27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “10 Reports in 10 Minutes”: On the Front Lines of Child Pornography “Management”

Eko and five other analysts work at the Dutch Pornography Reporting Centre reviewing material provided to it through a national hotline.

Eko is the longest serving analyst with four years experience and has removed some 200,000 offensive online videos and pictures.

Viewers spend 15 minutes watching Eko at work commenting to the camera what he is watching, categorizing and reporting to law enforcement.

The impression beyond disgust at hearing what he is viewing and categorizing is the speed and the mechanical nature of his job.

At one point his voice wavers recounting a particularly vile video and it must have been horrific as what he regularly views involve children as young as one and two some even professionally produced or photographed.

His coping mechanism is the diversion of taking breaks, listening to music or checking his e-mail and texts.

We are all aware of child pornography but the documentary illustrates its pervasive and commercial reach and an attempt to curb it. What Eko and his colleagues deal with is only the 500,000 reported photos and videos reported to the Dutch Pornography Reporting Centre yearly.  How many unreported photos and videos are circulating?

The documentary provides a glimpse of the extent of child pornography and one mechanism to “manage” it. Sadly, the extent of it makes its elimination impossible.

This 17-minute Dutch documentary is directed by Jefta Varwijk and Jaap Van Heusden.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 86/100.

RKS Literature: How Exactly are Babies Born? (Wally Lamb)

“My information about sex was a mosaic of eavesdropping, process of elimination and filling in the blanks. In third grade I heard the term “sleeping together” and spent time worrying that accidental fatigue could make an unwanted child-that male and female strangers sharing a seat together on an overnight train might innocently doze off and wake up as parents, For awhile I believed that people got pregnant by rubbing their chests together.”

Wally Lamb, “She’s Come Undone”, 1992

RKS 2025 Wine: Light Plus Heavy = Moderate? Ji Ji Malbec and Pinot Noir

Malbec is more intense and denser than Pinot Noir. So you blend them both in equal proportions and you have a moderate wine? That is what El Molino has done here and what is the result?

Bottled unoaked. Carbonic maceration.

Aroma: Neither light nor heavy. Raspberry, strawberry and pomegranate and a tad earthy and brackish although I could swear some oak presence?

Palate: Light on tannins with discrete acidity. Raspberry and strawberry with a raspy elegance. Moderate finish to this medium bodied wine. No “big fruit” jumping about in the mouth.

Personality: Neither this nor that. A bit of this and that.

Food Match: Navy beans in a rich tomato sauce.

Cellarbility: Will not improve in the cellar. Drink by end of 2025.

Price: $21 CDN.

RKS 2025 Wine Rating: 87/100. Luis Gutiérrez 92/100.

(Ji Ji Gen Fuerza Tranquila Malbec Pinot Noir, Finca Don Emilio Tupungato, Argentina, 750 mL, 13.1%).

27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: HOT DOCS: “Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story”

Jackie Shane (born Jack Shane) was born in Nashville in 1940 abandoned by his 16-year-old unmarried mother being brought up by relatives. By eight years of age he was singing in a church choir adding to his musical background of spiritual music played often by his grandmother. Shane purchased some drums to start his musical career and took off quickly in the Nashville scene of the 1950’s. Shane had an early feminine streak and his musical career enabled Jack to become Jackie and as success blessed her the wardrobe increased in size as well as an enormous jewellery collection. The wardrobe was androgenous and never mega drag queen.

Skilled playing the drums she was a studio musician for many well-known acts recording in Nashville and singing and drumming in Nashville clubs she took on the name “Little Jackie”. She was friends with Little Richard also like Jackie black and gay. It was dreadful being black in the southern United States and adding to that queer it was even more dangerous.

Shane joined a travelling carnival travelling throughout the United States singing in a tent ending up one day with the carnival in Cornwall, Ontario. She set off to Montreal becoming a smashing success on the Main. Shane was kidnapped by the Montreal Mafia, owners of most of the clubs on the Main. The offer was made to make her a star on the understanding the Mafia would own her. Declining the “offer” she continued her Montreal shows with the Frank Motely Band. Then to Boston with Motely to a huge success with crowds in the street listening to her performance on loudspeakers. The again with Motely to Toronto taking that city by storm playing in a variety of clubs. Shane by 1961 considered Toronto her home. Toronto was not without racism but it was a far cry from the South.

Shane was so popular buses would roll in to Toronto from Buffalo and Detroit full of eager fans. It was her 1963 hit “Any Other Way” that took her as far as she would go. With the lyrics in that song, “Tell her I’m happy. Tell her I’m gay. I would not have it any other way.” Shane was to thank her character “Jackie” for letting her escape from the closet making her happy and unafraid. Shane wanted success her way and refused offers to be in the Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand. Sullivan wanted restrictions on wardrobe and lyrics unacceptable to Shane and American Bandstand had only token and segregated blacks dancing over in the corner from the white kids and at the time no black audience members.  There is almost no actual footage of Shane other than a performance on “Night Train” a short-lived late night musical show in Nashville.

Off to Pasadena with her lover Dan Matlock in 1971 and then in 1978 she returned to Nashville to care for her ailing stepmother and stepfather. She became a recluse after their death. Then in 2016 a double album set of her recordings was released and a Grammy nomination ensued in 2019 for Best Historical Album and tentative plans for a Toronto, New York and Los Angeles tour. Shane died before her rebirth and thanks to this documentary her name is up on the marquee again.

I can only imagine Sinatra and Shane singing “My Way” as those words sum up the career of Jackie Shane.

Writers and Directors are Michael Mabbot and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 83/100.

27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “My Sextortion Diary” (Todo Lo Cubre la Sol): A Currency of Threats and Humiliation

Patricia Franquesa, a Spanish filmmaker, meets her ex-boyfriend at a restaurant in Madrid for lunch. Her laptop is stolen by two men as is visible on security camera footage. She reports the matter to the Madrid police. Two months later a hacker informs her three “compromising pictures” on her laptop will be distributed to all those on her contact list unless $2,400 USD (BITCOIN) is paid.

Patricia informs her contacts that her laptop was stolen and the blackmailing hacker may be contacting them with the explicit photos and if so the e-mail should not be opened but not deleted as it may be used for evidence.

Patricia refuses to pay the ransom and the hacker continues off and on with threats as after all the threat is the weapon and the longer the resistance the more desperate the extorter may get and the less currency the threat has. After all sextortion’s currency is the threat secured by fear of humiliation of the victim.

The police in Madrid and Barcelona dutifully take reports but are not making any progress due to a lack of interest or resources. The two thieves are arrested but the hacker is still at large.

Patricia acts as a sleuth and makes progress in finding the IP address of the hacker (in Spain) which VPN has obfuscated but still can prove somewhat useful. Then the hacker makes a beginner’s mistake narrowing down the list of suspects. The mystery deepens when a full security video emerges with a third man at the scene of the theft talking to the two thieves and signalling them to steal the laptop. At this point my strong suspicions as to who the hacker is are bolstered. Considering the fact the hacker knew Patricia was just returning from vacation is a mistake on the hacker’s part exposing a personal connection. Additionally, why has the hacker spent so much time and effort for a paltry $2,400 ransom. It is beginning to sound like a very personal matter perhaps amounting to revenge. 

Patricia defeats the hacker through a bold and unexpected manoeuvre and then makes this documentary about her unpleasant experience. You might want to say for all the anxiety and stress suffered Patricia has her revenge on the hacker.

The documentary throws out a few statistics about sextortion and its true extent is probably greater than published statistics as many of its victims remain silent fearing embarrassment and humiliation if they do so. It assumes even more pernicious dimensions when directed toward adolescents as can be witnessed by the death of Amanda Todd in Canada recently committing suicide in desperation after being sextorted.

The film concludes with an old radio broadcast describing the potential terror of nuclear destruction. Sextortion may have a destructive nuclear effect on its victims.

RKS 202% Documentary Film Rating: 86/100.

27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “Small Dogs Bark Loud”: A Recipe for a Successful Children’s Documentary

 The 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival runs until 16March2025.

“Small Dogs Bark Loud” is a Norwegian documentary deserving categorization as a successful children’s documentary and even more appealing as it doesn’t leave the adult viewer drowning in syrupy and overly simplistic platitudes.

Tuni, a twelve-year-old, lives with her family undergoing challenges leaving Tuni with some anxiety and fear. Her older brother she thought so happy and adventurous committed suicide. Her mother’s liver cancer is worsening. Tuni realizing the concept of time as a limited commodity devises a comforting bucket list.

Her companion and confidant to express her emotions is a tiny white Maltipoo Chihuahua mix, Salto acquired a year after her brother’s suicide. Tuni has an attitude and he acts far larger than his size challenging larger dogs and farm animals with a less than ferocious bark which is less a bark and more of a yap!

Salto is cute and immediately attractive to a child and even more attractive as he engages in conversation with Pus the family cat, other dogs and farm animals. His mission is to protect and care for Tuni.

Tuni has difficult issues to manage including suicide, serious illness and her various related anxieties. The importance of family, companionship, loyalty compassion, friendship and adversity are dealt with in the documentary in both a serious manner yet with levity brought about by that cute fluffball Salto. Many children face similar issues and “Small Dogs Bark Loud”  tackles them so very gently any rough edges smoothed out by that loveable Salto. Serious enough to engage adults.

A journey of healing.

My take is that it is attractive to the 8–12-year-old child and parental companions.

This 75-minute Norwegian documentary is directed by Nora Tvedt Nivedita.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating 88/100.

27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “9:30”: Finding Some Good from the Depths of Unspeakable Horror

It was just another day in May of 2020 at 09:30 when 34-year-old accountant Ionna Paliospirou parked her car and headed towards the elevator in the lobby that would take her up to her office in suburban Athens.

But it was no ordinary day as she was attacked by the elevator by a mentally disturbed women under the mistaken idea Ionna had stolen a man with whom she had sexual relations with. She was doused with two liters of sulfuric acid.

With her mask on throughout the extended interview Ionna tells her story and it is a chilling one to be attacked and disfigured by an assailant you never met. The attacker received a prison sentence of 15 years.

The surprise and shock, the realization her skin was burning, horrible pain and the injustice of it all. Remarkably during the on-screen interview there is no anger abut the attack and the emotional and psychological trauma inflicted including the pain and a feeling of being imprisoned by having to wear the mask for two years to promote healing.

It is not sheer unending negativity and anger that shines through in the documentary but the resilience to deal with the attack and its aftermath. It is remarkable that Ionna established a foundation to offer support and protection for burn victims. Support of her friends was essential in moving on with life and helping other burn victims to do the same. There may be a silver lining in a ferocious storm cloud.

There is an element of suspense in the documentary as we are presented with Ionna at the outset of the documentary and we only learn the story moving backwards in time with the incessant WHO and WHY dogging our mind. The WHO is a disturbing surprise and the WHY is mental illness of the WHO.

All of us have heard of acid attacks and shake our heads in disgust but the documentary traverses beyond our disgust and permits observation of its physical and psychological effect on the victim.

This Greek 25-minute short documentary is directed by Constantine Venetopoulos.

RKS 2025 Documentary Film Rating: 78/100.

27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “Death Plan for a Dog and a Man”: The Oracle of Death in Athens Speaks

The 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival runs until 16March2025.

Slice and dice your interpretation of the Greek documentary “Death Plan for a Dog and a Man” and you just may have nailed down the last nail of the coffin. For lack of a more sophisticated descriptor this is a “fun” film but one with deep meaning.

Artsy yes. Obscure and irrelevant no.

An elderly man and his dog Ermis look death proximate. In the haunting backdrop of “High COVID” Athens the man sits on a chair with a weakened Ermis at his side outside their hovel and watch the world go by. There is not much of a world as there are almost no people on the street except for several homeless people sleeping.

Is the elderly man an oracle of death who at one point in the hills overlooking Athens speaks to its citizens about how powerful he is as the strongest made for all times warning those below no mater how you hide evil will find you? His view is that how much a human tries to differentiate himself from animals humans are animals hibernating in fear of COVID’s possible death grip.

I derive my interpretation of the elderly man as an oracle of death by the fact early on he repeatedly speaks with Yiorgos a neighbourhood friend that has died. Who can speak with the dead other than an oracle of death? Another plausible interpretation is the elderly man is in purgatory with Ermis waiting for his final trip across the Acheron. What I will not accept is that this is simply a documentary about COVID. Rather COVID is the background where the oracle of death is omnipresent stating that all have a death plan and you follow the steps starting with a bored soul that notifies your cells it is time they prepare for the farewell.

Death is but a part of life and we all have our death journey with optimism, fantasy, the desire to become rich, the willingness to accept salvation from it all then death.

When death is near the haunting soundtrack is accentuated by the sound of buzzing flies reminiscent of the bloody pig head on a stick in “Lord of the Flies”.

This 66-minute Greek documentary, or short if you prefer, is directed by Christos Karakepelis. Its layered complexity demands your attention and challenges you to make an interpretation of its meaning.

RKS 2025 Documentary Rating 96/100.

Violence Escalates in Porto and the Douro Region: Portuguese Fast Food Chain Windows Riddled with Bullets in Porto: Wine Tanker Overturned and Grapes Destroyed in Paraquat Aerial Attack: Spoof News Services: Lisbon, Portugal: 7March2025

Tensions are escalating throughout Portugal overnight.

 Seven fast food restaurants, “Filipe’s Francesinhas Shack” had their windows shot up early this morning. No injuries were reported. Portuguese ballistics experts identified bullets and shells of American, Russian and North Korean manufacture.

A wine tanker in the town of Regua in the Douro region fully juiced up with Touriga Nacional was riddled with bullets once again identified as American, North Korean and Russian.

Fields of grapes mostly field blend at Quinta Senora de la Gringo on the outskirts of Lamego in the Douro region were sprayed overnight with the herbicide Paraquat. Two Algerian workers have been blinded and are in hospital suffering severe respiratory failure. Portuguese air traffic control reports two helicopters suspected of dousing the grapes were tracked to a small airfield in Spain just over the Portuguese border. 

No group or country has claimed responsibility for the violence on property and grapes.

Kristal Numbhead, Secretary of the United States Homeland Paranoia Department, recently labelled the 5March2025 vandalism of McDonalds and Burger King Restaurants in Porto orchestrated by The Francesinhas Liberation Front (FLF) and Confraria Proud Boys (CPB) as acts of terrorism and designated these two groups as terrorist organizations. Numbhead emphasized threats to The Golden Age of America will not be tolerated. Numbhead stated, “The leader of these two terrorist groups is citizen of Macau. Our New Republican Guard knows his location. We believe his code name is “The Penniless Pensioner”. We terminated Bin Laden and we will terminate this thug.”

Satellite photos may have captured the leader behind FLF and CPB vandalism in Porto pictured here singing Cuban revolutionary songs

Sao Mamedes, the prime minister of Portugal issued the following statement, “Ballistic reports identified the bullets as from the Unholy Alliance of the United States, Russia and North Korea. Our view as a unified government is these vile incursions and acts are in relation to the recent Trade Protection Pact (TPP) agreed to between Canada, Portugal, Panama, Greenland and Mexico. The TPP is a protective mechanism against American aggression manifested by the executive orders of Donald Trump. Our Assembly of the Republic today has censured the governments of North Korea, the United States and Russia and I have summoned their ambassadors to Portugal to express my displeasure. Any further attempts to violate Portuguese sovereignty will not be tolerated.”

Spoof has received unconfirmed reports of American cruise ship passengers most easily identifiable by large stomachs and gaudy clothing roaming the streets of Porto and Lisbon with their ice cream cones profusely dripping on sidewalks as well as empty packets of Ozempic scattered on the roadways have been pelted with Portuguese roast almonds and taunted with shouts of “Go back to your floating hotels and stuff your gullets at the midnight chocolate buffet!”.

RKS 2025 PORTUGUESE Wine: Pedra Cancela Vinha Da Fidalga from the Dão

From Carregal do Sal in the Dão region. The grapes were destemmed. Aged 8 months in French Allier oak barrels and 10 months in the cellar after bottling. At 1 gram of residual sugar a dry wine! The soil is granitic, sandy, slightly acidic and poor in nutrients.

A blend of Touriga Nacional and the omnipresent red grape of the Dão, Alfrochiero

Aroma: Dense and lush bouquet splashing out blueberry, blackberry, violets and smoked meat.

Palate: Obscure tannins. Plush and lush like it couldn’t hurt a fly. Blueberry, cassis and cherry pie on the long pulsating finish.

Personality: I am an excellent example of a top class Dão wine. I am tired of playing second fiddle to the red wines of the Douro. I am not saying I am superior to those wines but I am different and it could be the Alfrocheiro that makes me that way. You will have to struggle to find a Douro wine as silky as me. In terms of texture you might want to compare me with an oaked Washington State Merlot.

Food Match: Red meats, roasts and washed rind cheeses.

Cellarbility: At its peak now but enjoy throughout the remainder of 2025.

Price: $ 28 CDN.

RKS 2025 Wine Rating: 94/100. Roger Voss 93.

(Pedra Cancela 2018, Vinha da Fidalgo, DOC Dão, Lusovini, Portugal, 750 mL, 13%).