DOKLeipzig 2014/ 6/ My Winners

Your filmkommentaren.dk correspondent has seen the 12 long documentaries in the Dok International Competition 2014. He thinks it would be fun to make HIS list of winners for that category. I.e. a main prize and two honorary mentions. The films have been seen at the Dok Market during the last week, and it has to be said that the general level of quality for the 11 is high and that I appreciate the diversity in themes and storytelling.

Best film

”Suddenly My Thoughts Halt” (Portugal) (by Jorge Pelicano) (2014), 100 mins.

For its cinematically conveyed love to its characters at the hospital in Porto and the humorous and original storytelling approach with an actor, who moves in and tries to understand and to interpret insanity, helped by intelligent patients with wise words and authenticity.

Honorary Mention

”Rules of the Game” (France) (by Claudine Bories & Patrice Chagnard) (2014), 106 mins.

This well made, excellently photographed and edited human documentary catches, what it means to be young and unemployed, and to be involved in a training programme, where you are taught to write applications and ”sell” yourself at job interviews. It’s light in tone, it’s universal, the youngsters keep their own personality in this apparent no-go situation.

Honorary Mention

”Toto and His Sisters” (Romania) (by Alexander Nanau) (2014) 93 mins.

Heartbreaking. Mum is in jail, one sister is on drugs, the other fights for herself and for Toto in this film about a lost childhood, misery and poverty. With a society that tries to get the small boy away. Yes, away but to what? Toto is good at hip hop, that takes him away… A film with a strong sensibility for character and narrative.

http://www.dok-leipzig.de

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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