Heino Deckert is producer and managing director of ma.ja.de. Filmproduktion (founded in 1991) based in Leipzig and Berlin and holds a share in Blinker Filmproduktion based in Cologne as well as running Deckert Distribution, a distribution company for documentaries.
He has studied law in Berlin and was student at the German Film and TV Academy Berlin (DFFB).

Heino has produced more than 50 documentaries, among them Staub (Dust) by Hartmut Bitomsky that had its international premiere in 2007 at the International Filmfestival in Venice. Children. As Time Flies. by Thomas Heise has been the only German film in the international competition at DOK Leipzig 2007 and awarded a Silver Dove. As a coproducer ma.ja.de. was involved in 3 Rooms of Melancholia by Pirjio Honkasalo which won two prices in Venice 2004. Currently Heino is producing the new film of Victor Kossakowsky Antipodes.

Heino produced his first fiction film in 2006 with documentary filmmakers Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth. The film Khadak was premiered in Venice and won the Lion of the Future. It was shown on several festivals among them Toronto and Sao Paulo. The US premiere was at Sundance 2007. In the moment the new film of Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth (Altiplano) is in post production and also the first fiction film project with documentary filmmaker Sergej Loznitsa (You my Joy) will be shot in summer 2009.

Heino Deckert lectures on production and distribution of documentaries for organisations such as EDN,
Ex Oriente, Discovery Campus, Sundance Institute and Eurodoc.
Heino Deckert was the chairman of the European Documentary Network (EDN) from 2006 – 2008.

With a background consisting of a Masters Degree in Film and Mass Communication (studies at the University of Copenhagen and University of California, Berkeley) and professional experience from the MEDIA 1 project DOCUMENTARY as well as experience from promoting shorts and documentaries with Filmkontakt Nord, Cecilia Lidin joined the EDN team in 1998. At EDN Cecilia Lidin is course director for a number of the workshops and seminars organised by EDN, and she functions as a tutor and moderator of film discussions, and conducts courses about documentary filmmaking in Europe. Cecilia is a moderator of pitching sessions at different events amongst others Docs Barcelona, Lisbon Docs, Propitch France, Docu regio, and Nordisk Forum. Cecilia contributes to DOX magazine reporting from different film-events and reviewing films, and on a daily basis consults EDN members in questions of project development, financing and distribution. Cecilia Lidin has served on numerous juries at film festivals around Europe. Since 2006 also appointed artistic director of Odense International Film Festival.

Tue has been working with short and documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board – as press secretary, head of distribution and information and as a commissioning editor. Articles for national and international newspapers and magazines. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord and Documentary of the EU. Travelled to European short and documentary festivals often to be seated as a jury member. Has given documentary courses and seminars in more than 30 countries. In 2004 awarded the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. In 2005 awarded a prize at the DOCLisboa for his contribution to the international development and promotion of Portuguese documentaries. Since 1996 when it started, director of EDN (European Documentary Network). Given the EDN Life Achievement Award 2005. From 2006 free lance consultant and teacher in Danish and European documentary matters. Selector and consultant for the festivals DOCSBarcelona, Magnificent7 in Belgrade and Leipzig. Teacher at the documentary film school Zelig in Bolzano, Italy. Head of Studies at the European training programme Ex Oriente.Tutor at other training programmes like Archidoc, EAVE, ZagrebDOXPro and Documentary Campus. Writes at www.filmkommentaren.dk daily, almost.

Mikael has been a dedicated documentarist since he made his first documentary, in 1977, now hidden for the public in his cellar. Most of the 80’s Mikael worked with distribution and theatrical release of documentaries.
In 1988 he attended script writing at the Danish Film School. Worked as a freelance production manager up through the 90’s and organized the film festival ‘Films from the South’ from 1995 – 1998. Made a desk-cross-over from 1998-2002, where Mikael worked as production adviser at The Danish Film Institute. Mikael started his exclusive career as tutor at EDN workshops in the same period. Attended EAVE 1998/99. Since 2002 is a co-owner and producer at Final Cut Productions in Copenhagen. Has produced a number of international documentaries, among them ‘The German Secret’ screened at IDFA 2005. In an EDN Board Member since 2005, and Chairman of the EDN Executive Committee as of 2008.

Director of EDN, Line Sandsmark, brings fifteen years of industry experience with her to EDN and comes from a position as producer of short, documentary and feature film. In addition to producing Sandsmark has worked as administrative and artistic director of the West Norwegian Film Centre, and was instrumental in boosting this regional funding body and the surrounding production environment into a vibrant, internationally recognized and award-winning film milieu. Sandsmark entered the film sector working with acquisitions and programming for distribution, exhibition and festivals.

Professional “time-outs” allowed for a year of theatre studies in New York City, as well as a commissioned report on the re-establishment of cinemas and cultural centers in the post-Oslo accords, post-Intifada Palestine of the mid-nineties.

Sandsmark has a degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington, and post-graduate work in Critical Studies and Film Analysis at the University of Paris.

Rada Šešić, born in Croatia, worked as a film critic and director of several short and documentary films in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1993 she came to the Netherlands and since then is based in Utrecht. She established herself as a specialist for South Asian cinema and Eastern European film. Šešić is a guest lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and works as a programme advisor for the International Rotterdam Film Festival and the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam. She is also a programmer of Kerala Film Festival (India) and head of the Regional Documentary competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Since the beginning of Jan Vrijman Fund (part of IDFA) that supports creative documentaries she is in a selection commity and since recently in Hubert Bals Fund (part of IFFR) that supports feature fiction films as well as in the Dutch Fund STIFO, that supports television coproduced creative projects.
She is also a lecturer at the Dutch Institut for the film education. Recently she became a main programmer of the International Bukurest film Festival, Romania and a selector of the international docs at the Sofia Film Festival, Bulgaria. Šešić writes for Skrien (The Netherlands), Dox (Denmark), Film Guide – Variety (UK) Documentary Encyclopedia (USA) Film Annual (Croatia) collaborated on the book “24 Frames” by Dina Iordanova.

Piret Tibbo-Hudgins worked as a Producer in Estonian State Film Studio Tallinnfilm after graduating in 1985 from All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. Over a five-year period from 1986 – 1991 she produced three feature films. In the beginning of 90s she became a freelance filmmaker in different international productions. In 1995 Piret co-founded Allfilm and was a Managing Director of company until 2002. Since 2002 she has been working again as a Producer. Also lecturing audiovisual management at the Baltic Film and Media School.

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH, UK

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH is the 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel. With broadcasting centers in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, the channel will set the news agenda, bridging cultures and providing a unique grassroots perspective from underreported regions around the world to a potential global audience of over one billion English speakers.
The station broadcasts news, current affairs, features, analysis, documentaries, live debates, entertainment, business and sport. Al Jazeera English is part of a growing network that is now extending a fresh perspective from regional to global through accurate, impartial and objective reporting.
Flora Gregory has worked for over 20 years in broadcast television, much of this time working with independent television companies as series producer, producer, line-producer, field-producer, or production manager on some one hundred productions including arts, current affairs, social history, science and wildlife documentary films. She was Director of the Edinburgh International Television Festival (1990 – 92), the first chair of the Production Managers’ Association (1991), Programming Manager of Discovery’s The Learning Channel (1992/3). Prior to joining AJE Flora worked as Producer and latterly Series Producer on Unreported World, Channel Four’s flagship foreign affairs series (2000 – 2005).

DR INTERNATIONAL SALES, DENMARK

DR International Sales is a part of DR, the Danish Broadcasting Corp., and is Scandinavia’s largest distributor of high quality programming. We distribute documentaries, fiction and children’s programming produced in-house by DR as well as by independent producers and production companies to broadcasters world wide.

We are looking for strong international documentaries for distribution, preferably 1 hour but also feature and series. Topics should be of interest to an international audience and can range from strong social and political themes, over investigative journalistic films to arts and culture. Generally unique stories and strong narratives.

Charlotte Gry Madsen has an MA in Media Studies from Copenhagen University and supplementary training in documentary co-production and financing. Has previously worked with television production, but moved to DR and has been working with international distribution since 1998.

MORE4, CHANNEL 4, UK

Channel 4 does not produce its own programmes but commissions them from more than 300 independent production companies across the UK, a far greater number than any other broadcaster, including the whole of the BBC. It works very closely with the independent production sector, and invests heavily in training and talent development throughout the industry.

Placing a premium on “innovation and experiment in the form and content” of its programming, Channel 4 has been Britain’s most cutting edge, controversial and creative broadcaster of the last two decades.

Channel 4 was established by Act of Parliament in 1982 and came on air in November of that year. It enjoys unique status as the world’s only major public service broadcaster funded entirely by its own commercial activities, including advertising-funded digital TV channels E4, More4 and Film4.

Tabitha Jackson originally joined Channel 4 as part of the Specialist Factual commissioning team, after 15 years of film-making, which included the RTS-winning Motherland for the BBC and the Emmy-winning Rx for Survival for PBS.

Since September 2008 she has been the Editor of More4 – Channel 4’s high end digital channel – where her role includes overseeing the flagship international documentaries strand True Stories.

AUTLOOK FILMSALES

Born in 1968 in Belgium, Peter studied law and philosophy. As a young film freak, Peter helped create a new film magazine and became Commercial and Marketing Director. Following his passion for film Peter became Marketing and Acquisitions Consultant for several major independent film distributors and film exhibitors. In 2005, together with Austrian production companies, Peter founded and became Managing Director of Autlook Filmsales. Docs like Our Daily Bread and Blind Loves were sold worldwide to theatrical distributors.

ESTONIAN PUBLIC BROADCASTER – ERR

General: Estonian Television consists of 2 channels and is the biggest Estonian language broadcaster in the world. Acquisitions: Average yearly budget for acquisitions is ca 1 million EUR. Co-Productions: Mostly local co-productions but open to pre-buys (for creative documentaries mainly). Can only support international co-productions involving an Estonian independent production company. ETV 2, digital TV channel, was created in 2008 to broadcast Russian language programmes and programmes for children.
Main documentary film slots: Current Affairs docs: weekly, 1 hour dokkaader (docframe): creative author films, weekly, open end
AegRuum (TimeSpace): scientific docs, weekly, 1 hour Natural History: weekly, 1 hour Music Documentaries: weekly, 1 hour

[ITVS] INTERNATIONAL, USA

[ITVS] International promotes programming that transcends stereotypes and headline news to provide international television audiences with new insight into the cultures and people that comprise our global community. We work with independent producers to create and present documentaries that take creative risks, advance issues and represent points of view not usually seen on public or commercial television. ITVS International commissions and acquires programs, and we offer an annual open submission process – International Call – for independent producers from countries outside the U.S. to apply for financial support, production and distribution services. The next International Call deadline will be February 5, 2010.
[ITVS] International is funded by the International Media Development Fund made possible by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

In January 2007, Cynthia Kane moved cross-continent to work as Programming Manager for ITVS International overseeing the initiative and the International Call for funding. ITVS International promotes an international exchange of documentary films made by independent producers, bringing international voices to U.S. audiences and stories from the U.S. to audiences abroad. ITVS International has co-produced 81 international documentaries since its inception in 2005, including the multi-award winning Waltz With Bashir. Prior Cynthia had many incarnations from actor to writer to producer. She co-created DOCday on Sundance Channel during her 10-year tenure there.

RUSSIA

In the 70-80s Grigory Libergal worked at the All-Union Radio where he produced more than 500 music programs. He also worked as a member of the research group at the USSR Film Fund where he gave lectures and translated films. His job also included simultaneous translation during festival screenings.
In 1990s he worked for the Soviet Export Film Agency where he participated in joint projects with Paramount and 20th Century Fox. Mr. Libergal is one of Russia’s top specialists in cinematography, TV programming and the history of cinema.
From 1992 – 2007 Grigory was the Program Director at Internews for the Open Skies Program. This project helped to disseminate more than 2500 of the best Russian and foreign documentaries to hundreds of Russian TV stations.
Grigory Libergal produced more than 30 documentaries, including such well-known films as Everything About Vertov (2002), Dreams about Alfeon (2002), Dziga and his Brothers (2002).

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE DOCUMENTARY FILM PROGRAM, USA

Cara Mertes is currently Director, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, overseeing the activities of the Documentary Film Program and Fund, including granting between $1 and $2 million per year to independent documentarians globally, directing three Creative Documentary Labs at Sundance Resort, supporting documentary programming and panels at the Sundance Film Festival and the Sundance Independent Producers Conference, curating work-in-progress screenings with partner organizations and other initiatives of the DFP. In 2008, she inaugurated Stories of Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Focus Through Documentary, a $3 million, 3 year partnership between the DFP and the Skoll Foundation which will fund up to10 films on social entrepreneurs meeting today’s global challenges.
The DFP also launched DocSource at www.sundance.org/docsource, a website connecting independent documentary filmmakers and human rights stakeholders worldwide. Mertes was previously Executive Director of American Documentary, Inc. and Executive Producer of P.O.V., PBS’ acclaimed independent documentary showcase from 1999-2006, where she was recognized with eight Emmy Awards, three George Foster Peabody awards, two duPont-Columbia Awards and three Academy Award nominations, most recently as Executive Producer for Nerakoon: Betrayal. Mertes is Executive Producer of over a dozen independent documentaries, including Street Fight; My Country, My Country; Boys Of Baraka; and Two Towns Of Jasper. She was the creator and Executive Producer of P.O.V.’s original online showcase, P.O.V.’s Borders, winning a Webby Award, Batten Journalism Award, On-Line Journalism and Parent’s Choice Award.
She is a member of NATAS and WGA East, and graduate of Vassar College, BA, and Hunter College, MA. A long-time New Yorker, she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

LITHUANIAN TELEVISION

Lithuanian National Radio and Television – LRT is Public broadcaster. LRT operates 2 national TV channels, 1 satellite channel and 3 Radio channels.
The TV first – has few slots, which consist of wild-life and travel type of docs.
The LTV2 is a culture channel with 52 min. slots for docs.
The LTV World is channel for Lithuanians in United States with 52 min. slots for docs about Lithuania.

Number of co-productions per year, average budget
LRT, its Film Studio department is making approx. 8-10 films/year. 6-7 of them are national or international co-productions. LRT’s input mostly is technical equipment, and technical assistance. The financial input is not available.

Special demands and new initiatives
The preferences in international co-productions are given to projects related to historical, cultural, political, social issues, with stories related to Lithuania.

ESTONIAN FILM FOUNDATION, ESTONIA

The EFF is responsible for supporting professional Estonian film production and promoting Estonian Film culture. It operates under the auspices of Estonian Ministry of Culture and its budget for 2009 is 3.76 million Euros, which is mainly used to finance features, shorts, animation, and documentaries (575 000 Euros). International co-productions are supported only with Estonian co-producers on board. The number of co-productions in the documentary field per year is approximately 4-5.

ARTE/ZDF, GERMANY

ARTE is a European public-service culture television channel. Its originality lies in the fact that it targets audiences of different linguistic backgrounds, especially French and German. It is composed of three entities: The Head office in Strasbourg; and the two members (responsible for programme production and delivery), ARTE France in Paris and ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH in Baden-Baden.
ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH, the German member of ARTE, reflects the federal structure of public broadcasting in Germany. The ARD and ZDF, both state broadcasting stations, are shareholders in ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH. They produce or acquire the programmes which constitute the German contribution to ARTE telecasts. While the ZDF accounts for 50% of the German share and supplies all genres, including cinema features, TV dramas, documentaries and theme evenings, theatre and opera productions, ARD has established an arrangement whereby its individual stations focus on different specialities.
ARTE is financed, in France and Germany, through the television license fee.

Reinhart Lohmann after studying History of Art in Munich and Cologne, he became a filmauthor, journalist and editor for ARD. From 1982 on he filmed political, cultural and economical subjects in many European countries as well as in the USA and in Israel. >From 1987 to 1991 he was editor for a ARD live talkshow with international guests from politics and culture. In 1991 he joined ZDF and from the beginning participated in the creation of ARTE. He was specially involved in political theme evenings, documentaries, features and the cultural magazine Metropolis. In 2007 he became head of ARTE’s political weekly magazine Zoom Europa at ZDF.

LATVIAN TELEVISION

Latvian Television is the national broadcasting company, receiving part of the assets from state. It broadcasts on two channels – LTV1 and LTV7.
The priority of LTV1 being documentaries produced in Latvia or films reflecting a subject related to Latvian society, history, politics, etc. LTV7 has several 52 min documentary slots (weekdays at 20.00) for programmes dealing with current affairs, lifestyle, wildlife and civilizations. LTV7 also has a Sunday daytime 26min slot for travel diaries.

YLE CO-PRODUCTIONS, FINLAND

YLE Co-Productions is the department dealing with co-productions with independent producers for the YLE channels TV1, TV2, Teema and FST. For international pre-buys or co-productions the contribution is generally 2 000 – 10 000 EUR.

YLE TV1
The main YLE news channel, with a considerable share of current affairs and factual programming. In co-productions we look for personal, cinematic creative documentaries with human substance. Yearly: 15 – 20 pre-buys and co-productions.

Main documentary slots include:
Sunday Documentary at 21:15 (60’, open-end option) with various themes, co-production, in-house and acquisition (buyer Arto Hyvönen).
New Cinema, Sunday late night with an open-end, shorts, documentaries, fiction, experimental, something off the main stream – acquisitions, pre-buys and co-productions (in charge of strand Sari Volanen).
History, Wednesday 19:30, 60′, acquisition (Nina Tuominen)
Science, Monday 19:05, 60′, acquisition (Nina Tuominen)
Nature, Saturday and Wednesday, 60’/30′, acquisition (Johanna Salmela)
Current Affairs, Wednesday 22:00, 55′, acquisition (Arto Hyvönen)

YLE TV2
Dokumenttiprojekti at 22:05 open-end strand, slot targeted towards a wide audience able to read cinematic form (in charge of strand Iikka Vehkalahti). Looking for strong human interest stories, domestic and international, dealing with social and political issues, set in the present time or historical. About 15 pre-buys and 2 – 3 co-productions per year.

YLE Teema
A channel dedicated exclusively to culture, science and education. Documentary strands include open-end Ateljee (in charge of strand Outi Saarikoski), and one-hour strands for arts, science, history. Every Saturday, Teema has a theme evening, which includes documentary films, feature films and discussion programs dealing with the same theme from different perspectives. About 10 – 20 pre-buys and co-productions per year.

YLE FST
The Swedish language full-service channel of YLE. Three weekly strands for documentaries (in charge of strands Jenny Westergård). Main strand FST-dokumentären, 60’ on Monday evening, for good creative documentary stories. On a yearly basis YLE FST buys, produces and co-produces 100 – 150 hours of documentaries in different genres, mainly of Scandinavian and European origin.

Rada Šešić, born in Croatia, worked as a film critic and director of several short and documentary films in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1993 she came to the Netherlands and since then is based in Utrecht. She established herself as a specialist for South Asian cinema and Eastern European film. Šešić is a guest lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and works as a programme advisor for the International Rotterdam Film Festival and the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam. She is also a programmer of Kerala Film Festival (India) and head of the Regional Documentary competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Since the beginning of Jan Vrijman Fund (part of IDFA) that supports creative documentaries she is in a selection commity and since recently in Hubert Bals Fund (part of IFFR) that supports feature fiction films as well as in the Dutch Fund STIFO, that supports television coproduced creative projects.
She is also a lecturer at the Dutch Institut for the film education. Recently she became a main programmer of the International Bukurest film Festival, Romania and a selector of the international docs at the Sofia Film Festival, Bulgaria. Šešić writes for Skrien (The Netherlands), Dox (Denmark), Film Guide – Variety (UK) Documentary Encyclopedia (USA) Film Annual (Croatia) collaborated on the book “24 Frames” by Dina Iordanova.

ARTE is a European culture channel. ARTE was the first public broadcaster to give viewers a preview of picture-perfect HDTV. Our programmes are also available on website, either as streams, podcasts or video on demand.
The Current Affairs, Social Issues and Geopolitical Department is in charge of several programmes:
Collections of documentaries:
Biographie, 43 min, series of portraits about committed contemporary famous people;
l’Art et la Manière, 26 min, series of programmes following some of the most important European contemporary artists at work, during their creative process;
Philosophie, 26 min, is in our daily life, even if we don’t know it. We are all philosophers and this is the way this program has to be listened and watched.
Daily magazine:
Chic! 26 min, is a lifestyle magazine unveiling the latest trends in architecture, design, fashion, gastronomy and art.
Weekly Magazines:
Zoom Europa, 43 min, presents lively reports on current European affairs featuring daily life economics and politics;
Metropolis, 43 min, – original, critical and accessible – this culture magazine details Europe’s and world’s intellectual and cultural life;
Globag Mag, 26 min, is the planet magazine which allows us understand the economic, social or cultural questions linked to hot environmental debates.
Theme Evening (2 X 52 min):
Thema on Tuesday is focusing on the contemporary world, looking at our society today and analysing changes and disruptions on a social and geopolitical level.

Since one year, we invest in a new way to write documentaries by producing web-documentaries such as Gaza-Sderot, Life in Spite of Everything, Cuba Miami… a two minutes web documentary on line everyday during more than two months and then becoming a 52 min documentary broadcast on the channel.

Alex Szalat is a director of short films, documentaries and TV series since 1977. His filmography is extensively covering a full range aspects dealing with European life culture and society. In 1987 A. Szalat founded KS VISIONS, an independent producers’ society and has produced over a hundred documentaries and TV series for Canal +, ARTE, FR3, FR2, TF1, Planete, IBA, RTBF, Dutch Channel 1 amongst others. Since 2005 A. Szalat was commissioning editor for the Geopolitical Europe and Society Department of ARTE France, and as of 2008, he heads the Current Affairs, Social Issues and Geopolitical Department.

The aim of Het Vrije Woord is creating informative programmes on topical matters from a humanist point of view. Above all, we attempt to approach our television viewers as frank adults, and special attention is given to situations where openness is being limited. The themes treated are analysed from an ethical, and not from a political or party-political standpoint.

MDR is a public service channel in the ARD Network, based in East Germany (Leipzig). It is financed mainly by license fees. MDR is broadcast to Eastern Germany and contributes with a share of approximately 10% to the national ARD programme. It also delivers programme to ARTE and 3sat. MDR is being broadcast by cable, satellite and terrestrial network.
MDR produces documentaries (from 30’ up to feature length) for regional broadcast and for the nationwide ARD Network and ARTE. The Culture and Society Department produces and commissions documentaries with topics ranging from History and Society to Current Affairs, from Science to Arts and Religion. Special focus is laid upon the local history and stories from Eastern Europe and Russia.

Dr. Katja Wildermuth is Head of Documentaries in the editorial office History and Society at MDR Television in Leipzig, Germany. She is responsible for historical documentaries, docu-dramas, contemporary feature length documentaries for MDR, ARD and arte – and for international co-productions.

Before heading History and Society Katja Wildermuth worked for several other editorial offices, commissioning documentaries as well as news magazines. Beside that she worked herself as an author and director for several TV formats. In the early nineties she was engaged for several years as a scientific researcher and lecturer at the University of Munich and graduated in 1994 with a Ph.D. in History.

Recent documentaries Dr. Katja Wildermuth commissioned are e.g. Durakovo. Village of Fools (dir. Nino Kirtadze; Sundance Festival Winner World Cinema Directing Award 2008), Alone in Four Walls (dir. Alexandra Westmeier; Locarno Winner Semaine de la Critique 2008; Max Ophüls Festival Winner Best Documentary 2008; New Berlin Film Award 2008), Do Communists Have Better Sex? (dir. André Meier; Prix Circom 2007), Letter to Anna – The Story ofJjournalist Politkovskaya’s Death (dir. Eric Bergkraut; Vaclav-Havel-Award 2008); The House on August Street (dir. Ayelet Bargur; silver price Haifa Festival 2008); Cutting the Cord (dir. Daniel Syrkin; Plovdiv Silver Chest Award 2006).

Directed by John Webster, produced by Millenium Film, Finland, 2009, 85’

Film director John Webster convinces his family – his wife and two children – to participate in an unusual experiment: to go oil-free for at least a year. They continue their daily lives, but give up their car, plastics and polyethylene packaging. Through the experiment they find out that it’s not only the attempt to buy unpackaged toilet paper, but a test of willpower, comfort and values, risky for a family’s peace and happiness. Recipes for Disaster is a comedy of errors about a subject too serious to ignore.
In 2006 the European Commission began a large-scale campaign “You Control Climate Change” and provided recommendations through the website http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/campaign on how to lessen energy consumption. It’s an undeniable fact that half of all harmful emissions are caused by household waste and car-generated exhaust fumes.

Directed by Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, produced by Doro Bachrach, Ruth Charny, Laura Nix, USA, 2009, 90’

Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are a pair of rabble-rousers fixated on political, economic and environmental crimes. Distributing a falsified issue of The New York Times or speaking on behalf of industrialists and promising compensation to the victims of an environmental disaster, excellent political actors Andy and Mike talk of joint-responsibility and offer solutions to problems. Walking on a knife’s edge and changing reality for a short moment, the boys point to a more positive-thinking and greener world. To some it’s a fairytale, to others a nightmare, but be that as it may, it turns out that saving the world is an exciting and fun affair that anyone can do!

On www.theyesmen.org there are partisan-worthy suggestions for getting a say at important press conferences and unmasking hypocritical ads and politician’s statements. World-savers share their experiences and their numbers are growing rapidly!

Directed by Geoffrey Smith, produced by Roco Films, UK, 2007, 93’

I am operating on people’s thoughts and feelings…and if something goes wrong I can destroy that person’s character… forever, says Henry Marsh, London brain surgeon and trailblazer. For more than 15 years he has been heading to Kyiv in his free time to perform pro bono operations, encountering new challenges in doctor-patient relations. The patients see him as the great saviour from the West, and his Ukrainian colleague, Igor Kurilets, sees him as a guru and a benefactor. Despite the fact that the available medical equipment is old and the local support staff is not always on top of the game, Henry cannot end his mission. The prominent doctor still embodies simplicity and compassion, riding an old pushbike to work, gratified each time he saves a life.

Soundtrack by cult musicians Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. The English Surgeon has won over both audiences and critics. Thanks to the film, some Americans have turned to volunteering. H. Marsh has set up a charitable fund for the building of a new hospital in Ukraine.

Directed by Anders Østergaard, produced by Magic Hour Films, Danish Film Institute, DR Dokumentar, Danida, Channel Four Television Corporation, Denmark / UK / Norway / Sweden, 2008, 85’

In 2007, led by pacifist Buddhist monks, more than 100 000 people took to the streets in Burma in protest of the 40 year-long dictatorship. Foreign journalists were banished, internet contact was severed, and the country was cut-off from the rest of the world. In spite of this, a handful of local reporters armed with modest video cameras risked their lives to record the repressions. 27 year-old Joshua becomes the group’s leader. Thanks to his activity from a hideout in Thailand, the filmed material is sent to Norway and from there, via satellite, the events in Burma are shown to the world. Burma becomes front-page news and the hottest story on TV. The shaky footage from on the scene creates an effect of being physically present. This film could be a riveting thriller if it wasn’t the dire truth.

According to the international organization Reporters without Borders 2008 press freedom index, Burma, alongside North Korea, is included in the world’s 5 most repressed countries.

Directed by Avi Mograbi, produced by Les Films d’Ici, Avi Mograbi, Israel / France, 2008, 81’

Roni is a former elite unit soldier who, during service, participated in the revenge murder of two Palestinians for the deaths of several Israeli soldiers. Hidden under a digitally created mask, Roni seeks redemption and answers to questions about humanity, wartime morality and conflict with one’s conscience. The alter ego role is played by Roni’s girlfriend, allowing for reflection on the boundary between soldier and murderer. Through music, the director expresses his own confession and conflicted view on military experience.

The Israeli war veteran organization Breaking the Silence (www.shovrimstika.org) has published confessions from more than one hundred soldiers on their painful wartime experiences and crimes committed during service. Z32 is the testimony number of the film’s hero.

Directed by Jaak Kilmi, Kiur Aarma, produced by Kuukulgur Film, Estonia, 2009, 80’

A film about a strange kind of information war where the totalitarian regime faces pop-culture heroes in the trenches, and final victory goes to flirty Emmanuelle and secret agent MacGyver. About a time when Western pop-culture played a significant role in shaping the views of Soviet youth, though from today’s perspective it may seem a little strange and exaggerated. Finnish TV was the window to a dreamland for Estonia that the Communist party leaders never managed to close. Even though Western frequencies were blocked, many homes found a way to access the forbidden fruit. Disco and Atomic War expresses a singular view of recent history where spy-film elements co-mingle with human tragic-comedy.

“Our brains were bombed with television waves. This completely changed our whole lives. We were in a situation where the real life world began to seem a little asinine, and all the pretty and exciting things were hidden away in television sets”, says director Jaak Kilmi.

Directed by Atanas Georgiev, produced by Mischief Films, Nukleus, Trice Films, Austria/ Macedonia/ Croatia, 2009, 76’

The lives of Marko and Atanas, two young Macedonians, would be sweet as honey if only they could solve the problem of their papers. They are prepared to do anything to get an EU passport and stay in Vienna – even buy a wife! The boys set out on an odyssey through Vienna looking for the ideal woman, one who would be willing, for 7000 Euros, to walk them down the aisle and later agree to a divorce. Buy a wife and get a free passport! – a funny and touching glimpse into the everyday lives of immigrants and the ease or difficulty in obtaining a ticket into the fortress known as the European Union.

This information can be obtained by Googling “Obtaining EU Passport through Marriage”
– some1 hu is experienced or noes of ne laws to get passport in germany please let me know soon.
– EU countries have strict regulations for obtaining citizenship. In order to get an EU passport, a person married to an EU citizen must be 18 years of age, live in the country of choice for at least 6 years, be of good character…and the marriage must last 2-4 years…

Directed by Alina Rudnitskaya, produced by St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio, Russia, 2005, 30’

The Civil Registry office is the place where the most important moments of a person’s life are turned into bureaucratic procedure. New couples promising to love for life, grief-stricken widows, nervous pairs crushed after incorrectly filling-out a form, angry husbands asking for a divorce – all this is the daily experience of the office workers. Where weddings intermingle with divorces, and birth certificates with death certificates.

To work in this office, which, incidentally, is windowless, one has to be married…