WHEN THE DOCUMENTARIES CAME TO TOWN

On May 1st, Leuven saw the beginning of its 6th annual International Documentary Film Festival. The festival, which ran for a week, showcased numerous documentaries from around the world as well as ones from Belgium. This year, new categories were added, and a rise in ticket sales confirmed the growing popularity of the festival.

The International Documentary Film Festival, or DOCVILLE, presented six distinct categories of film this year. These categories included the usual International Selection, National Selection and the Avant-Premiere plus the new categories: Clear Con-Science, The Art of Chinese Filmmaking and Films at the M. More than 800 films were submitted for consideration in the International Selection category and only 10 were picked. Most of the films were screened at the main festival site in STUK. However this year, with the expansion of the festival, films were also screened at other locations such as M Museum and Kinepolis.

An interesting new category, Clear Con-science, consisted of films that address current social and global debates in the world today. These films encouraged the audience to redefine their perception of issues such as energy consumption in No Impact Man, or an international organization such as the UN in U.N. Me. The films presented a less discussed dimension of well known issues.

This year, DOCVILLE cooperated with the newly opened M Museum of Leuven. Four films about arts were screened at the museum, some of which addressed the theme of advertising. For example, the documentary Art & Copy presented a story of influential advertising creatives, some of whom were the people behind catchy slogans such as the famous “Just Do It” for Nike. For those who saw a film at the M and kept their ticket, they can ask for the reduced visit price until September 30, 2010.

Besides screening films, DOCVILLE also hosted two industry events, namely: New Chinese Documentary beyond the Frame and Day of the Doc. The former focused on the development of Chinese documentarians, their visions and styles. For half a day on May 8th, in association with the Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF) and Scam, interested parties gathered at Cinema ZED to debate matters concerning Chinese filmmaking. Issues included cultural and social concerns presented in films, the new trend of Chinese documentary film making and local inspiration and influence for filmmakers. The debate featured filmmakers, artists, writers and academics who are interested in Chinese documentary that is produced in China by Chinese filmmakers and journalists. Following the debate, the films Using and Petition-The Court of the Complainants were shown. This event was the reason DOCVILE included its new category of The Art of Chinese Filmmaking this year.

In different vain, Day of the Doc offered a chance for aspiring documentary filmmakers to find funding for their work. Representatives from VAF, MEDIA and the European Documentary Network gave talks about financial options. After the lectures, participants were given a chance for one-on-one contact with subsidizing institutions and national and international producers. At the end of the event, the film Capturing Reality: the Art of Documentary was screened.

As in previous years, the winners of the film competitions were announced on the last day of the festival. This year, the 2,000 EUR Best Belgian Documentary Award went to the film Flaxman by Jan Lapeire. The film depicted the unfortunate situation of two flax growers in West-Flanders, where their traditional way of farming is threatened by the moves toward modernization by the government. Meanwhile, How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster by Norberto López Amado and Carlos Carcas received the Award for Best International Documentary at the festival this year.

Overall, the festival enjoyed a great success and will return to Leuven again in May next year. |