Gaining substantial knowledge of broadcaster’s slots and also current programming needs, we individually select and recommend particular documentaries directly to the international TV stations and networks. Following TV stations manage various slots focused on contemporary documentary films on different topics:
ARD/MDR, ARTE France, ARTE ZDF, BHRT, CANAL+, ERR, IKON, Lichtpunt, NRK, Planet TV, Planete, RTBF, TV Slovenija, SVT, TV2, Voyage, VPRO, VRT Canvas, YLE, DR, ORF, ARTE G.E.I.E., Al Jazeera, Sky Arts
Documentary films from East Silver catalogue sent through TV Focus to various broadcasters for their consideration:
Arsy-Versy (Miro Remo, 2009)
Slovakia, 23‘
The film is a story of a mother and her son Lubos who lives in a world turned upside-down, or, arsy-versy. Lubos broke free from the world as generally conceived by others to arrive at the supreme human-nature symbiosis; he flew away to a planet purely inhabited by butterflies - intelligent beings. The sole focus of his life energy, enriched by a great deal of empathy, is being channelled into his amateur photography and film making, the climax of his fascination with natural phenomenon being his unique study of bats. By way of communicating with the upside-down creatures he is fascinated with, he attempts to achieve the utmost understanding a
Themerson & Themerson (Victoria Szymanska, 2009)
Poland, United Kingdom, 80‘
The film is retracing the love story of an unusual and unique creative union. It is a well-hidden treasure in the culture and art of the 20th century. Franciszka and Stefan Themerson lived and worked together for almost sixty years, first in Poland, then in France and eventually they settled in England. The only time when they were separated was the outbreak of WW2 but even then they remained connected.
Miloš Forman: What Doesn’t Kill You… (Miloslav Šmídmajer, 2009)
Czech Republic, 100’
Though a number of documentaries about Miloš Forman have been made in recent years, it is a subject that will never cease to inspire other filmmakers. Over the last fifteen years, Forman's life has taken some unexpected turns. Enjoying a privileged relationship with Forman, the filmmakers were able to capture some less-known details of his personal life that have had a considerable impact on his work and that have in various contexts been reflected in his films. The documentary blends Forman's personal and professional life, with interviews and statements from his family members, friends, actors and other colleagues who have been part of his filmmaking career (F. Murray Abraham, Annette Bening, Woody Harrelson, Michael Douglas, Saul Zaentz, Jean-Claude Carrière, among others). The film was shot in Connecticut, New York, Paris, Madrid, Valencia, Prague and other locations in the Czech Republic.
The Border (Jaro Vojtek, 2009)
Slovak Republic, 72’
During the night of August 30, 1946, the village of Slemence on the eastern European border, was divided by the Red Army into two parts. One part, Veľké Slemence, remained in Slovakia [former Czechoslovakia]; the other part was renamed Malé Slemence and became a part of Ukraine [in the former Soviet Union]. The absurdly demarked border, similar to the famed Berlin Wall, divides estates, the cemetery, and closest families up to this day. This documentary pictures the bitter experience of people from Slemence, who dream of the opening of the most closely-watched border of the European Union.
Nyarma (Edgar Bartenev, 2008)
Russia, 41’
Film is about everyday life of reindeer-breeders in polar Ural mountain region of Russia.
Protagonist of the film is 17 years old farmer Gosha, who owns in his comparatively little age rather big deer farm. It's a film-portrait, film-destiny of the human and the silent melody of a mankind.
The Leader is Always Right (Salome Jashi, 2010)
Georgia, 45‘
Summer camps financed by the president in Georgia seem to offer lessons in nationalism, hatred and obedience. Since 2005, these camps have been attended by hundreds of thousands of boys and girls. The programme is clear: to cultivate a "love of the nation" among children. This primarily means developing animosity towards Russia, which has been interfering with the country's autonomy. The camp leaders remind their charges of the injustices that occurred to them during the conflict in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Uniforms with the Georgian state symbol, flags on the cabins, ideological slogans and the rule that "the leader is always right" are all things that serve to remind each boy and girl of the past and to demand vengeance. Suggestive lectures and plays exert emotional pressure and strengthen the desire for revenge among these "foot soldiers." According to them, blood can only be repaid with blood. A stark future is outlined when the children leave the camp with a clear idea of what "patriotism" means. Director Salome Jashi show how conflict can never end, if it is fed by fervent nationalism.
Polar Explorer(Nikolay Volkov, 2009)
Russia, 40’
Protagonists of the film are polar explorer Tomash Petrovsky, the chief of a floating station "Northern Pole SP-33" and his mother Romualda Flyorovna, waiting for his son in a small Byelorussian village Petrovskaya. Eternal story of a son, who leaves the house for dangerous and exhausting scientific work in the deep of the North and his mother waiting and praying for him in warm land with flourishing garden and bumbling bees.
CERN or The Factory For the Absolute (Jan V. Sacher, 2010)
Czech Republic, 52‘
CERN or The Factory For the Absolute is a documentary film about the Largest Hadron Collider in the world (LHC), which is located near the French - Swiss border. With the help of this accelerator the scientists want to simulate the situation shortly after the Big Bang. As a result they hope to get basic information about the structure of mass and get to know the last secrets of the universe. On the background of the first LHC beam injection in September 2008, we take a closer look at many serious questions to be explored. At first, the introduction of the CERN institution, explanation of the experiments and their expected results and introduce the technological severity of the project. Of course we also discuss the question of possible risks of these activities that are reined by human.
Gatekeepers of War (Zijad Ibrahimovic, 2009)
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, 52‘
A man returns to his homeland for a funeral. The bodies of his parents were discovered in a mass grave. Someone who returns home after twenty years is looking for answers. War, however, does not offer answers, it produces questions. The home he had left was lived in by other people and then abandoned. The walls of the house bear signs of violence, of memories. Looking at the rooms the man searches for the meaning of the events. Memories overlap with the worn out images on an old video tape- the everyday routine of a town that could have never fathomed war. In his own way, the man begins to question the meaning of the words home, roots, escape, war, exile, future and peace. He discovers that "maybe the only real truth is that my town has not changed, that it has stayed the same, waiting for me, without haste. Almost as if it knew that sooner or later I would have returned, to come to terms with the past."
Faithful (Nastia Tarasova, 2008)
Russia, 28‘
Sometimes rules and traditions of the ancestors stand in the way of one's private life, but one puts up with that, always remaining loyal and faithful... Original version (Russian) with English subtitles.
