Filmmakers Joined The Yamagata Documentary Dojo
Five documentary filmmakers have joined The Yamagata Documentary Dojo this year. They are Riani Singgih and Winner Wijaya (Indonesia), Ananta Thitanat and Abhichon Rattanabhayon (Thailand) and Atiqa Kawakami (Japan).
Organized by Documentary Dream Center, Jepang dan Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, collaborated with Minikino (minikino.org) of Kino Media Foundation (kinomediafoundation.org) in Bali, Indonesia, The Yamagata Documentary Dojo is a 30-day residency program for Asian filmmakers that takes place in a hot spring spa resort in the mountains of Yamagata, Japan. Here, filmmakers can follow masterclasses, group discussions and receive mentoring from film experts, and get an opportunity to enhance their works, deepen creative ambitions, network with Japanese and international filmmakers, and get to know local culture. The residency takes place from 2 Feb – 3 Mar 2021.
They will present their project by the end of the workshop. Watch their presentation online via Zoom on 2 March 2021. To get the link, please register at minikino.org/dojowrap.
Selected Projects in Cinema Centenario
As the coronavirus pandemic seems to show no end, Cinema Centenario, recently launched a virtual movie house called MOOV, to allow audiences enjoy quality films at the comfort of their own couch. Among 36 selected films, two are the alumni of Docs by The Sea in 2017 and 2018, In the Claws of A Century Wanting, Bullet-Laced Dreams and An Elegy to Forgetting. Bullet Laced Dreams won IF/Then Southeast Asia Prize in 2018, and Best Pitch Award at the Colors of Asia Tokyo Docs International Pitching Forum.
Directed by Jewel Maranan, In the Claws of A Century Wanting is a filmic symphony depicting an increasing everyday violence in the aspiration for a city fit for globalization, while the film An Elegy to Forgetting shows the challenges and struggles of families suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and how they cope with the progression of this debilitating illness. Thirdly, Bullet Laced Dreams tells the story of indigenous tribal children fight for their right to education as the Philippine government militarize their schools.
Those interested to watch the films can go to https://cinemacentenario.com/watch-moov/
Docs Society’s Climate Story Fund
Still a few days more to go!
Doc Society calls for creative non-fiction projects that explore the topic of Climate Change. Around 6-8 projects will be selected, which include long form non-fiction, shorts, and episodic documentaries, podcasts and AR/VR that will have its completion in 2021. Grants range from $20,000 to $100,000 per project will be given as support. The applications for Climate Story Fund will be closed on Thursday, 4 March 2021.
Read more information here
Last Day At Sea Selected at Berlinale
The documentary film The Last Day at Sea enters Berlinale Film Selection 2021, under the category of Generation.
Directed and produced by Venice Atienza, this film tells about the last summer experience of a boy who is going to leave his hometown to study in the city. Reyboy is a boy who lives in an isolated fishing village in Karitahag throughout his life. His story is a portrait of dreamlike stories, where sweet childhood memory is in the process of being kept before it is left behind in the attempt to search a better future.
The Last Day at the Sea’s film presented was presented at IF/Then SEA Story Development Lab 2018, Docs By The Sea International Documentary Forum 2018, and Docs By The Sea Incubator Editing Lab 2019.