East Doc Platform | Film Festival One World 2012
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    East Doc Platform

    One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival hosted East Doc Platform - a brand new platform with a rich programme for film professionals organized by the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF).
     
    The first edition of the East Doc Platform that took place March 5–11, 2012 in Prague was attended by over 160 East European filmmakers and producers and more than 70 key international commissioning editors, buyers, distributors, and representatives of festivals, sales companies, film funds and other institutions.
     
    More than 88 documentary projects and over 60 completed films were presented at the event. The East Silver Video Library offered over 300 completed documentaries. Over the 12 years of its existence, IDF has assisted in completing more than 150 films, and facilitated international distribution for 800 documentaries.
     
    IDF's Programme Coordinator Hana Rezková points out the production demands of the event: “It was an enormous challenge for the Institute of Documentary Film to relocate most of its key activities to Prague in such a short time. I'm very happy that we managed to find so many remarkable documentary projects to present in Prague. Hosting the Platform in Prague and on the March dates that don't collide with other similar events, we were for the first time able to invite a number of important professionals, such as Simon Kilmurry, Executive Producer of POV, and Tabitha Jackson of Channel 4.”
     
    One World director Hana Kulhánková says: “To bring the meeting of film professionals to Prague was definitely a good decision on the part of the Institute of Documentary Film. We're hoping that next year we'll be able to blend our programme activities to an even greater degree in order to create a unique event designed for both the general audiences and industry professionals.”
     

    Award Winners and Successful Projects of the East Doc Platform

     

    Frequently mentioned among the most promising documentary projects in development and production was Zvalka by Hanna Polak. The East European Forum workshop tutors presented the project with the Golden Funnel Award that comes with extended and tailored support from IDF. Nathalie Verdier of ARTE G.E.I.E. agrees that the film set at a Russian landfill made a deep impression: “The East Doc Platform featured a range of promising documentaries, with some still at very early stages. But Zvalka is certainly a project we'd really like to follow more closely.”
     
    Polak's unique material collected over eleven years was also praised by other guests, including Simon Kilmurry (American Documentary / POV) and Katharina Dufner (ZDF). “Another project that's very interesting for us is the French-Polish portrait of Michael Meschke,” Ms. Verdier said about Exercise of Life by Wiktoria Szymańska. Adriek Van Nieuwenhuyzen of IDFA awarded the project with a special IDFA prize that includes participation at the key industry forum in Amsterdam.
     

    The East Doc Platform Award for best documentary film in post-production went to the Italian-British film The Train to Moscow by Federico Ferrone and Michele Manzolini. Decided by a jury made up of Simon Kilmurry (American Documentary / POV, USA), Héléna Fantl (La fémis, France) and Veton Nurkollari (Director, DokuFest, Kosovo), the award was presented during the closing ceremony of the East Doc Platform.
     
    Mr Nurkollari explained: “The Train to Moscow is exceptional for its use of archive footage that bears a strong personal and historical trace of utopian ideals of communism and the Soviet Union. I hope that the Doc Launch Presentation will help the project in getting completed and distributed as soon as possible.“ In finding the final shape of their film, the authors will also be able to use the expertise of a selected renowned editor provided by IDF.
     
    “We're glad that some of the projects broke down the barriers that often determine further development of projects. We saw that projects with a compelling and clear narrative style can be interesting for commissioning editors even if they don't fit their particular slot. To put it simply, a quality author-driven project with clear vision is bound to succeed in the international market,” concluded East European Forum Programme Co-ordinator Ivana Pauerová Miloševič after the successful public presentations.
     

    According to Ryan Harrington, Director of Documentary Programming at the Tribeca Film Institute, the East Doc Platform is special for its focus and structure: “Compared to other events of similar kind, the East Doc Platform is smaller and more concentrated, which gives industry professionals far more opportunities to meet. I was also impressed by the intensive negotiations between the filmmakers and commissioning editors at round table sessions that followed right after the presentations. It really helped me to get familiar with all of them. I really liked The End of Light and Leninland and I think we'll support at least one of them.”
     
    Also commenting on the concept of presentations and closed round table meetings adopted by IDF a few years ago, Axel Arnö of Sweden's SVT said: “The debates on projects with filmmakers were very specific and inspiring. I saw a number of projects in Prague that we'd like to support, for example, Zvalka and My Father's Name. But we'll have to wait for them to get developed a little more.”
     

    Completed East European Documentaries in the East Silver Video Library

     
    Sunday was also the last day for the East Silver Video Library, available to East Doc Platform professionals at Archa Palace throughout the event. Documentary films from the East Silver Market can still be watched by One World guests until the festival ends on March 15, 2012, at the Festival Centre, Langhans Gallery.
     
    The East Silver Video Library offered a total of 309 completed documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, the Video Library included 106 documentary films from One World's programme lineup.
     
    Selected film professionals can also make use of East Silver Streaming - an online video library where films can be streamed throughout the year. For a full list of films that are part of the East Silver Market, please refer to our online film catalogue.
     
     
    The most viewed films in the East Silver Video Library at the East Doc Platform 2012:
     
    • I Love You (Aleksandr Rastorguev, Pavel Kostomarov, Russia, 2011, 81 min)
    • Here... I Mean There (Laura Capatana Juller, Alexandru Solomon, Romania, 2012, 76 min)
    • Leonid's Story (Rainer Ludwigs, Germany, Ukraine, 2011, 19 min)
    • Chronicle of Oldřich S. (Rudolf Šmíd, Czech Republic, 2011, 18 min)
    • The Cloud (Miroslav Sikavica, Croatia, 2011, 78 min)
    • 12 Meters (Tomasz Karpowicz, Magda Karpowicz, Poland, 2012, 49 min)
    • Gromov (Andrey Stadnikov, Russia, 2011, 39 min)
    • 31 Endings/31 Beginnings (Art group RAFANI, Czech Republic, 2011, 84 min)
    • Solar Eclipse (Martin Mareček, Czech Republic, 2011, 81 min)
    • Hitting the Right Keys (Ignacy Szczepański, Poland, 2011, 55 min)
     
    The top rated films (rated Very Interesting):
     
    • Leonid's Story (Rainer Ludwigs, Germany, Ukraine, 2011, 19 min)
    • Chronicle of Oldřich S. (Rudolf Šmíd, Czech Republic, 2011, 18 min)
    • Cinema Komunisto (Mila Turajlić, Serbia, 2010, 100 min)
    • Bakhmaro (Salome Jashi, Georgia, Germany, 2011, 58 min)
    • On Decency (Radovan Síbrt, Czech Republic, 2012, 52 min)
     

    Documentary Films and Projects in Public Spotlight

     

    The East Doc Platform also had its Open Programme for the general public that let visitors peek behind the curtain of documentary filmmaking, funding and new trends in several lectures, screenings, master classes, panel discussions and project presentations. Open also to visitors with a One World pass, these events were attended by many students of FAMU and other film schools, as well as members of the general public.
     

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