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Using previously unpublished interviews, family films and propaganda films, THE PROPAGANDIST tells the story of the rise and fall of Dutch filmmaker Jan Teunissen (1898-1975). As head of the Department of Film of the Dutch Nazi Party and SS, he became the most powerful man in the Dutch film industry during World War II.&nbsp;Teunissen, nicknamed the ‘Film King’ and the ‘Dutch Leni Riefenstahl’ was a well-known filmmaker before the war. What drove him to become part of the Nazi regime?&nbsp;&nbsp;THE PROPAGANDIST questions the boundaries between documentary and propaganda and the role of propagandists –&nbsp; how they spread images, narratives, misinformation and ideology. A documentary about boundless ambition and the manipulative power of film.

Through family films, propaganda footage, and audio interviews, this documentary delves into the life of Jan Teunissen (1898-1975), head of the Dutch Nazi Party's Film Department during World War II. 

Luuk Bouwman has made several feature-length documentaries, including GERLACH, THE LAST FARMER (2023, IDFA Best Dutch Film Award) with Aliona van der Horst, IT IS TRUE BUT NOT HERE (2017) about artist and cult musician Dick Verdult and ALL AGAINST ALL (2019) about the rise of fascism in the Netherlands, which premiered at IDFA and for which he was awarded the IDFA Stipend 2023. His documentaries are driven by extensive research and long-term engagement with his subjects, revealing processes and mechanisms.&nbsp;

Luuk

Art & Culture

History

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The IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film 2024 goes to <a href="https://filmharbour.com/directors/luuk-bouwman">Luuk Bouwman</a> for <a href="https://filmharbour.com/films/the-propagandist">THE PROPAGANDIST</a>. From the jury statement:&nbsp; “How is it even possible, you wonder, with everything that has been written, filmed, or expressed in any other form, related to the WWII era in the Netherlands, this specific story is only just now fully being exposed to a bigger audience? This documentary shows us a part of history; one that has been deliberately forgotten and could only become visible, and therefore examined, interpreted, and remembered, because image and sound were preserved. For the riveting examination of the horrifying pages of Dutch history, as well as the history of WWII-era European cinema, and for the immense research, documentation, and the outstanding use of archival material, the jury would like to bestow the 2024 IDFA Award for the Best Dutch Film to Luuk Bouwman’s documentary THE PROPAGANDIST."

THE PROPAGANDIST wins IDFA Award for Best Dutch Film

De propagandist

English

The Propagandist

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Why do so many men struggle to show their feelings?&nbsp;&nbsp;Part therapy, part road trip, BAFTA award winning filmmaker Duncan Cowles asks men how they open up in order to directly address his own difficulties in being intimate and open with his loved ones.&nbsp;With profound honesty and deadpan wit, SILENT MEN intertwines awkward conversations and the filmmaking process, asking what makes men tick, and more importantly, how to come to terms with all aspects of health, both physical and mental.&nbsp;Exploring aspects of masculinity that all too often are little discussed, this film opens the door for other ways of being, communicating and healing, as well as attempting to define masculinity.

Part therapy, part road trip, Duncan Cowles asks men how they show their emotions, to help him confront his own struggles with opening up to loved ones.

Duncan Cowles is a BAFTA Scotland Award winning documentary filmmaker whose films are often known for their heart and humour.&nbsp;He has directed a number of short films over the years such as DIRECTED BY TWEEDIE, ISABELLA and TAKING STOCK. His shorts have screened at A-list festivals such as BFI London Film Festival, and won a selection of awards at festivals such as Glasgow Short Film Festival, Open City Documentary Festival, BFI Future Film Festival, Hamburg Short Film Festival and The Smalls.&nbsp;His first feature documentary SILENT MEN, supported by Screen Scotland &amp; The Whickers, explores the theme of men's mental health and premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2024 and was awarded a Special Mention in the International First Features Competition.&nbsp;He's won a Royal Television Society Award and been nominated three times for Best UK short film at the London Critics Circle Awards. His shorts have been regularly featured on platforms such as Short of the Week, Vimeo Staff Picks, BFI Player, It’s Nice That and BBCiPlayer.&nbsp;Duncan has been commissioned to write and direct documentaries for Channel 4, STV, BBC Scotland, BBC Radio 4, TED, Adobe and more. In 2020 Duncan was commissioned to make x6 30minute episodes of his own new documentary TV series SCARY ADULT THINGS which looks at the struggles of the millennial generation for BBC Scotland and BBCiplayer which aired in March 2021.

Duncan

Author's Documentaries

Human Interest & Society

Generation

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Silent Men: The Awkward Art of Expressing Emotion

Silent Men

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As the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine brings a glimmer of hope, through candid conversations with people waiting in line for vaccination, this globally relatable film reveals the disorientation and skepticism that permeate our collective experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;Serving as collective therapy for the post-COVID era, this humorous and humane snapshot of a unique moment in time uncovers the threads of resilience and connection that bind us, reminding us of our common humanity in the face of unprecedented challenges.

This humorous and humane snapshot of a unique moment in time uncovers the threads of resilience and connection that bind us, reminding us of our common humanity in the face of unprecedented challenges.

Goran Dević studied law, archaeology and film art at Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb, Croatia currently teaches at the Documentary Film graduate studies there. His documentaries and fiction films have won awards in Pula, Cottbus, Prizren, Prague, Sarajevo, Oberhausen, Leipzig, Motovun, and Zagreb. His feature film debut, THE BLACKS, co-directed and co-written with Zvonimir Jurić, was critically acclaimed.&nbsp; Retrospectives of his documentaries were featured at Arsenal Berlin, MAXXI Roma, Crossing Europe Filmfestival Linz, Beldocs, and Zagreb.&nbsp; He co-founded the production company Petnaesta umjetnost.&nbsp;

Goran

Science & Technology

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Paviljon 6

Pavilion 6

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WHERE DRAGONS LIVE is an extra-ordinary, feature length documentary that takes us through the looking glass into a lost world where upper-class gentlemen once embarked on world tours to collect antiquities as a right of passage, and their children read story books in Latin. Artist Harriet Impey was one of those children. For Harriet and her three older brothers, growing up ‘among dragons’ at Cumnor Place was a life of enchanted gardens, Arthurian legends and things that go bump in the night. Theirs was a rarified, story-book childhood that stoked their wildest imagination and greatest fears in equal measure. Now adults, where they once played make believe and slayed dragons, the siblings must come together to sort and clear out the family estate ready for sale, and come to terms with an unorthodox, and at times traumatic upbringing.&nbsp;Like a museum of the Impey childrens’ childhood, everything at Cumnor Place is preserved eerily in time like their father’s own bizarre bottled reptiles that still line the shelves. Even the fire-breathing dragons at the center of the family mythology now take their place among the dusty artifacts and curiosities that spill out from behind cupboard doors and dusty chests like buried treasure. Stepping back inside Cumnor Place, Harriet says, is like stepping into the past. “The house has a strange effect on all of us.”&nbsp;As they unpack the Pandora’s Box of family life at Cumnor Place, the darker side of their childhood begins to surface too. Each of the siblings is faced with difficult choices about which artifacts to keep and which to throw away - just as they must grapple with their own conflicting memories and wounds - and as all grown ups must eventually do, learn to see their parents through new eyes - not as monsters or heroes, but as mere mortals.&nbsp;WHERE DRAGONS LIVE is an intimate and enchanting portrait of childhood fears, imagination and the enduring power of the family myths and artifacts that shape our lives.

An intimate and enchanting portrait of 
Childhood fears, imagination and the enduring power of the stories and objects that shape our lives.

Suzanne Raes has been working as an independent filmmaker for more than 20 years. Her early films a.o. THE HOUSES OF HRISTINA (2007), THE RAINBOW WARRIORS OF WAIHEKE ISLAND (2009), and THE SUCCESSOR OF KAKIEMON (2012) premiered at IDFA and won several awards at international film festivals. Her film COME CLOSER about Boudewijn de Groot received the IDFA Music Audience Award in 2015.&nbsp;For her film about the Rotterdam social service, QUID PRO QUO (2015) Raes won a Golden Calf, the most important film award in the Netherlands. More recent the co-production GANZ; HOW I LOST MY BEETLE had a successful theatrical release and has been broadcasted in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. In 2023 her latest film CLOSE TO VERMEER ran for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, with successful cinema releases in a.o. the Netherlands, USA and Germany. The film was nominated for a Golden Calf and won the Special Jury Prize at Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival.&nbsp;

Suzanne 

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Waar draken wonen

Where Dragons Live

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Svitlana (52), the film's director and protagonist, grew up in Mariupol during the Soviet era, when all individuality was suppressed. Later, even living in Kiev in independent Ukraine, she was unable to find a clear self-identity, which influenced the fact that Svitlana's daughter Alexandra (28) grew up without an inner core and was therefore vulnerable to any propaganda.&nbsp;There are four generations of women in Svitlana's family, and each generation grew up under different political realities. Svitlana's mother, Valentina (76), has a more Ukrainian identity than Svitlana's daughter, who has a pro-Russian orientation. Time will tell who Sveta's granddaughter, Stephanie (2), will become.The family gathers in Kiev to celebrate little Stefania's birthday 10 days before the full-scale invasion. Valentina arrives in Kiev from Mariupol, destined never to return.&nbsp;The war destroys the family's life, its past and its future. The house where Valentina lived and where Svitlana and Alexandra grew up is destroyed, and in occupied Mariupol time begins to go back to the USSR.Alexandra and her daughter Stefania leave for the UK. Despite the war Alexandra continues to be in the Russian information field. Alexandra is comforted by the Russian language, as it is the only thing she has left from the past. Svitlana stays with Valentina in Kiev, where the fragile peaceful picture can be destroyed at any moment by the arrival of a Russian missile. With the onset of cold weather, power, heat, and communication blackouts begin. On dark winter evenings, Svitlana talks to Valia about the past. Images of life in a totalitarian society that was imbued with violence against the individual resurface before Svitlana.In London, Alexandra experiences a severe existential crisis, she feels lost, like a nobody. She starts visiting a psychologist to work through her resentment towards Svitlana. To support her, Valentina decides to leave Ukraine and join her granddaughter in the UK. Svitlana stays in Kiev, which is preparing for another dark and cold winter.

Together and one-by-one at the same time, four generations of Ukrainian women from one family embark on an emotional journey shaped by their newfound memories and family history.

Born in Mariupol in 1970, she worked for over 25 years for the leading television channels in Ukraine. In 2014, she opened a new chapter in her life by leaving television and immersing herself in screenwriting and filmmaking.&nbsp;Her first documentary works were short pieces for the INVISIBLE BATTALION anthology film in collaboration with the directors Alina Gorlova and Iryna Tsilyk. A BIT OF A STRANGER is her debut feature-length documentary and is based on her personal story.

Svitlana

Current Affairs & Politics

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Трішки чужа

A Bit of a Stranger

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Every night nameless bodies land in Dr. Cristina Cattaneo’s autopsy room. She calls them the Pure Unknown. These Pure Unknown often belong to the fringes of society. They are homeless, sex workers, runaway teenagers. Lately, they have mostly been migrants, rejected by the Mediterranean Sea onto the shores of Italy. If all rights belong to the living, nothing is left to the dead. So what happens when the dead have lost their identity? In the face of this growing multitude, no one seems concerned about their right to dignity. No one but Cristina. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Nameless bodies land in Cristina’s autopsy room. Lately, they have mostly been migrants, rejected by the Mediterranean Sea. No one seems concerned about their right to dignity. No one but Cristina.  

Valentina Cicogna worked as assistant director and assistant editing on the documentary NAPOLI PIAZZA MUNICIPIO by Bruno Oliviero, produced by Indigofilm and Point du Jour, winner in the Italiana Doc section at the Turin Film Festival in 2009. She is the screenwriter of the film LA VARIABILE UMANA by Bruno Oliviero, with Silvio Orlando and Giuseppe Battiston, produced by Rai Cinema, Lumiére &amp; Co., Invisibile Film, distributed by BIM.&nbsp;&nbsp;She was the editor of several documentaries feature films, including QUARTIERI CINESI, (Rai Cinema and Indigofilm), IL GIUDICE E IL SEGRETO DI STATO (Point du Jour and MIR) and MM MILANO MAFIA (Invisibile Film, distributed by Chiarelettere) by Bruno Oliviero, IL COMANDANTE by Enrico Maisto, 74 MIGLIA (Invisibile Film) by Laura Viezzoli, ALBERI CHE CAMMINANO (Oh! Pen) by Mattia Colombo, based on a subject by Erri De Luca, distributed by Feltrinelli; she worked as scriptwriter and editor of the documentary VOGLIO DORMIRE CON TE (Start and The Kingdom) by Mattia Colombo, winner of the Salani Award and the Filmmaker Competition "Nutrimenti terrestri, nutrimenti celesti", finalist of the Solinas Award.&nbsp;&nbsp;She edited the film RITMO SBILENCO by Mattia Colombo, presented at the Rome Film Festival and distributed by Feltrinelli, and the documentary IL PASSO (Start srl and Rai Cinema) by Alessandra Locatelli, Mattia Colombo and Francesco Ferri, in competition at the Nyon Festival.&nbsp;&nbsp;She is the author and editor of the documentary film LA CONVOCAZIONE (The Summoning) by Enrico Maisto, winner of the 2015 Solinas Documentary Award for Cinema, produced by Start srl and Rai Cinema. The film was selected in competition at the 58th Festival dei Popoli, where it won the MyMovies Audience Award, and at IDFA.&nbsp;&nbsp;The latest works are LA SCOMPARSA DI MIA MADRE by Beniamino Barrese, which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2019, and BROTHERHOOD by Francesco Montagner presented in Locarno. PURE UNKNOWN is her directorial debut.&nbsp;

Valentina 

Mattia Colombo's first short film IL VELO was selected at Visions du Réel, EIFF Edinburgh Film Festival, AFI Silver Docs. The documentary ALBERI CHE CAMMINANO, written with Erri De Luca and distributed by Feltrinelli, was in competition at Festival dei Popoli, Slamdance Film Festival and Trento Film Festival. The documentary VOGLIO DORMIRE CON TE, winner of the Corso Salani prize, finalist at Filmmaker In Progress Lab, finalist at Premio Solinas Documentario per il Cinema and selected at Périphérie Cinéastes in Paris, participated in Cinéma du Réel and Biografilm Festival. The documentary IL PASSO, a Start and Rai Cinema production, was presented at Visions du Réel and broadcast on Rai and RSI.&nbsp; Mattia directed the film RITMO SBILENCO, a documentary on the Italian band Elio e le Storie Tese, a special event at the Rome Film Festival, distributed in Italian cinemas and on home video by Wanted Cinema. The documentary UNINVITED, a biographical film on Marcelo Burlon, fashion designer and outsider DJ, was released in Italian cinemas and distributed on home video by CG Entertainment.&nbsp; His most recent documentary, IL POSTO, was selected at Visions du Réel and Hot Docs. Mattia's current documentary PURE UNKNOWN, co-directed with Valentina Cicogna, is an Italy/Sweden/Switzerland production. The project was a finalist in the Solinas Documentary Award for Cinema, received support from MEDIA Europe, MiC, Trentino Film&nbsp;Commission, Piemonte Doc Film Fund, and was selected for the international workshop Dok.Incubator.As author and screenwriter, he is working on a crime series produced by The Family, inspired by the books of forensic scientist Cristina Cattaneo.&nbsp;

Mattia 

Human Rights

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The Audience Award in the the International Competition of <a href="https://www.biografilm.it/en/">Biografilm</a> 2023 goes to <a href="https://filmharbour.com/films/pure-unknown">PURE UNKNOWN</a> by Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo!&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition, protagonist Cristina Cattaneo received the Celebration of Lives Award 2023!From the jury statement:"A festival focused on biographies can only defend and position itself in listening to and defending human dignity. Cristina Cattaneo is a doctor, anthropologist, full professor of Forensic Medicine at the University of Milan and she runs Labanof, a laboratory of forensic anthropology and odontology.This award goes to her, for her work and her courageous struggle in recognising the profound value of the history of every human being.&nbsp;With care, mercy, perseverance."

Biografilm Audience Award for PURE UNKNOWN

The Audience Award in the the International Competition of Biografilm went to PURE UNKNOWN by Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo! 

<a href="https://filmharbour.com/films/pure-unknown">PURE UNKNOWN</a> has won the Special Jury Award in the International Competition at <a href="https://dmzdocs.com/eng/">DMZ International Documentary Film Festival</a> in South Korea!&nbsp;The festival showcases films dealing with peace, coexistence and reconciliation.&nbsp;It doesn't stop there, as earlier this month it also received a special mention in the main competition at <a href="https://www.ajbdoc.ba/">AJB DOC Film Festival</a> in Sarajevo! The jury stated that “this extraordinary documentary delves into a profound human story. The authors of this film, through a powerful cinematic approach, depict the heroic struggle of one individual against the entire system.”

Jury Award & Special Mention for PURE UNKNOWN

Sconosciuti Puri

Pure Unknown

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When Iván Simonovis becomes the first and most famous political prisoner in Venezuela, a 15-year period of imprisonment leaves devastating effects on his and his family’s lives. Living in exile as a filmmaker, his son Iván Andrés crafts a very personal and moving story, using over 25 years of unique family material, showing history from an angle never seen before.&nbsp; A family that had to overcome extreme hardship, a father that has to find his place in life again and a son that faces his traumas by inviting the viewer into the core of a wound that touched both his family and his entire country.

Iván Simonovis becomes the first and most famous political prisoner in Venezuela. His son Iván Andrés crafts a very personal and moving story, showing history from an angle never seen before. 

Iván Andrés Simonovis Pertiñez is a Venezuelan filmmaker exiled in Berlin.&nbsp;His work focuses on political persecution and exile. He has a degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Marburg and a Masters in Film from the Free University of Berlin. His documentary shorts for the web A LA DERIVA (2015), DESDE EL EXILIO (2017), and CARACAS 9 DE ENERO (2018) have appeared in international media outlets such as El País and Jungle World.&nbsp;His first feature documentary MY FATHER’S PRISON has been selected for the main competition at Vision du Reel.&nbsp;

Iván Andrés

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La Prisión de mi Padre

English 

My Father’s Prison

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In a small village in Galicia in northern Spain, Pablo’s family lives attached to their ancient traditions and beliefs. Feeling that he did not fit into their world, Pablo left 20 years ago to become a filmmaker. But, as both he and his family are growing older, a restless feeling in him starts to get stronger, urging him to go back home to confront the ghosts of the past and find answers, in the limited time they still have together. As every autumn, his grandmother Alicia opens the doors of her house to continue the ancestral tradition of making “augardente”, a homemade-liquor. The house is prepared, the „augardenteiros“ arrive and the neighbors come join in ritual and celebration. Nothing seems to have changed, but everything is different. Alicia no longer has the same energy and enthusiasm. Santi, the augardenteiro who has been there for many years, seems to have lost the joy in life after many years of hard work. And the habit of Pablo’s parents to not talk about emotions makes it difficult for him to connect and fully grasp what is going on. Little by little the process of making the liquor, the vapors, the mists, the cold and the rain submerge Pablo into a journey that brings him back to his childhood, his old fears and all that haunts him. Alicia knows her grandson well, and although they seem to live in opposite worlds, she creates a new bond between them through her rites and beliefs. A connection that sets them both on their own journey.

In Galicia, Pablo's family lives attached to their ancient traditions. He left years ago to become a filmmaker. Now a restless feeling is urging him to go back home to confront the ghosts of the past. 

Pablo Lago Dantas is an experienced director of photography, a CamerImage best cinematography nominee whose films have made it to more than 100 official sections in prestigious international film festivals. In his visual language he is fascinated by the search for the subconscious, using his Galician connections to myth and rituals to add layers and depth to the mundane.&nbsp; O AUTO DAS ÁNIMAS is his first film as a director. An encounter with his place of origin and family, it is a journey through memory, tradition, the deconstruction of home, death and the passage of time.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Pablo 

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Alternative English title: A House for Wandering Souls

English, Spanish 

O auto das ánimas

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84-year-old Vika is a true star of Warsaw nightclubs. As a charismatic and colorful DJ surrounding herself with young people she seems unstoppable and keeps repeating that age is just a number.&nbsp; But as Vika’s health starts to deteriorate she has to come to terms with the passing of time, finding purpose in bringing joy to other seniors – just as lonely as she is. Told with captivating musical parts, VIKA! is a bitter-sweet portrait of a woman who has to face aging, yet celebrating life till the very end.

Charismatic 84-year-old Vika is a DJ, and a true star of Warsaw clubbing scene. Facing the passing of time,  Vika repeats that age is just a number and inspires others to live life to the fullest.

Agnieszka Zwiefka is known to the audience thanks to her films: SCARS (2020) about women fighting the ranks of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and QUEEN OF SILENCE (2014) about a Roma deaf girl who escapes into the world of Bollywood fantasy. It was in&nbsp;QUEEN OF SILENCE that we saw a combination of a documentary and a musical for the first time. This original film language became the basis for creating the story about DJ Vika.&nbsp;Currently, Agnieszka is working on another documentary, RUNA, about a young girl-refugee, and on her fiction debut.&nbsp;She lives in Wrocław with her husband, two daughters and dogs. He lectures at the University of Wrocław. Makes great kimchi and ramen. She collects old kimonos and, like Vika, believes that it is never too late to live to the fullest.

Agnieszka 

Music

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Vika!

As a world sales company, Film Harbour distributes creative documentaries from around the globe for which we see a potential on the international market. 

The films in our catalog are very diverse in style and content, but they all have one thing in common: we are convinced of their high artistic quality and their strong relevance, and we want to introduce these outstanding documentaries to a wide international audience. 

Our main goal is to make the connection between a film and its viewers, both via the big and the small screen. 

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