IN PROGRESS! / Focus on Literature
New to the festival this year is IN PROGRESS!. For the first time, Doku.Arts will present previews of upcoming productions of documentaries on the arts that are currently in the making (see also presentations of work on Joris Ivens and Roy Andersson). With this programme we intend to create an inspiring environment for exchange between filmmakers, producers and commissioning editors, and to promote interesting new work.
In the framework of IN PROGRESS! we present three new Dutch documentary film projects. In this context the Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund will take care of a special program about literature as part of Doku.Arts: Focus on Literature.
Opening reception Focus on Literature on Thursday, June 5th, 4 p.m.
Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund, Herengracht 609, Amsterdam
The Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund organises a reception in honour of the first edition in Amsterdam of Doku.Arts. During the reception there will be occasion to view a screening of Hans Keller’s Dead Poets Almanac, a unique series of readings of poems by the authors, compiled from archives all over the world.
Seminar The Absence of the Writer on Friday, June 6th, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund, Herengracht 609, Amsterdam
Three Dutch directors from three different generations will introduce their subjects and show selected scenes from their existing footage. In the seminar The Absence of the Writer, commissioning editors from different countries will respond to the three case studies and talk about the past and future of literature on film and TV. The panel is moderated by the writer and director of the Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund Hans Maarten van den Brink. See webpage from Doku.Arts for update information about participants in the discussion.
Last words of Michel Houellebecq
Writer Michel Houellebecq has finished writing for the moment, and continues in the audio-visual medium. We witness the filming of his last words, which he is directing himself. In this documentary, the actors, Frederic Bauchau (Panic Room, Carnivàle) and Benoît Magimel (Palm d’Or for La Pianiste), who are portraying his alter egos, speak about what Houellebecq has left to say.
The writer himself performs scenes of his life to these words. Amidst the hectic surroundings of the set of Possibility of an Island, Houellebecq’s shocking, personal view of the world unfolds, along with his biographical history. A broad, accessible portrait of this prophet of post-apocalyptical love; the romantic messenger from hell.