Congress 2007 archive

Documentary Film Festival “Love Across Cultures”

During the SIETAR Europa congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, for the first time documentaries were shown as a parallel programme. The programme was hosted by SIETAR-ians Marianne van Eldik-Thieme with assistance of Irina Chongarova.

The selected films were considered as a follow up of the Sietar Europa E-Magazine theme “Love Across Cultures’. The idea was to show documentaries with an anthropologic value, relevant for us, interculturalists. These films were recommended as material for research and also as background for training sessions. Documentaries appeal in a different way to our mind & emotions, other than reports or speeches can do. Therefore they have a different, sometimes much stronger, impact on our perception.

Films selected were from different parts of the world:

• Asia: Fatal Reaction: Bombay & Singapore (Marijke Jongbloed)
• Eastern Europa: Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgysztan (Petr Lom) & Fatal Reaction: Moskow (Marijke Jongbloed)
• Middle East: Divorce Iranian Style (Kim Longinotto)
• Central Europe: Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears (Simon Chambers)
• United States: Fatal Reaction: New York (Marijke Jongbloed).

The Bulgarian ambience was movingly introduced through a award winning film Georgy and the Butterflies . Its author Andrej Paonov accepted our invitation and came to discuss his views on the specialities of Balkan culture, which he gently passes to audience in the movie.

Following an introduction, a Q(uestion) &A(nswer) was held after each film with directors, producers or other experts on the content of the film.
In the case of the available four films on ‘Fatal Reaction’, a comparative study trying to find an answer on the question ‘why highly educated women have trouble finding a husband’ (in Bombay, New York, Singapore and Moskow).The excerpts were introduced by the director, Marijke Jongbloed, herself and afterwards we conducted a lively Q&A.

Discussions afterwards were lively and resulted in a better understanding and perception of the reasons why & circumstances under which these documentaries were produced.

For sale:

• Divorce Iranian Style on sale through www.filmfreak.nl or www.wmm.com.
• Fatal Reaction Bombay, New York, Singapore and Moskow, details of availability from www.marijkejongbloed.com