The main Award, the DOX:AWARD won the documentary film Le Quattro Volte (Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, 2010). For the full list of winners of all categories please visit the festival website.
Also in the programme of the festival could be found several films from the central and eastern Europe that are included in the East Silver 2010 and East Silver Caravan. The this year’s winner of Silver Eye Award, Polish film At the Edge of Russia by Michal Marczak was in the main award competition at CPH:DOX as well, together with the above mentioned The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu. Apart from that the visitors could see other festival titles such as Cooking History (Peter Kerekes), David Wants to Fly (David Sieveking) or Metrobranding (Ana Vlad, Adrian Voicu) and others.
At the Edge of Russia
Director: Marczak Michał
Producer: Rowinska Marianna
Production company: Ozumi Films
Koniec Rosji , Poland, 2010, 72 min, Digi Beta, Society
Alexei is a nineteen year old recruit being flown in to perform his military service on the frontier of northern Russia. The base is one of few such remaining outposts on the Arctic Ocean. There are five other seasoned and long serving soldiers stationed here, each with their own personal story or secret that has caused them to retreat from the real world. Their training and breaking in of the new arrival is sometimes humorous, at times harsh. Gradually, they each reveal something of themselves in their daily interactions and private moments as they continue their absurd duty in this snow covered no man's land, hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement.
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu
Director: Ujica Andrei
Producer: Moraru Velvet
Production company: Icon Production
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.
Metrobranding - A Love Story Between Men and Objects
Director: Vlad Ana, Voicu Adrian
Producer: Puiu Anca
Production company: Mandragora
Metrobranding , Romania, 2010, 102 min, Beta, Creative, Society
In the communist Romania we had but a single brand of each basic product: the Relaxa mattress, the Dragasani sneakers, the Pegas bicycle, the Mobra motorcycle, the Fieni bulbs and the Ileana sewing machine were the stars of the Romanian golden era. These six brands had spectacular destinies. They appeared approximately at the same time, along with the socialist industrialization. As overnight towns were built around the factories producing them, they have become the objects of desire for the Romanian daily life and dreams.
Cooking History
Director: Kerekes Peter
Production company: Mischief Films, Negativ s.r.o., Peter Kerekes, ORF - Österreichischer Rundfunk, Czech TV, Slovenská televízia - Slovak Television, YLE - Finnish Broadcasting Company
Ako sa varia dejiny , Austria, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2008, 86 min, 35 mm, DVD, HD, Creative, History, Personal view
A documentary film about army cooks. It shows how the everyday need of thousands armed stomachs affects the victories and defeats. About the field "kitchen" as a model of a world where food preparation becomes a fight strategy; a fight for great ideals standing on strong legs of the kitchen table. The film is based on eleven recipes of the cooks since the Second World War till the war in Tchechenia; from France through the Balkans to Russia.
Russian Lessons
Director: Konskaya Olga, Nekrasov Andrei
Producer: Grude Torstein
Production company: Piraya Film
Norway, Russia, 2010, 110 min, 35 mm, HD, Current affairs, Human Rights, Politics
Just after the first shots were fired in the Russia-Georgia War in August 2008, the Russian documentary-makers Olga Konskaya and Andrei Nekrasov went to the very heart of the conflict at the border with South Ossetia. Each of the directors comes from a different side of the fence: Nekrasov from Georgia, Konskaya from Russia. The two filmmakers question eye-witnesses to the events of August 2008 and try to put together a picture of the conflict. The testimony of those who witnessed the war is supplemented with references to the media's manipulation of facts. In this unconventional and very personal film the two directors try to present their own view of who bears responsibility for the war despite the difficulty of making such judgements.
David Wants to Fly
Director: Sieveking David
Producer: Heisler Martin, Rettinger Carl-Ludwig
Production company: Lichtblick Film, Navigator Film
David Wants to Fly , Austria, Germany, 2009, 96 min, 35 mm, Creative, Religion, Society
In search of enlightenement young David follows his idol David Lynch and uncovers the billion-dollar industry behind Transcendental Meditation. A sprightly docu about finding own artistic inspiration, both tongue-in-cheek and seriously questioning the Transcendental Meditation financial empire.
