EBS Offers Documentary Festival
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
A week-long documentary festival will take place starting Sept. 21 at EBS SPACE and Arthouse MOMO in Seoul, and through the small screen.
More than 300 documentaries from 57 countries are taking part in the competitive section of the EBS International Documentary Film Festival (EIDF), and viewers can watch 50 selected works from Sept. 21 to 27.
The organizers admitted it was hard to persuade the makers to present their works through a readily accessible medium such as television, but they succeeded as many directors agreed with the overall purpose.
This year's lineup is an array of interesting and inspiring works, whose topics range from art and history to family, religion and even sports.
``This year, the trend is storytelling. Stories about people have always been the main themes of documentaries, and this was true with this year's works. There were films with colorful characters that brought their personal stories,'' said programmer Song Ji-hyun.
Under the theme ``Earth, Where We Live,'' the festival is divided into eight sections, including ``The View of Virtuosos'' and ``Documentary: Art Triumphant.'' The EIDF has also prepared master and director classes for aspiring documentary directors.
Famed directors and documentary masters including Stelios Koul (``Apology of an Economic Hit Man''), professor Kaori Sakagami from the Tsuda College of Media Studies and directors Gabriella and Sally Gutierrez Dewar (``Tapologo'').
In the ``Award-winning International Documentaries'' section, the committee will feature works that have received critical acclaim in famous festivals such as the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and the Canadian International Documentary Festival (commonly known as the Hot Docs Film Festival).
This year's featured virtuoso is Werner Herzog, the Academy Award-nominated German film director, and viewers will get to watch some of his most famous works, including ``Encounters at the End of the World'' and ``Grizzly Man'' at the ``The View of Virtuosos'' section.
The EIDF is bringing together colorful works that involve dance and music through ``Documentary: Art Triumphant.'' Join a young ballerina's journey to become the best dancer in her class with Norway's ``A Beautiful Tragedy'' by David Kinsella or explore the world of piano-making through the lens of American director Ben Niles' ``Note by Note.''
For those who want to delve into the lives of respected men, tune into the ``Carter, Ali and Dorfman'' section, to which directors from the U.S., England and Canada will bring biographical documentaries about Jimmy Carter, Muhammad Ali and Ariel Dorfman, respectively.
If you don't have the time to experience feature-length documentaries, try out the ``Beautiful Shorts'' program, where you can watch 20- to 30-minute works with equally entertaining themes and stories.
The EIDF's biggest charm is its broadcasting of nine hours of the works presented during the festival.
``Fiction is stories about made-up characters, but documentaries are about real people who live around us. It's actual documentation about us,'' Chung Hyun-sook, the executive programmer at EBS, said.
All events at EBS SPACE are free, while the screenings at Arthouse MOMO cost 2,000 won per ticket. For more information about the films and time schedules, including the schedule for the TV broadcasts, visit www.eidf.org.