Millenium Documentary Film Festival
Categories: Cinema
Date: 22/03/2019 to 30/03/2019
Time: 19 h 30 - 21 h 30
Location: Brussels
Links: iCal - Google Calendar
The Millennium Festival is intended to be the venue for the screening of high-quality, independent documentary films that talk about our times and encourage viewers to reflect on their relationship to the world. For more than 10 years, the festival’s evolution has demonstrated the desire to set up a high-level international event in Brussels, cultural capital city in the heart of Europe. The Millennium Festival highlights films whose themes are linked to the major challenges and objectives of the 21st century, adopted by the United Nations in 2000, and which reflect humanity’s dreams and ambitions for a more fair and equitable world.
Belgian cinema, by the quality and personality of its works, has naturally taken a place in the programming. Particular attention is paid to young directors with master classes, round tables and a competition dedicated to young talents. This is in order to strengthen the distribution and promotion of Belgian documentaries, with a view to creating synergies and professional opportunities for filmmakers.
Since its creation in 2009 by Lubomir Gueorguiev and Zlatina Rousseva, the MILLENIUM International Documentary Film Festival screens more than 80 films from all over the world each year. The Millennium Festival is held every year in March.
Opening Ceremony:
Friday, March 22nd – 7.30pm
Screening: TOO BEAUTIFUL – OUR RIGHT TO FIGHT by Maceo Frost
75’ Netherlands, Cuba 2018
OV (Spanish) sub FR, EN
They invite you to the screening of the heart-touching film “Too Beautiful – Our Right to Fight”. The director Maceo Frost takes us to the streets of Cuba to meet Namibia Flores Rodriguez, who began boxing in order to escape sexual abuse and to be able to defend her brother but she quickly discovers a passion and an exceptional talent for that sport. For decades, she has been training 5 hours a day, every day, in the hope of winning an Olympic medal. But in Cuba, boxing is banned for women. At 39 years old, a year from the official age limit, Namibia is more determined than ever and fights for her last chance. “
The screening will be followed by a drink.
Program
Saturday, March 23rd – @Cinema Galeries
15:00 – Kayayo (In Norwegian, with French and English subtitles)
Bamunu, an 8-year old girl hasn’t seen her family since she was sent away from home two years ago to work as a Kayayo. ”Kayayo” means ”girl carrier” in the Ga language. In Accra, Ghana’s capital, 10,000 girls aged 6 and above work like real grocery carts with large trays on their heads to carry the women’s groceries in the market.
15:00 – In my room (in English, subtitles in French)
Uncomfortable and insecure teenagers open the doors to their room by filming themselves in front of their webcam. To overcome the difficulties they face, as a therapy, they confide in Youtube as they would in a diary. Through their videos, we follow their transition from teenage years to adulthood.
Screening followed by a debate
Speakers : Vanessa Lalo, psychologist specialised in digital practices and their cognitive, educational and cultural impact; Olivier Mageren, EVRAS organiser (education to relational, emotional and sexual life in schools).
17:00 – La vie d’une Petite Culotte (subtitles in Flemish)
What if the process of making a pantyhose alone could symbolize the seized mechanisms of globalization? From the agricultural worker in Uzbek cotton fields to the Indian dyer, from the activist for workers’ rights in Indonesia to a Belgian store, Stéfanne Prijot questions the value we give to clothes and especially to the lives of those who make them.
Screening followed by a Q&A with the director
19:00 – Paperland (Papierenland) (in Dutch, with French and English subtitles)
Shahib has been living in the Netherlands without a residence permit for twenty years, after he fled his motherland Somalia at the age of nine with his mother and brother. He looks back on his experience in a flowing mix of word, music and performance. The film questions the robustness of good intentions both in friendship and in bureaucracy.
Screening followed by a Q&A with the director
19:00 – The Truth About Killer Robots (in English, subtitles in French and English)
How does work automation affect our society? What impact does it have on humanity? When a robot kills a human, who is to blame? “The Truth About Killer Robots” explores the dangers of robotization, and raises the questions of responsibility and morality that this implies.
Discussion and Q&A (45min)
– Moderator: Pierre-François Lovens, journalist from La Libre, author of the special report “No need to flee artificial intelligence”.
– Speakers : Bruno Schröder, Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Belux; Marie Ruffo: Marie-des-Neiges Ruffo: Doctor of Philosophy, teacher at the Faculty of Law at Unamur and author of the book “Itinéraire d’un robot killer” and Loick Gérard: researcher in artificial intelligence at UNamur, privacy protection and e-government, robotization sector and member of the Namur Digital Institute.
20:00 – The Band (in Hungarian, subtitles in French and English)
The Band chronicles the birth of the Gypsy Band Lomnické Čháve in difficult social circumstances of a Roma settlement in Eastern Slovakia. They want to make it in the society at large, get out of the ghetto village, grime, poverty and start living with dignity. Their quest for success is a powerful, inspirational story of hope and desire, full of emotions, electrifying Roma music and kind humor. We follow their journey in pursuit of this dream, from Kosice to Bratislava, all the way to a prestigious international music festival, where they will have the chance to put their musical abilities on full display.
21:00 – Women with Gunpowder Earrings (in Arabic, subtitles in French and English)
Iraq 2016, the Iraqi army repels Daesh’s troops. Noor Al-Helli is on site to report on the fighting on the front. Very quickly, she comes across a refugee camp of the self-proclaimed Islamic State families, and decides to collect the stories, complaints and positions of those who are in contact with jihadists on a daily basis. Far from any simplification, she offers a refined perception of the tragedies unfolding in the Middle East.
You may check out the rest of the program on their website. The festival is taking place in different locations: BOZAR, Cinema Galeries, Cinema Aventure, Cinema Vendôme, and Palace.
Reservations and tickets through this link.
