DOX BOX
Encyclopedia
DOX BOX is an annual independent documentary film
festival established in Syria
and launched in February 2008.
DOX BOX is supported by a wide spectrum of professional international organizations and festivals and organized by a Syrian production company
, Proaction Film, as a non-profit, free admission event. In its second edition, DOX BOX 09, it reached 12000 admissions according to the festival's website.
, The 3 Rooms of Melancholia
by Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo
, a retrospective of France's Nicolas Philibert, old masterpieces like Jean Vigo
's À propos de Nice
, and recent productions such as The Mother by Switzerland's Antoine Cattin, The One Man Village by Lebanese Simon El Haber, The English Surgeon
by Australian Geoffrey Smith, among many others.
Distinguished guests have included Patricio Guzman
, D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus,Pirjo Honkasalo, Nicolas Philibert, Niels Pagh Andersen, Malek Bensmail, Jehane Noujaim
... among others. While known documentary experts and tutors such as Tue Steen Muller, Isabel Arrate, Mikael Opstrup have been attending the festival every year.
The activities of DOX BOX usually split into public screenings and professional/capacity-building and networking activities.
Screenings are divided into 5 sections, the Official Selection, where films from around the world compete for the Damascus Audience Award (the very first audience award to be introduced in Syria), and two thematic sidebar selections (in 2009 these were: Voices of Women & Notes on War), then a "Meet The Master" section where four films of a master of the documentary art are shown in the presence of the filmmaker, and finally a selection of four films that took the documentary world by storm most recently.
A main point of uniqueness to DOX BOX is the fact that it offers its audience Arabic subtitled films, while most of the other regional festivals show films with English subtitles.
Support and grant-making organizations are supporting DOX BOX annually, these include The Netherland's Prince Claus Fund, Denmark's KVINFO
, Germany's Goethe Institute and Heinrich Boell Foundation, and the newly established regional fund The Arab Fund for Art and Culture, among others.
DOX BOX, which is annual and runs in three Syrian cities, Damascus
, Homs
and Tartus, is organized by two Syrian filmmakers, Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia, among others.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
festival established in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and launched in February 2008.
DOX BOX is supported by a wide spectrum of professional international organizations and festivals and organized by a Syrian production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
, Proaction Film, as a non-profit, free admission event. In its second edition, DOX BOX 09, it reached 12000 admissions according to the festival's website.
Festival program
DOX BOX shows a high quality selection of creative documentary films from around the world, and aims at presenting the genre to the Syrian audience and at presenting regional documentaries to the international world of documentary films. Among previous films shown were The Beloves by Russian director Viktor Kossakovsky, The Eye Above The Well by Dutch director Johan van der KeukenJohan van der Keuken
Johan van der Keuken was a Dutch documentary filmmaker, author, and photographer. In a career that spanned 42 years, Keuken produced 55 documentary films, six of which won eight awards. He also wrote nine books on photography and films, his field of interest...
, The 3 Rooms of Melancholia
The 3 Rooms of Melancholia
The 3 Rooms of Melancholia is a 2004 Finnish documentary film written, directed and co-produced by Pirjo Honkasalo...
by Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo
Pirjo Honkasalo
Pirjo Honkasalo is a Finnish film-maker. Although she has written and directed over a dozen films, Honkasalo is also an accomplished cinematographer, film editor, producer and actor. For her work in the film industry, Honkasalo has been recognized by winning 19 major film awards while being...
, a retrospective of France's Nicolas Philibert, old masterpieces like Jean Vigo
Jean Vigo
Jean Vigo was a French film director, who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s and was a posthumous influence on the French New Wave of the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
's À propos de Nice
À propos de Nice
À propos de Nice is a 1930 silent short documentary film directed by Jean Vigo and photographed by Boris Kaufman. The film depicts life in Nice, France by documenting the people in the city, their daily routines, a carnival and social inequalities...
, and recent productions such as The Mother by Switzerland's Antoine Cattin, The One Man Village by Lebanese Simon El Haber, The English Surgeon
The English Surgeon (film)
The English Surgeon is a film, which premiered at the London Film Festival on 1 October 2007.-Synopsis:The English Surgeon is shot in a Ukrainian hospital full of desperate patients and makeshift equipment, but it is ultimately not a medical film—it is about a man, Henry Marsh, and his partnership...
by Australian Geoffrey Smith, among many others.
Distinguished guests have included Patricio Guzman
Patricio Guzmán
Patricio Guzmán Lozanes is a Chilean documentary film director. He is internationally renowned for films such as The Battle of Chile and Salvador Allende....
, D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus,Pirjo Honkasalo, Nicolas Philibert, Niels Pagh Andersen, Malek Bensmail, Jehane Noujaim
Jehane Noujaim
Jehane Noujaim is an Egyptian American documentary film director best known for her films Control Room, Startup.com and Pangea Day.- Career :Jehane Noujaim is a filmmaker, born in Washington DC and raised in Kuwait and Cairo....
... among others. While known documentary experts and tutors such as Tue Steen Muller, Isabel Arrate, Mikael Opstrup have been attending the festival every year.
The activities of DOX BOX usually split into public screenings and professional/capacity-building and networking activities.
Screenings are divided into 5 sections, the Official Selection, where films from around the world compete for the Damascus Audience Award (the very first audience award to be introduced in Syria), and two thematic sidebar selections (in 2009 these were: Voices of Women & Notes on War), then a "Meet The Master" section where four films of a master of the documentary art are shown in the presence of the filmmaker, and finally a selection of four films that took the documentary world by storm most recently.
A main point of uniqueness to DOX BOX is the fact that it offers its audience Arabic subtitled films, while most of the other regional festivals show films with English subtitles.
Organizers and sponsors
DOX BOX operates in close collaboration with the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and the European Documentary Network., in addition to other festivals, such as DocPoint Helsinki and the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival.Support and grant-making organizations are supporting DOX BOX annually, these include The Netherland's Prince Claus Fund, Denmark's KVINFO
KVINFO
The Danish Center for Research on Women and Gender The name KVINFO is an abbreviation of the Danish words kvinder, information, and forskning, meaning women, information, and research....
, Germany's Goethe Institute and Heinrich Boell Foundation, and the newly established regional fund The Arab Fund for Art and Culture, among others.
DOX BOX, which is annual and runs in three Syrian cities, Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, Homs
Homs
Homs , previously known as Emesa , is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is above sea level and is located north of Damascus...
and Tartus, is organized by two Syrian filmmakers, Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia, among others.
External links
- DOX BOX
- Read a review of DOX BOX 08 in Realscreen
- Read a review of DOX BOX 09 in TheDailyStar