Dokufest: Caravan, Swiss Films and Balkan Dox

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.

East Silver 2010 / Silver Eye Award 2010/ East Silver Caravan 2010 / Ex Oriente Film 2006 / East European Forum 2006 /

Cinema Komunisto, Serbia, 2010, 100 min, Digi Beta, HD, Arts and Culture, Creative, History, Politics, Society

When reality has a different script from the one in your films, who wouldn't invent a country to fool themselves? Using rare footage from dozens of forgotten Yugoslav films, as well as never-seen-before archive from film sets and Tito’s private screenings, the documentary recreates the narrative of a country, the stories told on screen and the ones hidden behind it. Stars such as Richard Burton, Sofia Loren and Orson Welles add a touch of glamour to the national effort, appearing in super-productions financed by the state. Tito’s favorite film director, his projectionist who showed him films every night for 30 years, the most famous actor of partisan films, and the director of the film studios who was a secret policeman – all tell how the history of Yugoslavia was constructed on the screen.

East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan 2011 / East Silver TV Focus 2011 / Docu Talents From the East 2008 /

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.

East Silver 2010 / Silver Eye Nominees 2010 /

Selo bez žena, Croatia, France, 2010, 83 min, Digi Beta, HD, Creative, Social Issues, Society

In Southwest Serbia, atop a mountain and four kilometres from the nearest road, the Jankovic brothers hold down the fort in the womanless village of Zabrdje. Dragan, Zoran, and Rodoljub, along with their neighbour, Velimir, represent the entire population of what was once a vibrant rural community. They live in tough conditions. No running water, no roads, not even a hint of a woman’s touch. Not to mention, the three brothers still share the same bedroom. Zoran, the eldest brother, dreams of marrying a woman capable of handling life in Zabrdje. Can he fulfil his dream and renew hope in his village?

East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan 2010 / East European Forum 2008 / Ex Oriente Film 2008 / Docu Talents From the East 2009 /

Poplava, Croatia, 2010, 41 min, Digi Beta, Environmental, Personal View, Portrait

Kosinj and neighboring villages, passive parts of Lika are tormented by floods every twenty years or so, due to heavy rains and snow melting. Villages, couple of kilometers away from river Lika are under water. The whole region becomes one huge lake where the only communication mean is by boats. Film follows stories of two volunteers - during the flood, each of them becomes the only link with the rest of the world for their respective communities, Serbian and Croatian.

East Silver 2010 /

Mila traži Senidu, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, 2010, 83 min, Digi Beta, Human Rights, Social Issues

Mila is a girl who went missing in May 1992, when Serbian troops entered her village of Caparde in Bosnia. At about fifty people from the village, including her mother Senada and her older sister Sanda, went missing or were killed. For sixteen years it was believed that Senida, who was 11 months old at the time, met the same fate. However, Senida’s story had continued...

East Silver 2010 /

Die Näherinnen, Germany, Macedonia, 2010, 26 min, HD, Social Issues

Talented people like artists or writers who stayed have one choice only: work as seamstresses. Eriela, Beti and Vesna are seamstresses in the small town of Stip. If they wanted to afford one of their handmade blouses, it would cost them a months salary. While the women are fully employed, their men are less fortunate and find themselves unemployed after the collapse of communism. A situation with a lot of potential conflicts for the couples. The men find it hard to be dependent financially on their women.

East Silver 2010 /

Themerson & Themerson, France, Poland, United Kingdom, 2010, 72 min, 16 mm, Digi Beta, Arts and Culture, Creative, Portrait

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.

East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan 2010 / East European Forum 2008 /

Poza zasięgiem, Poland, 2010, 30 min, Digi Beta, Portrait

Karolina and Natalia seek refuge from their domineering father and reminiscence about sad childhood without a mother in a basement of their block of flats. When the younger sister’s poor eyesight starts to deteriorate, the girls decide to find Bożena, their mother, who left the family when they were young. The director, Jakub Stożek, accompanies Karolina on her journey to Paris where the older sister is supposed to meet the mother whom the girls know only from the voice message left on the phone she never answers. Will the daughter be able to establish a bond with the mother she has not seen for fourteen years?

East Silver 2010 /