This week, Brussels is home to the second edition of an international documentary feast. Millenium showcases documentaries focussed on the developing world, telling the stories of the men, women and kids behind the spiel and numbers of the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). Hence the name – the UN itself is actually one of the festival’s sponsors.
The festival premise is simple and convincing: “We need to put ourselves in ‘somebody else’s shoes’ before we can commit convincingly to the 8 MDGs. We believe that films can have the extraordinary power to inspire change and to bring together individuals of all backgrounds to discuss and exchange ideas, and to take an active role in meeting these indispensable goals.”
I was lucky to meet the organisers – they’re smart, welcoming and inspirational. People with strong ideas and a contagious can-do attitude. Festival president Lubomir Gueorguiev is an independent documentary producer who spent a lot of time in developing countries, working with NGOs and international organisations. “On one hand, you have institutions that make a so-so use of audiovisual tools... On the other hand, you have talented, independent film-makers who often produce their work with their own funds and are not aware of the MDGs,” he explains. “(This festival) bridges the two worlds.”
The documentary genre is often limited to elitist circles, so Millenium tries to reach a large audience with a variety of movies – from the water market to war rapes in the Congo, through to Chilean street musicians - plus debates with film directors. “Maybe it’s like opera: you need to force yourself the first few times, and then you learn to appreciate (documentaries),” smiles Millenium team member Maxime Kouvaras.
Millenium searches for quality movies; it awards 5 prizes, including ‘Best Human Rights Message’ and ‘Best Development Message’. “We look for movies that are real,” Gueorguiev says. Read: films that show a genuine, lengthy relationship between director and characters. “I believe in the intelligence of the public,” Gueorguiev declares. “I’m reassured by the quality of the films and the reactions of the audience.”
The festival president articulates development issues lucidly. “People are not responsible of their own lives,” he sums up. It’s part of a consumerist reflex: we expect to get, earn and benefit from society, but aren’t ready to put anything in. “Our society is falling apart because we expect that someone else will take care of things.” Millenium is Gueorguiev’s baroud d’honneur, as we say in French – his very last fight. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll change jobs,” he laughs.
I for one hope that Gueorguiev stays put, and that Millenium grows big and makes a lot of festival babies.
(I'll tell you about some of the festival movies soon. In the meantime, check out the festival programme and trailers: http://www.festivalmillenium.org/en/)
Photo from Thai documentary Agrarian Utopia by Uruphong Raksasad.
Thanks for this post Tania.
It’s good the know that discussions and initiatives on MDGs are definitely not confined in the THINK3 platform. I wish I could say the same here in the Philippines but not quite yet. There aren’t enough initiatives yet toward this direction.
Oh I wish I was there! It’s great that they also had these debates on very important and interesting development issues, such as women in Iran or roses from Africa. To my sadness, I missed the London International Documentary Film Festival this year, couldn’t possibly escape my shifts at work.. What documentaries have you seen, Tania? And which debates have you attended?
As for these elitist circles. I think documentaries should be shown more often in festivals, regular cinemas, and on TV. And in festivals and cinemas, they should be more affordable, to attract wider audiences. In my country, the first human rights film festival was completely free, and the second one too, and there were queues all over the place, it was so popular. Many people learnt something new from those documentaries. We’re constantly bombarded with cheap or free trash, and it’s easy to get sight of what really matters.
Tania, looking forward to more news about this. Sounds inspiring!
Thank you ladies for your comments! I’ve been in for some inspiring treats indeed. I posted about the two first movies I’ve seen here: http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/mdgs_on_the_big_screen_1/
Giedre: Sadly, I could only go to one debate with director Elias Querejeta, and I’m afraid that wasn’t the best…
I agree that a free festival would mean larger audiences. But still, the prices (http://www.festivalmillenium.org/en/infos/ticketing) were reasonable. Many cinema-goers don’t mind paying 8, 10 or more euros to see a Hollywood blockbuster (I do too every now and then) - so it’s a matter of priorities. I am happy to spend 5 euros and support a thought-provoking, moving documentary.
“Men of the City” on their website looks very good as well. Would love to see it!
Hey Tania the topic is really good what you have mentioned abotve. Like there are issues of woman even going in India as well and people are taking many steps to improve women education in India and they are taking many steps to show it in on T.V and keep many festivals for woman education give them respect and all like that. Women are respected much more in India. There is one festival which is most celebrated in india between brother and sister you can look at it like sisters send rakhi to india for their brother.