East Silver at IDFA

Stíny minulosti , Czech Republic, 2010, 85 min, HD, Creative, Docu drama, History, Politics

"Forgive your enemies but never forget their names." (J. F. Kennedy). For the first time people from the opposing sides of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Czechs and Russians face each other on screen. Shadows of the past tells the story of a Russian dissident who protested the invasion, the daughter of one of the hundreds of people killed by the invading soldiers, a Soviet soldier who played an active role in the invasion and a Czech driver who witnessed the shootings. The stories of these everyday people, playing out in the background of a decision by powerful politicians, are a confrontation of motivations, attitudes, judgements and also of the repercussions they faced for their decisions. All this from todays perspective – forty years later. Who is guilty and who is a victim in a regime that gave people the choice of staying faithful or betraying themselves?

Manuál na výrobu teroristy , Czech Republic, 2010, 90 min, DV, DVD, Politics, Social issues, Youth Documentary

In the Basque region of Navarra, the director - a stranger - stops the passers by at the political graffiti, letting them explain what they mean and why they were painted. A documentary feature about repression, the anti-terrorist act and the events that happen within our common borders.

Nebe peklo , Czech Republic, 2010, 84 min, Digi Beta, HD, Personal view, Portrait, Society

"Heaven Hell" is a full-length documentary film project dealing with human diversity that doesn't necessarily lead to hell even though it might seem like that from the outsider's point of view. It is an attempt to defend even very extreme notions of freedom if such notions are well-founded and lead to new horizons of human understanding. The film portrays people who have found pleasure in pain and decided not to hide this passion, or at least not to suppress and deny it any more. These people either inflict pain or demand it from others, but they do not force anyone to do anything. This closed society is often labelled by its members as BDSM.

Katka , Czech Republic, 2010, 90 min, 35 mm, HD, Creative, Portrait, Time Laps

Helena Třeštíková's film is a remarkable documentary tracing fourteen years in the life of a young junkie and her futile battle with drug addiction. Why did she start taking drugs? She claims she wanted to be different. The year is 1996 and 19-year-old Katka lives in the Sananim therapy community in the town of Němčice with hope for a normal life – she dreams of having a boyfriend and even a family, some day. But there's no happy ending. The director records Katka's descent over the years into a spiral of theft, prostitution, physical and psychological deterioration – a spiral that is broken only by brief flashes of hope and resolutions to stop taking drugs. Katka's desire is sincere, but in the end drugs always win. Will Katka finally find the strength when she becomes pregnant and motherhood offers her life-sustaining motivation?

Nesvatbov , Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2010, 80 min, Digi Beta, HD, Creative, Society

A situational documentary film about a village mayor trying to match local people in their thirties who are still single. Slowly but surely, the Slovak village Zemplínské Hámre is dying out. Its mayor, a retired general, doesn't want to give up though. Fighting the thirty-year-olds' loneliness, he has used various means such as offering a financial reward for each newborn child or encouraging people to make children in the local public address system. None of it has worked. However, the mayor has a new plan. He decides to organize a dating party for singles from all the neighbouring villages...

Dugo putovanje, kroz istoriju historiju i povijest , Belgium, Macedonia, Serbia, 2010, 58 min, DVD, Current affairs, History, Politics

Almost 20 years since the collapse of the old Yugoslavia, the time has finally come for the ultimate Balkan road movie… Two writers, a Croat and a Serb share the driving in a Yugo, the ultimate symbol of their common past, and drive it from one end to the other of the road once known as the "Highway of Brotherhood and Unity". It is a journey through the past, present and future… from Slovenia to Macedonia, via Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. They aim to look at their common past, find out how history has set them apart, ask where the present is leading them and have a lot of fun while travlling.