DOK Leipzig 2023 - Self Portrait Along the Borderline
[Hosein Jalilvand, 29 October 2023]
In this episode, I sit with the Georgian-Abkhaz filmmaker Anna Dziapshipa to speak with her about her film Self-Portrait along the Borderline, which recently had its German premiere at DOK Leipzig. The film is Anna’s search for territory, both actual and imaginary, where everything collective becomes personal, and everything personal is collective. Self-Portrait along the Borderline won the award for the best medium-length film at the Vision du Reel festival and will be screening next at RIDM.
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An abandoned house opens the door to revisit the past by bringing to life a unique, nearly destroyed image archive from the unrecognized territory on the border of the Black Sea: Abkhazia. A place normally inaccessible for Georgians because of the ethnic conflict that happened between Georgia and Abkhazia back in 1993. Combining voice, archive and recent footage, the film examines a lost and split identity stuck between the margins. The audio-visual fragments of this archive are intricately woven together to create a personal and political biography that recalls the complicated and controversial historical past of Georgian-Abkhaz relationships.
The highly personal narration delves into the complexities of nationalism and identity in times of war and global displacement. Ultimately, these reflections on recent history become a potential manual for what can come next, once the wars are over.
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Anna Dziapshipa is a filmmaker and producer specializing in documentary film. With a background in art history, film production, and cultural management, Anna explores themes of memory, identity, and the transformation of physical borders.
She was the co-producer of Aleksandre Koberidze “What We See When We Look at the Sky” which was part of the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival (FIPRESCI award). She is also the author of several short films and a producer of Salome Jashi’s first documentary, “Bakhmaro”.
Anna is also the co-founder of Sakdoc Film and DOCA – Documentary Film Association Georgia.
Anna collaborates with various platforms and organizations, lending her skills as a writer, lecturer, and tutor. Her works have gained recognition in international film festivals and art exhibitions. Anna, a 2022 Fulbright scholar, conducted her research at the University of Arkansas, focusing on the development of a syllabus for documentary production. She has taught this course since 2016 at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs in the Department of Audio-Visual Studies.
Her middle-length documentary, "Self-portrait Along the Borderline," premiered at Visions du Reel in April 2023, where it received the prestigious Jury Prize for Best Medium Length Film.
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Hosein Jalilvand is an Iranian film director-scholar and contributor to Docs in Orbit. His films play with the intersections of history and cinema. He was born in Meymeh, a small town in the center of Iran, and has recently moved to Geneva.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Hosein began pursuing his long interests in cinema with a Master’s in Film Studies at the University of Tehran and a Master of Arts in Documentary Film Directing from DocNomads.
His short documentary “Song of the Bell” (DocLisboa, 2018) won the best director award in the Green Years competition section. Since then, he has been researching a series of texts about colonialism and its manifestation in wildlife movies while developing a feature documentary on the topic.
DOK Leipzig 2023 - Festival Recap
[Hosein Jalilvand, 23 October 2023]
A few days have passed since the DOK Leipzig ended but many of the films are still on our minds. As a way to recap the festival, I, along with Eka Tsotsoria, began collecting voice memos from people we encountered at the festival, sharing with us their favorite films from the lineup.
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Juliette Menthonnex, director of Tale of the Three Flames, speaks about Man In Black by Bing Wang
Eka Tsotsoria, editor of Self-Portrait Along the Borderline speaks about The Der Wind nimmt die mit by Ann Carolin Renninger
Adheep Das, director of Moonless speaks about Drijf by Levi Stoops
Pauline Blanchet, co-director of 2 or 3 Words About the Cité 4000 speaks about No Changes Have Taken In Our Life by Xu Jingwei
Sara Jurinčić, director of Valerija speaks on Zima by Tomek Popakul & Kasumi Ozeki
Tess Martin, director of 1976: Search for Life on Zoopticon by Jon Frickey, Thies Mynther, & Sandra Trostel
Daryna Mamaisur, director of Smoke of the Fire on Universe Department Store by Taewoong Won
Mariana Cadenas Sangronis, director of Draw for Change: We Exist, We Resist on The Mother of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir
Ann Carolin Renninger, director of Der Wind nimmt die mit on It’s Just a Whole by Bianca Scali
Jani Peltonen, director of 30 Kilometres per Second on The Tuba Thieves by Alison O’Daniel
DOK Leipzig Animation Night with Franka Sachse
[Aylin Gökmen, 8 October 2023]
Today is the start of DOK Leipzig - the oldest documentary film festival, which also happens to be one of the few that has placed a particular emphasis on animation films, championing animation within the genre of non-fiction for decades! So, for its 66th Edition (and because I love animation👾) I decided to focus on this aspect of the event. In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Franka Sachse, a director, animator, and curator of the Animation Night of DOK Leipzig to speak with her about the festival and many of the scheduled events.
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The Animation Night is scheduled for Friday, October 13th, featuring Tess Martin showcasing several of her short films that provide a fascinating insight into the artist's creative journey. The event will be divided into two parts: the first will focus on her accomplished works as a professional filmmaker, and the second will delve into the inspirations behind her earlier creations.
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After her studies at the Bauhaus-Univeristät Weimar, Franka was selected to realise a film during the European Animation Masterclass in Halle, Germany. This marked the beginning of her career as an independent filmmaker. To create her films, she assumes the role of a scriptwriter, director and animator. Furthermore, Franka is animating young talents to animate through her sessions at international workshops and her lecturing positions at the Kunsthochschule Kassel. As a board member of the ASIFA Germany, she is committed to young talent in her home country. She is part of selection committees and juries for festivals such as DOK Leipzig, the Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart and the Festival of Animation Berlin and curates film programmes independently for various occasions.. Together with her colleagues Ana Vallejo and Catalina Giraldo, she founded the we animate collective. In the darkness of the night, she projects her colourful live visuals and handmade loops as VJ Loov.
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Born in 1990, Aylin a Swiss-Turkish director and producer based in Zurich and a co-producer of Docs in Orbit. Her work as a filmmaker combines documentary and experimental approaches, often revolving around themes of memory, imagination, and landscape. Her short film Spirits and Rocks: An Azorean Myth (Locarno, 2021) was screened in over 50 festivals, including Sundance and Telluride.
She holds a B.A. in Arts from Lausanne University and an M.A. in Documentary Filmmaking from the DocNomads program. Aylin is also a member of the Executive Committee of SWAN (Swiss Women’s Audiovisual Network) and participated in other filmmaking programs such as the Aristoteles Workshop, the Salzburg Summer Academy of Fine Arts, and the Zurich Film Festival Academy.