Company: Tiger Aspect Productions

Source:

Michael Wadding

41A Melford Road

London, SE22 0AQ, UK

michael.wadding@btinternet.com

 

Michael Wadding was born in Middlesborough, UK, in 1961. He directed and produced a number of films for BBC since 1997. His filmography include: FEAR OF A RED PLANET (1997), KILLERS (2000), SECRET HISTORY (2002), and THE DREAM MACHINE (2002).

 

Sunday, April 6

8:15 p.m.

 

 

 

TUESDAY, APRIL 8

 

 

 

                              SPOTLIGHT : POLAND

 

MOBILE CINEMA OF DREAMS (Wedrowne kino marzen)

1998, 59 min.

 

Director: Andrzej Fidyk

Cinematography: Mikolaj Nesterowicz

Produced by: Besta-Film

 

It is a colorful story about an Indian traveling movie theatre and about the incredible status of film-making in that country.  On the screen, we watch the protagonists wander into remote, civilization-forgotten corners of India, where the locals are "ready to sell their own blood just to buy a ticket to the movies."  We see the worshipful attitude toward to actors who are commonly identified with the characters they portray on screen.  Simultaneously, we sneak a peek into the lives of the owners of the traveling movies, and that story - equally surprising as it is dramatic - proves the superiority of document over feature fiction.  For all the outsiders to the cultural circle of India the film is a fairly tale, replete with magic, and in spite of its social context, it is doused with a generous dose of poetry and situation humor.

 

 

THE FRANCISCAN SPONTY

 

1999, 25 min.

 

Director: Magdalena Piekorz

Cinematography: Dariusz Szymura

 

A documentary story about a group of Franciscans, young monks who are building Europe's largest Christmas crib (18 meters high) in the Basilica Church of Katowice.  A portrait of people who emanate an air of tranquility, optimism, and spontaneous joy derived from their own work.  A second documentary by a young film-maker, a student of the Katowice Film Studio.

 

 

Tuesday ,April 8

6:00 p.m.

 

 

DEATH OF ZYGIELBOJM

 

 

2000, 43 min. Poland

Direction :Dzamila Antkiewicz

Cinematography:Mikolaj Nesterowicz

Editing: Grazyna Gradoń

Produced by :Bow And Axe Entertainment for Program 1 TVP S.A.

 

 

Reuven Zygielbojm attempts to comprehend his brother’s suicide in London  and condemms the American and English governments who, aware of the Holocaust, did nothing to prevent or stop it.

VOICE OF HOPE

 

Country of production: Poland
Year: 2002
Language: Polish
58 min

The Polish section of Radio Free Europe began broadcasting from Munich in 1952, recognizing the fact that free access to information is instrumental in preserving human rights. Deemed hostile by the regime, the station had avid listeners all over Poland. Every day, Poles tuned in, keen on staving off state propaganda, and determined to carry on their private wars with the totalitarian system in order to feel free.

Director: Maciej J. Drygas
Script: Maciej J. Drygas
Cinematography: Andrzej Musial
Music: Pawel Szymanski
Editing: Katarzyna Maciejko-Kowalczyk
Production Company: Telewizja Polska S.A. Channel 1 et al.

Source:
TVP
S.A. Channel 1
Ul. J.P. Woronicza 17
00-999
Warsaw, Poland
Anna.Korzeniowska@wor.tvp.com.pl

Tuesday, April 8

7:30 p.m. 

 

BREAKING THE SILENCE

 

2002, 26 min.

Direction & script:Leszek Wosiewicz

Cinematography: Piotr Śliskowski

Produced by : TVP Channel 1

 

Can a deaf man hear music? Can he begin to sing? Jarek thinks it is possible. He is running an extraordinary music group - deaf singers. His music gives them not only the chance to overcome their disability, but the hope that anything can happen.

 

Tuesday, April 8

7:30 p.m.

 

 

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 12

 

NATIONAL STADIUM

 

Country of production: Chile

Year: 2001

Language: Spanish

90 min

 

Between September 11 and November 7, 1973, the largest sports stadium in Chile served as a concentration camp for General Augusto Pinochet's new regime. After the violent coup d'etat against the Socialist government of President Salvador Allende, more than 12,000 political prisoners were detained there as enemy combatants. At least 7,000 were tortured, and scores were murdered. 30 years later, this documentary claims to be the first internal, detailed Chilean investigation of these events. NATIONAL STADIUM features interviews of numerous survivors, as well as eyewitnesses, and reconstructs a detailed report on prisoners' everyday life. The film is the result of an exhaustive inquiry into the audiovisual archives of five countries. It is a chilling exposé.

 

Director: Carmen Luz Parot

Script: Carmen Luz Parot

Cinematography: Ricardo Carrillo, Carmen Luz Parot

Music: Los Petinnelis, Horacio Duran, Charango Chileno, et al

Editing: Marcelo Jimenez, Yoko Vidal, Eduardo Baeza, Cote Concha

Sound: Christian Matus, Boris Herrera, Christian Carrea, Mario Puerto

Producer: Carmen Luz Parot

Production Company: Zoo Film & Video

Source:

Carmen Luz Parot Alonso

Estrella Solitaria 51 78, Nunoa

Santiago De Chile, Chile

clparot@vtr.net

 

For 15 years, Carmen Luz Parot has worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers and television networks in Chile. She was editor-in-chief of PLAZA ITALIA, a prime-time television talk show. She has directed a number of music videos. In 1999, she directed the documentary THE RIGHT TO LIVE IN PEACE (EL DERECHO DE VIVIR EN PAZ), about the life of songwriter Victor Jara, who was murdered in September 1973. She recently created a DVD about the rock band Los Prisioneros.

 

Saturday, April 12

11:00 am

 

 

FEDERICO FELLINI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

CLIPS FROM HIS LIFE

 

Country of production: Italy

Year: 2000

Language: Italian

55 min

 

From the Italian archives emerges this unique collection of Fellini's television interviews. This project is a precious contribution to our understanding of the man and his work, providing insights into the life and mind of a fascinating public figure. He reacts to interviewers' questions with a delightful mix of curiosity, candor, and humor.

 

Director: Paquito del Bosco

Cinematography:

Music: Nino Rota

Editing: Massimo Bracci

Production Company: Teche Rai

Source:

RAI Trade

Via Novaro, 18

00195 Rome, Italy

info@raitrade.it

 

Saturday, April 12

1:00 pm

 

 

PIER PAOLO PASOLINI:
A PURELY INTELLECTUAL MURDER MYSTERY


Country of production: Italy
Year: 2000
Language: Italian
50 min

 

On November 2, 1975, the body of filmmaker, poet, and painter Pier Paolo Pasolini was found in a playing field in Ostia, Italy. The same day, Giuseppe Pelosi was arrested and accused of the murder. Public opinion appeared to be torn, but just over the motive: was it a political assassination, or did it have to do with Pasolini's homosexual tendencies? Twenty-five years later, Giuseppe Zigaina, painter, intellectual, and Pasolini's close friend reopens the discussion on that death still shrouded in mystery.

 

Director: Paolo Bonaldi, Francesca Nesler
Source:
RAI Trade
Via Novaro, 18
00195 Rome, Italy
info@raitrade.it

Saturday, April 12

1:00 p.m.

 

CHILDREN OF REVOLUTION

 

Country of production: Poland
Year: 2002
Language: Polish, German, Czech, Hungarian
57 mins.

 

This is the story of several leading Eastern European anti-Communist dissenters - from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and former East Germany - from WWII until today.

 

Director: Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz
Script: Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, Leszek Koczanowicz
Cinematography: Andrzej Adamczak
Editing: Grazyna Gradon
Sound: Krzysztof Rzepecki, Jedrzej Niestroj
Producer: Wojciech Szczudlo
Production Company: Kalejdoskop Film Studio, TVP Channel 2
Source:
Kalejdoskop Film Studio
ul. Chelmska 21
00-724 Warsaw, Poland
kalejdoskop@polbox.pl
http://www.kalejdoskop.com

 

Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz graduated from the Wroclaw Academy of Fine Arts (painting) in 1978, and the School of Film and TV in Katowice (film directing) in 1982. She is the recipient of numerous awards. Selected filmography: A PIT (1983); EVERYBODY KNOWS WHO STANDS BEHIND WHOM (1983); I AM A MALE MAN (1985); THE OFFICE (1986); I DON'T BELIEVE THE POLITICIANS (1990); TURN ME IN A LONG SNAKE (1985); BARA BARA (1985); THE END OF THE WORLD (1992, feature film); LIFE FORGIVES YOU EVERYTHING (1999); LOVE WITHOUT VISA (2001); CHILDREN OF REVOLUTION (2002); and LOVE FOR A VINYL RECORD (2002).

Saturday, April 12

3:00 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 YOUTH IN THE TIME OF EXTERMINATION

2001, 45 min.

 

Director: Malgorzata Imielska

Cinematography: Tomasz Tupalski

 

The story of a friendship that helped two young people during difficult times.

 

 Saturday, April 12

3:00 p.m.

 

 

1993, 52 min.

Cinematography: Mikolaj Nesterowicz

Editing: Jan Mironowicz

Produced by: POLTEL Film Studio

 

The movie focuses on social transformations within countries that used to make up the Soviet Union.  Recently founded Moscow school of striptease is one of the symbols illustrating these transformations.  Here, aspects of life previously overlooked with shame have been granted the status of art.  For Russians sex is becoming a symbol of freedom.  In apposition to this taboo  now broken by young girls.  We witness the tradition of social realism, with its claim that “the best thing a woman can do when making love is to sing the Soviet national anthem.”.

 

Saturday, April 12

5:45 p.m.

 

 

 THE RUSSIAN STRIPTEASE

 

1993, 52 min

Cinematography: Mikolaj Nesterowicz

Editing: Jan Mironowicz

Produced by: POLTEL Film Studio

 

The movie focuses on social transformations within countries that used to make up the Soviet Union.  Recently founded Moscow school of striptease is one of the symbols illustrating these transformations.  Here, aspects of life previously overlooked with shame have been granted the status of art.  For Russians sex is becoming a symbol of freedom.  In apposition to this taboo  now broken by young girls.  We witness the tradition of social realism, with its claim that “the best thing a woman can do when making love is to sing the Soviet national anthem.”.

 

Saturday, April 12

5:45 p.m.

 

STRANGERS

 

1999, 29 min

Country of production:Poland

Director: Magdalena Piekorz

Cinematography: Adam Bajerski

Produced by: Channel 1 TVP S.A.

 

“They promised to teach foreign languages – German, English.  They promised they would spread culture in the village.  And we trusted them, we simply trusted them.  And they conned us so badly…”

The story begins with these worlds spoken by one of the inhabitants of Wolimierz – a small village near Jelenia Gora in Poland.  The story is about a group of artists that settled there a few years ago and wanted to live and perform freely.  But people in the village didn’t expect a dragon, modern dressed artists and performances.  They are busy with their everyday things and do not understand art or its special role that is expressed by the artists.  The artists take people’s reactions as proof of their ill will and say that”every ground is good, and the chance lies in changing human mentality.”  Paradoxically, the two populations want the same thing, but being sure of what they want and placed strictly in their own worlds, they want and placed strictly in their own worlds, they cannot find agreement.  At he end of the film they try to agree on New Year’s Party.

 

Saturday, April 12

5:45 p.m.

 

 

THE BETRAYED

 

1995, 78 min.

Direction / ReŻyseria:  Clive Gordon

Script / Scenariusz:  Clive Gordon

Cinematography / Zdjęcia:  Jacek Petrycki

Produced by / Produkcja:  October Films

 

In December 1994, 3,500 untrained Russian conscripts were ordered to take the Chechen town of Grozny. What happened to those soldiers is the brutal mystery Betrayed exposes. "Should I try to find his grave...dig it up to see if it's my son?" grieves a Russian woman, one of a contingent of mothers who have traveled to Chechnya in hopes of an exchange of prisoners.

 

Saturday, April12

6:30 p.m.

 

THE VALLEY

 

1999, 70 min.

Direction / ReŻyseria: Dan Reed

Script / Scenariusz: Dan Reed

Cinematography / Zdjęcia: Jacek Petrycki

Produced by / Produkcja: Mentorn Barraclough Carey, 

Suspect Device

 

The opening of this film captures an idyllic scene of trailing smoke beyond a beautiful green plain. Once it becomes apparent that the smoke is the result of a fire set by Serbs, the film becomes suddenly relentless as a real - time war documentary made in the middle of the Kosovo ethnic conflict.

 

Saturday, April 12

6:30 p.m.

 

 

IM A MURDERER

1998, 50 min.

 

Director: Maciej Pieprzyca

Cinematography: Gwizdon Cal

 

Maciej Pieprzyca's film recalls the story of the Vampire of the Zaglebie and endeavors to establish whether Zdzislaw Marchwicki was a criminal or a victim.  It analyzes the documents, the accused's and his family's statements, wwhat the prosecution and the defense had to say, the material evidence, press articles etc.  Zdzislaw Marchwicki was accused - in a trial based an circumstantial evidence - of the murder of over a dozen women, sentenced to death, and executed.

 

 Saturday, April12

9:00 p.m.

 

 

SUCH STORY

 

1999, 12 min.

Script: Pawel Lozinski

Cinematography: Pawel Lozinski

Editing: Dorota Wardeszkiewicz

Produced by TVP S.A Channel 1

 

The scene is an old apartment house in Warsaw where the author lives.  Wiesio, a former caretaker, lives in a makeshift place in the doorway next to the garbage/disposal.

He has a dog, Froggie, a girlfriend Ania and an old friend Mr. Szymanski who is a retired hairdresser.  Wiesio is on disability pension and he makes ends meet by digging the neighborhood disposals.  The film shows one year in Wiesio’s life.  This is a story of loneliness, longing for love, time passing by in the world that disappears together with protagonists.

 

Saturday, april 12

9:00 p.m.