Press Release #1 / 2008
Starting with this third edition, the former Berlin DOKU.ARTS festival has a new home in Amsterdam’s Filmmuseum. During the festival, which runs from 4th June until 8th June, new creative documentaries about art and artists will be shown, including portraits of artists, cinematic essays, inventive compilations and tributes.
DOKU.ARTS Amsterdam is an initiative taken by Sandra den Hamer, the new director of the Filmmuseum. By organizing this European film festival, she is presenting an opportunity to reach an even wider audience, as well as creating room for future growth.
Filmmaker and festival director Andreas Lewin founded DOKU.ARTS in 2006 to show the variety, creative power and experimental drive in this genre. The ‘art documentaries’ in the festival do not represent traditional ‘biopics’ about famous artists. DOKU.ARTS focuses specifically on films that are either ignored or given limited attention at the major international documentary film festivals, and on cultural productions that are gradually disappearing from the public broadcasting and foreign networks.
This year’s programme includes films about music, fine arts, cinema and literature. Many of the films that have been selected are being shown for the first time in the Netherlands, with their directors in attendance. They will not be shown in any other theatres after the festival. Audiences will have the opportunity to ask the director questions after each screening.
Seminar for professionals "The Absence of the Writer" – Friday, 6 June.
A partner of DOKU.ARTS, the Stimuleringsfonds Nederlandse Culturele Omroepproducties (Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund), will present a seminar for professionals on 6 June in collaboration with World Book Capital Amsterdam.
From 23 May, the festival guide will be available at the Filmmuseum;
tickets can be purchased in advance from May 15.