IDFA Special 2014/1 (English) by IDFA International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

special industry

INCLUDING SCHEDULE

THURS 20 & FRI 21 NOV

For more news & full industry programme, see www.idfa.nl/industry

IDFA’s new festival heart Café De Jaren photo: Nichon Glerum

To boldly doc With guests ranging from Star Trek’s George Takei to The Shock Doctrine author Naomi Klein, from Nick Broomfield and Laura Poitras to Chris Hegedus and documentary legend D.A. Pennekbaker, this year’s IDFA won’t be short on colour and personality. By Geoffrey Macnab On the eve of IDFA, festival director Ally Derks is upbeat about an event expected to sell 235,000 tickets. The festival opens with ‘living legend’ Heddy Honigmann’s Around the World in 50 Concerts, which sees Honigmann travel to several cities with Amsterdam’s renowned Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. “It is maybe a little bit different from what you are used to with us,” Derks says of a film that is unlikely to provoke huge controversy. “But it is also sometimes nice for an opening night not to have all these heated debates afterwards.” Not that the opening will be too understated. Derks is optimistic that the old organ in the Tuchinski cinema will play to herald the beginning of the screening.

that it was “weird” that it was “all men that get this Mogul award.” Derks heard about data that had been collected on the number of women directors at Sundance. “The funny thing they found out was that the higher the budget, the more men were involved,” she recalls. The IDFA director was also intrigued by the gender monitoring policy in the Swedish film industry. “I was also curious as to how things were going in documentary”, Derks says. IDFA undertook its own research. The full figures will be presented during The Female Gaze conference, but around 38% of films submitted to IDFA are made by women, which compares well with figures for fiction festivals. “But there is still a huge difference between men and women and the opportunities they have”, Derks says.

Female Gaze

Strong themes

One of the major sidebars at this year’s IDFA is The Female Gaze, investigating the role of women in documentary. The programme includes screenings of films “made by great female documentary masters”, as well as debates. The idea came about when Derks won the 2011 Doc Mogul Award at Hot Docs. She realised she was only the second woman, after Sheila Nevins at HBO, to win the award. At a dinner, some of her female friends observed

Derks is confident in the quality of this year’s crop. “All the competitions are very strong. I even think mid-length is very strong, which I always find a difficult section to programme.” Ask her about themes she has spotted in the selection and she points to the number of films from all over the world (“not only the West”) about the elderly. She also notes that many docs deal with the post-traumatic stress individuals and communities are suffering in

the wake of the many wars being waged around the world. One title she highlights is brilliant young Dutch director Morgan Knibbe’s Those Who Feel The Fire Burning: “an amazing film about migrants coming from Africa and the Middle East to Europe. It really gave me goosebumps.”

Trading places The festival this year is shifting locations. Its beating heart will be in Café de Jaren and Café Swych on Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Doelenstraat, rather than around the Rembrandtplein. The move was forced – the Schiller is being used nightly by TV crews – but Derks sees the spirit of the festival’s old hub De Balie reflected in De Jaren. Funding for the Festival remains stable. The budget for this year’s event is slightly higher than last year and, as long as box-office takings remain steady, IDFA should hit its targets. Several titles, among them Alex De La Iglesia’s Messi and Geertjan Lassche’s Killer Slope, have already sold out. And then there is George Takei, the former Star Trek star who will be in town for the screening of To Be Takei, a new doc screening as part of IDFA’s Queer Day. Is Derks herself a Trekkie? “Yes,” Derks admits. “In the ’70s, I saw everything. Never the films, but the series was a must.”

Talkshows IDFA is organizing seven Industry Talks for guests who wish to sharpen their awareness of the documentary industry and get up to speed on its latest developments. Thursday: Starting Off Like a Rocket with Phie Ambo and Teodora Ana Mihai The Industry Talks and IDFAcademy programme kick off with an inspiring conversation between renowned filmmaker Ambo and upcoming talent Mihai. How defining is your first film for the rest of your career? How do you determine your own signature? And do you dare to do so in your debut? Moderator: Cecilia Lidin (Swedish Film Institute) Guests: Phie Ambo (Good Things Await), Teodora Ana Mihai (Waiting for August) November 20, 15:00, Brakke Grond – Rode zaal Friday: Impact Distribution: Big Films Finding Major Audiences Insights on the opportunities and challenges of the new model of Impact Distribution. Three filmmakers give the ins and outs of the strategy for their films, which are premiering at IDFA. Come put your questions to this incredible group of filmmakers. Moderator: Beadie Finzi (BRITDOC Foundation) Guests: Carsten Aanonsen (Ida’s Diary), Joanna Natasegara (Virunga), Nick Batzias (Madman Entertainment) November 21, 15:00, Brakke grond – Rode zaal Both talks are free for all IDFA pass holders.

DOCS FROM FLANDERS @ IDFA 2014 WAITING FOR AUGUST THE FEMALE GAZE TEODORA ANA MIHAI CLIN D’OEUIL FILMS SALES RISE AND SHINE

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SCREENINGS

21 NOV, 22:15, MUNT 9 22 NOV, 18:15, KLEINE KOMEDIE 26 NOV, 17:45, TUSCHINSKI 4

BEFORE THE LAST CURTAIN FALLS BEST OF FESTS BY EVA KÜPPER & THOMAS WALLNER CO-PRODUCTION (FLANDERS)

SAVAGE FILM SALES CAT&DOCS SCREENINGS

19 NOV, 15:15, MUNT 10 24 NOV, 22:00,, MUNT 11 26 NOV, 12:00, BRAKKE GROND 27 NOV, 18:30, TUSCHINSKI 6 28 NOV, 20:45 MELKWEG

MING OF HARLEM TWENTY STOREYS IN THE AIR PARADOCS BY PHILLIP WARNELL CO-PRODUCTION (FLANDERS)

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19 NOV, 13:00, MUNT 12 24 NOV, 18:00, TUSCHINSKI 5 28 NOV, 16:15, TUSCHINSKI 6

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25 NOV, 19:15, TUSCHINSKI 6 28 NOV, 13:45, TUSCHINSKI 6

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New market realities Docs for Sale opens for business at the Arti and Amicitiae on Friday in what promises to be the market’s best-attended edition in years. By Melanie Goodfellow

“We’ve had more registrations before the start of the market than we’d had by the end of last year, and we always have another 10 to 15 people turning up at the last minute,” IDFA industry chief Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen says. Some 300 TV buyers, sales agents, distributors and festival programmers register for Docs for Sale each year. Van Nieuwenhuyzen suggests, however, that this year’s higher attendance is not necessarily a sign of better times in the documentary world, which has suffered financially in recent years due to slashed broadcaster budgets and waning theatrical returns. “A couple of years ago we were really asking what was going to happen. Many broadcasters, key funders of documentaries in Europe, underwent major cuts and everything seemed to be going downhill very fast,” she says. “The situation appears to have stabilised but there’s definitely less broadcaster money around. On the flipside, new funding opportunities are emerging such as VOD platforms or working with brands and NGOs – although these have their pitfalls. But this is the new reality and the industry is adjusting to it.” This “new reality” is reflected in a series of IDFA Industry Talks which touch on topics such as how to connect with audiences through tailored outreach campaigns, managing rights in the digital age and brand funding. On the latter, director Brian Newman will talk about his experiences on DamNation, funded by outdoor

“New funding opportunities are emerging,” says IDFA industry chief Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen

clothing line Patagonia. Back at Arti & Amicitiae, Docs for Sales’ curated catalogue – aimed at new, quality feature and mid-length works – offers some 460 titles this year, 142 of which are in the IDFA official selection. “We received 550 submissions, which means we didn’t decline that much and shows

Coccinelle alights Fledgling sales outfit Coccinelle Film Placement makes its IDFA debut this year with Belgian director Roel Nollet’s Nathan – Free as a Bird. By Melanie Goodfellow

photo: Korinne de Korver

people have developed a good idea of what we take,” says Van Nieuwenhuyzen. “We think it’s important the catalogue remains curated. It distinguishes us from markets like MIPDOC, which is open to everything.” Industry screenings for all the IDFA competition titles bar those in the student contest start

Just Eat It tempts buyers Films Transit is reporting strong buyer interest for food waste documentary Just Eat It as its Canadian makers Grant Baldwin and Jenny Rustemeyer hit the European festival circuit this month.

on Thursday and, as in previous years, the market will operate a multi-booth videotheque at Arti & Amicitiae, open 10 am to 10 pm daily. The catalogue is also available online, usage of which spikes just before festival, but many professionals prefer to screen new content in situ in Amsterdam.

Ballet Boys dance on Paris-based documentary specialist Wide House continues to reel in sales for Norwegian Kenneth Elvebakk’s Ballet Boys, competing in the IDFA Doc U competition. By Melanie Goodfellow

By Melanie Goodfellow

The tale of Belgian transsexual Nathan Verhelst, who hit the headlines when he decided to end his life by euthanasia after sex change operations did not bring the sense of well-being he craved, world premieres in IDFA’s Panorama section on Friday. Rome-based Francesca Breccia is the driving force behind Coccinelle. Rather than operating as a traditional sales company, the outfit is a network of independent sales professionals working under the Coccinelle banner, Breccia explains. “We bring our own films and then help each other out with our network”, she says. “We try to keep costs to a minimum and do a lot of work over the internet.” “Producers choose us because they get their sales revenue without any cost deduction or cut – apart from our sales commission”, she adds. Associated professionals include Gaetano Maiorino, who previously worked for Italian sales agent Adriana Chiesa and the industry office of the Toronto Film Festival; international sales veteran Jef Nuyts; Paris-based producer Sara Monacelli; entertainment law consultant Donatella Mugnano and Setsu Higa of Tokyobased Action Inc. Other Documentary titles on its slate include Mexican Horacio Alcalá’s Grazing the Sky, which Coccinelle has just sold to Arte and Sky Italia. The sales hub also recently sold Vittoria Colanna’s Identities, exploring Ireland’s multicultural transgender community, to Canada’s global LGBT channel OUTtv and its associated Utrecht-based channel which broadcasts into the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. Other titles on the Coccinelle slate include The Age of Kommunalki and Radio Unnameable. IFDA marks the first market for the final cut of Nathan – Free as a Bird. Nollet spent three years with Verhelst, capturing her/his metamorphosis from Nancy to Nathan and the shock decision to opt for euthanasia. Breccia describes the work as a “shocking live recorded diary” combining up-close footage of Verhelst with expert interviews and context about the headlines his decision provoked.

On the eve of IDFA, Transit sold the picture to Swedish Educational TV (UR), Israel’s Channel 8 and Estonia Public TV and “another 10 territories are under negotiation,” says co-chief Jan Rofekamp. The film, exploring the issue of food waste through the couple’s quest to live for six months on discarded produce, plays in IDFA’s Best of Fests and in the Doc U Competition. Vancouver-based Baldwin and Rustemeyer arrive at IDFA from Copenhagen where Just Eat It won the audience award at CPH:Dox. “It was a relief to discover that a film we’d made in North America resonates in Europe too”, says Baldwin, who decided to explore the issue of food waste after reading that 40% of food produced in the US is not consumed. “I couldn’t believe it and that became the catalyst for my research and then the documentary. I thought footage documenting it would hit home more than numbers on a page”, he says. Partner Rustemeyer, who produced Just Eat It under the Peg Leg Films banner in association with Knowledge Network, reveals she had mixed feelings about the quest. “I like eating leftovers because it means I don’t have to cook but going dumpster diving was not necessarily something I wanted to do,” she says. The filmmaking couple previously worked together on The Clean Bin Project (2010), competing to see who could generate least waste in a year. As for that film, they are planning an extensive outreach campaign for Just Eat It. “These films can have a really long tail”, says Baldwin, who has also signed to do the cinematography on Velkrow Ripper’s next documentary. Rustemeyer, meanwhile, is developing a documentary “in similar vein” to Just Eat It, about a couple who embark on a wilderness adventure. Other festival films on Film Transit’s slate include Something Better to Come and Those Who Said No (North American rights only); On the Bride’s Side, The New Rijksmuseum – The Film and Plaza Man.

The picture, following three Norwegian ballet students over four years, recently sold to Hong Kong company Edko Films, which plans to release it theatrically in spring 2015. Wide House chief Anais Clanet announced she had acquired international rights to Ballet Boys at the beginning of IDFA last year, just prior to it being presented as a work-in-progress at the Forum. Since then, the film has sold to territories including to Germany (CMV Laservision), France (ZED), Canada (Kinosmith), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), Japan (Uplink) and the UK (Matchbox). Swedish broadcaster SVT picked it up to air in late 2014. The UK’s Matchbox released Ballet Boys theatrically in September. Other IDFA titles on Wide House’s slate include The Great Museum, going behind the scenes of Vienna’s world famous Kunsthistorisches Museum, which screens in Best of Fests. A slew of distributors have already picked up the picture, including French Jour2Fete and New York-based Kino Lorber, both planning a spring 2015 theatrical release. Titles selected for Docs for Sale include The Man Who Saved the Louvre on World War II Louvre director Jacques Jaujard and his quest to keep the masterpieces out of the hands of the Nazis. It has prompted strong broadcaster interest, selling to Taiwan (PTS), Italy (RAI Historia), Canada (RDI) and RSI for Italian-speaking Switzerland. Clanet says a number of other deals are in the pipeline. Other titles on Wide’s current slate include Finding Gaston, about Peruvian celebrity chef Gastón Acurio Jaramillo; Zombie: The Resurrection of Tim Zom, about a skateboarding pro, and Switzerland’s foreign-language Oscar submission The Circle. Finding Gaston recently sold to Japan (StyleJam Inc.) and the US (Film Movement) and is under negotiation for France, German-speaking territories and Australia and New Zealand. In other sales news, Wide has also just sold The Special Need, which played in Best of Fests at IDFA last year and nearly clinched the audience award, to US next gen digital distributor 108 Media Corp.

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War Games Tonje Hessen Schei’s Drone, which picked up both the Best Norwegian Documentary and the Checkpoints Human Rights prizes at this year’s Bergen IFF, receives its Dutch premiere at IDFA. The film questions the legality of US drone strikes over Pakistan, the number of which has increased alarmingly over the past decade.

35 Cows and a Kalashnikov German director Ossie von Richthofen’s 35 Cows and a Kalashnikov joyously and poetically captures Africa through portraits of three very different sets of African men: painted Suma warriors in Southern Ethiopia; sharp-suited dandies in Brazzaville and muscled wrestling champions in Kinshasa.

When the late filmmaker set about making the picture, he was determined to overturn the stereotypical, Western view of the troubled continent. The film, he explained in an interview conducted prior to his death in August 2013, “had to be special.” There were to be “no boy soldiers, no African dictators, no hunger.” “However important political documentaries are, our intention was to capture the continent from a different angle with a specific filming, editing and music. We wanted to show the world a new view of Africa”, he explained. The filmmaker was joined in the project by German blockbuster director Roland Emmerich, his long-time friend and former film school contemporary, who had also fallen for Africa during the shoot of 10,000 BC in 2008 and agreed to partner as executive producer. “I was continuously involved in the project but I was too afraid to go with them – it was too dangerous. It was Ossie von

Richthofen’s thing to get shot at”, says Emmerich. Other key collaborators included cinematographer Gernot Aschoff and editor Nathalie Puerzer. Von Richthofen singled out the three groups featured in the film through the work of world-renowned photographers Hans Silvester, Hector Mediavilla and Colin Delfosse. His desire to capture the magical side of Africa grew out of his childhood in the Sudanese city of Khartoum in 1960s, which he describes as “a childhood paradise.” “A coup d’état, followed by the never-ending civil war, forced our family to leave the Sudan, but my wish to film in and about Africa never diminished,” he said. Von Richthofen recounts how tracking down the Suma warriors, living in a remote valley in southern Ethiopia, made him feel like the legendary explorer Henry Morton Stanley when he finally made contact with David Livingstone. “I was overwhelmed that we had actually made it. We were visiting one of the last untouched tribes on this planet. What a privilege,” he recounted. Melanie Goodfellow IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary

See the screening schedule in the middle of this paper for screening times.

Dogwoof sales resonate At the start of this year’s IDFA, Dogwoof’s sales arm has announced some eye-catching new deals on its current slate.

One film selling very briskly is Alex Gibney’s Finding Fela, screening in IDFA’s Music Documentary section. This has now gone to NonStop Entertainment (Scandinavia, the Baltics, Iceland), Restart (Former Yugoslavia) and Just Wanted (Italy). These deals follow on from TV sales already concluded with Arte France, VPRO (the Netherlands), AMC Global (MENA, CEE) and Canal+ (Spain). Meanwhile, Lina Plioplyte & Ari Seth Cohen’s Advanced Style, about the fashion sense and daily lives of older New York women aged between “50 and death”, has been snapped up by Madman (Australia & NZ) and Jaguar (In-flight). These deals follow on from the recently announced sales to AMC GLOBAL (Iberia), DBS (Israel) and EBS (Korea), DBS Israel, New Select (Japan), NonStop Entertainment (Scandinavia, the Baltics). Among other deals, Dogwoof ’s doc about 3D printing, Print the Legend, has gone to Canal+ (Spain) and DBS (Israel) and Kim

“Drones were just slipped in as the new normal without us having a proper debate about the new ethical, moral and legal questions that this new warfare raises,” comments Schei. “I really hope we can have a serious debate here in Europe about the very dangerous precedents the US is setting with its use of drones.” The director, whose gaming-themed Play Again screened at IDFA 2014, became fixed on the subject of drone warfare after she heard of a teenage gamer who was recruited as an operative by the US military, and by the age of nineteen was responsible for training new drone recruits.

In her film, she presents whistleblower drone operator Brandon Bryant who admits to having killed 1,626 people, the vast majority innocent, from his remote station in the US. Brandon will be in Amsterdam to attend the film’s second screening and subsequent debate on 23 November. “Brandon has taken great risks in speaking out and being the only voice from inside the drone programme after so many years. We are taking strong precautions about how we do things and where he goes... but he is now working in the UN to set up an international legal framework for drones, so I think he has gotten such wide coverage and has become a spokesperson, so there is safety in that.” Schei reveals another pertinent reason why she is looking forward to screening her film at IDFA 2014. “My mentor and executive producer was Peter Wintonick, so for me it is very special to come back. For me IDFA was Peter. I always hung out with him a lot. I hope he would have been proud of the film.” Nick Cunningam

Around the World in 50 Concerts IDFA opening title Around the World in 50 Concerts was commissioned to mark the 125th anniversary of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – one of the top orchestras in the world. Like all its director’s work, this is a deeply personal documentary, playful and lyrical by turns.

Even before she started shooting, Heddy Honigmann – one of the towering figures in Dutch documentary – was determined to broaden the scope of the film. This wasn’t just going to be a movie about the orchestra, but also set out to explore the impact its music had on audiences in the different cities it visited during the anniversary tour. Even before she started shooting, Honigmann had a vision of black children in Soweto listening to the orchestra. She went to great lengths to track down Sergei, the elderly music lover in St Petersburg who had lived through terrible times during the 20th century – buffeted by both Hitler and Stalin – but who found immense joy and relief in classical music. We

see him at the Royal Concertgebouw concert with tears streaming down his face. The director made the film in what she describes as “a purely intuitive way.” She looked for storytellers among the orchestra members and then gave them the opportunity to express their feelings about their craft. “I call it casting in documentary,” she says of the painstaking way she chooses her subjects. She has a knack of making subjects feel at ease and of eliciting both intimate and surprising revelations from them. Around the World in 50 Concerts is a film made with a tenderness and humour not often found in more conventional docs about classical music. As the director puts it when describing her approach: “I always try to find the joy!” Geoffrey Macnab IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary

See the screening schedule in the middle of this paper for screening times.

Longinotto’s Love Is All has gone to YLE (Finland). Here in Amsterdam, Dogwoof is beginning its roll-out of Ryan Mullins’ Chameleon. The film, screening in IDFA’s Competition for Feature-Length Documentary, is produced by EyeStellFilm. Supported by Sundance, it is a prime candidate for selection at early 2015 festivals following its premiere at IDFA. The company is also beginning pre-sales on Des Henderson’s Project Children, about the NYPD bomb disposal expert who, over the course of forty years, gave 30,000 children from Northern Ireland a holiday in the USA, away from The Troubles. Denis Mulcahy was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, yet his story has never been told. It is produced for Northern Ireland-based Alleycats by Ed Stobard. Dogwoof has worldwide rights on the project. “We are talking to various broadcasters and it was pitching at MIPCOM,” commented Dogwoof ’s head of international sales and acquisitions, Vesna Cudic. “The response has been very positive. I am hoping to find a US broadcaster. It is a US story and I think it will really resonate with US audiences.” Geoffrey Macnab

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Somboon “How much are you willing to do for your soul mate?” This is the question asked in Thai director Krisda Tipchaimeta’s feature doc Somboon.

The Storm Makers Guillaume Suon’s The Storm Makers presents the stories of three people involved in different ways in the shocking trade in migrant workers from Cambodia.

“I always try to find individuals with a strong personal story”, the director says. “People who accept the camera into their daily lives, for a long period of time.” The candidness with which the three protagonists of The Storm Makers talk about their experiences, feelings and activities is one of the most striking features of this disturbing exploration of human trafficking and its consequences in Cambodia. “I try to find people who can express their feelings deeply and tell their story in their own words”, the director says. One of these protagonists is a ‘recruiter’ whose admissions of greed, ruthlessness and illegal exploitation of naïve Cambodian villagers are truly jaw-dropping. “He didn’t want to be filmed at first”, Suon says. “He suggested I only film his hands. I told him I wasn’t interested and wouldn’t film him at all then. He then changed his mind, saying he had lied for so many years and this film was a way for him to tell the truth. He was very careful at first, but seeing I was just filming his daily life, he started to say more, day by day. He’d rather be successful than honest and treated as a slave. I think he represents a side of Cambodian society now, where money can buy anything.” Another protagonist gives a heartrendingly open account of how her life has been completely devastated by the trade in Cambodian migrant workers. “I spent a lot of time talking with all the characters off-camera”, Suon says. “I took the time to build a real relationship with them. I had no problems telling them when I thought they were hiding the truth. So eventually, when they understood I wasn’t making a film to blame or judge them, they opened up.” Suon would like his film to “raise awareness of the danger of migration and the consequences of human trafficking”, but is sceptical of how much impact he can have as a filmmaker: “How do you convince starving young men or women not to try their luck? They bargain with the only thing they have: their lives.” Mark Baker IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary IDFA Bertha Fund Harvest 2014

See the screening schedule in the middle of this paper for screening times.

That Sugar Film Australian actor Damon Gameau sets himself a Super Size Me-style challenge in That Sugar Film, consuming 40 teaspoons of sugar a day – the national average for Australia – for 60 days and monitoring its impact on his body.

Unlike Super Size Me (2004), in which Morgan Spurlock ate only McDonald’s, Gameau upped his sugar intake by consuming foods perceived as healthy. “I developed fatty liver disease in just three weeks, which no-one was expecting, but it was thrilling for the producers as they knew we had a film,” says Gameau. “By the end, I was very close to cirrhosis of the liver and the medical team watching me was adamant it was time to stop.”

Somboon is an old man who has been with his partner Grandma Miad for 45 years. Now, she is ailing. As her body fails, Somboon looks after her with tenderness and devotion. He loves her and treats her with unquestioning kindness. There isn’t much dialogue between them, but their feelings for one another are apparent simply through their looks and gestures. The film was made through Bangkok-based NOB Productions. The crew followed Somboon and his wife over a period of around four years, making regular visits to their home outside city of Ayutthaya. They also left a camera with Somboon’s grandchildren, inviting them to film anything that struck them as interesting or revealing. This detailed and intimate film, shot verité-style, takes us into the heart of Somboon’s life, distilled down to 80 minutes from over 10 hours of material. It has moments of great grace and lyricism, notably a sequence in which we see Somboon gliding across the water in a little skiff. As he rows, we hear music, with plaintive lyrics. “When the sun is gone and the sky is

dim to dark / Being absolutely empty and lonely / When you are gone, the warmth stays still / My heart will be here… beside you!” In 2011, Somboon and the filmmakers faced huge problems from flooding in the rainy season. Grandma Miad fell very ill and it was not possible to get her to a hospital. Meanwhile, Tipchaimeta struggled to reach Somboon’s home, accessible only by boat. Paracha Pavarolarvidya, who produced the film alongside Sathanapong Limwongthong, believes that Somboon will have an appeal beyond its national borders. The setting may be a small Thai village, but every family has to deal with the same problems that confront Somboon. “I think it is a very universal theme for a documentary”, he suggests. The documentary was largely self-financed. In Thailand, the producer points out, “not many people want to see documentary.” The success certain Thai directors have had in the fiction field (most notably the Palme D’or winning Apichatpong ‘Joe’ Weerasethakul) hasn’t been matched in the documentary field. Geoffrey Macnab IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary

See the screening schedule in the middle of this paper for screening times.

Those Who Feel the Fire Burning Despite the grimness of its subject – the lives of refugees rendered penniless and isolated within the ‘promised land’ of Europe – Morgan Knibbe’s feature debut Those Who Feel the Fire Burning is a visual and aural tour de force, made with a surety that belies the director’s 23 years.

In the opening scene, shot in almost total darkness, a male refugee falls from a ship during a storm. As his physical remains sink to the bottom of the sea, his ghost rises to soar and swoop over the Europe he was hoping to reach. There, we are introduced to the lives of refugees who did make it, and hear their whispered, at times lyrical, testimonies. The film isn’t location-specific (although much of it was shot in Athens and in Lampedusa following the disaster in which more than 350 Eritrean refugees were drowned off the Sicilian coast). “We purposefully avoided any kind of geographical information. You could feel that it was Mediterranean, somewhere in Europe, and that was enough information because we were always thinking about how we could tell this story in the most universal way possible”, Knibbe concurs. Knibbe’s camera is both curious and candid (he used a consumer Steadicam rig and Sony FS100, and deployed drones for the dizzying aerial shots), but few subjects seem aware of, or bothered by, its presence and what it records is at times extraordinary. The scenes of grieving relatives in Lampedusa (as the world’s press looks on) are heart-breaking. Later, when Knibbe shoots an intensely physical, all-male Muslim prayer meeting, his camera details every square inch of flesh reddened through self-flagellation. Earlier, we see a small girl in a crowded room, asleep among her family, and hear her whispered words, “I am a bird… I want to fly to places I haven’t seen yet,” before the camera moves on. Knibbe underlines that the films’ narrated texts

“Given that I was only having sugar in perceived ‘healthy’ food, it was a surprise,” he continues. Inspiration for the film came from a personal lifestyle change when Gameau gave up sugar to impress his health-conscious girlfriend. “I noticed the headlines emerging about sugar and that the camps were divided: some said it was toxic, while others said it was great for energy. I decided to find out for myself,” he explains. The actor approached Nick Batzias, head of production at Madman Entertainment. The pair had got to know one another during the shoot of India-set, cricket comedy caper Save Your Legs! which Batzias produced. “When one learns how pervasive sugar has become in our diets worldwide and the impact it’s having on global health, making a film to raise awareness in all sectors of the community seemed vital,” says Batzias. Alongside the 40-teaspoon challenge, Gameau explores a campaign to combat obesity in Australia’s Aboriginal popula-

are always the subjects’ own words, re-recorded. Even the words of the ghost are based on genuine testimony, spoken by an Iranian refugee living in Amsterdam. “We always asked the people to talk very softly. It is supposed to feel like you can hear their thoughts. You are very close and intimate with them.” Nick Cunningham IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary

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tion and flies to the US, to watch a dentist extract the rotten stumps of a man addicted to sugar-laden drinks. His quirky investigation is intercut with interviews with nutrition experts as well as a guest appearance by self-confessed sugar addict Stephan Fry, who gives a breakdown of the composition of the “sugar family.” Gameau will take part in an extended Q&A after the world premiere on Thursday and producer Batzias is also at IDFA to talk about outreach plans for the film, sold by London-based Metro International, at an industry talk on Friday. Melanie Goodfellow

IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary

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Home Director Ramón Gieling’s encounter with the charismatic Cyriaque, an Ivorian refugee holed up in an Amsterdam encampment-cum-squat, was very timely. “I was busy writing a film about ‘home’, but not the mortgage or the bricks – I was fascinated by the concept,” Gieling stresses. “We have so many expressions related to the home. It is where the heart is, thousands of songs relate to it, and I was busy writing a film idea about what it was to lose your home; about, let’s say, the people in Israel or Palestine or Africa. This coincided with an article I read about how 120 refugees had set up an encampment in the middle of Amsterdam – a completely surreal image.” When Gieling arrived with a cameraman in tow he soon encountered Cyriaque, a man held in the highest esteem by his fellow refugees. Poet, rock star and prophet all rolled into one, speaking in metaphor and singing of politics, love and remembrance while plucking an accompaniment on a battered old guitar. “I felt like a painter who had found his model,” Gieling says of the encounter. “I had my main character. It was as simple as that.” Cyriaque’s life has been tragic. He fled the Ivory Coast after his father (who he disliked) was murdered, and he lost a sibling in tragically unnecessary circumstances. He also has

War of Lies a family that he no longer knows. Nevertheless he retains an indefatigable optimism throughout, and is happy to indulge in humorous role-plays with the director, such as that of an immigration office welcoming Gieling to African shores. “He never complained… he has no reason to be optimistic about anything, but nevertheless he is an optimist”, Gieling underlines. The film screens in IDFA’s Dutch competition, but the Music Documentary programme would be just as appropriate, given how Cyriaque’s inherent musicality pervades the narrative. (Gieling’s music doc About Canto screened in IDFA’s feature-length competition in 2011 and his ERBARME DICH – St Matthew’s Passion Stories will screen in IFFR Live in 2015.) “After the last viewing, my producer Peter van Hutsytee said, ‘in the end we made a film about music, but the music is made by an Africa refugee.’ That was a nice way of looking at the material”, Gieling concludes. Nick Cunningham

For his First Appearance contender War of Lies, director Matthias Bittner conducts an in-depth interview with an Iraqi asylum-seeker (Rafed Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi) whose – it turns out spurious – testimony on Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons capability provided the basis for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“I was stunned when I first heard that Alwan was supposed to be the one man most responsible for causing the Second Iraq War”, the director says. “I asked myself, how is it possible for a single individual to lead the world’s best intelligence agencies by the nose? That’s how I got hooked and started researching.” Tracking this enigmatic individual down involved Bittner taking on the role of private investigator. “It was a puzzle – the whole film is – made up of small details,” he recalls. “As you can imagine, this man is not in the phone book. All

IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary

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Wind on the Moon

Like his 2011 IDFA feature-length competition winner Planet of Snail, Seung-Jun Yi’s Wind on the Moon focuses on the love and dedication lavished on a central protagonist who is both profoundly blind and deaf. It is also a film about communication; but whereas a beautiful romance is articulated via finger braille in the director’s earlier film, no such communicatory outlet is possible in Wind on the Moon.

With teenager Yeji, dialogue is almost impossible, and both her mother and teacher/carer can only guess at the complexity of the emotions she feels, or the senses she is trying to convey. She is physical, in so far as she spins like a dervish for long periods, and responds to external stimuli in the most basic of ways. She bites or wails when she is upset, or laughs and hugs when seemingly content. She seals her lips when she is full and a combing gesture indicates that she wants to go out. The film was shot over two years, during a period when Yeji is finally offered a place in a special school for the blind, alongside children whose hearing is not impaired. Prior to that, her devoted mother was forced to care for her at home, even

Solo – Out Of A Dream An 11-year-old boy is shown playing with a ball on a dirt pitch in a Rio township. Cut forward 20 years and we see the same player walking out for a professional team in Europe.

The boy is Leonardo Vitor Santiago. He featured in a 1994 film Dutch director Jos de Putter made about children in the favelas. All the kids De Putter met in Rio had the dream of becoming footballers. Largely thanks to that documentary, Leonardo fulfilled the dream. Dutch club Feyernoord signed the teenager after seeing the film. Leonardo, now 31 and approaching the end of his career (with 1860 Munich), accompanies the director back to Rio. “I’ve often wondered what it means when a film carries away a life,”

learning braille in her desperation to allow communication with her daughter. At the school, Yeji’s progress is very slow but the institutional care offers some respite for her mother, as well as an opportunity to make friends with other women whose lives are seriously affected by their children’s handicap. “When I started this film, nine out of ten people told me not to make another film on the subject of deafness and blindness,” stresses director Seunj-Jun Yi. “If you ask me if I will be returning to this theme in future films, I will say not at all. But if you mean communication, then yes. It can be any kind of communication; between generations or between today and history, or between today and yesterday, between North and South Korean. Communication is a theme that is very important to me as a documentary director.” Nick Cunningham

I knew was which city he lived in. The search lasted more than four months. I often stood in the rain for days in front of houses, waiting for him to come out. One morning, I approached Alwan on the street. At first he denied being the informant, but when I told him his old name from Iraq, he began to grin. We arranged to meet for coffee that afternoon.” Having found his subject, Bittner faced the daunting task of getting such an enigmatic, controversial figure to open up to him. “After extensive research, I gave up on my original notion of telling his story based on cold facts”, he says. “I decided to try to understand the man himself, including his convoluted psyche. How does he deal with the burden of the lie he told and its vicious consequences? These questions were more important to me. I tried to put the audience in my place. Everybody has to make his own decision on whether or not he is telling the truth. But then, can a documentary that deals with international intrigue, intelligence and war ever really speak the truth?” Taking a lead from documentary great Errol Morris, Bittner sees personal communication as key. “In an era in which communication is shifting more and more into the digital world, I find it extremely important to seek the personal conversation; because communication is the solution to all problems”, he says. Mark Baker

IDFA Competition for Feature-Length Documentary

IDFA Competition for First Appearance

Pitched at The Forum 2012

Pitched at IDFA Forum 2012

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De Putter reflects. Back in 1994, he was observing the kids with his camera, making a documentary about their aspirations and the conditions in which they lived. He had no idea he would see them again, or that one of them would enjoy a professional football career in Europe because of him. “I don’t make films to change anything. I just make films to tell stories,” he states, adding that he is not “a sequel man”. Nonetheless, there was a strong connection between filmmaker and subject that prompted him to make Solo – Out Of A Dream. “Every time I meet him, I identify with him, maybe. He identifies with me, maybe. It was like that 20 years ago. It is like looking through a magnifying glass. I recognise a lot of myself in him, but in him everything is much more intense.” The trip back to Rio isn’t simply a triumphant homecoming. Conditions in the favela are better, but most of the other kids

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who used to play football with Leonardo have had difficult lives. There is obvious tension between Leonardo and his mother. He pays her bills, but can hardly bear to be in the same room as her. There are constant flashbacks to footage from 1994. De Putter speaks of his admiration for Leonardo, a self-made man who came from nothing. It is an extraordinary story, but isn’t simply a case of happy-ever-after. Leonardo has endured bad injuries, as well as turmoil in his private life in Europe. Success, the documentary suggests, never comes without strings attached. Geoffrey Macnab IDFA Competition for Dutch Documentary

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by Sylvain Biegeleisen

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FilmmakerFilmmaker Ineke Smits Ineke Smits 11:00 11:00 We We Are 18 discusses the discusses importance the importance of of Are 18 Tomas Kaan the maker’s the signature maker’s in signature hybrid in Tomas hybrid Kaan forms of documentary. forms of documentary. Panorama, 55’Panorama, 55’

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