Tag: KineDok 2019

Suhum is the capital of Abkhazia, a small and unrecognised republic on the shores of the Black Sea. On its highest mountain there is an institute for research on monkeys founded by the Soviets in the 1920s. Legend has it that his task was to create a cross between a man and a monkey. This creature never came to life, nor did the Communist New Man. Today, both humans and apes are trapped in the territory by wartime storage and decades of cruelty, victims of a series of failed experiments. A film about utopias, a metaphorical drama depicting the similar destinies of monkeys and humans.

Tarzan's testicles (Ouale lui Tarzan)

Title (original): Ouale lui Tarzan
Title (local): Tarzan's testicles

Time: 105
Directed by: Alexandru Solomon
Language: Romanian
Year: 2018
Country: Romania
Producer: Ada Solomon
Production: Hi Film Productions
Distribution: Hi Film Productions

Kinedok 2019: Mečiar - A craving for power

A tale of political corruption, kidnapping and organised crime, the documentary tells the incredible rise of Vladimir Mečiar, Slovakia's first democratically elected prime minister after 40 years of totalitarian communist rule. Director Teresa Nvotova tells a terrifyingly intimate story of a society in crisis with the help of old home videos of herself and her childhood friends, imitating Mečiar's relentless use of propaganda and intimidation to gain and retain power.

More about the film

Title (original): Mečiar
Title (local): Mečiar: The craving for power

Time: 90
Directed by: Teresa Nvotová
Language: Slovak
Year: 2018
Country: Slovakia
Producer: Zuzana Mistríková, Ľubica Orechovská
Production: PubRes
Distribution: Asociace českých filmových klubů

Writer, journalist, DJ and independent filmmaker Šimon Šafránek made his first documentary about the rise of skateboarding in Czechoslovakia, charmingly brazen and at the same time wise, melancholy and engaged depiction of the quest for freedom in a society that stifles the communist regime. The unique archive footage follows the punk rock soundtrack (The Clash, Sex Pistols, Killing Joke, Visací zámek, Miro Žbirka) and introduces us to the story of the cult skate masters – Ivan Zobák Pelikán, Petr Forman, and Luděk Váša – and their endless ride through the grey days of normalisation. Forty songs, 20 bands from Czechoslovakia and abroad, a million dollar bill and several months of hard work. The result is a soundtrack the likes of which the Czech film has not yet seen.

King skate - Czech Republic

Title (original): King Skate
Title (local): King Skate

Time: 80
Directed by: Šimon Šafránek
Language: Czech
Year: 2018
Country: Czechia
Producer: Kateřina Černá
Production: Negative s.r.o.
Distribution: Aerofilms s.r.o.

Josepha struggles with the consequences of the sexual abuse she suffered from the ages of four to twelve. Senad starts making a film about her, but by entering Josipa's life, he is no longer an objective filmmaker, but he himself becomes the protagonist of the film. Senad's life is also changing dramatically. The film transforms into a personal, intimate, naked and brutally honest story about an extremely unusual relationship between two people. Throughout the film, we see in a close-up the face of a young girl, who jumps from one extreme to another with an almost unbearable rhythm - from pain, sadness, anger and panic fear of being left behind, to black humor, childhood joy and intellectualistic diagnoses of her own abnormality. The other protagonist, whom we mostly don't see, tries to fix what some other people have long broken... and struggles with himself along the way.

Josipa, I love you - Croatia

Title (original): Joseph, I love you
Title (local): Joseph, I love you

Time: 62
Directed by: Jadranka Cicvarič Siftar, Senad Zemunović
Language: Croatian
Year: 2018
Country: Croatia
Producer: Jadranka Cicvarić Šiftar
Production: Trigon d.o.o.

In the town hall in the province one official dreamers. After a series of unpleasant accidents, he seeks a better, more orderly and less violent world in football or, rather, in a newly invented game, a sport that is simultaneously elaborate, rational and incredible. Funny, sad and touching, this minimalist documentary will enchant us with the world of a small clerk who wants to transcend his own boundaries. After The Second Game, director Corneliu Porumboiu returns to documentary and football, and if his first title dealt with our relationship with the past, this one deals with potentials for the future and what we leave behind for future generations.

Infinity football (Fotbal Infinit) – Romania

Title (original): Fotbal Infinit
Title (local): Infinite Football

Time: 70
Directed by: Corneliu Porumboiu
Language: Romanian
Year: 2018
Country: Romania
Producer: Marcela Ursu

Director Karen Winther finds it difficult to reconcile with her past and her participation in the right-wing and left-wing movements in Oslo. Through intimate conversations with former political and religious extremists, Exit explores how extremists change their minds and turn their backs on hatred and violence. At the same time, this documentary shows how such people live with shame and lifelong remorse for the actions of the past, and shows their committed efforts to prevent others from taking the same path.

Exit – Norway

Title (original): Exit
Title (local): Exit

Time: 83
Directed by: Karen Winther
Language: Norwegian
Year: 2018
Country: Norway
Producer: Eirin Gjørv
Production: Sant & Usant

The Markus and Lukas brothers live in an old house in Oslo and spend their holidays in Smøla where their mother grew up. Markus loves football and wants to become a professional footballer. Lukas is more philosophical and asks questions about the world, about himself, about the meaning. Sometimes what they need and want is contrary to the behavior of a good son or brother. Director Aslaug Holm, the mother of the boy, has been making the film for eight years. This is her attempt to perpetuate their childhood and brotherhood, their familiarity with life, while at the same time remembering family history.

Brothers (BRØDRE) – Norway

Title (original): BRØDRE
Title (local): Brothers

Time: 100
Directed by: Aslaug Holm
Language: Norwegian
Year: 2015
Country: Norway
Producer: Tore Buvarp
Production: Fenris Film