Iron Curtain Iron Fist
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 2
Savoy 3
One of the most significant anniversaries of World History this year is the 60th birthday of the People’s Republic of China. In the last few years Western filmmakers have documented China’s great leap forward. But what have the Chinese themselves to say about the impact of modernization on their lives?
In a series of films commissioned by Discovery Channel Asia Pacific, thirty “first-time“ filmmakers have created a unique archive of change in contemporary China. Their collective vision covers themes such as entrepreneurship, infrastructure, ancient traditions, environment, lifestyle and spirituality, and provides an intriguing take on the Chinese success story, through Chinese eyes.
While China’s iron fist still maintains a firm grip on its population, much has changed in Eastern Europe since communism took its final curtain call twenty years ago.
Many films have been commissioned to commemorate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall on November 9th 1989. We will focus on just two of them: Schabowski’s Note and Where is the Wall?
They approach the story in very different ways :
Schabowski’s Note retraces the steps of several key figures through 24 hours on this crucial day, and reveals how a series of misjudgements and mistakes was responsible for bringing down one of the Eastern bloc’s hardest regimes. The red thread tying them all together is Schabowski’s Note.
The producers of Where is the Wall? sought to appeal to younger viewers generally bored with German history, yet without offending the loyal older audiences of the public broadcasters. They opted for humour. As there is hardly a trace of wall left in Berlin the producers traveled all over the world to collect the pieces and items at the most unexpected places (toilet in Vegas) with the strangest people (a lady in Sweden, married to the wall in 1978…).
Session Producer
Werner Vennewald, Producer, Monaco Film (Germany)
Moderator
Diana Ingraham, Managing Director/Conference Director, US Independents/SILVER DOCS (USA)
Panelists
Vikram Channa, Vice President - Content, Discovery Networks Asia (India)
Kristian Kähler, CEO, Fernsehbuero (Germany)
Werner Vennewald, Producer, Monaco Film (Germany)