GOODBYE TIBET
17th March 2009 - 50 years later: 17th March 1959, Dalai Lama flees from Tibet and escapes to India - Completion date: May 2009
(1 x 52 / 1 x 90)

Produced by Kick Film, co-produced with ZDF/ARTE - A Film by Maria Blumencron

This is the story of a mountain pass at nearly 6,000 meters on the border between Tibet and Nepal told by the award winning director Maria Blumencron. For thousands of Tibetan refugees it has been the gateway to freedom – for many others it has been a fatal gauntlet. It is the life story of Kelsang Jigme, a legend among guides who help refugees escape over the pass. It is the story of six children sent by their parents into exile across the highest mountain range in the world, and of their parents who had to stay back in Tibet . It is the story of five youths who risk their lives for a better future, and of three young nuns who as children fled over the pass but are now returning to their families in Tibet because the homesickness has become insufferable. It is a story of betrayal, imprisonment and torture – and the allegory of a love that knows no borders. Finally, it is the story of a family of kindred spirits formed over the years by all of the protagonists: the children, their mothers, the guides and the filmmaker herself. Ten years of destiny reflect the dreams, strength and hope of a people that has never before been so threatened by its own demise. The current uprising of monks and young Tibetans shows, after a half century of brutal repression of its people, of shameless economic exploitation of its land, of lies, re-education, restrictions and cultural genocide at the hands of the Chinese, that the memory of a once independent and free Tibet has not been forgotten.
Please ask for rough-cut!

DRACULA'S SHADOW – THE REAL STORY OF THE ROMANIAN REVOLUTION
15th December 2009: 20th anniversary of the Romanian Revolution
Completion date: April 2009
(1 x 52 minutes / 1 x 80 minutes)

Produced by EurOnAir (Germany) - A film by Árpád Szöczi

With exclusive access, and for the first time ever, the secret mission that sparked the Romanian Revolution in December of 1989 against dictator Nicolae Ceausescu is revealed. This documentary is the chilling Cold War account about what actually started the bloody uprising on December 15, 1989, when supporters of the Protestant Minister László Tokés in Timisoara rallied around his church to protect him from eviction by the military and by the Romanian Secret Police, the Securitate.
It all began in Montreal, Canada, in March of 1989 when two French-Canadians – former Quebec Cabinet Minister Michel Clair and Radio-Canada reporter Réjean Roy – were sent to Timisoara to secretly record a TV interview with Tökés, the country's biggest dissident. What transpired was a cat-and-mouse game between the two Quebecers and the Securitate who followed their every move. Despite all odds the tapes got out to the West and the interview was broadcast that summer. As a result, Tokés was given an ultimatum: leave the church by Dec. 15 or be removed. Tokés refused to vacate, and the results were horrendous – more than 1100 people died in the fighting that started that day.
Canadian-born producer/director Árpád Szöczi – now an on-air personality at Germany 's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle-TV – actually took part in that clandestine mission. He uses his exclusive access to people, files and inside information to reveal shocking details.
Please ask for the rough-cut to be sent to you in April 2009!

LETTER TO ANNA
(TV-Version: 1 x 52 minutes / Theatrical Version: 1 x 85 minutes)

Produced by: p.s. 72 productions, Switzerland in co-production with zero one film GmbH , Germany.
A Film by Eric Bergkraut.

World premiere at Cinema for Peace screening in Berlin , February 2008.
Winner of Vaclav Havel Award at One World Filmfestival, Prague 2008.

HOTDOCS 2008 – selected for International Competition

Distribution in North America: Films Transit
Distribution in France: p.s. 72 productions
Rights Germany: zero one film

www.lettertoanna.com

Hard-hitting documentary which addresses one of the most disturbing incidents during Vladimir Putin's presidential term: The systematic killing of Anna Politkovskaya. Through the view of Politkovskaya this documentary takes the pulse of Russian's situation. Contains much exclusive footage of Anna Politkovskaya.
On October 7, 2006, Vladimir Putin's 54th birthday, the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaja is shot in the lift of her Moscow apartment. Anna's death is a personal tragedy: she has just learnt that she‘s to become a grandmother. But the murder is also a political act, for Politkovskaja was the President's fiercest critic...

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LOST IN LIBERIA
(1 x 52 / 1 x 90)

Produced by: COIN FILM, in co-production with Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion and ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel, SRG SSR idée Suisse (Swiss TV).
A Film by Luzia Schmid.

World premiere at Visions du Réel Filmfestival 2007.

30-year-old Irish Leila wants to put her ideals to the test by registering to a training course at the Red Cross in Geneva/Switzerland. Little prepares her for her mission in Liberia , where she is confronted with post-war traumas and the task to reunite children, some of them former child soldiers, with their families.

DIGITAL ASIA
(1 x 52 minutes)

Produced by: NZZ Film.

The Chinese digital revolution is unstoppable: In China 800 million farmers are in the process of being switched on to the web. At the same time, every day a million mobile phones are being sold across the shop-counter. Jack Ma ' s record-breaking ebay-like platform Alibaba.com is an important factor in China ' s economy. And Microsofts ' most important research centre is in Beijing. The film also compares other Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong and their digital evolution.

QUEEN OF CONDOMS / LA REINA DEL CONDON
(1 x 75 / 1 x 52 minutes upon request)

Produced by: Dschoint Ventschr.
A Film by Silvana Ceschi and Reto Stamm.

The incredible story of how a German student from the GDR became the most prominent expert in sex education in Fidel Castro's government during the revolution, and how she later came into conflict with the regime. A witty story about the ups and downs of the sexual revolution Cuban style.

COCA - The dove from Chechnya - Europe in denial of a war
(1 x 90 minutes / 1 x 52 minutes)

Written and directed by Eric Bergkraut.
Produced by Doc Productions GmbH (Switzerland).

Award-winner at One World Human Rights Filmfestival, Prague, 2006.

Her parents gave Zainap Gashaeva the name “Coca” – the dove. Born in exile in Kazahstan, she became a business woman and reared four children. Zainap has been documenting what have become daily events since 1994: abduction, torture, murders. What has been declared an “anti-terrorist operation” by President Putin has taken on features of genocide. Up to thirty percent of the Chechen population may have been killed. The world is looking away; be it out of ingnorance, helplessness or opportunism. Together with other women, Zainap has been hiding hundreds of videotapes. She is now bringing these tapes to Western Europe to serve as evidence so that the guilty – on whichever side – are punished. Is she tilting at windmills?

CITY WALLS - My own private Tehran
(1 x 90 / 1 x 52)

Written and directed by Sonia Shafie.
Produced by Hugofilm (Switzerland).
Co-Produced by Swiss Television.

Award-winner at Visions du Réel Filmfestival, Nyon 2006

In times where headlines about the so-calles “culture-clash” hunt each other, the film-maker Afsar Sonia Shafie tells us a different story. It is the story of her grandmother, her mother and herself. In a very private and exemplary way, the film tells us about how women fight for their right to progress. A fascinating, personal film about strong women in Iran.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE PAGODAS – The other side of Burma
(1 x 52)

Written and directed by Irene Marty.
Produced by Kairos Film (Switzerland).

Whereas the world knows about the oppression of Burmese political opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, little is known abot Burma’s ethnic and religious minorities. This documentary was filmed under dangerous conditions. What is beginning as a picturesque journey through the “Golden Land of thousand Pagodas” is ending in Burma’s jungle, where hundred thousands of internally displaced peoples live and struggle for survival. They were forced to leave their villages due to forced relocation, forced labour, torture, arbitrary killings and many other human rights violations, committed by the ruling Junta. Their stories about their lives, their escape and their day-to-day surviving make up a new story: The genozide of the ethnic minorities in Burma!

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