Dear docfilm42 community,
New Year’s Eve is supposed to exorcise the evil spirits of the previous year in order to guarantee good luck for the new one. Unfortunately, as we all know, this only works to a limited extent.
A group of people in Ukraine are taking a different approach in their search for happiness. In our first doc&talk of the new year with the film THE THEORY OF HAPPINESS (directed by Gregory Gan), happiness is sought with the help of mathematical equations.
Find out whether the group succeeds on 26th of January 2025, 7pm.
Registration here and more information below.
The losers of reunification in East Germany were also not unhappy, as the film GOLDRAUSCH – the history of the Treuhand impressively shows. You can now watch the in-depth and illuminating film discussion with well-known German economist Prof. Dr Rudolf Hickel, which we held in September 2024 during the last nationwide documentary film festival LETsDOK, on our new YouTube channel.
(Moderated by Eberhard Spreng)
And to promote a bit of good fortune among documentary filmmakers, our association members also support each other with mutual tips.
At our next internal digital regulars’ table on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, we will meet to discuss the topic “How does my film reach its audience?”. We will receive input from Jochen Hick and Erik Lemke, both experienced in self-distribution.
And anyone interested in the media should make a note of the public online event with media expert Heiko Hilker from the Dresden Institute for Media, Education and Consultancy.
‘NARROWED PERSPECTIVES? – On the reform of public broadcasters and its impact on independent documentary film’
on February 11, 2025, at 8pm (see below for more information).
If you want to join docfilm42, you can become a member for 42€ per year.
Students pay only 24€ in the first year.
You can find the membership form here.
If you have any questions about membership, please contact us at vorstand@docfilm42.de.
Have a good start into the new year
Your docfilm42 team
Online doc&talk – The theory of happiness
Director: Gregory Gan I 82 minutes I 2014 I Russian, English / English subtitles
In a remote village outside the city of Kharkov, Ukraine, a small but passionate group of people are fighting an ideological war. Their weapons? Hoes and shovels, pickaxes and spades turned towards the soil. Their rhetoric? Political poetry meant to enlighten the masses. Their goal? Universal happiness.
Began in the late 1980s under the leadership of a now deceased guru of the movement, Yuri Davidov, group members were recruited as teens, and had to renounce alcohol, drugs and sexual intimacy. The farm on which they now live and work holds a thirty-head cow herd, two horses and several pigs. Recruits begin working 16-hour days and write political poetry in their spare time. They call themselves “PORTOS,” which stands for a “Poetical Association for the Development of A Theory of Universal Happiness.” Debilitated
structures and broken farm implements are all given names; the farm is given the name SPARTA, the latrines are called ‘Stalin’ and ‘Yeltsin.‘ Each member is ranked on a “Pyramid of Happiness.”
Those who are deemed to be less than 50% happy, are considered non-human. The goal of the organization is to achieve eternal happiness, and enter into eternity.
The filmmaker explores what it means to become a participant, gaining acceptance and making friends, then coming to terms with loneliness and loss. In the process, he meets a number of characters whose tell their stories: an overweight young woman vying for
acceptance from the leaders, who becomes his confidante; the leader of the sect, who attempts to exercise his authority; the shepherd, the milklady, the farmhand. Together, they weave a complex story that explores the themes of power and subordination, suffering and happiness.
Moderation: Artem Funk
Online event
Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 8:00 pm
‘NARROWED PERSPECTIVES? On the reform of public broadcasters and its impact on independent documentary film‘
An ongoing trend: Large production companies such as Constantin Film or Bavaria Film have set up their own documentary divisions, as it is quicker and cheaper to produce there. This fulfils ARD’s desire to focus on ‘excellence productions’ while reducing the
total number of produced documentary films. What does this mean for independent documentary film? We ask Heiko Hilker, a extensive expert on the reform process that ARD has initiated. More than almost anyone else, he monitors and evaluates the content-related discussions that are being held within the public service media about the future of program design. What impact will these upheavals have on the future of independent documentary film within the ARD broadcasting organisations? We can ask Heiko Hilker these and similar questions while discussing the consequences of the reform processes.
Moderation: Robert Krieg