RE>CONNEXT work-in-progress: Iraq’s Invisible Beauty by Sahim Omar Kalifa
When the director first discussed his documentary idea to profile the great Iraqi photographer Latif Al Ani, the subject thought that it would entail him sitting on a chair, talking to the camera about all the pictures he had taken. “I said Latif, our ambitions are higher than that! We have bigger goals!” Khalif corrected him. This is a film for the cinema, a work of scale and grandeur, he tells BDE.
RE>CONNEXT review: The Wire by Tiha K. Gudac
The troubled coming together of borders and migrants is brought into sharp and fascinating focus in Tiha Gudac’s engrossing and at times gently provocative documentary The Wire which heads to the edge of Eastern Europe to detail the impact a steel fence with razor wire has had on the beautiful Kupa region and the River Kupa itself which acts as a border between Slovenia and Croatia.
RE>CONNEXT work-in-progress: In My Father’s House by Rachida El Garani
Filmmaker Rachida El Garani is dealing with deeply personal and traumatic subject matter in her new project, which is being presented at the virtual RE>CONNEXT showcase. The film focuses on the Belgian-Moroccan director’s relationship with her father, a stern patriarch whose decisions many years ago threatened to ruin her life. El Garani speaks to Business Doc Europe.
RE>CONNEXT interview: Steven Dhoedt, ‘The Sound of Seoul’ & ‘Sunrise Kids’
Business Doc Europe talks to a very busy Steven Dhoedt, who is presenting two projects at RE>CONNEXT, The Sound of Seoul which examines the unique musical culture of post-War Korea, and Sunrise Kids, about the “historical tension between rebellion and conformity within post-war Japanese society.”
RE>CONNEXT company profile: Panenka
“An audacious shot on goal, both bold and delicate,” reads the slogan on the Panenka website. The Belgian company, founded in 2004, has taken its name from one of the most famous penalties in the history of football. The company’s Kristoffel Mertens attempts to put one past Business Doc Europe.
RE>CONNEXT company profile: Diplodokus
A diplodokus (or diplodocus) is a dinosaur with a long neck and a very long tail. It’s also the name which has been taken by one of Belgium’s most adventurous independent production companies. Since 2014, Diplodokus has been making documentary films, TV dramas and web-docs which have won awards and been shown at many international festivals. The company’s Maarten Bernaerts explains the rationale to BDE.
RE>CONNEXT screening: As Long As We Can by Philippe Niclaes
Philippe Niclaes’ new doc is both about the process of ageing and the disappearance of the corner shop or convenience store, just like the one he grew up in as a kid, and to which he returns to film his mother as she eyes up her future years. As the logline says, the film is both about social isolation and the disappearance of a generation of shops. But as the director explains to Business Doc Europe, it also a story of hope and deep affection.
RE>CONNEXT project: Nostalgia for the Future by Brecht Debackere
“It should be said, making a traditional documentary that sketches an overview of this versatile artist - active in various media for more than 70 years - has never been my intention,” Flemish filmmaker Brecht Debackere tells BDE of his Chris Marker feature doc project. “The starting point was always: how can we make an audience get to know someone who has practically no biographical information available, no archive material?”
RE>CONNEXT series project: Mobutu by Guillaume Graux
Joost Vandensande, editor-in-chief at production house Panenka, talks to Business Doc Europe about his company’s new 4-part doc series, to be pitched during the upcoming Flemish showcase, about the former Congolese dictator who, even now, very much divides opinion. “He is still a very, very delicate subject. It’s like opening a Pandora’s Box,” Vandensande tells BDE.
Doc and non-fiction in the ascendant at RE>CONNEXT 2021
Commencing October 4 and running through October 15, the Flemish showcase this year offers up 26 feature and four doc series titles to the online industry, who are granted round the clock access to new project pitches, presentations of works in progress, and screenings. Business Doc Europe previews the documentary and non-fiction fare on offer.
