The first ever Internet Festival of Documentaries has started in Poland. Throughout September Internet users in this country will be able to watch free-of-charge the best documentaries in the world presented over the last two years during such renowned festivals as Sundance - the largest independent film festival in the US or International Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival - the world's largest event of this kind held annually since 1988 in the Dutch capital.
Danuta Isler reports
The festival started with the presentation of "GONZO: The Life and Work of doctor Hunter S. Thompson" by Alex Gibney, the winner of an Oscar for best documentary for his "Taxi to the Dark Side" offering an in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo. Throughout September viewers will be able to see 70 other documentaries free-of-charge on www.iplex.pl
The program of the festival includes a retrospective of documentaries by Slawomir Grunberg - an Emmy Award Winning documentary producer, director, cameraman, and editor born in Lublin, eastern Poland. A graduate of the Polish Film School in Lódź where he studied cinematography and directing he emigrated to the US in 1981 where he has since directed and produced over 50 television documentaries. Eleven of them will be shown during the festival including "School prayer: a community at war", "The legacy of Jedwabne" or "A burning man". Also, sixteen full length films are competing for the Grand Prix Vistula River prize.
Ddetailed program can be found at www.docboat.pl