Doclands, the first event dedicated to documentary film-making to be held in Ireland will take place in Dublin from 24 to 26 October. Confirmed screenings, events and exhibitors for the market are as follows: MARKET at DOCLANDS
Doclands was established in response to an industry call issued through the Irish Film Board in late 1999. The Doclands Market is a vital part of the overall Doclands event as it presents an opportunity to documentary professionals from Ireland and abroad to meet over 3 days to discuss business in an international arena.
Documentary filmmakers, factual programme producers, distributors, financiers, commissioning editors and buyers will participate in the Doclands Market. The market venue will contain screening booths where projects seeking partners/finance or distribution can be shown, along with a meeting space, a cafe and an exhibition hall where agencies supporting documentary and factual programme making will have information stands. There will be a film library of documentary films from Ireland and abroad available to watch in the market venue.
Individual one-on-one meetings will be organised prior to commencement of Doclands so that market delegates and guests can make the most of their market participation.
The interest in this year's Doclands Market is significant and with over 100 participants from around the world, the strength of the market is indicative of the global importance of the documentary industry.
Doclands
Industry Seminars
European Documentary Network (EDN) Workshop
Wednesday 25 | 10 | 2000 10.00 IFC Cinema 2
The European Documentary Network (EDN) is an independent association with over 600 members from Europe and the rest of the world, comprising producers and filmmakers, festivals, distributors, broadcasters and film funds. EDN publishes the DOX magazine, the EDN TV Guide and runs seminars, training workshops and conferences on documentary matters. EDN also co-organises the very popular Forum in Amsterdam. The EDN workshop at Doclands will focus on Documentaries in Europe and the US.
Barrie Dowdall of Telwell Productions, the current Irish EDN representative will open the workshop, drawing comparisons between Irish/British and European documentaries. Tue Steen Máller, Head of EDN, will take us a guided tour of European documentaries utilising clips from recent highlights, from both the commercial and artistic approach, whilst also characterising their financial and distributive background. Steven Seidenberg of Caf Productions, will talk about co-financing and funding in Europe and the US.
RTE Workshop
Thursday 26 | 10 | 2000 10.00 IFC Cinema 2
"We have become a race of Peeping Toms".
- from Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.
Reality TV - the latest trend to hit our television screens will be discussed at this session hosted by RTE. Key speakers from the industry in Ireland and the UK will look at how new media formats and new storytelling methods have led to entirely new ways of producing and consuming "reality".
Doclands
Directors Workshop
This special workshop organised by FilmBase and supported by Screen Training Ireland will explore the Albert Maysles style and approach to documentary making.
Through its guest host, Albert Maysles, it will focus on the Direct Cinema filmmaking style of the Maysles Brothers, Albert's role as cinematographer, and look at the documentaries featured in Doclands retrospective programme.
The class will run for 2 hours and will use clips from some of the films of Albert Maysles to assist in the workshop. It will be attended by young Irish documentary filmmakers.
Please note that this is a closed session - for information on participation in the masterclass, contact Vanessa Gildea at FilmBase 01 6796716
IFTA Screenings
13 denzille 24|10|00 10.00 - 18.00
The Irish Film & Television Academy (ifta) recognises and rewards excellence in Irish film and television through its annual awards. Members of ifta vote for the nominations in the ifta awards and award winners are selected from the nominations by juries of film and television practitioners.
There are two documentary categories in the ifta awards: one for documentaries in English and the other for documentaries in Irish. Details of this year's nominations will be announced in time for Doclands and all of the nominated documentaries will be screened together in the ifta@doclands strand - for the first and only time. Last year's nominations included the highly acclaimed States of Fear, Rotha Mór an tSaoil/Hard Road to Klondike, Michael Hartnett - Necklace of Wrens and A Year Til Sunday - so expect to see 'the best of Irish' screening in ifta@doclands.
Details of the documentaries and a schedule will be available from the Doclands Desk from 23 October.
Photographic Exhibition at
National Photographic Archive
The Travellers of Ireland
by Alen MacWeeney
Alen MacWeeney was born and educated in Dublin. His work, which encompasses both commercial and fine-art photography, has appeared in such publications as Life, The New York Times, and Esquire, as well as in numerous books. Alen lives in New York City.
During the Sixties, Alen lived and travelled with the travellers of Ireland for extended periods, and his photographs from these journeys are featured in this exhibition.
The photographs are the subject of May the Road Rise Up, a powerful new documentary film directed by Alen MacWeeney and acclaimed documentary filmmaker John T. Davis. May the Road Rise Up gets its world premiere as the opening film of Doclands.
DOCLANDS SCREENINGS
Venues IFC 1, IFC 2, and New Theatre.
Aidan Walsh - Master of the Universe IFC 1 18.30 25/10
Ireland 2000 69mins | colour | beta
Dir Shimmy Marcus | print source Zanzibar Productions
tel. 353 1 6719480
Filmed over 4 years, 'Aidan Walsh - Master of the Universe' is a touching portrait of one of Ireland's most eccentric underground characters. At times hilarious and at times tragically sad, the film charts Aidan's life from his harrowing childhood, through to his career as a pop star and entrepreneur. It is testimony to a unique individual who has prevailed in spite of everything society continues to throw at him.
DUBLIN PREMIERE
American Movie IFC 1 21.00 26/10
USA 1999 104mins | colour | beta
Dir Chris Smith | print source Columbia Tristar
tel. 353 1 6163200
It takes a village to make a movie, but when that village is Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and not Hollywood, California the results are at times bizarre, comical and very American. With the help of his mother, his 82-year old uncle and a local cast of hilarious and lovable characters, film maker Mark Borchardt fights his way through internal and external roadblocks to achieve his goal - to make his movie, his way. Spanning over 2 years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline and spiritual crisis, 'American Movie' is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess and one man's quest for the american dream. Winner of best documentary film, Sundance film festival 1999, American Movie is co-produced by singer/songwriter Michael Stipe.
IRISH PREMIERE
An Bothar Fada - New Theatre 12.00 25/10
Ireland 2000
Dir Barrie Dowdall | print source Telwell Productions
tel. 353 1 4548790
'The Long Road' is a documentary telling the true and often heartbreaking story of the Irish navvy and emigrant worker. Most Irish families have at least one member of the family, male or female, who took the boat to Britain to labour during the great reconstruction of Britain after the war. This programme is also a celebration of Irish people who were robbed of a life in their own country, and yet who struggled to maintain dignity amidst often-hostile surrondings. Directed by Barrie Dowdall and produced by Brendan Culleton, 'The Long Road' is a Telwell/Akajava co-production financed by TG4 and the Irish Film Board.
Cinema Verite: Defining the Moment
new theatre 11.00 26/10
Canada 2000 75 mins | b&w and colour | beta
Dir Peter Wintonick | print source National Film Board of Canada tel. 44 20 7258 6480
Peter Wintonick’s film traces the history of 'cinema verite' or 'cinema direct,' as it was known in France, where it is explored through interviews with many of the documentary genre's pioneers. largely inspired by the invention of new lightweight cameras in the 1950's and 60s, cinema verite's trademark hand-held style went on to become widely assimilated into contemporary film and video practice. featuring Kirwan Cox, Wolf Koenig, Richard Leacock, Albert Maysles, DA Pennebaker, this highly entertaining film is as informative as it is inspirational.
Dan, Dan, Dad and Me - New Theatre 19.00 25/10
Ireland 2000 52 mins | b&w and colour | beta
Dir Lisa Mulcahy | print source Miss Smith Productions
tel.353 1 4970099
Dan Dan, Dad and Me is the story of three generations of an Irish family. Directed by Lisa Mulcahy, it is a remarkably honest and poignant diary of her family and their relationships with each other from the civil war up to the present day. Through previously unseen photos and archive footage it tells the story of how this family dealt with the challenges that it faced during the past century.
WORLD PREMIERE
Eating Drinking Waiting Playing IFC1 22.00 25/10
USA 1999
Dir Mike Mills
Renowned music video director Mike Mills has collaborated with French electronic music group Air (the Virgin Suicides) on their music artwork and videos. Eating Drinking Waiting Playing, shows an evocative parallel visual world that mirrors the group's ethereal, hip and poignant sound.
IRISH PREMIERE
The Exhibited IFC2 15.30 25/10
Denmark, 2000 78 mins | colour | 35mm
Dir Jesper Jargil
Jesper Jargil's documentary on Lars Von Trier's project Psychomobile 1, the world clock by Jesper Jargil. Jargil, a veteran director, scriptwriter, cameraman and producer, has won numerous international awards including the lion d'or at Cannes. His feature length documentary The Humiliated (1998) followed the production of Lars Von Trier's dogme film, The Idiots.
IRISH PREMIERE
Francisco Boix - Photographer in Hell
New Theatre 13.30 26/10
Spain 2000 55mins | b&w and colour | beta
Dir Llorenc Soler | print source Area de Television tel. 34 93 467 1010
Llorenc Soler's incredible film documents the heroic life of Francisco Boix (d. 1952). Boix, a photographer, smuggled over 2,000 of his photographs out of the concentration camp at mauthausen where he was imprisoned during wwII. these photographs were later used at the nurembourg trial to give evidence against the 3rd reich's military leadership.
IRISH PREMIERE
Freedom Highway - New Theatre 18.30 26/10
Ireland 2000
Dir Phillip King | print source Hummingbird Productions
Freedom Highway is a 90 minute feature film which looks at the role of song in the fight for civil and religious liberties and human rights. The twentieth century more than any previous age has been characterised by uprisings of people everywhere from the civil rights campaigns of african-americans to the suffragists of the early decades of the century to the anti-apartheid movement in south africa. Freedom Highway sees the twentieth century as an age of struggle and resistance whose stories lie in song.
WORLD PREMIERE
Gaea Girls IFC1 18.30 26/10
UK 2000 106 mins | colour | 35mm
Dir Kim Longinotto, Jano Williams | print source Vixen Films
Directors Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams whose collaborations include Eat the Kimono, Dream Girls and Shinjuku Boys follow the tough, regimented lives of female wrestler training to join the ranks of highly regarded joshi puroresu - women wrestlers. This extraordinary film shows the arduous and unrelentless physical and mental plight of these women whose endurance during training will hopefully lead to their success and recognition in the ring.
The Hard Road to Klondike
New Theatre 12.15 26/10
Northern Ireland 1999 55mins | colour | beta
Dir Desmond Bell | print source Asylum Pictures
tel. 44 131 443 4320
This ifta awarding winning documentary directed by derry-born filmmaker Desmond Bell, tells the gripping story of Irish emigrant Mici MacGowan and his tramp across america in the early 1900s. In the bleak decades after the famine Mici left his home in Donegal to cross the Atlantic in search of work, ending up in Yukon after the gold rush. Narrated by Stephen Rea, this film weaves a rich tapestry of documentary and fictional images together to illuminate Mici's engaging story.
The Holy Brotherhood of Steam and Agony - New Theatre 17.45 25/10
Finland 2000 30mins | colour | beta
Dir Heikki Kujanp | print source Silva Mysterium Oy tel. 358 9 7594 720
This fascinating and entertaining film shows just how much a Finnish man can take! Legendary hot sauna bather, Kake, prepares to participate in the sauna world championships. With temperatures rising well above 1000 celsius, Kake and his fellow contenders sweat it out for the crown of world sauna champion.
IRISH PREMIERE
Home - New Theatre 13.10 25/10
Ireland 2000 26mins | b&w and colour | beta
Dir Patrick Hodgins | print source Vertigo Films tel. 353 1 6274104
Home explores the lives of 3 homeless men in Dublin - 2 of whom live on the street and one in sheltered accommodation. This honest and thought-provoking film by young Irish director Patrick Hodgins, looks at the realities of homeless in Ireland through the eyes of three individuals whose lives are affected by it. A visually evocative piece, home uses only the men's words to convey their thoughts and experiences.
Ice Lemonade for Hong Li IFC2 12.30 26/10
Germany 2000 90mins | colour | super16mm
Dir Arek Gielnik | print source Arek Gielnik tel. 49 171 5309448
Ice Lemonade for Hong Li portrays the lives of 2 generations in vietnam to-day. War photographer Thomas Billhardt who took photographs during the war in Vietnam goes back with the pictures to retrace their subjects. Billhardt hopes to discover the whereabouts of those he photographed through setting up an exhibition of the work around a public fountain. The stunning photographs portray the tragedy of the war and its impact on the people of Vietnam.
Images of a Dictatorship - New Theatre 16.30 25/10
Canada 2000 56 mins | b&w and colour | beta
Dir Patricio Henriquez | print source Macumba International tel. 1 514 521 8303
Patricio Henriquez's fascinating film chronicles the reign of terror of Chilean dictator general Augusto Pinochet through exclusive news footage. In this hard-hitting visual collage, the imagery speaks for itself as the film presents a scathing tableau of military rule. The footage comes from the personal archives of a news camerman who worked in chile for 17 years.
The Jaundiced Eye IFC1 13.30 25/10
USA 1999 89mins | colour | beta
Dir Nonny De La Pena | print source Somford Entertainment tel. 1 310 289 3900
This harrowing documentary chronicles the decade long trials and emotional traumas incurred by a gay Michegan man, Stephen Matthews, and his father, Melvin Matthews, who were wrongfully accused by Stephen's girlfriend and her husband of molesting Stephen's son. Stephen Matthews story is a horrifying example of justice miscarried in a society of legal labyrinths where science is easily confused about fact and sexual orientation can provoke prosectorial vendettas based upon long-held biases.
IRISH PREMIERE
Maradona - Kicking the Habit - New Theatre 14.45 26/10
Northern Ireland 1999 55mins | colour | beta
Dir Michael Hewitt | print source Double-Band Films tel. 028 90 243331
"I was and always will be happy with the goal i scored with my hand," says Maradona. "I offer the English a thousand apologies, but i'd still do it again". This film looks at former Argentinian champion at his health spa outside Havana, where thanks to Fidel Castro he has been recuperating following a heart attack and trying to overcome his cocaine addiction. Maradona - Kicking the Habit, produced by Belfast-based production company, double-band films for channel 4, follows one of football's most notorious players pursuing life after the game.
The Nook - New Theatre 14.00 25/10
Ireland 2000 25mins | colour | beta
Dir Dennis Macardle | print source Songway Films tel. 353 1 4910482
The Nook is a sensitive portrayal of Martin Lysaght who forgoes a life at sea to run a corner shop in Dublin's coastal village of Booterstown. Martin's shop, The Nook, is the kind one remembers from childhood - crammed full of sweet jars, hair grips, groceries and comic books. After 35 years Martin closes The Nook and the film takes a bizarre twist. Freed of running a business, Martin decides to use The Nook for his own purposes - the shop becomes a labyrinth of his imagination. Ten years in the making, The Nook is in essence a wonderful study of the free spirit and its place on earth.
The Ridge - New Theatre 17.00 26/10
Australia 1998 56 mins | colour | beta
Dir Janet McLeod | print source Two-Up Films
tel. 613 9417 4430
This wonderful film reveals the rough and wild lifestyle of the Australian opal fields. The high hopes and shattered dreams, the boredom and discontent of lightning ridge and the dream of one day finding that million dollar gemstone. Barry, Ron, Anna, Ken and Bruce all live for this this dream. The ridge is a raw portrayal of the human psyche - of the ability to keep going when driven by the desire for something better.
IRISH PREMIERE
Talking to the Dead IFC2 16.00 26/10
ireland 2000 54mins | colour | beta
Dir Pat Collins | print source Power Pictures
tel. 353 91 569707
The latest film by acclaimed documentary maker, Pat Collins, talking to the dead takes a fresh approach to looking at the tradition of the irish funeral. Dealing with traditions from pagan times to the present, the film looks at, amongst other things, the politicisation of the funeral and the impact that death and dying have on Irish cultural life.
Train on the Brain - New Theatre 14.50 25/10
UK 2000 50 min | colour | beta
Dir Alison Murray | print source MJW Productions
tel. 44 20 7713 0400
A fast-paced insight into the lives of a group of young hobos who jump from train to train across Canada and the USA. Director Alison Murray, leaves her London home to sample hobo living. She and her new group of friends sleep in uncomfortable train cars, have nowhere to wash, have no money and risk being arrested but are willing to go through it for the freedom of the open track. Beautifully shot with a pulsing soundtrack, featuring Beck, the film follows the lives of those who have train on the brain.
IRISH PREMIERE
May the Road Rise Up IFC1 21.00 24/10
Ireland 2000 73mins | b&w | beta
Dir Alen MacWeeney, John T. Davies | print source Littlebird Films tel. 353 1 6614245
This feature documentary follows Irish photographer Alen MacWeeney and his journey back to Ireland to meet the travelling families he photographed and recorded in the 1960's. As well as taking photographs, MacWeeney gathered a rich archive of songs and stories, and these elements interweave with the stories of the characters as we find them in the present day. A beautifully crafted piece, may the road rise up is the opening film of Doclands.
WORLD PREMIERE
The Work of Angels IFC1 14.30 26/10
Ireland 2000 58mins | colour | beta
Dir Murray Grigor | print source Crescendo Concepts
tel. 353 1 4974676
Look more closely at it and you will penetrate to the very shrine of art.. you might say that all this was the work of a angels and not of a man, Giraldus Cambrensis, 1185ad. The Work of Angels is an exploration of the wonders of the greatest Irish treasure - the Book of Kells. Directed by Scottish filmmaker Murray Grigor , whose films on art and architecture have won numerous awards, produced by one of Ireland's leading filmmakers Louis Lentin and shot by Seamus McGarvey (high fidelity, enigma). This film looks at how this precious Irish work of art survived from the middle ages to become an International symbol of Ireland's history.
Salesman IFC1 20.00 25/10
A film by the Maysles Brothers and Charlotte Zwerin
90 minutes, 1968
SALESMAN follows four door-to-door Bible salesmen as they walk the line between hype and despair. First making calls in and around Boston, where the company is based, then in Chicago at a sales conference, and finally in the promising new "territory" of Miami and vicinity. Their mission is simple: to convince people to buy what one of them calls "still the best seller in the world." Talking, pushing, cajoling, telling jokes and stories, throwing out compliments, the salesmen make their "pitches" to a wide range of customers -- lonely widows, married couples, Cuban immigrants, bored housewives -- from those who clearly cannot afford the $50 book to those who, in the end, are convinced by the salesman's somewhat too-cheerful patter.
Muhammad & Larry IFC2 17.30 26/10
A film by David and Albert Maysles
26 minutes
1980
Two captivating personalities clash in "Muhammad and Larry," a close portrait of boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes. As each athlete separately prepares for a World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, the Maysles brothers follow them with their camera. From sparring matches to private moments at home, the film catches the boxers' witty remarks, side comments, and challenges to each other. The two are a dramatic juxtaposition of wit and passion, each figure diametrically-opposed, but both in admiration for the other. Despite their different personalities, Ali and Holmes share an obsession with the same victory. They used to be sparring partners but now they focus on exchanging quips about their ultimate bout. "I'm going to die hard anywhere," Larry Holmes claims. "I'll fight right to the end. I'll fight with broken jaws." "Muhammad and Larry" watches this love-hate relationship with a mutual allegiance to both men. Down to its powerful last line, the film shows the personal side of human greatness.
Showman IFC2 17.00 25/10
A film by Albert and David Maysles
53 minutes
A mogul in-the-making. SHOWMAN follows movie merchant, distributor-promoter Joe Levine during the ballyhoo of "Two Women" and Sofia Loren's Oscar-winning performance. Levine wheels and deals his way through daily life - surrounded by movie stars, fellow tycoons and yes-men. Levine grew up in the slums of Boston where he became a small-time distributor of films. Only a few years ago he could be seen toting a can of film under his arm. New England was his territory. Today (at the time of SHOWMAN), he's a big executive. His territory: the world. Showman was filmed during a period when Levine was enjoying huge success handling the picture Two Women featuring Sophia Loren. The camera is with Levine as he negotiates for the release of his films and at a reunion of boyhood friends from the West End of Boston. It follows him on the way to Cannes to present the Oscar to Sophia Loren, and through his argument with David Susskind about the art of the movies.
With Love From Truman - New Theatre 16.00 26/10
A film by David and Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin
29 minutes
1966
"With Love From Truman" portrays an intimate meeting with renowned author Truman Capote. As a reporter interviews him in his beachfront home, Capote shares his "self-regarding" personality through hip philosophy and calculated jokes. He offers insights in an endearingly raspy voice about his latest book, In Cold Blood, which Capote declares to be part of a new genre, the "non-fiction novel." Just as the Maysles brothers' direct cinema classics turn real stories into narratives, Capote's non-fiction novel makes an effort to turn reality into art. In Cold Blood is based on first-hand accounts of an actual murder. The author affectionately discusses his coverage of the subsequent trial and his intriguing relationship with the two young killers. Capote claims it is the spontaneity of life that compels him to portray reality, but it is his own fresh energy and startling sense of humor that keep us intrigued.
For further information contact Sara Corcoran or Gemma Dolan, Ion Entertainment at ion@indigo.ie
