MINIPUT 2019

The programmes are selected for the reflection they have prompted, for their innovative or experimental approach, because they propose a new TV format or use new technologies, or because they have generated controversy in their country of origin.

 

10.00 am INTRODUCING THE EVENT

10.15 am TABOO
Belgium, factual entertainment, 55’, VRT één
Presented by: David Llanes (El Terrat), live-streamed discussion with René Vermeulen (producer)

In each episode of this entertainment format, a famous comedian tests the limits of comedy and good taste by questioning a subject that’s generally considered too taboo to make jokes about. The difference is that, in this programme, they get their material directly from those affected by blindness, obesity or other physical disabilities. What’s more, they’ll take part in the programme. Using experience as a source of material and after months of preparation, the comedian will perform a monologue that will be recorded for television.

 

11.35 am 100 CAMERAS
Japan, factual entertainment, 30’, NHK
Presented by: Joan Sanmartí (Tecnocampus Mataró student)

What’s the secret to the success of Japan’s best-selling manga publisher, Weekly Shonen Jump? To find out, NHK looked at its employees from every possible angle as they worked, placing 100 stationary cameras in their offices. There are no interviews; everything is purely observational. 100 cameras shows things happening simultaneously in different places. There are also two commentators watching the footage and commenting humorously on it.

 

12.10 pm WEB SERIES SESSION
Presented by: Marta Vivet and Laura Azemar (former UPF students), with the presence of Maud Wiemeijer (creator and scriptwriter of Anne+)

GORDA, Argentina, fiction, 15’, Cablevisión Flow
Joy is an obese 27-year-old Jewish girl with a very dry sense of humour. Dissatisfied with her career and love life, and after keeping quiet while being bullied at primary school, she reveals her wilder self. She accepts what she’s like and forces us to reflect on hypocrisy and prejudice. Series produced by UN3, a public channel run by Universidad Nacional 3 de Febrero, which specialises in comedy and promoting new young comic talent in the industry.

ANNE+, Netherlands, fiction, 12’, BNNVARA
This series focuses on Anne (24) during a weekend of moving house, reflecting on her relationships. In each episode she tells her story with a different partner (e.g. Anne + Lily). As the series unfolds, we follow Anne’s life as a young adult in Amsterdam. The creator wrote a series she would’ve liked to have seen as a young woman herself, and set up a micro-sponsorship campaign to film the pilot episode. The series has been very successful in portraying homosexuality without presenting it as a problem and has reached a wide audience.

 

1.00 pm BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH
Netherlands, factual, 45’, EO/NPO3
Presented by: Sergi Vicente (betevé), with the presence of Martine Tromp (director and editor)

Three depressed and suicidal teenagers take part in a unique experiment. Each of them is paired up with a terminally ill young person. One of the pair is dying but doing everything they can to stay alive; the other’s alive but wants to die. For a year, the series follows the lives of these young people, who don’t seem to have much in common at first. What can they offer each other? Have their views of life and death changed over the year? The aim of the programme, which formed part of the Depression Week hosted by NPO3 (a channel for young people in the Netherlands), was to raise awareness about depression. It was one of the most controversial programmes.

 

2.10 pm THE CLEANERS
Germany, documentary, 88’, Arte
Presented by: Ingrid Guardiola (UdG)

Enter the hidden world of digital cleaning in the third world, where the internet gets rid of what it doesn’t like. Here we get to know five “scavengers,” from out of the thousands of people subcontracted by Silicon Valley, whose job it is to remove “inappropriate” content from the internet. In a parallel struggle, we meet people from all over the world whose lives are greatly affected by digital censorship. A typical “cleaner” looks at and assesses thousands of images and videos that are often extremely disturbing and can lead to long-term psychological problems. Underlying their work are far-reaching questions concerning what constitutes an image or piece of propaganda and about what journalism is. How can we strike the right balance to ensure social media aren’t lawless but neither are they full of censorship? The Cleaners wrestles with this new and disconcerting paradigm and depicts the rise and fall of the utopian ideology of social media.

 

3.45 pm OOPS, WE FORGOT YOUR ORDER
South Korea, reality, 55’, KBS
Presented by: Mercè Oliva (UPF)

This is a very strange restaurant in the middle of Seoul, as you often hear “I didn’t order this”. The famous Korean chef, Lee Yeonbok, leads a team of cooks and the presenter, Song Euni, a team of five senior waiters with problems of dementia. This episode shows how the 5 waiters are selected and all the arrangements to open the restaurant. An example of how public television handles the problem of memory disorders in an entertaining way, whilst also revealing the complexities of working with those people affected.

 

4.45 pm UNA HISTORIA NECESARIA
Chile, short drama series, 18’, 13c
Presented by: Isabel Galí (former TV3 correspondent in Latin America), live-streamed discussion with Hernán Caffiero (director)

A series of 16 5-minute episodes that tell the true stories of cases from the Rettig Report on people arrested in Chile who have since disappeared. The Rettig Report (1991) focuses on human rights abuses resulting in death or disappearance that occurred in Chile during the years of Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship (September 1973 - March 1990). The report states that more than 2,000 people were killed for political reasons and dozens of military personnel have been convicted of human rights abuses. The following episodes are shown: 1 (Alfredo García), 5 (Sergio and Carlos Jacinto de Apollonio), 8 (Reinalda Pereira) and 16 (Ana González).

 

5.30 pm THE STRANGER
Denmark, factual, 25’, TV2 Denmark
Presented by: Laia Hinojosa and Carles Losada (URL students)

Amanda, a single mother from Hvidovre, is contacted by Casper via Facebook. Casper is heir to one of Denmark’s richest families but prefers not to say anything about it. They write to each other for three months before their first date, when Amanda falls in love with Casper. He appeared out of nowhere but is the man of her dreams. However, little by little, she discovers that not everything is as it seems. The series is based on the famous podcast “In a relationship with...” and on Amanda’s real experience, mixing fiction and reality in an unusual way. Amanda plays herself and the other characters are performed by normal people although Casper is played by an actor.

 

6.00 pm MY VAGINA & I + MY PENIS & I
Denmark, factual, 10’, DR3
Presented by: Isabel Ayala and Zaida Borrell (UdL students), with the presence of Andreas Gabrielsen (creator)

People’s relationship with their own genitals is one of the greatest taboos today, especially among young people. Many of people’s insecurities and their image depend on the appearance and function of organs they hardly ever talk about. This series of 10 episodes (5 on the vagina, 5 on the penis) aims to break this taboo and explore this relationship by using young people talking about how their feelings towards their vagina or penis affect their everyday lives. Through experiences and anecdotes, with humour and honesty, the aim is to show young audiences that everyone is different. The format has a strong visual identity: the camera focuses only on the genitals, to ensure anonymity.

 

6.35 pm #FOLLOWME
Netherlands, documentary on Instagram, 50’, NPO 3
Presented by: David Villarreal (UAB student)

What happens when a billion people use a platform where popularity can be manipulated? #followme delves into the financial world behind Instagram. The social media platform has become an industry where likes and followers are currency. What is real and what is false? Can we fight against algorithms? Who are the winners and losers? And are we aware of all of this as we surf the internet? This is the first documentary about Instagram on Instagram and it was developed as a transparent, cross-media work-in-progress documentary¬ on the @followme.doc account, where Nicolaas (Super Stream me) explores all kinds of methods to gain popularity.

 

7.30 pm SPECIAL SESSION 25 YEARS OF MINIPUT
Monologue, 60’
Presented by: Francesc Escribano (national coordinator of INPUT)

To celebrate the anniversary of MINIPUT, we review the programmes that have been screened throughout the last 25 editions. With Elisenda Carod, Elisenda Pineda and Charlie Pee, we take a look at the most outstanding programmes from Expedition Robinson (1998) to Sorry About That (2017), via The Great Donor Show (2008) and Married at First Sight (2014). What formats still resonate today on our channels? How has the function of public television changed? Is television “dead” or is there a “new TV”? Have consumer habits changed much?

 

All programmes are shown in the original language with English subtitles.