Editor

DocPoint - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, held in January 12.-16. 2005, organizes a documentary film event for elementary and high school pupils. The event that now is organized for the third time has been named DOKKINO and it has been extended to a year-round event. DOKKINO is organized in co-operation with DocPoint's major partner Finnkino.

By screening documentaries for children and youth DocPoint aims for a higher appreciation and visibility for this genre as well as for improving the status of media education in Finland. In the two previous years, the event has gained a great deal of positive feedback. The success has proved that even though relatively few children's documentaries are being made the demand for them exists.

The DOKKINO programme

During the festival a series of high-quality documentaries for children and youth will be screened. The films for elementary school pupils have been divided into four screenings with different themes. The programme consists of films from Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The participating schools can combine the pupil screenings with theme workshops and educational material produced by DocPoint. During the festival, the DOKKINO pupil screenings will go on in Tennispalatsi cinema until January 18.

The high school pupils' program consists of two international hit feature films. My Flesh and Blood (USA 2003) by Jonathan Karsh is a story about an American family with 11 disabled children. Rhythm Is It! (Germany 2004) is a fantastic musical documentary by Thomas Grube and Enrique Sánches Lansch. Rhythm Is It! is about an effort shared by youth of Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra, the contemporary dance adaptation of Stravinsky´s The Rite of the Spring.

DOKKINO workshops and DOKKINO travelling festival

The DOKKINO event of 2005 was launched in October 2004. In seven junior high schools in Helsinki, pupils started to work on short documentaries with the help of professional documentary filmmakers. The completed films will be premiered on the silver-screens of DocPoint and take part in a competition for an audience award.

In October and November, DOKKINO travelled around Finland visiting Turku and Tampere. Two pupil screenings were held in both cities. The program consisted of films screened in the children and youth's documentary series of 2004. The event is hoped to become an annual travelling festival.