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LET'S CEE Film Festival
Author: Rada Šešić (Curator)
→ Click here for LET'S CEE Documentary Competition - all dates & tickets
Echoing Walter Benjamin’s ideas on how storytelling transmutes information into wisdom,we could look at our ten documentaries as cinematic gems, which convey real life stories in ways that capture us. The filmmakers not only mirror the relevant aspects of the reality of a person, a family, a city or a sports club, but share with us their vision in cinematically sophisticated and thought-provoking approaches. Each and every documentary moves us and leaves a long-lasting impression, providing us with a number of corridors for contemplation as well as an intellectual and emotional stimulus that lasts long after the screening.
Bağlar, one of the documentaries directed by two courageous female directors from Turkey, Berke Baş & Melis Birder, brings us the exciting story of a group of youngsters who are confronted with political as well as social downfall and hypocrisy since childhood. Communion, by young Polish Anna Zamecka, tackles crucial issues in a very refined manner: parenthood, faith, illness, the search for love and hope. Another meticulous documentary maker, Romanian Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, worked for seven years on A Mere Breath. This profound family drama changes its physical and emotional shape in front of us and addresses our common humanity. In the Bulgarian-Finnish production The Good Postman, Tonislav Hristov tackles hot topics of today’s world with the same humour and lightness as in the past: migration, xenophobia and political corruption. In continuation, Meelis Muhu’s Estonian documentary Let’s Play War makes a further step and questions our capacity for moral judgement about ourselves and those next to us. Liberation Day by Uģis Olte & Morten Traavik is a Norwegian-Latvian co-production on the rebellious Slovenian band Laibach and their concert in the most obscure place and circumstances – North Korea. The story unfolds in a remarkably suspenseful and charming manner. Zosya Rodkevich from Russia with her debut film My Friend Boris Nemtsov, bravely draws a personally oriented narrative into a much bigger picture. The selection of documentaries throws both the beginners as well as the masters into the same circle. Miroslav Janek is a Czech professor of cinema and an international experienced practitioner. Each of his films, including Normal Autistic Film, centre upon total honesty and humanity. Scream for me Sarajevo marks the debut of Tarik Hodžić from Bosnia and Herzegovina and deals with an exciting question: Is there any normality in abnormal life circumstances? Finally, the Polish 21 x New York by Piotr Stasik is a film essay, which sophisticatedly plunges into the omnipresent alienation and solitude of modern society.
We offer ten strong cinematic approaches, ten thought-provoking narratives and dozens of reasons to immerse into them as well as interact with the filmmakers.
