When East Meets West unveiled fine cuts selected for Last Stop Trieste, including Holy Father by Andrei Dascalescu (East Doc Market 2019) and Soviet Man by Ivo Briedis (Ex Oriente Film 2017 / East Doc Forum 2018). Among the 10 selected feature documentaries for WEMW Co-Pro Forum is Botond Püsök's Too Close (Ex Oriente Film 2019 / East Doc Forum 2020). Find more about the projects:
Last Stop Trieste
Holy Father
East Doc Market 2019
Director: Andrei Dascalescu
Producer: Anda Ionescu
Romania
How do you react to the unexpected news that your girlfriend is pregnant? How do you prepare to become a good father when you grew up without one? The camera was always my ally, so I start documenting this very personal journey, to confront my fears, my thoughts and even my past. I want to know what it means to be a father, so I can be a good father for my child.
Soviet Man
Ex Oriente Film 2017 / East Doc Forum 2018
Director: Ivo Briedis
Producer: Elīna Gediņa-Ducena, Gints Grūbe
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic
In January 1991, the dying days of the USSR, the Central Television in Moscow brought together youngsters from the 15 Soviet Republics to ask how they see their future in the ‘glorious stronghold of people’s friendship’, as the Soviet anthem called it. Some of the participants had enough courage to openly call for the dismantling of “the awful USSR”, wanting to leave totalitarianism behind.
After more than 25 years the same young people, now matured, hear Vladimir Putin calling the breakup of the USSR ‘the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century’ and see not only the regalia and rhetoric of the totalitarian era making a comeback, but also some ugly traits of Homo Sovieticus in people’s minds and attitudes.
The 6th edition of Last Stop Trieste also includes Alina Gorlova's Between Two Wars (working title), her last doc No Obvious Signs was part of East Silver 2018 and nominated for Silver Eye Award.
WEMW Co-Pro Forum
Too Close
Ex Oriente Film 2019 / East Doc Forum 2020
Director: Botond Püsök
Producer: Melinda Boros, Irina Malcea
Romania
Too Close is a feature documentary set in rural Transylvania, Romania, in which Andrea, a single mother, is struggling to recover from the most traumatic experience of her life. Her 10-year-old daughter has been sexually abused by none other than Andrea’s partner, the stepfather of the girl. Moreover, when the abuse was happening, Andrea was pregnant with the man’s son. Their lives forever changed since the tragic events unfolded four years ago.
The aggressor had been locked up for his crime, however, he was released earlier from jail, and he moved back to the small village that Andrea and her children live in, only a few houses away. Despite him being unable to approach them because of the court’s restraining order, Andrea wants to escape from the village. His presence is not the only reason for her moving away: it is also the villagers that she considers the enemy. The enclosed rural community keeps on taking the man’s side, because he is a member of a well-respected clerical family, while Andrea’s side is resented by many, because she works as an actress in the city.
