Next year, from 2 to 9 March, the third International Documentary Festival “Artdocfest/Riga” will be held in Riga, organized by the well-known Russian documentary filmmaker Vitalijs Manskis.
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As “Delphi” informs the organizers of the festival, viewers will have the opportunity to watch more than 30 documentaries in two competing programs “Baltic Focus” and “Artdocfest Open”. In parallel with the competing films, several out-of-competition films will be shown, and Artdocfest/Riga will offer the out-of-competition program “ArtDoc & ProArt”.
The festival will pay special attention to films about war and Ukraine. Films from Ukraine, Latvia, Israel, the USA, the Netherlands, the Baltic Sea region and other countries will be screened. The festival does not accept films funded by the Russian government. The coverage of the war theme will also continue in the third festival, in support of Ukraine, keeping the blue and yellow color in the official festival design.
“The third Artdocfest/Riga 2023 will be held on the first anniversary of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Our programs have always reflected an honest, sometimes even cruel, view of the artist on real life. Our area of interest has always been Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The reality of these countries and their people today is war. Brutal and criminal war: how this war changes people’s lives, how this war is reflected in the most diverse manifestations of existence That’s what “Artdocfest/Riga” is about, where the brightest documentaries from around the world about our pre-war life, which is now dominated by war, are shown,” says festival founder Vitalijs Manskis.
As the organizers remind, until January 15, 2023, the nomination of films will take place on the festival website: Artdocfest – IDFF Artdocfest / Riga and the selection for the festival competitions continues, but already some of the films that will be screened during the festival are notice. For example, in the competition program “Baltic Focus”, which will include films from the countries of the Baltic Sea region, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Finland, Germany and Sweden, alongside films from the Baltic countries, the film “Angels of Sinjar” by Polish director Hanna Polak has already been selected. It is the story of Hanifa, a young Yazidi woman who manages to escape being kidnapped by ISIS, but her five younger sisters are taken and enslaved. The film won the main prize Prix Gilda Vieira de Mello at the International Film Festival FIFDH 2022 and at the Human Rights Forum in Geneva, as well as a special jury award at the “Millenium Docs Against Gravity” festival 2022.
It is currently known that the “Artdocfest Open” competition will be represented by the latest film “Turn your body towards the sun” by Dutch director Alona van der Horst, already shown at the festival, which is an extraordinary life story about a soldier from the Soviet army of Tatar origin who is captured by the Nazis during WWII. Today, daughter Sana, using her father’s diaries, various personal and public archives, records, tries to trace the course of her father’s lonely life. The film participated in IDFA, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Docaviv, Mumbai International Film Festival and many other festivals.
In the “Artdocfest Open” competition, Marusja Siroječkovski’s film “How to save a dead friend”, which is a co-production between Sweden, Norway, France and Germany, will be screened. The film follows Marusja and Kimi’s 12-year relationship riddled with addictions and mental health issues, and paints a portrait of an entire generation trying to find themselves and feeling extremely vulnerable. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the DOC NYC Festival, the Grand Prize at the Amiens International Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize at the Visions du réel International Film Festival and screened successfully at other festivals around the world.
Also included in the competition is the film “Prom” by Ruslan Fedotov, which tells about two 16-year-old Ukrainian artists – Andrei and Alisa, who were forced to leave their country due to the war and became refugees in Budapest, where they teach refugee children at school and organize artistic protest activities in the streets of Budapest. Hungary cannot yet decide which side of the military conflict to support. The film won the main award in the IDFA short film competition.
You can find the complete program and more detailed information about the festival Website “Artdocfest/Riga”..
Film screenings will take place in the traditional venue of the festival, the “Splendid Palace” cinema. Parallel to the festival, “Artdocfest/Riga” will offer the out-of-competition program “ArtDoc & ProArt”. They are films about art, or the films themselves are “non-fiction” experiments on the screen. The partner of this program is the Art Center “Zuzeum”, where this program will be shown.
