East Silver Doc Market
October 24 - 29, 2008
Jihlava, Czech Republic
Submission deadline for 2008 edition: July 30 2008
East Silver is common project of IDF and Jihlava IDFF
Please check out the list of screenings and awards of the current East Silver Caravan edition:
Road to Mecca – The Journey Of Muhammad Asa
- Hot Docs official program
- Visions du Reél official program
DIRECTOR: Georg Misch
SCRIPT: Miriam Ali de Unzaga, Georg Misch
PHOTOGRAPHY: Joerg Burger
EDITING: Marek Kralovsky
SOUND: Hjalti Bager-Jonathansson
At the beginning of the 1920ies, the Austrian Leopold Weiss takes a journey to the Middle East. The desert fascinated him; Islam became his new spiritual home. He left his Jewish roots behind, converted to Islam and started calling himself Muhammad Asad. Becoming one of the most important Muslims of the 20th century he first started to work as an advisor at the king’s court of Saudi-Arabia, later translated the Koran, became a co- founder of Pakistan and finally ambassador of the UN.
Corridor #8
- Hot Docs official program - winner of the HBO Emerging Artist Award
- Visions du Reel official program
- Krakow Film Festival industry screening
- EUROfEST 2008 Montreal competition screening
DIRECTOR: Boris Despodov
SCRIPT: Boris Despodov
PHOTOGRAPHY: Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov
EDITING: Gergana Zlatanova and Boris Despodov
MUSIC: Petar Dundakov
SOUND: Momchil Bozhkova
Corridor #8 is a mosaic film combining fragments from the everyday lives of the characters who live along a non-existent Balkan road. The road passes through the countries of Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. In the same time Corridor #8 is a huge EU infrastructural project meant.
The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories
- Crossing Europe official program
- Krakow Film Festival special screening
DIRECTOR: Andrey Paounov
SKRIPT: Lilia Topouzova and Andrey Paounov
PHOTOGRAPHY: Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov
EDITING: Andrey Paounov and Orlin Rouevski
MUSIC: Momchil Bozhkov
A small town and its hopeful citizens are about to embark on a bright new journey. Massive rusty cranes, foreign investors, and the joyful chants of cheerleaders carry the dream of a great nuclear future. Disturbed only by gigantic stinging mosquitoes, the townsfolk celebrate the atomic hurray by engraving the nuclear power plant logo on buildings and soup bowls. Amidst the apparent atomic prosperity, lies a past that no one wants to remember. An island holding terrifying secrets. Stories of shocking and horrible crimes loom on the city just like the dark clouds of mosquitoes descending on its citizens.
Citizen Havel
- Hot Docs official program
- Visions du Reél official program
- Crossing Europe official program
- 5th IF Human Rights Documentary Film Days official program
- V Cinema Politica IFF official program - industry screening (to be confirmed)
- EUROfEST 2008 Montreal competition screening (to be confirmed)
- Krakow Film Festival industry screening
DIRECTOR: Pavel Koutecký , Miroslav Janek
PHOTOGRAPHY: Stano Slušný
EDITING: Tonička Janková, Martin Steklý
In the course of 13 years the crew has filmed 45 hours of images and recorded 90 hours of sound material. This truly unique material offers new looks behind the scenes of international politics in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, and also into events in a post-totalitarian country during its transition to democracy.
Václav Havel was a key figure in the great changes that took place in central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s – the film material captures his work and influence both in his country and internationally. Among the truly unique events captured on film is Bill Clinton's State visit to the Czech Republic in January 1994, the forming of the new governments after the elections of 1996, 1998, and 2002, and the preparations for, and course of, the historic 2002 NATO Summit in Prague.
Jan Saudek, Trapped by His Passions, No Hope for Rescue
- Krakow Film Festival special screening
DIRECTOR: Adolf Zika
SCRIPT: Adolf Zika
PHOTOGRAPHY: Jan Barton, Robert Bily
EDITING: Bob Sean Clark
SOUND: Pavel Dvorak
MUSIC: Claus Grabke
The full-length documentary film Jan Saudek provides a personally truthful yet harsh life story of a hero and dropout. It is presented as a grand drama, not just full of stirring, colorful photographs, but also provocative ideas, illusions and ideals. Jan Saudek became a world-renowned photographer, winning international awards and being exhibited abroad, long before he had gained recognition in his native country. He is a man who appears in many roles before the camera, often changing them, often surprising, and often shocking. However, even the most versatile illusionist is incapable of entirely hiding in the face of three cameramen in action under the supervision of a director.
Lost Holiday
- 5th IF Human Rights Documentary Film Days - official program
- Krakow Film Festival industry screening
DIRECTOR: Lucie Králová
PHOTOGRAPHY: Tomáš Stanek
EDITING: Jakub Hejna
SOUND: Richard Müller
Documentary detective story. Lada, a Czech traveller, finds by chance a dirty suitcase in a Swedish waste bin. It contains only a very carefully packed plastic bag full of film rolls. Lada takes all of the 22 film rolls home to Prague and has them developed. There are 756 fascinating photos from a trip of seven Asian men, probably from China. Lost Holiday tells the story of the search for these unknown tourists, based only on the lost photographs. We would like to give the photos back to them. And so the unknown men from Asia become guides on our exciting journey and we are searching through the lost photos also for the possible nature of contemporary man.
Peace with Seals
- 22nd Pärnu Film Festival program screening
DIRECTOR: Miloslav Novák
SCRIPT: Ferdinand Pštrosu
PHOTOGRAPHY: Jakub Halousek, Emanuele Coppola
EDITING: Adam Brothánek
SOUND: Martin Ženíšek, Zdeněk Taubler
MUSIC: Nino Rota, Ludwig van Beethoven
The feature-length documentary tells two stories teaching a lesson about human nature. The first one shows Gaston the sea lion which was carried off by flood waters down the Vltava river as far as Germany. After its death, the Prague ZOO set up a monument for the animal. Fifty years earlier, another sea lion called Odysseus was put into the Fontana di Trevi in Rome, Italy. The animal world meets with that of humans. The beaches of the Mediterranean Sea - formerly full of sea lions - are now full of people who go on hunting tours. What is the domestication of animals, and what is the domestication of people?
The Tapdole, the Rabbit and the Holy Ghost
- Hot Docs official program
DIRECTOR: Filip Remunda
SCRIPT: Richard Komárek
PHOTOGRAPHY: Vít Klusák
EDITING: Matouš Outrata
SOUND: Michal Gábor, David Nagy, Václav Flegl
Strategy of protest - hell and the others - how to be liked by God.
For four years, the orthodox priest Libor Halík has been singing psalms aloud outside the maternity hospital in Brno. This is his everyday protest against abortions. The documentary features a man who is convinced that Czech people prefer laziness to hard-working Christian love, that abortion is murder, homosexuality is perversion, and atheism is a deadly sin. His prayer guard outside the "abortion factory" meets with opposition, but he still goes on holding the cross and saying: You can never be a prophet in your own house and land.
Worldstar
- Visions du Reél official program
- Krakow Film Festival industry screening
DIRECTOR: Natasa von Kopp
SCRIPT: Natasa von Kopp
PHOTOGRAPHY: Beate Scherer
EDITING: Sarah Krumbach
SOUND: Vladimir Martinka
MUSIC: Katerina Pavlovská
A film about an old man with no needs and a remarkable past, facing the hype as an artist against his will. For decades Miroslav Tichy´ lived like a hermit in a small town in Moravia in the Czech Republic, surrounded by just a few, loyal friends. Now, in his old age, he has to cope with the unwelcome disruption of an invasive hype that surrounds his life`s work. "They should have come earlier, now it`s too late, I don`t want this." he says. In the art world meanwhile, he is presented as a fighter against the communist regime, and the photographs are being sold for up to 12 000 Euro.
52%
- Hot Docs official program
- 5th IF Human Rights Documentary Film Days - official program
DIRECTOR: Rafal Skalski
SCRIPT: Rafal Skalski
PHOTOGRAPHY: Jakub Giza
EDITING: Cecylia Macura
MUSIC: Lukasz Lach
Alla wants to become a ballet dancer very much. It is her yet another attempt to be admitted to the famous Russian Waganowa Ballet Academy in Sankt Petersburg. Entrance exams are extremely difficult for her. Alla needs to practice more to lengthen her legs since her proportions are not correct. 52% is an ideal ratio of legs to height. The film was made during the second edition of the project Russia - Poland. New Gaze.
The Existence
- Visions du Reél official program - Du jeune public Award
DIRECTOR: Marcin Koszalka
SCRIPT: Marcin Koszalka
PHOTOGRAPHY: Marcin Koszalka
EDITING: Anna Wagner
MUSIC: Zygmunt Konieczny
A great Krakow actor, Jerzy Nowak, has battled against a serious disease for years. The film is a record of his way of taming death and dignified preparation for its arrival. The hero is not indifferent to the posthumous fate of his body, which he bequeathed to the Medical Academy for scientific purposes. He talks with his lawyer and friends, with full awareness and acceptance of what is to come.
Gdanski Railway Station
- EUROfEST 2008 Montreal competition screening
DIRECTOR: Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz
SCRIPT: Teresa Torańska
PHOTOGRAPHY: Rafal Paradowski, Andrzej Adamczak
EDITING: Grażyna Gradoń
SOUND: Janusz Stoklosa
"Gdanski Railway Station" is an attempt to deal with the painful period of Polish history - the year of 1968 and the anti-Semitic hysteria outburst that caused a massive exile of Polish citizens of Jewish descent.
Stone Silence
- 5th IF Human Rights Documentary Film Days - official program
DIRECTOR: Krzysztof Kopczynski
SCRIPT: Krzysztof Kopczynski
Photography: Jacek Petrycki , P.S.C. Hanna Polak
EDITOR: Anna Dymek
On April 23rd, 2005 a 29 year-old woman was publicly stoned for adultery in the Afghan village of Spin Gaw. The story of this powerful documentary begins five years before the aforementioned event broke over international media waves causing a stir on news programs and talk shows. It follows Amina who was given away by her family to be married to Muhammad. But lucky for Amina and Muhammad, they had been neighbors growing up and knew one another well. Right after the wedding however, Muhammad left his new bride for find work in Iran. Amina lived alone. Then Karim appeared in her life. The two were eventually caught together and accused of violating the law. This engrossing film chronicles their affair, trial and punishment with piercing candor.
The First Day
- EUROfEST 2008 Montreal competition screening
DIRECTOR: Marcin Sauter
SCRIPT: Marcin Sauter
PHOTOGRAPHY: Marcin Sauter
EDITING: Tymek Wiskirski
It's a story about one of the most important moments in everybody's life. About the first border young people have to cross to become adults. In this film it's a few children from tundra moved to the urban environment. This film was made within Russian-Polish cooperation on New Gaze project (second edition).
Cold Waves
- Visions du Reél official program
DIRECTOR:Alexandru Solomon
PHOTOGRAPHY: Alexandru Solomon
SCRIPT: Alexandru Solomon
This is a love and hate story built around something no one can see or touch: radio waves. During the 80’s, Radio Free Europe was the secret relief and confidant of its Romanian listeners. The Radio was Ceausescu’s most important enemy; he even hired Carlos the Jackal to close it down.All the protagonists of this story confront themselves once more in COLD WAVES: speakers of the radio, along with terrorists, listeners as well as party and Securitate officials, Romanians, Germans, Americans and French altogether.
The world has changed, there are different wars now. But if you listen to the voices, you may get a better picture.
