Archive 2011
A PLANET FOR INDI
BNT
Bulgaria/2010/26'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Nikolay Vassilev
Director: Nikolay Vassilev
Camera: Borislav Georgiev
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
Ivan Karagzhov is from Plovdiv and is 24 years old, but his soul comes from Northern America, where it is called Indi and is much older than the continent. Ivan does not fall within the frames of the conventional picture of a 24-year old young man. He spends most of his time in the world of his imagination rather than the reality of Plovdiv. He lives with his mother in a prefabricated block of flats, but he has learnt how to build clay houses. For the past two years, he and some of his friends have been building three round houses in the village of Hrabrino. He often watches the stars through his telescope, organizes various environmental responsibility actions. During the last one he and his friends gathered 5 kg of thumb tacks from the trees of one street in Plovdiv. He is hard to be found at home, as he has a range of occupations that, in his opinion, help him learn different lessons of life.
ALL THAT GLITTERS
CEE BANKWATCH NETWORK
Czech Republic/2010/52’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Tomáš Kudrna, Joe Bini
Director: Tomáš Kudrna
Camera: Jakub Halousek, Jan Baset Střítežský
Music: Mark DeGli Antoni
Producer: Armada Films, Česká televize
Distributor: Cat&Docs
The protagonists of the film live and work in Kyrgyzstan, a post-Soviet republic in Central Asia. After being part of the Soviet Union for most of the 20th century, the people suddenly find themselves in a new democratic state where they have the freedom to make their own decisions. The film is focused on four main protagonists whose lives are tied to a massive gold mine operated by the Canadian company Kumtor. Each character represents some part of the imperfect transition from communism to capitalism in the 21st century. The central character is a Kyrgyz truck driver named Nurbek – an ordinary man entangled in the complexities of the storyline. We meet the North American CEO who has come to Kyrgyzstan to check on the progress of the mine. Kerim, the spokesman for the company, handles public relations and has the power to fire workers.
Prizes: Czech Radio prize for creative use of music and sound, Jeden Svět 2010 Healthy Workplaces Film Award, DOK Leipzig 2010, Germany: MDR Film Prize for the Best Eastern European Film, Cronograf Festival 2011, Moldova: Grand Prix of the Festival
AN ECHO OF THE TOXIC SPILL
BNT
Bulgaria/2011/29'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Tsvetan Simeonov
Director: Tsvetan Simeonov
Camera: Geza Fashang, Violin Paleikov, Iskren Krasimirov
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
“An Echo of the Toxic Spill” investigates the Bulgarian tailing ponds as potential eco-bombs. This is done within the context of the dramatic accident in Hungary in the autumn of 2010, when people died and villages were evacuated. The official Bulgarian institutions reaffirm that the situation in the country and on the Balkans is under control. The ecologists are certain that the risk of spill is real and whole settlements may be erased from the face of the earth. Around these facilities, higher desease rate and early mortality are registered. The 45-year flashback reminds of one of the deadliest slurry spills in the history. On 1 May 1966, the Bulgarian village Zgorigrad was ruined after the wall of the tailing pond of the near-by zinc and lead mine broke down. More than 500 people were killed. This is not a well-known fact and was intentionally concealed by the socialist authorities. Before this tragedy, they also claimed that everything was under control.
ARAL: THE LOST SEA
WE ARE WATER FOUNDATION
Spain/2010/25’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Isabel Coixet
Director: Isabel Coixet
Camera: Isabel Coixet
Music: Tim Robins, Fedderico Condagorta, Five in Orbit
Producer: Miss Wasabi for We Are Water Foundation
Distributor: We Are Water Foundation
Aral: The Lost Sea”, by Isabel Coixet, documents the dramatic shrinkage process of the Aral Sea, an inland sea in the heart of Central Asia. It is the first activity sponsored by the We Are Water Foundation. This documentary narrates the dramatic drying process the Aral Sea is undergoing, one of the world’s greatest environmental catastrophes. Sir Ben Kingsley participates in the film as narrator and Tim Robbins has handed over a song composed by him to be used in the documentary soundtrack. According to Isabel Coixet “The Aral Sea is just one of the many examples of ecological disasters in this planet. The support of We Are Water will contribute to the international distribution of the documentary and it will make us reflect about the effects of the wrong management of this limited resource. We Are Water provides an opportunity to raise our consciousness that water is crucial for economic development, but it is not accessible to all”.
ARLBERG – THE HIDDEN PARADISE
ORF NATURAL HISTORY UNIT
Austria/2011/50’
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Heinz Leger
Director: Heinz Leger
Camera: Sepp Neuper, Harald Mittermüller, Otmar Penker, Georg Schnell
Music: Erwin Kienast
Producer: ORF
Distributor: ORF
Snow masses pile up in abundance on the deep snow-covered slopes. The wind has created bizarre snowdrifts on the steep mountain ridges, and further below, the Swiss pine carry the weight of this sparkling splendor. The Arlberg is the embodiment of an idyllic winter and the cradle of alpine skiing. However, this famous ski resort that connects Tyrol with Vorarlberg, offers a lot more than expected. A bit of untouched nature has been preserved in the hardly accessible valleys and the cliffy massifs. In the deepest of winters, far away from the slopes and ski routes, avalanches thunder into the valley, however they bring with them neither destruction nor death. On the contrary, the winter is the toughest time for ibexes and chamois. Now the meager fodder is buried deep under the snow and the animals can only find nutrition there where avalanches have cleared the slopes from snow. The wintery splendor is only one facet – the famous face of Arlberg, its true fascination, remains hidden under the snow almost half a year long.
ARCHITECTS OF CHANGE - NOTHING IS LOST
LATO SENSU PRODUCTIONS - GROUPE PVP
FRANCE /CANADA/2009/52'
Category: Documentaries; Television programs dedicated to ecology and environmental preservation
Script: Geneviève BOUGIE
Director: Jean BOURBONNAIS, Sylvain BRAUN
Camera: Éli LALIBERTÉ, Christian LAMONTAGNE
Music: James DUHAMEL, A-Music, FirstCom Music
Producer: Muriel BARRA, Vic PELLETIER
Distributor: Poorhouse International
In this era when the number of consumer products available has exceeded the total number of species in nature, we have to ask ourselves just how far we should go in this reckless race of ceaselessly producing and buying goods. The trash we generate, our outmoded or broken gadgets, the water we waste — it is all thrown out into the environment after we have used it. Far from being satisfied with managing the accumulation of electronic wastes, most of which contain toxic materials that are harmful to the environment and human health, Fernando Nilo also wanted Recylca to provide jobs for socially disadvantaged people. In 2003, after a long search to raise investment capital, Nilo’s electronic waste recycling company became a reality.
AS THE TIDE FLOWS
JANNA DEKKER
The Netherlands/2008/26’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Janna Dekker
Director: Janna Dekker
Camera: Janna Dekker
Producer: Janna Dekker
Distributor: Janna Dekker
Illustrator and writer Ellen van Boggelen often stays over in her small cottage at the river to experience more intensely the cycles of tides and seasons. Ellen mirrors herself in the water and considers herself as a metaphor of the river.
Prizes: Sea and The Oceans Film Festival 2009, Czech Republic: Award at the Water, International Ecological Television Festival “To Save and Preserve” 2010, Russia: Award "The Golden Gagara".
ASH
JIN HUAQING TRAINING CAMP
China/2010/39'
Category: Documentaries
Director: Huaqing Jin
Camera: Jiaju Fan
Producer: Huaqing Jin
Distributor: Huaqing Jin
Standing in the background of China's GDP, the film not only focuses on the workers living in the bottom of the industrial food chain, but also witnesses how a peaceful and vibrant village turns into a lifeless silent one. This movie completely presents the relationship between beings and resources for survival by showing the audience the truth that the unfair treatment of contemporary Chinese farmers. This treatment exists due to the inherent sense of the upper class and no matter how hard farmers work they only get negligible rewards. The director of the film erected a monument of the exploited farmers deeply trusting that they are all going to heaven finally.
Prizes: 2011 Mexico International Environment Film Festival: Special Mention.
BARGING INTO THE GENOME
BNT
Bulgaria/2010/29'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Tsvetan Simeonov
Director: Tsvetan Simeonov
Camera: Violin Paleikov
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
The film “Barging into the Genome” presents genetic experiments, with all their risks and extreme demonization. Scientists on the highest level in this field confront fiercely their standpoints and do not recognize the theses of the others. Meanwhile, the people exorcise the genetically modified products, using mummers and spells. The clerics anathematize the genetic engineering as “Satan’s innovation”. The scientists, who defend the transfer of genes between species, long for continuation of the experiments, because otherwise the progress would be blocked. The opponents of these technologies insist that the “evil spirit shall not be let out of the bottle”, because this would be the beginning of the end for the human civilization.
BIOLOGICAL MINIMUM
MACEDONIAN RADIO TELEVISION
Republic of Macedonia/2010/31’
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Tanja Bitoljanu Plavsic
Director: Ivan Mitevski
Camera: Dimitar Vladicki/ Goce Simonovski
Producer: Macedonian Television
More than 1500 villages in Macedonia have fallen into oblivion. This story about the village of Zdunje that has vanished in the waters of the accumulation Kozjak was captured by its last inhabitants who slowly begin to disappear along with it.
Biological minimum refers to the poor quantity of water that is left to continue the life in this village once the dam cuts off the river.
BLACK AND WHITE
BNT
Bulgaria/2010/28'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Tsvetelina Atanassova
Director: Marta Ilieva
Camera: Tsvetelina Atanassova
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
Black and White is an emotion, which, via the genuine stories of the Bulgarian Polar scholars, conveys in sound and picture the ambiance of the Sixth continent. This ecological documentary includes intriguing facts and specific data about the melting ice and the adaptation of the local species to the new environment. It is also a film about the people who work there and their reasons to break away from the comfort of modern life for the sake of a cause, called Antarctica, the Earth’s southernmost continent. The film features interviews with Prof. Hristo Pimpirev explaining the latest scientific discoveries related to the carbon trace, easily visible in the ice; with Niki Davidov and Stefan Shinov – a photographer and a sculptor, who explore Antarctica in a creative way, and many others. This is a sign for the simple things, which goes along with the daily life of the participants in the 18th Bulgarian Antarctica expedition 2009 – 2010.
BLACK VULTURES 2010
SVIDAS
Bulgaria/2010/54'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Katerina Zareva
Director: Krassimir Simeonov
Camera: Dobrin Keresteliev
Music: Ivan Dinev
Producer: SVIDAS
Distributor: SVIDAS
A serious and funny story about the alternative of the drugs, alcohol, city stress, yellow media, material and spirit’s pollution. Lots of adventures within the amazing, grasping wild beauty of the Rhodope mountain, mother of Dionysus, Orpheus and Spartacus.
Previous festivals: Golden Amfora Festival, Bansko 2010: Award for the Best Director.
BUTTERFLIES GO
ABWILDLIFE PRODUCTIONS BV
NETHERLAND/2010/53'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Josephine Hamming
Director: Josephine Hamming
Camera: Josephine Hamming
Music: Rockoco Quintet
Producer: Josephine Hamming
Distributor: Abwildlife Films Productions BV
On their journey through Europe we see a clear contrast between migrating butterflies and those that never leave their habitat. Comparing the life of a migrating butterfly with human life is almost inevitable. “For eight years I had the privilege of learning from the fragile butterflies’ great perseverance, discovering they have a need to survive the winters, and that this instinct is similar to the battle of the ants as shown in “The War of the Ants”, my previous movie. All this inspired me to develop new techniques and design equipment for the purpose of filming on specific locations” Josephine Hamming.
CARING FOR THE LAGOON
LVP
France/UK/2011/52'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Oliver Dickinson
Director: Oliver Dickinson
Camera: Oliver Dickinson
Music: Eliasse
Producer: Philippe de Grissac, Anthony Dickinson
Distributor: LVP
The magnificent lagoon of Mayotte, an island in the Indian Ocean, is at the very heart of local life. The Mahorans are aware of this and try to protect it. From the wooded mountain top to the mangrove and into the sea, we come across dedicated men, women and children, turtles and sea cucumbers, right down to the vibrant coral reefs shimmering below the turquoise water. The lagoon of Mayotte is a cradle of hope: to build a future that will be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.
CASIAN BALABASCIUC - A HUTSUL SOUL
TVR IASI
Romania/2009/25’
Category: Tourist films and productions about the protection of cultural heritage
Script: Andreea Stiliuc
Director: Andreea Stiliuc
Camera: Relu Tabara
Music: TVR Iasi
Producer: TVR Iasi
Distributor: TVR Iasi
Casian Balabasciuc, a profound person, as pure as the woods, tells us his both story and about the Hutsuls in Bucovina.
Prizes: Simfest UK: Prize for the Best Production dedicated to minorities.
CLIMATE GAMES
BNT
Bulgaria/2010/28’
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Tsvetan Simeonov
Director: Tsvetan Simeonov
Camera: Violin Paleikov, Nikolay Sotirov
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
The last millenniums Earth's climate had changed repeatedly by natural phenomena. Lately, these corrections are being made by the human. The big state leaders show off concern and promise help to the developing ones. At the same time they prove to be playing at climate. They produce a huge quantity of carbonic transmissions, exhaust the natural resources and quickly lead the Earth to a lump break.
COPPER AGE
CEE BANKWATCH NETWORK
Czech Republic/2010/52’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Ivo Bystřičan, Martin Mareček
Director: Ivo Bystřičan
Camera: Jiří Málek
Music: Vaclav Flegl
Producer: Hypermarket Film/CEE Bankwatch Network
Distributor: Hypermarket Film
Once upon a time, one poor and indebted country had a lot of copper and from it, everybody in the country was benefiting a little bit. But soon the prices of copper came down. Somebody recommended that the country sell its mines. And that happened. Afterwards, the copper prices got better again, but now most money flew to pockets outside the country. Since then the country hasn‘t received almost anything from its copper non sense? A documentary inspection to Zambia reveals the absurd story of a global economy in which you with your European taxes play a role too.
DANDELION, BATS - THE BIG ESCAPE
ZDF
Germany/2011/24'
Category: Scientific and educational films
Script: Arend Agthe
Director: Klaus Gietinger
Camera: Randolf Scherraus
Music: Eike Hosenfeld, Moritz Denis, Tim Stanzel
Producer: Studio TV for ZDF, Andrea Ziem, Manuela Lumb
Distributor: ZDF Enterprises
Yasemin panics: a bats family just settled down beneath the roof of her kiosk. Shortly after this unusual discovery, bats seem to appear everywhere in Bärstadt. The Bärstadt News report on a spooky bats flood. Fred Fox starts to help Yasemin and to find out where these sudden occurrences come from. Everything indicates that the old church seems to be the reason for the mysterious appearance of the animals. As bats are nocturnal, Fred heads off to explore them in darkness. In the steeple, Fred encounters the sacristan, a quite shuttered person who immediately throws him out. What is the sacristan’s secret? However Fred has detected enough to solve the mysterious case.
DESIRE OF CHANGHU
ZHEJIANG SATELLITE CHANNEL
China/2010/38'
Category: Documentaries
Director: Huaqing Jin
Camera: Huaqing Jin
Music: Lin Hai
Producer: Chenan Xia
Distributor: Chenan Xia
As a natural barrier to the desert in Northwest China, the Minqin oasis in Gansu Province may disappear in recent years. Finally Badain Jaran Desert, Tengger Desert and Kumtag Desert will meet right here. The film tells about a family's living conditions in Changhu village in Minqin. It's a record of the confrontation and struggle between man and nature in the disappearing desert.
Prizes: 13th FICA International Film Festival Brazil: Best film award.
EARTH'S LAST EDENS PART ONE - MADAGASCAR: ISLAND OF EVOLUTIONARY WONDER
NHK/ANIMAL PLANET
Japan/2011/58’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Masahiro Hayakawa
Director: Masahiro Hayakawa
Camera: Hiroyuki Kozako, Tatsuhiko Sugita, Toshihiro Muta
Music: Naoki Sato
Producer: Shinichi Murata, Andrew Waterworth/Ryoji Ishida (Executive Producers)
Distributor: NHK Enterprises, Inc.
Hotspots: Earth’s Last Edens is a celebration of the power of evolution. Fusing the genres of blue-chip natural history and cutting edge science documentary, the series is an exploration of the forces that shape life in all its unexpected glory. A cast of ancient creatures is marooned on the island of Madagascar, but a strange primate arrives and evolutionary magic changes the fate of all inhabitants. An isolated island once ruled by dinosaurs is transformed into a species factory where evolution can flourish. Cycles of tumultuous geological and climatic events have forced all castaways on board to mutate, creating an assemblage of the most amazing creatures on Earth. Madagascar is a story of survival...against all odds.
Prizes: Science and Technology Film Video Festival 2011: Excellence Award; International Wildlife Film Festival 2011: Best Scientific Content.
EXPERIENCE CHINA
CHINESE EMBASSY IN BULGARIA
China/2009/11’
Category: Tourist films and productions about the protection of cultural heritage:
Producer: China National Tourism Administration
Experience China the short movie shows to the audience the beauty and splendor of China. It displays four different ways (On Air, By Road, By Railway and On Foot) through which tourists can enjoy the wonderful things and culture in China.
FASHION VICTIMS
ALTEMEIER&HORNUNG FILM PRODUCTIONS
Germany/2011/52’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Inge Altemeier
Director: Inge Altemeier
Camera: Birgit Handke, Ayhan Salar, Reinhard Hornung, Michael Wulfes
Producer: Altemeier & Hornung Film Production
Distributor: United Docs
Fashion is a beautiful aspect of our lives. When choosing our clothes, we pay attention to style and quality. Or do we? Substances that are harmful to our health are constantly being found in our clothes and shoes. Without ever suspecting as much, we are regularly surrounded by poisonous substances. The causes for this lie in global trade, enormous price pressures and a fashion world that manages to evade all state controls. All the large textiles chains have their goods made in China, Bangladesh or India, as wages are cheap there and environmental legislation is slack. But it is not just in low-wage countries that people are being poisoned; textile workers and consumers in Europe are also coming into contact with these chemicals and falling ill. This documentary follows the trail of the poisons – and makes some alarming discoveries.
FJORD
IBIS FILM AS
Norway/2009/24'
Category: Tourist films and productions about the protection of cultural heritage
Script: Skule Eriksen
Director: Skule Eriksen
Camera: Skule Eriksen
Music: Øistein Boassen
Producer: Lisbeth Dreyer
Distributor: Lisbeth Dreyer
The film Fjord was shot in Nærøyfjord, one of the narrowest fjords of Western Norway. The fjord is one of the main tourist attractions in Norway, and the landscape was included in UNESCOs world heritage list in 2005. The filmmaker Skule Eriksen wanted to explore visually why this landscape is so famous and considered so valuable. During one year he tried to capture the atmosphere of a landscape with a deep cultural history, but which today is home to only a few people. His aim was purely artistic, as he also wanted to challenge the way we make films about nature. The film is poetic and rhythmic in its approach to the landscape. It aims to take the audience into the place, rather than only show it to them. The film has no dialogue.
Prizes: Best Photo, International Festival Eco-Etno-Folk, Romania, 2010; Artistic Merits Award, Green Vision, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2010; West Estonia County Film Award, Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Estonia, 2010; Best Documentary, Cinextur, Cáceres, Spain, 2011; Best Camera Work, Envirofilm, Slovakia 2011; Grand Prix for the Best Nature Tourist Film, 47th International Tourfilm Festival, Lecce, Italy 2011; Best Tourism Documentary ex aequo, Document Art, Romania 2011; Best Ecology Film, Film, Art & Tourism Festival, Warsaw, Poland, 2011.
FIRST ON EVEREST
ORF NATURAL HISTORY UNIT
Austria/2010/54’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Jochen Hemmleb, Gerald Salmina
Director: Gerald Salmina
Camera: Günther Göberl, Gerald Salmina
Music: Manfred Plessl
Producer: ORF
Distributor: ORF
In 1953 Edmund Hillary was the first person to conquer Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. That is what the history books tell us. However the German researcher, Jochen Hemmleb, casts doubt on this belief. Just below the summit of Mount Everest he and his team discovered the well-preserved body of George Mallory, who in 1924 had made an assault on the peak with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine. Did Mallory stand on the summit 30 years before Hillary? To find an answer to this question, in 2010 we will follow Jochen Hemmleb on a further risky search expedition on the roof of the world. Using criminological methods Hemmleb and his team hope also to find the body of Mallory’s partner, Andrew Irvine. In 1924 Irvine had a small camera with him, whose contents may provide proof as to who was actually the first person to reach Mount Everest’s summit. This film will be directed by Gerald Salmina who did the awe-inspiring and multi-awarded feature documentary “Mount St. Elias” about “Three Men&A Mountain”.
GREEN LIGHT
BNT
Bulgaria/2011/11'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Bilyana Boneva, Milen Atanassov
Director: Vladislav Anastassov
Camera: Nikolay Karakashev
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
This issue of the weekly programme Green Light is dedicated to the different aspects of the bicycle, its different applications and forms. It also includes an interview with the bicycle traveler Vyacheslav Stoyanov and an account of the one-month amateur tour of Bulgaria with the participation of more than 30 volunteers. Together they proved that the bicycle is a worthy vehicle, winning more and more fans among Bulgarians.
HEAVY METAL
JIN HUAQING TRAINING CAMP
China/2010/50'
Category: Documentaries
Director: Huaqing Jin
Camera: Huaqing Jin
Music: Lin Hai
Producer: Huaqing Jin
Distributor: Huaqing Jin
More than twenty years ago, the electronic waste from Japan, USA, Australia and other countries was transported to a small town called Fengjiang. Around 50 thousand migrant workers from poverty-stricken parts of mid-west China formed an e-waste dismantling army. They decompose and recycle nearly 2 million tons of e-waste each year with the most primitive methods. The film is telling the story of the family of workers Zhang and Qiu-xia's survival, hearing their moans and sighs. They work hard to purchase their dreams, but living is accompanied by disease, and even death.
Prizes: 12th FICA International Film Festival: Best Film Award; 7th Seoul International Film Festival: Green Best Feature Film Award.
HOW TO SURVIVE?
PL GLOBUS FILM
SERBIA/2010/14’
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Petar Lalovic
Director: Petar Lalovic
Camera: Petar Lalovic
Producer: PL Globus Film
Distributor: PL Globus Film
Storks sometimes make a mistake too, and bring into the world younger than they can provide with food. The situation becomes even more tragic if the year is droughty – then there is no food for them. This is a documentary story about a little stork that has become surplus in the nest and an ancient law according to which parents solve this problem. Nevertheless, sometimes, in the name of humanism, even the law of nature needn´t always is respected.
Prizes: Grenoble, France Children´s UNICEF Award.
IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO!
BESZELO SZEM PRODUKCIOS IRODA
Hungary/2010/52’
Category: Scientific and educational films
Script: Szabolcs Palfi and Peter Palatitz
Director: Szabolcs Palfi
Camera: Gergo Kiss and Marcell Rev
Music: Laszlo Melis
Producer: Szabolcs Palfi and Peter Palatitz
Distributor: Beszelo Szem Produkcios Iroda
The Red-footed Falcon and the Rooks is a peculiar pair. Seemingly there is nothing in common; however the falcons have evolved to rely on the nests of rookeries for breeding. Lately, humans have intervened in the affairs of these birds. A large scale anti-rook persecution campaign was launched in the previous decades, and Red-footed Falcons became collateral damage in the many years of man-rook "war". This film is about the Red-footed falcons, the Rooks and the follow up work of conservationists trying to restore the peaceful life of these protected birds.
Prizes: Best Director "Kollányi Ágoston Prize", 4st Hungarian Film Week;
Prize of the 6th National Wildlife Film Festival, Pusztaszer, Hungary; Best Newcomer Award, 10th Japan Wildlife Film Festival Toyama 2011.
KINGFISHER
KINMEN NATIONAL PARK HEADQUARTERS
China.Taipei/2010/25'
Category: Scientific and educational films
Script: Liang, Jie-de
Director: Liang, Jie-de
Camera: Liang, Jie-de
Producer: Tzeng, Wei-hung/Chen, Mao-chun
Distributor: Kinmen National Park Headquarters
This documentary follows four species of kingfishers found on the Kinmen Islands over a one year filming period. Three of the four species, the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), the White-throated Kingfisher (Acridotheres cristatellus), and the Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis), are Kinmen residents, whilst the Black-capped Kingfisher is a winter visitor. The film records their distinct biological characteristics and behaviors observed on the islands. With a subtle ecological insight, it particularly emphasizes their survival crisis due to the over-expansion of Crested Mynas which often take over kingfishers’ nest holes and leave them no chance to breed.
LITTLE STORIES – YOVKA AND VESELIN
BNT
Bulgaria/2011/15'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Nikolay Vasilev
Director: Nikolay Vasilev
Camera: Borislav Georgiev
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
Yovka Nikolova is a journalist with many years of experience, who has dedicated a large part of her work to finding out the real source of pollution of Stara Zagora and its region. She, like hundreds of her fellow citizens, does not believe in the version that it is the traffic and the specific geographic location of the town that causes the air pollution and gas emissions. Neither the residents of the villages near Zmeyovo military test field can be convinced that the puffs of smoke coming out of the site are not from the destruction of old munitions. The Mayor of the village of Pastrovo – Veselin Vanev, says that in the recent years the villages in the region have become depopulated and most of the few people there suffer from diabetes.
LIVING WITH WHALES
NHK /JAPAN BROADCASTING CORP.
Japan/2011/49’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Shunsuke Ukai/ Etsuro Otsubo/ Tetsuya Toyama
Director: Shunsuke Ukai/ Etsuro Otsubo/ Tetsuya Toyama
Camera: Shintaro Tominaga
Producer: Shuichi Inomata/ Akihito Otsuka (Executive Producers)
Distributor: International Product Development, NHK
The quiet lives of the residents of Taiji, Japan have been intimately connected with whales for more than 400 years. But now, this small fishing village of 3,400 people is embroiled in an international controversy. Since September 2010, foreign anti-whaling groups have staged combative protests in Taiji, spurred by the Academy-Award-winning documentary “The Cove”. Faced with increasing criticism abroad, especially in the U.S. and Europe, the Japanese fishermen suddenly find their livelihoods and very way of life threatened. This program documents six months during which people with conflicting values clash.
Prizes: IFF International Film Festival "Water, Sea&The Oceans" 2011; Sichuan TV Festival (International "Gold Panda" Awards for Documentary) 2011; Asian Television Awards 2011; The AIB International media excellence awards 2011; Galaxy Awards 2011; The Waseda Journalism Award in Memory of Ishibashi Tanzan 2011; Japan Congress of Journalists Awards 2011.
LORDS OF THE DANUBE
WWF
Bulgaria/2011/28'
Category:Documentaries; Scientific and educational films
Script: Dragan Nikolic
Director: Dragan Nikolic
Camera: Dejan Madic
Music: Dobrivoje Milijanovic
Producer: Jovana Nikolic
Distributor: WWF
Until the 19th century, giant Beluga sturgeons migrated from the Black Sea up the Danube as far as Germany and were important mainstays for many fishing communities. Originating 200 million years ago, sturgeons have outlasted the dinosaurs, but today most species are critically endangered according to the IUCN red list. Danube sturgeons are today teetering on the brink of extinction due to over fishing because of their valuable caviar. Furthermore, dams such as the Iron Gates between Serbia and Romania have cut off the migration routes of sturgeons, leading to the loss of spawning habitats. The film was commissioned by WWF and focuses on the importance of conservation of Danube sturgeons. It tells us about the value of sturgeon, the interesting cultural stories about them, and the fact that despite threats, there is hope to save their dwindling numbers. The filmmakers traveled down the Danube, visiting fishing communities and talking to local people – including fishermen, local personalities and experts. WWF staff from each country accompanied the filmmakers along the entire trip and shared their knowledge of the river with them.
MEANDERING STORIES - FRANKEL LEÓ STREET
MTV HUNGARIAN TELEVISION
Hungary/2011/25’
Category: Tourist films and productions about the protection of cultural heritage
Script: Judit Koltai, Tamás Szitás
Director: Balázs Déri
Camera: Dávid Szepesi, Róbert Szilágyi
Music: Zsolt Tamás
Producer: Edward Ducsay
Distributor: Zsuzsanna Kálomista
The places where we live have their own stories. So to say, they have “their own life”, which also has an effect on ours. The affection to a street, square or one part of the city can define our own intellectuality and also our state of mind. Of course, the inhabitants are also partners, witnesses, who at the same time form the story of the street. As a matter of fact, they vitalize the spirit of the place. If we are able to notice the values, the connection gives us confidence and also the feeling to being at home. There are some places which are cultural, diverse and ’zigzag’ enough to be adopted into screen. There are some streets with special names there are some with special stories. Some of these stories are like adventurous novels. Meandering stories are open for both types.
MORE LIGHT TO FARMSTEADS
MTV HUNGARIAN TELEVISION
Hungary/2011/25’
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Aranka Szávuly
Director: Richárd M. Nagy
Camera: László Reich
Music: Zsolt Tamás
Producer: Norbert Bajkó
Distributor: Zsuzsanna Kálomista
In Hungary almost half a million people live outside settlements, under the conditions of farmsteads. There is no electricity in five thousand farmsteads to this day. The authors of the documentary have visited some families with Dr Erzsébet Font, the best expert of the world of farmsteads. The families proved that it was worth choosing a way of life close to nature despite the often difficult conditions.
ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A GERMAN AFRICA
MTV HUNGARIAN TELEVISION
Hungary/2011/25’
Category: Documentaries
Script: József Sáfrány
Director: József Sáfrány
Camera: Zoltán Csóka, József Sáfrány
Music: Zsolt Tamás
Producer: Edward Ducsay
Distributor: Zsuzsanna Kálomista
It is less known in our country that long ago Germany also had a rather significant colonial empire in the world. It owned rather large islands in the Pacific, some areas in China and four colonies in Africa. Our colleague Mr József Sáfrány has been touring Africa for two decades and he had the opportunity of visiting the former colonies there, such as Southwest Africa which is known today under the name Namibia, German East Africa, which is known today as Tanzania, and also Cameroun and Togo. Though the German Empire lost these territories as a consequence of its defeat in World War I, their erstwhile presence there, their building activities and customs introduced can still be traced. In our program we present these four former colonies. The film was made at different dates and with different techniques and it is supplemented by a large number of library photographs of those days.
PEOPLE OF THE MARSHES
TELEWIZJA POLSKA S.A
Poland/2011/52'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Piotr Sadzinski
Director: Piotr Sadzinski
Camera: Anna Sadzinska
Music: Sebastian Stieler
Producer: Piotr Sadziński, Witold Będkowski
Distributor: Poland Television
Biebrza Marshes stretch towards the horizon. This is the largest protected area in Poland: over a hundred kilometers long and over twenty kilometres wide and it is view is composed out of thousands of birds, wetland, and a wild, meandering river. Krzysiek, Gosia and Julka watch the displaying ruffs. These are unusual birds, and there are no two males with the same color plumage in the world. Squeaking, croaking, twittering and bird songs are heard from all the sides. Krzysiek is trying to bring this world closer to his daughter, Julka, aged 11, who lives with her mother in a city. Gosia, whom he married a year ago, is helping him. For Julka, an ordinary city-girl, the marshes look like a dreamland, full of mystery and magic. This natural paradise is however endangered. Traditional pasturing of cattle and horses was abandoned here years ago. Wet meadows have overgrown, drying out the marshes. A great number of birds may lose the place where they are resting during the migration for centuries. Additionally, local authorities issue a permit to build a regional airport nearby. The film traces an every-day work and efforts of the nowadays environmentalist that sometimes help to preserve the last European natural resources that are still untouched by the industrialization. The consciousness of the fight being lost from the beginning does not stop them from struggling for conserving at least a part of the natural treasures that are still possible to save. Gosia – Malgorzata Gorska is the laureate of the 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize in San Francisco for one of her earlier successful campaigns to protect the Raspuda Valley in Poland.
RADIOACTIVE WOLVES
ORF NATURAL HISTORY UNIT
Austria/2010/52’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Klaus Feichtenberger
Director: Klaus Feichtenberger
Camera: Igor Byshnov, Hubert Doppler
Music: Markus Poechinger
Producer: ORF
Distributor: ORF
25 years after the big nuclear accident, wolves reign the radio-actively contaminated no-man's-land, the so-called exclusion zone, of Chernobyl, which stretches from Ukraine into Belarus and Russia. Rumors about wolves in the zone have been numerous, but many questions are as yet unanswered: How many wolves are there really in this area? How are the animals dealing with the radio-active pollution? Do they migrate to the zone from uncontaminated areas or is there a resident population? If so, is it suffering or healthy, stable or even growing? Do wolves even spread from Chernobyl to other areas? Does the absence of humans outweigh the hazards of radio-activity?
Prizes: First Price for the Best Film, Festival in Xanty, Mansijsk, Russia 2011.
SAHARA – THE RHYTHM OF THE DESERT
BNT
Bulgaria/2009/27'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Milen Atanassov
Director: Marta Ilieva
Camera: Nedyalko Danov
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
Sahara – the Rhythm of the Desert represents a remote and charming region in Western Sahara, where life goes on in both modern and traditional ways. The story follows the rhythm of life in the Thagit oasis near the border with Morocco, situated among sharp rocks, giant dunes and unusually large quantity of water. This place keeps thousand-year old secrets – rock engravings and fossils from the time, when the desert was the bottom of a sea and land with blooming vegetation. The film depicts the traditional methods of sustainable building and represents the first scientific dating of the unexplored so far prehistoric engravings near Thagit. An interesting fact is that the detailed dating was conducted by a Bulgarian scientist and the whole process took place thousands of kilometers from Sahara, in the National Institute of Archaeology with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Science, on the basis of the photos and videos taken in the region.
SAINT NAUM
MACEDONIAN RADIO TELEVISION
Republic of Macedonia/2009/28’
Category: Tourist films and productions about the protection of cultural heritage
Script: Kamelija Sojlevska
Director: Kamelija Sojlevska
Camera: Zdravko Petrusevski
Producer: Macedonian Television
We spend an interesting morning in a small heavenly place near the springs of St. Naum. We rejoice in the natural beauties feeling the connection with this untouched and pure nature. Only a miles away from Ohrid, in this plentitude of natural rarities we have learned about the history, nature, ecology, mysteries of the water and the awareness of the purity of the untouched nature that we should all preserve. We chose to share this moments and experiences with you.
SAND, WIND, WATER
FILMPRODUCTIE VAN DEN ENDE
Netherlands/2008/27'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Jan van den Ende, Monique van den Broek
Director: Monique van den Broek
Camera: Jan van den Ende
Producer: Filmproductie van den Ende
Distributor: Filmproductie van den Ende
Return of wet dune slacks in the Meyendel dunes. Before 1874, the dune areas of The Hague in the Netherlands, contained many rare plant species. When the dune water was used as drinking water, the valleys dried out. Around 1950, water from the rivers was infiltrated with too many fertilizing compounds, causing rare plant species to dissappear. To restore the former wet dune slacks, the natural processes had to be retraced and set into motion again. Only after that could the natural play of sand, wind and water be regained.
Prizes: Water Management Teheran, Iran: Special award.
SAWFISH - NEPTUNS FORGOTTEN CHILDREN
ARTE/ARD
Germany/2009/43'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Florian Guthknecht
Director: Florian Guthknecht
Camera: Athol Forster, Richard Fitzpatrick
Music: Sebastian Pobot
Producer: Udo Zimmermann
Distributor: Telepool GmbhH
Despite their impressive length of up to 8 meters and a saw, which ranks among the most spectacular weapons existing in the animal kingdom, we know very little about sawfish. The reason: this predatory fish has almost been exterminated, before scientist started studying its behavior. The biologists Stirling Peverell and Lyle Squire depart on an exciting journey to capture the last sawfish – in order to rear them and preserve the species. A journey which takes them to the hunting grounds of the over 6 metre long tiger sharks, to rivers full of crocodiles and to encounters with the most poisonous animals on the planet. But only here, at the northern end of Australia, the future of sawfish can be saved.
Prizes: Bangkok Science Film Festival.
SECRETS OF THE FLOODED FOREST-DANUBE NATIONAL PARK
ORF NATURAL HISTORY UNIT
Austria/2010/52’
Category: TV programs dedicated to the ecology and environment protection
Script: Franz Hafner
Director: Franz Hafner
Camera: Dietrich Heller, Josef Neuper
Music: Roman Kariolou
Producer: Interspot Film/ORF
Distributor: ORF
Located in the heart of Europe, between Vienna and Bratislava, the Danube National Park is a hidden wilderness full of beauty and drama, and a refuge for an astounding variety of flora and fauna. Beavers build their dams on the banks, mud minnows and pond turtles populate the back waters of the river, red deer raise their young in the underbrush and white-tailed eagles breed in the woods. This film tells us about the constant change in this unique nature reserve and shows us the events, both major and minor, that characterize a year in the Danube National Park.
SURVIVING THE TSUNAMI
NHK/JAPAN BROADCASTING CORP.
Japan/2011/58’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Tetsuji Miyagawa, Nozomu Ishida, Toshiyuki Takano, Toshiyuki Ono, Takeshi Shibasaki, Haruna Kimura, Hirotsugu Daikai, Yuzo Wada, Kyoko Matsubara, Yoshihiro Kinoshita, Taro Yamanouchi
Director: Tetsuji Miyagawa, Nozomu Ishida, Toshiyuki Takano, Toshiyuki Ono, Takeshi Shibasaki, Haruna Kimura, Hirotsugu Daikai, Yuzo Wada, Kyoko Matsubara, Yoshihiro Kinoshita, Taro Yamanouchi
Camera: Hideo Inoue, Tetsuro Ishiyama, Yoshinori Matsuda, Kenji Yamaichi, Toshiyuki Kanemaru
Producer: Tomoyuki Shirakawa, Toshihiko Sato, Kenji Sugai (Executive Producers); Yasuhiko Egawa, Kuniaki Tsuruya, Kazuto Tsujimura, Shuji Hosoda – (Producers)
Distributor: International Product Development, NHK
The earthquake that hit the northern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 registered magnitude 9.0, the worst ever recorded in the country. It generated a tsunami of unprecedented scale, obliterating coastal villages and towns in a matter of minutes. In some areas, the tsunami reached 39 meters in height and traveled 6 kilometers inland. What caused the giant tsunami? And how did people escape its violent waters? Vast amounts of footage captured by NHK and local residents, along with the analysis of experts, provide a comprehensive look at the destructive force of the catastrophic tsunami. The program also tracks down survivors who were filmed during the deluge and presents the stories of what they experienced as the tsunami swept through their towns. Surviving the Tsunami draws out the lessons of what needs to be done to protect precious lives from the threat of giant tsunami.
TEARS OF MUD
BNT
Bulgaria/2010/30'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Nikolay Vassilev
Director: Nikolay Vassilev
Camera: Borislav Georgiev
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
Tears of Mud is a documentary story of the echo of an unfading pain and of the voice of a new concern. The recent accident in Hungary, which posed a real threat of a new eco-disaster, is an occasion to remind of long-standing themes and of open wounds. 44 years ago (on 1 May 1966) the wall of the tailing pond in the village of Zgorigrad, Vratsa Region, broke down. The flood of 450 thousand cubic meters of mud, water and stones swept away everything along its way and caused the death of more than 150 people. The film presents the memories of the survivors and of the casualties’ descendants of the horror of that day. Pursuant to the statistics, in Bulgaria there are 30 tailing ponds, 20 of which are officially closed and recultivated, and only 12 are operational. Ominous whispers are going round the people of Sredna gora that some of the tailing ponds on their territory are actually time bombs.
THE ANCIENT TOWN OF ZHOUZHUANG
CHINESE EMBASSY IN BULGARIA
China/2009/4’
Category: Tourist films and productions about the protection of cultural heritage:
Producer: Bureau for External Cultural Relations, Ministry of Culture, People's Republic of China
The Ancient Town of Zhouzhuang, a town at the border between Jiangsu Province and Shanghai Municipality, covers an area of only 0.47 square km. Sixty percent of the town\'s residential houses were built in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and there are close to 100 ancient style houses, over 60 brick carving gate-towers and 14 ancient bridges of various styles. It is a typical water town in the area south of the Changjiang River, with rivers functioning as streets, linked by bridges, and houses built on waterside. The town is like a paradise surrounded by modern urban civilization, with its unique architectural designs and the simple but refined, easy but lazy lifestyle.
THE ASBESTOS CONNECTION
ALTEMEIER&HORNUNG FILM PRODUCTION
GERMANY/2011/52’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Inge Altemeier
Director: Inge Altemeier
Camera: Ayhan Salar, Reinhard Hornung, Michael Wulfes
Producer: Altemeier&Hornung Film Production
Distributor: United Docs
Every year, more than 100,000 people around the world die as a result of the deadly fiber, asbestos. Asbestos is banned in many countries and throughout the entire EU. However this poisonous dust is making a comeback. The international Asbestos Connection is responsible for bringing more and more new asbestos onto the market. Yet while billions of Euro is being spent on disposing of old asbestos, an exemption permits the import and trade of Canadian white asbestos. China is still using the deadly mineral in products such as thermos flasks and sealing rings for the international market. How is this possible? On her journey into the world of the Asbestos Connection, the author herself was contaminated with asbestos and was followed and threatened by the international asbestos industry. Despite this she succeeded in publishing the first ever images from Chinese asbestos mines.
THE AZORES - PARADISE IN ENDLESS BLUE
ARTE/ARD
Germany/2009/52
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Florian Guthknecht
Director: Florian Guthknecht
Camera: Richard Ladkani, Sigi Braun
Music: Ulrich Rassy
Producer: Udo Zimmermann
Distributor: Telepool GmbhH
Millions of years ago, nine islands rose up out of the seething depths of the earth. In spite of their lethal powers, they’ve become an oasis of life. As if by magic, animals from all parts of the earth are drawn to this region, and in the depths of the ocean remarkable creatures can be found. How they find their way here, when they appear and why they continue visiting this unique ecosystem – these are the mysteries posed by the Acores
Prizes: 2nd Place, Unterwaterfilmfestival Belgrad Grand Prix, Eastern Mediteranean Underwaterfilmfestival for “The Acores”.
THE BABIES OF GIANT PANDAS DURING THEIR GROWTH
CHINESE EMBASSY IN BULGARIA
China/2009/52’
Category: Documentaries
Producer: China Intercontinental Press
The Babies of Giant Pandas during their growth.
THE BLAND FOREST KING
BNT
Bulgaria/2009/29'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Tsvetan Simeonov
Director: Tsvetan Simeonov
Camera: Nikolay Sotirov
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
Bears' population in Rhodope Mountains endangers people's life. That’s what the natives claim. In their opinion, it is not normal the beasts to be protected by law, but just a charter to stay at the back of people. The nature protectors are categorical that mountain population irritates animals by uncontrolled picking of mushrooms and herbs. The film is trying to find balance between two kinds that have to live without eating or shooting each other.
THE ECOSYSTEM OF THE SERENGETI
MTV HUNGARIAN TELEVISION
Hungary/2011/25’
Category: Documentaries
Script: József Sáfrány
Director: József Sáfrány
Camera: József Sáfrány
Music: Zsolt Tamás
Producer: Edward Ducsay
Distributor: Zsuzsanna Kálomista
The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the biggest national parks in the world. Here we find not only the unique values of natural and cultural history, but also the greatest population of animals to be protected. What should be done to preserve Serengeti?
THE ENCHANTED ISLANDS
ORKA FILM
Bulgaria/2009/27'
Category: Scientific and educational films
Script: Simeon Idakiev
Director: Simeon Idakiev, Anton Radoslavov
Camera: Simeon Idakiev
Producer: Orka Film
Distributor: Orka Film
This is a film about the bioreserve – archipelago Galapagos that gave rise to the epochal work “On the Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin. The islands of Baltra, Santa Cruz, North Plaza and Batolomé, the research station “Charles Darwin”, giant turtles, iguanas, seals and birds, living in harmony with humans are filmed, as well as the village of Puerto Ayora.
THE FATE OF THE SEA
BNT
Bulgaria/2010/22'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Tsvetelina Atanassova
Director: Marta Ilieva
Camera: Nedyalko Danov, Ivan Hristov, Tsvetelina Atanassova
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
The film crew saw the status of the Black Sea through the eyes of two artists - harpoonists, people that may be called seafaring men. The sea is different in the end of October. The beach is free of the tourist clamor. Only reminiscences of the summer wallow in the sand. This is the fishing season. However, the fishermen complain that the fish is gone. There are not enough modern treatment plants and the water is polluted, the coastline – too, while the vessels trawl with impunity. What is the destiny of the sea?
THE GREAT RILA DESERT
BNT
Bulgaria/2010/24'
Category: Scientific and educational films
Script: Nana Krasteva
Director: Dobrin Keresteliev
Camera: Kamen Kolev, Dobrin Keresteliev
Producer: BNT
Distributor: BNT
The team of the Bulgarian National Television leads us on the mountain paths to see the beautiful centuries-old forests with their inhabitants, watching us from every nook. The birds’ songs are floating under the peaks together with the ringing of the bells of the Rila Monastery and the eternal chant of the clear rivers.
THE IRON HOLE
K2 STUDIO
Slovakia/2011/55’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Pavol Barabáš
Director: Pavol Barabáš
Camera: Pavol Barabáš
Music: Michal Novinski
Producer: K2 STUDIO
Distributor: 10 FRANCS
Trou de Fer translates as The Iron Hole. It is a unique and spectacular natural site located in the middle of the Réunion National Park in the Indian Ocean. Thanks to volcanic activity the ground has caved in to enormous depths and persistent rainfall has formed a piece of art which cannot be found elsewhere on our planet. This canyon is the Mount Everest among canyons. Thanks to its inaccessibility, the nature in this region has been preserved in the wildest form that one could ever imagine. Only a few have seen the inside of the canyon. Only the best of the best are able to abseil into its deepest depths and once inside there is no guarantee they will ever manage to get out. This is because it is located in the rainiest place in the world and so your fate is truly held in the hands of nature. Yearly precipitation reaches a record-breaking 10 meters.
THE LONG PATH OF THE CROCODILE
SINIS FILM AGENCY
Bulgaria/2011/50'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Mario Markov
Director: Pancho Tsankov
Camera: Tsvetan Nedkov
Music: Mariana Valkanova
Producer: Mario Markov
Distributor: Sinis Film Agency
The craving for freedom makes Lyubo flee Bulgaria. Running away is rather a matter of instinct than choice. Lyubo is one of those queer people, citizens of the world whom destiny dooms to settle at places where there are challenges, adventures and risks. Lyubo manages to get beyond the border line during a popular gathering at Kalotina. He crosses the whole territory of former Yugoslavia experiencing some incredible adventures and swims through the Adriatic Sea in just one night in spite of the storm and the dangers from the numerous bloodthirsty sharks. After staying in a camp in Italy, Lyubo heads for Australia where he lives for some time getting involved in risky crocodile hunting. Lyubo comes across the book “The River of Gold”, which is the turning point in his life. He kisses the first tiny piece of gold that he extracted without being sure it is indeed gold. He hears about vast gold-diggings in Papua New Guinea and there he goes. He works in the jungle and is happy with his life. He has a collection of 2 000 wooden masks. Freedom and gold are Lyubo’s destiny, and as long as he lives he will be part of this adventure.
THE LYNX LIAISON
ORF NATURAL HISTORY UNIT
Austria/2009/52’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Harald Pokieser
Director: Birgit Peters, Tomá Hulik
Camera: Tomá Hulik
Music: Andy Baum, Peter Machajdík
Producer: Cosmos Factory
Distributor: ORF
The Lynx Liaison is the charming story of two young lynxes and Milos Majda - National Park ranger in Slovakia. Majda raises the lynx siblings, hoping to return them into the wild. Together with wildlife filmmaker Thomas Hulik he tracks the path of these endangered cats back into a life in the forest.
THE REGENERATION PRINCIPLE - BIOMASS
DEUTSCHE WELLE (DW-TV)
Germany/2011/26'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Joerg Seibold
Director: Joerg Seibold
Camera: Siegmund Thies, Axel Warnstedt, Manish Meta
Music: Joerg Seibold
Producer: Arno Hefner
Distributor: Deutsche Welle
Biomass is one of the most promising of all renewable energies since it uses waste and biological material that can grow back. But it has its downsides too. Bioenergy from renewable raw materials can provide heat, electricity and fuel. It reduces dependency on oil and coal and enables a decentralized energy supply. It is also a valuable resource in the fight against climate change: biomass throughout its growing cycle consumes carbon dioxide – and when incinerated, releases the very same carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. Biomass therefore has a neutral impact on the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But the downside is that growing energy crops uses up land that could otherwise be used for food crops, while valuable habitats are lost when rainforests and marshes are destroyed to make way for monocultures of palm oil, soya and sugarcane. One key factor is whether or not the farming is sustainable and can be reconciled with environmental protection and food security. The documentary profiles pioneering projects: Biodiesel for the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), vegetable oil and biogas in India and Willie Smits’ Sugar Palm Plan (Indonesia).
THE TRAIN AND THE ZEMEN GORGE
UNWE
Bulgaria/2011/2'
Category: Video spots
Script: Lyudmil Ivanov
Director: Lyudmil Ivanov
Camera: Lyudmil Ivanov
Music: Valentina Jelqzkova
Producer: Lyudmil Ivanov
Distributor: Lyudmil Ivanov
A walk through the Zemen Gorge showing the picturesque scenery, in contrast to the train.
THE WEST IN THE EAST
INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Bosnia and Herzegovina/2010/22'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Nisvet Hrustić
Director: Nisvet Hrustić
Camera: Nisvet Hrustić
Music: Amer Šehić
Producer: Nisvet Hrustić
Distributor: Nisvet Hrustić
A lover of nature, forest, water and astronomy is trying to build a weekend house by his own and bring unusual forest water to it 1200 meters in length. With humble eastern financial capabilities and western ideas he uses lumber waste material, preserving the environment and facing incomprehension and derision by local community.
Prizes: Nominee for Jade Kunlun Award for Nature for Best Short Documentary 2010: World Mountain Documentary Festival of Qinghai China 2010; Main Prize in category “People and Earth/Ecological Success Stories”: 37th International Festival of Sustainable Development Films Ekotopfilm Bratislava, Slovakia 2010, International TV Ecological Festival “To Save and Preserve Khanty-Mansiysk”, Russia 2011.
THE GOLD OF OTHERS
AMAZONE FILM
Canada/2011/60’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Simon Plouffe
Director: Simon Plouffe
Camera: Charles Latour
Music: Simon Plouffe
Producer: Jeannine Gagné
Distributor: Jeannine Gagné
The arrival of the mining company Osisko creates a lot of agitation in Malartic, a small community of 3600 souls in Quebec, Canada. Many families and seniors need to write off certain elements of their heritage. Others see their lifestyle threatened to disappear in order to make room for the unthinkable: the largest open-pit gold mine in Canada. The Project is endorsed by the implacable Mining Act, which prioritizes the right to exploit subs oil resources rather than the right to protect the properties and lands of the citizens. The characters in L’or des autres experience in their own way this turmoil in their town that will drastically change their way of life and urban environment forever.
THERE WAS A VILLAGE HORNE OPATOVCE
ACADEMY OF PERFOMING ARTS, FILM AN TV FACULTY
Slovakia/2009/24’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Robert Sulak
Director: Robert Sulak
Camera: Robert Sulak
Music: Tomas Gregor
Producer: Academy of Performing Arts, Film and TV Faculty
Film about the last citizen of Horne Opatovce, nowadays non existing village which has been destroyed by ecological disaster. The catastrophe which was caused by socialist industrialization in 50-ties of the 19th century.
THEY ALWAYS CALLED US WICKERS
The Netherlands/2009/42’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Janna Dekker
Director: Janna Dekker
Camera: Janna Dekker
Producer: Janna Dekker
Distributor: Janna Dekker
Frans van Dijk and his son Ron are the last remaining workers in the willow woods along the tidal river "Oude Maas" in the Netherlands, where this family has been working for generations. In the past the willow culture, as a trade, was very important in the Netherlands, and it employed a lot of people. Because of a lack of demand for this type of wood and the fact that the government is considering creating primeval woods of the willow woods, this culture is about to vanish.
TULUMCU
TRT/TURKISH RADIO TELEVISION CORPORATION
Turkey/2011/52’
Category: Tourist films and productions about the protection of cultural heritage
Script: Candan Akşahin
Director: Murat Aksoy
Camera: Ömer Demirci, Sinan Aydoğan, Çetin Altunsoy, Yüksel Şipka, Görkem Özok
Music: Anonymous
Producer: Murat Aksoy
Distributor: TRT
Tulum is an instrument from the nature of the Black Sea. It consists of magical combination of boxwood tree, the soil cane and goat skin. Bülent Bekar of Çamlıhemşin has interest in playing the Tulum before manufacturing which is described by many as the instrument of mountains and wide plateaus. He has improved so much in production, eventually he started to sell the Tulum to Scotts whom say that Bagpipe is the root of Tulum. Çamlıhemşin’s wind, Storm Creek’s tone, Tulum’s History, from Tulumcu Bülent Bekar’s breath, has met at Tulumcu. Shooting of Tulumcu, which is a 52 minute documentary that brings the Tulum Culture of Eastern Black Sea to our homes, took place at Çamlıhemşin, Ayder, Zilkale, İstanbul and Ankara during January and April 2011. Contributors, Vocal Artists; Volkan Konak, İbrahim Can and Bülent Arslan, Masters of Tulum; Ali Çamkerten, Varol Taşer and Mahmut Turan tells overall construction and performance techniques.
TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS&SUSTAINABLE GROWTH OF A COCK
CULTURAL CENTER (CZK) TIVAT
MONTENEGRO/2011/19'
Category: Documentaries
Script: Vladimir Perović
Director: Vladimir Perović
Camera: Milan Stanić
Music: traditional folk music
Producer: Milena Radojević, Neven Staničić
Distributor: CULTURAL CENTER (CZK) TIVAT
Once a year in the small coastal town of Perast, Montenegro, one out of many cocks in the region participates in a very particular event. Being the chosen one, he faces unexpected experiences. This is the story of his life in the environment of human rules and rites.
Prizes: First Prize Big Stamp: Zagreb Dox, Croatia; First Prize: Golden Bukliya for the Best direction, V. Plana, Serbia; Prize for Documentary: Khanti-Mansiysk, Russia; Plaquette – Special Prize „Cinema City”, Novi Sad, Serbia.
UNIQUE OF PANNONIA
MTV Hungarian Television
Hungary/2010/24’
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Zita Zachar
Director: Zita Zachar
Camera: Zoltán Csóka, László Dörflinger, Andor Kele, Attila Dávid Molnár, József Sáfrány, Gyula Stenszky, Zsolt Marcell Tóth, Csaba Varga
Music: Zsolt Tamás
Producer: Edward Ducsay
Distributor: Zsuzsanna Kálomista
The series of “Unique of Pannonia” of five parts was made in the Year of Biodiversity; it presented the relevant valuable habitats and the species of flora and fauna living there and representing the values for nature conservation. In the first part the living world of the grasses of the Pannonian Basin is presented, the second one is about our forests, the third one presents our variety of waters, the fourth one deals with those of our caves and their special features. The last, fifth part shows the exemplary activities and forms of nature conservation aiming at the presentation and protection of those treasures. A researcher who investigates the given region or some creatures contributes to the films presenting all the habitats. Though totality is an impossible task since luckily the biodiversity of Hungary is significant in these fields, a survey of the riches of our living world encourages to getting acquainted with it and appreciating it.
UNRUHE
CHINA/2010/35'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Liu Peng
Director: Liu Peng
Camera: Liu Yuanchang
Music: Liu Yuanchang
Producer: Jin
On a small island close to Bohai-Bucht where the people are simple and honest, they make a living by fishing from generation to generation. But now they are all facing a big change. Another village is in the same situation. As the last watery place on the altiplano of China, Xinhua also has the same choice. The City or the original environment that is the question.
UNKNOWN LIFE CODE OF GIANT PANDA
CHINESE EMBASSY IN BULGARIA
China/2009/29’
Category: Documentaries
Producer: China Central Television
Unknown Life Code of Giant Panda There is 59 Giant Pandas in Chengdu Giant Panda Research and Breeding Center. They are facing three threats of survival - difficulties in mating, pregnancy and high infant mortality. Thanks to the technology of artificial insemination, scientists are able to breed them. In this documentary, scientists expressed their belief that many problems regarding the rare species would be overcome one after another and the giant panda population was to prosper.
UNSTEADY GROUND: THE THREAT OF MASSIVE LANDSLIDES
NHK/JAPAN BROADCASTING CORP.
Japan/2010/49’
Category: Documentaries; Scientific and educational films
Script: Takeshi Shibasaki
Director: Takeshi Shibasaki
Camera: Tetsuro Yasuda
Producer: Tomoyuki Shirakawa (Executive Producer)
Distributor: International Product Development, NHK
Record-breaking downpours caused by abnormal weather have begun to transform the concept of a landslide. In August 2009, a massive landslide, known as a deep-seated slope failure, crushed a village below and took over 500 lives. This catastrophe in an area not considered at risk shocked disaster prevention specialists. Across the world, global warming has dramatically increased the risk of these landslides. The programme examines this new type of natural disaster.
VALLEY OF HOPE AND DESPAIR
SAPIENS PRODUCTIONS
Netherlands/2011/45’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Joshka Wessels
Director: Joshka Wessels
Camera: Joshka Wessels
Music: Various
Producer: Joshka Wessels
Distributor: Sapiens Productions
The battle over access to clean water sources is ongoing across the West Bank, with illegal Israeli settlements frequently blocking access and polluting Palestinian farmers' irrigation. But in the valley of Wadi Fukin, Palestinian and Israeli villagers work together on projects to preserve water supplies and protect their local environment. This cooperation is exceptional in the region, but the huge gains both s des have made are now threatened. The separation wall is approaching and will physically divide the communities, putting an end to their collaboration and adversely affecting local water sources. Local farmer Abu Mazen, some of his neighbors and their Israeli counterparts took the authorities to court to halt the construction of the wall. This timely film looks at an issue of crucial importance to both Palestinians and Israelis and sets the context to the villagers' legal fight.
WHEN WE WERE ZOO
FONDAZIONE BIOPARCO DI ROMA
Italy/2011/8’
Category:Video spots
Script: Fondazione Bioparco di Roma
Director: Fondazione Bioparco di Roma
Camera: Fondazione Bioparco di Roma
Music: Fondazione Bioparco di Roma
Producer: Fondazione Bioparco di Roma
Distributor: Fondazione Bioparco di Roma
Short doc about the centenary history of the Rome Zoo through the point of view of its citizens: zookeepers and visitors.
WILD HUNGARY - A WATER WONDERLAND
STUDIO HAMBURG DOCLIGHTS/ NDR NATURFILM/AZARA FILM
Germany/Hungary/2011/51'
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Zoltan Török
Director: Zoltan Török
Camera: Jan Henriksson, Szabolcs Mosonyi, Zoltan Török
Music: Kolja Erdmann
Producer: Jörn Röver, Britta Kiesewetter, Zoltan Török
Distributor: ZDF Enterprises
A country like no other in Europe, Hungary is influenced by the rhythms of its rivers. White-tailed eagles, otters and enormous catfish share the wetlands with many other species living close to the local people, often unnoticed. The country’s inhabitants have learnt to cope with alternating floods and droughts. “Wild Hungary” is their story presenting some never-before-filmed animal behavior like dancing deer or wintering catfish.
Prizes: IWFF, USA: Sound/Music/Mix Annual Film Week, Hungary: Grand Prix Save and Preserve, Russia: Best Camera Vertical Moscow, Russia: Best Nature Film.
WILD JAPAN: THE WONDERS OF ABUNDANT WATERS
NHK/ANIMAL PLANET JAPAN
Japan/2010/58’
Category: Documentaries
Script: Yasuhiro Adachi, Keishiro Kitamura
Director: Yasuhiro Adachi, Keishiro Kitamura
Camera: Hideyuki Takaoka, Takamitsu Nagai, Masashi Wada
Music: Yu Takami, Masaru Yokoyama
Producer: Gen Sasaki, Hiromichi Iwasaki (Executive Producers); Kazuhiro Kitano, Ryoji Ishida (Producers)
Distributor: NHK Enterprises, Inc.
This two-part series explores the secrets of the Japanese archipelago, a miracle of nature. Part 2 focuses on the sea. Recent studies show that Japanese waters are the most bio-diverse in the world, with about 34,000 species, representing 15% of the earth’s total marine life. This richness is the result of many unusual geological conditions, including a unique confluence of frigid and warm ocean currents, and a natural undersea “conveyer belt” that brings nutrients to Japan from Russia. These waters truly offer spectacular sights, which were captured on film over a period of three years.
Prizes: US International Film&Video Festival 2011- 2nd Place Silver Screen Award.
WINTER BY STUDEN KLADENEZ
BULGARIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION
Bulgaria/2009/24’
Category: Scientific and educational films
Script: Pavlina Mihailova
Director: Dobrin Keresteliev
Camera: Kamen Kolev
Producer: Bulgarian National Television
Distributor: Bulgarian National Television
This is a wonderful story about a winter day spent next to Studen Kladenez Dam. The narrative describes how wild animals and birds manage to survive the winter with the help that people can provide. It's a lovely impression full of poetry.
Prizes: The Prize for Impressive Presence of Nature and Biodiversity in a Inhospitable Season”, Touristic Film Festival: On the East Bank of Europe, part of the International Exhibition of Cultural Tourism.
ZAMBEZI PART 1 – SOURCE OF LIFE/
ZAMBEZI PART 2 – A RIVER UNTARNED
ORF NATURAL HISTORY UNIT
Austria/2010/52’
Category: TV programmes dedicated to ecology and environmental protection
Script: Michael Schlamberger
Director: Michael Schlamberger
Camera: Michael Schlamberger, Rolando Menardi
Music: Kurt Adametz, Andreas Fabianek
Producer: ORF
Distributor: ORF
It’s one of the least known rivers on earth – yet it flows for nearly 2.600 kilometers through six countries. This is the story of the fourth longest river in Africa, from its source in the uplands of Zambia to its vast delta in Mozambique where it empties into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi changes mood many times, sometimes placid, opening out into vast open floodplains, then changing into a raging torrent, tearing through narrow rock gorges, then once again slowing, becoming deceptively placid before thundering into the mighty Victoria Falls. Filmed throughout the changing seasons, the story of the Zambezi is one of constant change, of life and death – it is the story of Africa itself.
Prizes: International Wildlife Festival 2011: Best Television Series; 2011 International Wildlife Film Festival: Albert Special price for the Best cut 2011; CINE Golden Eagle Festival CINE: Golden Eagle Award; International Wildlife Festival 2011: Best Television Series.
AWARD-WINNING FILMS, 4TH CHINA ANIMAL$NATURE FILM FESTIVAL 2011, YA’AN, SICHUAN PROVINCE, PARTNER OF THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT FESTIVAL “Green Wave – 21st Century”
ELEPHANTING
China/2009/79’
Director: Xiao Wei
As being the volunteer of forests protection, Mr Xiaowei went to the tropic forests from Pacific Oceanm Island. When he arrived in the “Eco Felling” site belonged by the boong people, he felt the unexpected horror and shock. Though everyone knows that this 100-year old tree will be fell, for Mr. Xiao, the death is not terrible, waiting for death is the most terrible thing in the world.
OUT OF THE ROCK COMES THE LIFE
China/2010/53’
Director: Luo Xiaoyun
The film tells the grown experience of a pair of panda baby after earthquake, indicating the relationship between feeders and panda babies, disclosing how pandas go back to the nature at the first time. However, Uncle Zhang, who used to live in Wolong, the hometown of Panda and lived with pandas in nature still preferred to stay in the mountain. Living in a new house or giving up the land to pandas, Uncle Zhang proposed three conditions.
THE MEADOW
China/2010/42’
Director: Jan Haft
Meadow is quiet, strong and tough. From the Glacier era to nowadays, the growth and death of animals and plants have close relationship with the meadow. Meadow observes the whole life of each specie, going through spring, summer, autumn and winter. Sometimes, they are the food for the cattle, sometimes; they are the protection for the insects. The meadow plays different roles in the enternal universe.
Polar Bears - Living in Thin Ice
Germany/2010/45’
Director: Thomas Behrend
Polar Bear is the biggest land-based predator on our planet: the polar bear. Its hunting grounds are the region around the North Pole – not firm ground, but a world of ice. In this seemingly endless biosphere, the polar bear rules undisputed. No other animal is able to stand up to this huge bear, which without a doubt is the “King of the Arctic”. This fact and its well-defined social life make the polar bear a natural choice to star in a nature documentary.
WILD RUSSIA- KAMCHATKA
Germany/2010/45’
Director : Jorn Rover
The harsh extremes of this peninsula – frozen tundra ablaze with active volcanoes and scorching geysers – feels almost like another planet. Powerful animals like great brown bears, sea otters and giant sea eagles thrive in this forbidding landscape. This programme, part of NDR’s six-part series on Russia, is one of the first full explorations of this little-known wonderland, now open again after a century closed off under Soviet rule.