East Silver Caravan 2011

Vše pro dobro světa a Nošovic , Czech Republic, 2010, 82 min, 35 mm, Creative, Personal view, Social issues

An original portrait of a Czech village that houses a giant car plant built by South Korea's Hyundai. Before the village turned into an industrial zone, many of the landowners had no intention of selling their plots of land... Not until many of them faced pressure from their neighbours who had accepted approx. EUR 4000 in compensation and not until they received death threats. Using nine protagonists, the film paints a portrait of a village changed beyond recognition. A humorous yet compelling film about a field that yields cars.

Mlčeti zlato , Czech Republic, 2010, 90 min, HD, Ecology, Personal view, Politics, Social issues

Situated at the crossroads of global interests, Kyrgyzstan reflects the political rivalry between Russian and American influence, reveals the religious rivalry between Christianity and Islam, and lies between the economic predominance of China and Russia. All That Glitters examines how strange capitalism and democracy can be when introduced to a former Soviet country, where people who were never given autonomy are suddenly expected to make their own financial and political decisions.

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.

Sinee nebo. Cherniy hleb , Russia, 2010, 21 min, 35 mm, Creative, Personal view, Youth Documentary

It is summer, the harvest season. A festival of dust and light. The village is effervescent. Life flows by, peaceful and joyous. The image plays with time, the sound plays with space. A poetic gathering at an up-tempo rhythm, lively, swirling shots framing human beings and nature.

Barlang , Hungary, 2010, 82 min, Beta, Creative, Personal view, Social issues

"If the eye that adventures the vision be dimmed by vice, impure, or weak, and unable in its cowardly blenching to see the uttermost brightness, then it sees nothing even though another point to what lies plain to sight before it. To any vision must be brought an eye adapted to what is to be seen, and having some likeness to it. Never did eye see the sun unless it had first become sunlike, and never can the soul have vision of the First Beauty unless itself be beautiful."Plotinus: On Beauty 1.6.9.

Cinematerapie , Czech Republic, 2010, 108 min, 35 mm, Portrait, Society

Living in the age of reality TV, in a society hungry for sensation, it is easy to feed on the highly emotional stories of people whose futures are being shaped by dozens of professionals. "Cinematherapy" takes a slightly different approach. A commercial aired on Czech Television invited viewers to attend a casting and tell their stories. Later on, eleven of them underwent cinematherapy – provided by the camera as an intermediary between them and the outside world. Blurring the lines between feature film, documentary and reality show, the film does not offer the participants a plastic surgery or a reunion with a long lost friend but lets them witness their often bizarre lives and thus move forward in dealing with their issues.

Betonni faraoni , Bulgaria, 2010, 47 min, Beta SP, Anthropology, Culture, Society

Welcome to the picturesque world of the Kalderash Roma – a closed community of no more than 1 million people all over the world. "Concrete Pharaohs" take us on a journey into the lifestyle and traditions of the most hidden and intriguing Roma communities. A charismatic Gypsy baron will walk us through his stories and his new house. We will learn the hot trends in Roma tombstone design. We will go down into the underground homes of African granite, furnished with beds, wardrobes, stereos and a charged cell phone – a direct line to the other world. A celebration of life and afterlife in all of their manifestations.

Hotel Rai , Bulgaria, 2010, 54 min, Beta SP, Human Rights, Social issues, Society

The young Demir dreams of a wedding. But his Roma tower block at the outskirts of a provincial town in Bulgaria is no place for romance. 25 years ago it had all it takes for panel socialist heaven: from parquet floors to intercom, the coveted hot water central, street lamps, benches under murmuring apple trees. Someone called the place Paradise Hotel – and the name stuck. But now? The parquet disappeared. The water stopped. The lights went off. And if you cross the field behind Paradise Hotel, you will see Bozhidar “The God Given” who protects everyone from evil and excessive happiness in a documentary about panel integration, love, misery, a lot of dreams, a little lyrics and one Gypsy wedding.

Český mír , Czech Republic, 2010, 52 min, 35 mm, HD, Creative, Politics, Society

The story of the Star Wars, the Cold War and the War On Terror of one small Czech village. As part of its National Missile Defense Program, the US plan to build a military base in the Czech Republic, a former hiding place for Soviet nuclear rockets during the Cold War. Despite the fact that 73% of Czechs are against the project, the government has continued with negotiations. Supporters of the base claim that it will strengthen the country's defense against the global threats of the 21st century. Opponents point out that the plan essentially shifts the Iron Curtain toward the east; they also insist that it represents an attempt of the US to rule the world.

Oko nad Prahou , Czech Republic, 2010, 78 min, DV, Art and Culture, Portrait

An extraordinary tale of Jan Kaplicky, one of the most consummate visionaries of modern architecture. Shot over 3 years in the UK, Czech Republic and Italy, the film portrays Kaplicky at the height of his profession and the petty political gamesmanship that denied him his crowning achievement. His most audacious building would have been the Czech National Library, a triumphant return to his home country and vindication of his uncompromising philosophy. The organic design was too forward-looking for the political powers in Prague, however, and the architect tragically died uncertain whether his achievement would ever be realized.

Ģimenes lietas , Latvia, 2010, 58 min, HD, Drama doc, Portrait, Social issues

"Family Instinct" is a film about incest - an illegal act, social taboo and a violation of religious norms. Zanda is a 28-year-old woman, worn out by hard work. Surrounded by poverty and despair, she is trying to survive with her two children in a god-forsaken Latvian village. Her hardships can be traced back to living in a relationship with her brother Valdis. When Valdis is put in jail, the local community forces her to make a difficult choice: to stay with him or with her children. Despite her ill fortune, she manages to express her love for the children, still hoping to save her family. The film offers a tragicomic but highly authentic insight into the bleak reality of Latvian countryside today.

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.

Im Bazar der Geschlechter , Austria, 2009, 85 min, Digi Beta, Gender, Human Rights, Society

A lonesome middle-aged bachelor, a divorced single mother, and a jovial young mullah are the protagonists of this intimate account of gender relations in Iran. Their stories revolve around the institution of temporary marriage, also called lust-marriage, a Shia practice that allows a man and a woman to legally marry for a fixed period of time ranging from one hour to 99 years. Religiously sanctified prostitution or a loophole for couples to have a relationship within the rigid Islamic laws? Religious dogma meets macho, sentimentality meets female realities. A relentlessly honest, eye-opening, and sometimes funny account of Islamic sexual and gender politics.

Lobotoomia , Belarus, Estonia, Germany, Poland, 2010, 57 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Current affairs, Politics, Social issues

Lobotomy is Yuri Khashchavatski's personal indictment of the Russian media's brainwashing tactics. Taking the recent war between Russia and Georgia as a point of departure, he illustrates how far removed actual events were from the conflict as it was reported on Russian state television. The director's own voice drives the argument, but journalists, military experts and politicians also have their say. The film intersperses interviews (live or via Skype) with archive footage that is, in turn, contrasted with amateur clips found on the Internet. Khashchavatski contends that "Montage is a powerful and insidious weapon." And he would be the one to know, because in addition to directing the film, he also edited it and its highly effective audio mix. He is a master of the art of irony as well. This personal account by the director suggests that the Russian state is not being governed according to democratic principles, but by a Mafia-style hierarchy.

Nesvatbov , Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2010, 72 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...

Z kola von - Čo je za tým? , Slovak Republic, 2010, 30 min, DVD, HD, Portrait, Social issues

After the festival success of his films "Here We Are" and "The Border", documentary filmmaker Jaro Vojtek returns with the short social documentary "Out of Round". The main protagonist is a Roma man called Jožo/Fero whose addiction has taken everything from him and pushed him and his family onto the edge of society. Marked by difficult fate, he is still an eternal child whose best friend is Nemo the dog. Despite his primary backwardness he feels mentally superior to other members of his family and is the only one who makes an effort to return to normal life.

Auk Nr 8 , Estonia, Ukraine, 2010, 95 min, HD, Creative, Personal view, Social issues

In the heart of a once thriving Ukrainian coal-mining region everybody digs – retirees, unemployed miners and even the children. Years ago, the town's desperate residents decided to start mining illegally; they excavate everywhere!!! The story focuses on the Sikanov family, which has three children. 15-year-old Yura, the grandson of a powerful Soviet plant director, is the head of the family working as a miner in the illegal pit. Most Jura wants to run his own cafe somewhere far from home, but the responsibility for the two sisters and looming economic crisis pushes his dreams in the distant future.

Planeta Kirsan , Poland, 2010, 52 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Culture, Society

Over the hills and far away, in the middle of the Russian steppe, you will find Chess City. It was built by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the first and only President of the Republic of Kalmykia, one of the smallest and poorest republics in the Russian Federation.In Kalmykia, there also lives a boy called Alekhan, who dreams of becoming the World Chess Champion. And his younger brother Amir, who shares the same dream.The road to make their dreams come true passes through the Chess Competition in Chess City.

Căutare , Romania, 2010, 30 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Portrait

Two characters, a carriage and a horse. Where are they going? Towards what? Joy, torment and undefinable music. Vulnerable, yet not ready to surrender. They are the poets of time.

Suvenýry , Latvia, USA, 2010, 90 min, DV, Drama doc, Portrait, Social issues

Lyrical, intimate, and sometimes humorous, "Souvenirs" is a eulogy in film of a Veteran whose Post Traumatic Stress Disorder case is actively under review by the Veterans' Affairs office 8 years after his suicide. Ivars ‘Andy’ Pelecis was a man who wanted to move on. Andy survived the Vietnam War physically, but lived without recognition of his war related mental illness until the day he took his own life in 2002. After 30 years of struggling to ‘survive the peace’ through alcohol, and ten stays in the locked ward at hospital, Andy’s case was reopened by his social workers. Mara Pelecis, Andy’s daughter, seeks to reveal her dad’s real story that was hidden from her as a child. She continues to ask the question of ‘Why he was the way he was?’

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.

Gry wojenne , Poland, Slovak Republic, 2009, 110 min, 35 mm, History, Politics, Portrait

"War Games" is a story about a man whom historians consider as the most important spy of the cold war era. The main character of Dariusz Jabloński’s documentary is Ryszard Kukliński (pseudonym: Jack Strong), a colonel in headquarters of the Polish Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie) in the ‘70s. Between 1972 and 1981 he handed over to the West over 40 thousand pages of the top secret Warsaw Pact documents. Some people claim that if it wasn’t for those documents, maybe all Europe would be licking their wounds after the worldwide nuclear cataclysm. Americans see him as a hero, Russians – as a traitor, Poles are divided...

Austria, United Kingdom, 2010, 94 min, HD, Art and Culture, Experimental, Music

V I N Y L (tales from the Vienna underground) is the first feature-length documentary to reveal the interconnected world of experimental, trash & electronic musicians in Vienna, and how the artists in this historically unique space interpret which sounds make music in very different ways. V I N Y L is also partly a love letter to a cultural icon – vinyl records - which have been a part of so many people’s lives for decades, and which persist in the future of music creation & distribution, despite the pervasiveness of digital technology. In this film, vinyl is a metaphor for something we love, even for its imperfections and scratches, and so it is with these musicians’ love-hate relationship to their city. Some things must change, but some things will be important forever.

Lumea vazuta de Ion B. , Romania, 2009, 60 min, HD, Art and Culture, Portrait

Ion B. is a 62 year-old homeless man. His bed is a filthy foam mattress at the bottom of a garbage chute. Ion sorts through the daily household garbage of the block, avidly reading the books, magazines and newspapers he finds. Since the 70s he has been creating collages from them that he calls "my films".

Darbalaužu balets , Latvia, 2009, 49 min, Beta SP, Adventure and Sport, Culture, Society

The European championship football madness, drunken "experts" at the provincial stadium, the backstage of National team, raving fans at the streets of Paris and Lisbon. Football is a sport and entertainment through possibly there is more to the game. In the film "Working Class Ballet" philosophers, linguists, neuropsychologist and football coach are contemplating on the parallels between football and drama of life, forming an unusual tale on what football is or could be.

Hunky Blues - az amerikai álom , Hungary, 2009, 100 min, Beta, Archive , History, Society

The internationally acclaimed director and recipient of the Erasmus Award in 2007, PéterForgács created a documentary exploring the fate of hundred thousands of Hungarianmen and women who arrived to the United States between 1890 and 1921. To tell theirsagas Forgács weaved this grand epic from the early American cinema, found footage,photographs and interviews. The film reveals the difficult moments of arrival, integrationand assimilation, which eventually fed the happiness of the later generations and theirfulfillment of the American dream.

Negatív Magyar Filmtörténet , Hungary, 2010, 47 min, 16 mm, DV, Archive , Art and Culture, Creative

Reconstructions of unrealized Hungarian films in cooperation with the greatest Hungarian film directors.

Pa Rubika Celu , Latvia, 2010, 30 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Experimental

Rubiks’ road is the bicycle road connecting Riga and Jurmala. It is still unofficially associated with the name of the former Communist Party leader of Soviet Latvia. While we were filming pedestrians, joggers, bicyclers, dogs, birds, trains, scooters and airplanes, the citizens of Latvia elected Alfreds Rubiks, a person strongly against the independence of Latvia, to the European Parliament.

Kralj Matjaž , Slovenia, 2009, 27 min, Beta SP, Portrait, Social issues, Youth Documentary

The story of a fallen son. Seppl has turned his back on his family and the conventions of society. Inspired by the legend of Kralj Matjaž, who ruled in Carinthia (Austria) in the middle ages, he is now setting out to save the world - from Catholicism, Capitalism and the strata of society who are destroying everything, academics. When Seppl sees his sister again his hard shell is softened for a short time. Their family history has left its wounds on both sides.

Ilja , Slovak Republic, 2010, 30 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Music, Portrait

A film manual on how not to get pulled down by communism or by ones own death or The last days of Ilja Zeljenka, the most famous music composer of the second half of the 20th Century, known for auditioning his forbbiden cantata for two reciters "Auswitch".

Zachraňte Edwardse , Czech Republic, 2010, 80 min, Beta SP, Health, Society

For the purposes of this film, Edwards is a child; a long-awaited child of a loving couple, a child struck with a terrible and fatal mistake at conception. Edwards had an extra chromosome, one more than the exact number required for the development of a healthy baby. This flaw causes severe developmental disorders that cannot support life. The condition was first described by American medical scientist John Alexander Edwards, hence the name Edwards Syndrome. Considering modern prenatal diagnostics, it is very uncommon for such children to be born. In the majority of cases, the pregnancy is terminated. The parents of this child decided otherwise. The film follows the struggle of the parents to save a child who was buried by many long before being born.

Ženy SHR , Czech Republic, 2010, 58 min, Beta SP, Current affairs, Portrait

A documentary portrait of two women, who plays a very personal game with the fate of Horni Jiretin, a town endangered by coal-mining industry. With typical mixture of sensitive approach and irony the authors shows the whole case and uses both women, press agent of mining company and chatelaine/eco-activist, as their guides. Their personal stories mirror the current case of total liquidation of Horni Jiretin, small town that stands in the way of another coalmining.