Yaser Kassab: On the Edge of Life

It feels unfinished, sketchy this personal film by Syrian Yaser Kassab. It is one long reflection and interpretation of, as the director has formulated it in the catalogue of Cinéma du Réel, “loss and grief”. Far from mainstream. In dark images, often metaphoric, from empty spaces, “detached from reality” as he says, with the fragments of skype conversations with his father, who does not want to leave the country, and at a later point states that we live “like bears in winter sleep”.

The synopsis: “Yaser and his partner Rima leave Syria to Lebanon, but after receiving the news that his younger brother passed away in Aleppo, they end up in a remote and an empty place in Turkey. In this place where the silence and the monotonous daily life being broken by the loud noise of the family calls whom still living in Aleppo. To spend a year and a half, which was almost like a slumber and a coma, waking up every day on the recurring nightmares echo.”

It is one of those rare films that does not move but places itself in a waiting mood full of sadness, memories and longing for a better life. A very much welcomed essayistic lyrical addition to the many war-filled documentaries from the country.

Got the Joris Ivens/ Cnap Award at Cinéma du Réel

Syria, 2017, 45 mins.

CINEMATEKET: Lo and Behold

WERNER HERZOG: LO AND BEHOLD – REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD

Bag alle Werner Herzogs spørgsmål ligger i grunden en skepsis, bag empatiens høflighed ligger i grunden en tøven, i fortællestemmens basgang af antropologisk essayistik et misantropisk syn på virkelighedens tilstand, bag den både den dybt alvorlige og den meget morsomme attitude lurer en ængstelse, en sorg, en fortvivlelse, og denne sidste kommer bestemte steder i hans arbejder til udtryk i vrede. Selv om han involverer sig i møderne som han kalder optagelserne af sine samtaler med vidner og andre medvirkende, holder han dem på afstand. Blidt og elegant distant.

Denne stiliserede scene er undtagelsen. Her deler Herzog familiens sorg, vrede og rædsel ved det modbydelige, den har været offer for, og distanceringen i set up og iscenesættelse som en teaterscene bliver i filmens sammenhæng af ganske anderledes udarbejdede scener til en udhævelse, sådan viser det antropologiske undersøgelsesresultat, som filmen udgør, som dette tableau er en vital del af, at mennesket er ondt, også mod mennesket, også mod det menneske, som trods det onde i sig er godt. Hele dette store tema Jesus af Nazaret talte om, efterviser Herzog i sin antropologiske femlæggelse, i værk efter værk, også i dette seneste, her i denne opstilling af en familie, hvor en datter mangler.

Werner Herzog møder på rejser fra scene til scene mennesker, alle monomane eksperter på hver deres felt, seriøse videnskabsmænd og excentriske amatører med alvorlig optagethed og venlig koncentration, som sikrer, at hver samtale lykkes ved hans tilstedeværelse, og jeg følger hans fascination, lytter til hans kloge fortællestemme, den stemme, som for mig er halvdelen af hans film, denne og en række af hans tidligere, som hans opmærksomme tilstedeværelse i alle situationer, hans diskrete indlevelse og i det færdige værk, hans distante skepsis, nogle gange hans rædsel.

Et foto fra ulykken af en ilde tilredt død kvinde, den fjerde, den fraværende søster i familien, har været delt på internettet i syg nysgerrighed, som Herzog udtrykker det, og han fortsætter: ”Vi viser ikke dette foto. Vi viser et værelse i hjemmet, musikværelset, hvor hun holdt af at opholde sig.” Og dette afsnit tre af de ti afsnit, som Lo and Behold – Reveries of the Connected World består af, som er et stort filmessay over internettets virkelighed, har overskriften The Dark Side og konkluderer: ”Internettet er det ondes væsen”, som moderen i familien siger, og Herzogs kapitel tre er i sin alvorlige tableauform en lille film i sig selv, som tidligt i værkets fremadskriden i møde efter møde, ofte med begejstrede vidner, skyder en en tidlig tøven ind.

USA 2016, 98 min. Filmkommentarens vurdering: 6/6 penne. Begynder med en visning i dag 17:00 som månedens dokumentar i Cinemateket i København.

www.dfi.dk/Filmhuset/Cinemateket/Billetter-og-program 

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/1940/  (Collected posts on Werner Herzog and his works)

SYNOPSIS

Oscar®-nominated documentarian Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams) chronicles the virtual world from its origins to its outermost reaches, exploring the digital landscape with the same curiosity and imagination he previously trained on earthly destinations. Herzog leads viewers on a journey through a series of provocative conversations that reveal the ways in which the online world has transformed how virtually everything in the real world works – from business to education, space travel to healthcare, and the very heart of how we conduct our personal relationships.

http://www.loandbehold-film.com/ 

Lviv Film Center

It’s a handmade cinema, Roman Bondarchuk said, after our pleasant tour to Lviv Film Center, where we visited the rooftop sunday morning. Saturday night a party had been held and Mr. Mykhailo, responsible for the running of the place, was in the beginning not that keen to show us around. It’s a mess, he said. Never mind, we responded. So we were there and got the fine story about the place:

The cinema used to be called Condor and later Falcon, and was built in Soviet times by the factories around the area – for the workers to have a cultural meeting place. Today it is Lviv Film Center, an arthouse cinema with a hall on the ground floor, and a rooftop cinema. As you can see from the picture (taken by Dar’ya Averchenko) there is a small table for the projector, a screen, chairs of different quality. In summer time with summer weather there is often three screenings at night, a ticket costs 2€, reduction if you take all three. Beer is sold, bottles with vodka etc. can be brought to the place.

”Toni Erdmann” was to be played sunday in this handmade outdoor cinema that very often has full houses. Audience? Between 18 and 30 sympathetic Mr. Mykhailo said.

Photo: Ellen and me.

Pavel Kostomarov: Together

Do you remember the film by Kostomarov called Together, Roman Bondarchuk asked me on the Virmanska Street, when we sunday were walking around in sunny Lviv in Western Ukraine. The couple in the film, Ludmila and Vladimir Loboda, were sitting outside the café. We joined them for a grappa and Turkish coffee and I was proud to tell them that I had written a review about the film, praising them and their Love Story – and their art. They told us that they were very happy with the film but since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, they had no contact with Kostomarov – and Vladimir had no longer a gallery in Moscow selling his work. The film is excellent as you can read in this repeat of the review from 2009:

A house in the middle of nowhere. Or maybe a house in the centre of the universe. A couple lives there. They are artists, they do paintings and wooden sculptures. The sculptures have their own home in the house, a room for themselves where they stand in a circle, in harmony, in a room that is visited by the artists with lamps in their hands, pointing at them, making them come alive. It is a phantasy world with a couple – the man, who is talking in philosophical terms moving his arm around, a bit of a pretentious performance, but charming and with humour, if he is not throwing rude language at the woman, calling her dumb at one moment, and praising her as Mother Earth in the next. She looks strong, moves around as a powerful independent character, but she has her views on the relationship between man and woman: ”If she dominates it’s over”. Well, from the 48 minutes that I was invited to share with her and her husband, I did not get the impression of a suppressed woman.

And that is not at all what brilliant cameraman and director Kostomarov is after. He goes for beauty. The light playing in the face of the woman. Their hands cutting the sculpture figures. Their hugging and caressing, their letting the outside world be rude and cruel – they are murdering us, the man says peeping out of the window after a sequence with cranes and cars destroying something that we dont get to know what is. Not important, what is important is what we see inside, what Kostomarov (cameraman and co-director of ”Mother” and previously cameraman for Loznitsa) catches of Life and Love between two people who have been together for a lifetime. The name of the couple is Vladimir and Ludmila Loboda, and to summarize: This is such a wonderful intimate close-up of a Russian artist couple, an observation, yes, but what makes it extraordinary is the interpretative layer that the director adds, or should I say paints with his camera. There are superb sequences playing with light and shadow, where you see objects in the house or art pieces in compositions that stays in your mind. Taking the risk to have King Crimson music as an accompagnement!

Russia, 2009, 48 mins.

Nils Vest: Hudegrunden – Vesterbro

Ebbe Preisler viser Nils Vests film fra 1974 i sin beundringsværdige ”Mandagsdokumentaren” i morgen mandag 3. April kl. 19.30 på Café Sorte Firkant på Blaagards Plads. Vests beskrivelse af filmen, der varer 26 minutter, kan findes på hans hjemmeside:

“I en nedslidt del af Vesterbro etableredes i 1970 en anderledes institution for kvarterets børn: Byggelegepladsen ‘Hudegrunden’, opkaldt efter en nedlagt oplagsplads for huder fra slagtede dyr i Kødbyen. Institutionen vakte stor opsigt, da man søgte efter ‘en pædagog med en marxististisk livsindstilling’. Filmen fortæller først og fremmest om oprettelsen og det daglige arbejde i begyndelsen af 70’erne.”

For undertegnede er det sjovt at se en anmeldelse fra 1974, som jeg skrev sammen med min kammerat Kjelle Væring, for Børn & Unge. Og der er flere anmeldelser, som citeres:

”En fortrinlig film. Den har et smukt og rytmisk forløb. Vi kan kun varmt anbefale filmen… et godt eksempel på de heldigvis stadig flere engagerede holdningsfilm. Den provokerer, informerer, har en kvikhed over sig og den har holdning. Og så har den humor… ” / Tue Steen Müller og Kjell Væring, Børn & Unge

”Medrykkende … opløftende kortfilm, spændende og underholdende. Uhyre velegnet som oplæg til en pædagogisk, samfundsrettet debat.” / Bibliotek 70

”En varm film… solidarisk med dens mennesker.” / Arne Skovhus, Højskolebladet

”En god og inspirerende film.” / Per Schultz, Land og Folk

”Vi kan anbefale ‘Hudegrunden’ som en oplagt debatfilm.” / Susanne Lindgren, Film-UV

”Et vigtigt materiale, glimrende egnet som indledning til diskussioner. Statens Filmcentral har grund til at være tilfreds med dette produkt. / Peter Wivel, Studenterbladet

”Næsten en del af Hudegrundsprojektet… På sin egen lavmælte Vesterbro-facon i virkeligheden en ‘heroisk’ revolutionsfilm, der på sin vis godt kan minde om de film, der produceres af diverse befrielsesfronter. Den er kort sagt solidarisk med sit emne.” / Jørgen Siegumfeldt, Information

Foto: Nils Vest

http://www.vestfilm.dk/hudegrunden/filmen.html

http://www.mandagsdokumentar.dk/ 

Dokumania /THE FEAR OF 13 /2

DAVID SINGTON: THE FEAR OF 13

Peter Bradshaws og Geoffrey Macnabs anmeldelser fik mig til at at love mig selv at se filmen. Og jeg nåede det netop lige før den var bebudet sidste dag på DR TV. Det er en bemærkelsesværdig film, dygtigt lavet helt færdig i hver detalje, næsten helt glat, men anstrengelserne har også gjort, at visse løsninger er blevet overgjort gentaget, så sådanne steder træder ud af den rytmiske, den musikalske selvfølge og jeg mærker detaljen som genbrug, mister den nervøse forbindelse.

VINKLING

Bradshaw og Macnab har for mig begge ret, som de hver for sig ser filmen, kan jeg også se den. Bradshaw: “…For me, he (hovedpersonen red.) feels like a ham actor auditioning for the role of himself in a movie version, he delivers what sounds like an overwritten, over-rehearsed monologue in a breathy-mellifluous voice” og Macnab: ” What is fascinating about Sington’s invigorating documentary is that the inmate Nick Yarris recounts his story in his own words. He is formidably articulate, an autodidact who knows how to emphasise all the urgency, suspense, drama and macabre humour in the events.”

For mig var det derfor sådan, at filmens første del stod stærkest, i begyndelsen var hver enkeltdel ny. Men i gentagelserne trættedes jeg. Mere end spænding var det herefter nysgerrighed efter handlingslagets løsning, som holdt mig fast, det i synopsis lovede twist til sidst.

FORTÆLLEKUNST

Hele filmens arkitekur er så selvbevidst, at hvert greb kan opleves at gøre opmærksom på sig selv, det kammer over og kommer midt i det hele til at handle om at lave film. På den anden side handler Singtons film om Nick Yarris’ opbyggelige historie om at sætte sig selv i stand til at fortælle sin vanvittige historie (og det er for mig den vigtige tråd i dens story line), den handler om et enestående selvstudium i den episke kunst, og studiets resultat er åbenbart fra filmens første sekund: Nick Yarris er en fremragende fortæller, og hans fortællekunst er det ubrudte gennemgående lag med ham i samme billede i halvanden time. Og han binder mig fast, selv om jeg prøver at slå mig i tøjret, når han af og til, nej ofte, bliver vanskelig at holde ud.

I fængslet får han på et tidspunkt adgang til bøger, og han læser og læser og læser sig gennem et stort bibliotek, fra kiosklitteratur til Homer. Gennem handlingerne fæstnes fortællestrukturerne i ham som en stadig voksende episk natursans. I fængslet får han også en besøgsven, hendes notesbog og kuglepen er de vigtige redskaber for de tos fælles research i hans historie. Hun kan opsøge aktstykkerne i hans sag, skaffe ham fotokopierne, helt som Prousts tjener skaffede ham detaljerne ude fra den fysiske virkelighed ind til ham i hans lyddæmpede arbejdsværelse, hvor notatsedlerne klistredes ind i manuskriptet.

KLASSISKE GENRER

Et tidligt sted i filmen fortælles der om en fange som åbent og accepteret af både ledelse og betjente og medfanger har et kærlighedsforhold. Som et led i en kollektiv afstraffelse for en opsætsighed skal de nu skilles, flyttes til hvert sit fængsel langt fra hinanden. Om aftenen før flytningen synger han i den mørke bygning, hvor der ikke må tales, en lang uendelig smuk blues, en kærlighedstabets elegi. Sangen, denne fortællende sang, denne ballade i den store tavse lyttende stilhed i mørket mellem fængslets gange, døre og gitre, med denne anden replik supplerer Sington sin mørke film og Yarris sin dystre monolog med en kærlighedslys lyrisk epik, som danner endnu mere præcise sammenfatninger, flytter filmen fra den megen og bestemt flotte og og dygtige mimik, både Nick Yarris’ ekvilibristsike, for eksempel hans efterligninger af fængslets lyde, som lyddesignet frækt af og til understøtter (dette er jo en forestilling), og altså derved flytter filmen fra dens virkelighedsgengivelse og får den til i denne sangscene at røre ved poesiens anderledes skabende forståelse af dramaet, af tragedien.

TITEL

”Værkets titel er dets stormodel”, sagde Peter Seeberg. Det var i et foredrag jeg aldrig glemmer, hvor han omhyggeligt klargjorde tilblivelsen af titlen ”Dinusaurusens sene eftermiddag”, så jeg forstod hvordan alle stemninger og overvejelser i den klogt komplicerede bog lå som kim i titlen.

The Fear of 13 viser hen til ordet triskaidekaphobia, som er navnet på den sygelige frygt for tallet 13. Det ord er omdrejningspunktet det centrale sted, hvor Yarris fortæller om arbejdet med at øge og udvide sit ordforråd. Han gjorde det, hver gang han i sin læsning stødte på et nyt ord indprentede det ved at sætte det ind i 10, oftest mange flere forskellige sætninger. Han eksemplificerer sin træningsmetode med ordet triskaidekaphobia.

Det burde falde ind under og være en overtrædelse af droit morales’ respektret bestemmelser, at DR 2 ved oversættelsen har ændret filmens titel til ”Manden der ville henrettes”. Det er at ændre, hvad filmen handler om, nemlig et menneske, som møjsommeligt arbejder sig til en situation, hvor det forstår sin placering i virkeligheden, sin placering som sagkyndig sproghåndværker, som kunstner, som fortæller, sin placering som indsat, som dødsdømt, delvist forårsaget ved fed egne forkerte valg, nemlig primitive tricks lært i den kriminelle verden i stedet for komplicerede litterære, filosofiske og kunstneriske indsigter i en smuk række oplyst af egentlige epifanier i en retrospektiv selvbiografi i monologens form. Ansøgningen om at få fuldbyrdet dødsdommen er blot et af Yarris’ mange tricks, ok måske det dristigste, men den begivenhed fylder en brøkdel af indholdet.

The Fear of 13 er ikke en kriminalthriller, ikke kun en fængselsfilm, det er en dannelsesroman som Elefantmanden, som Den vilde dreng som Gåden om Kaspar Hauser, det er romanen om Nick Yarris lange tilblivelse som historiefortæller i den egentlige klassiske stil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ja1wrRAAm4 (Trailer)

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/12/the-fear-of-13-review-nick-yarris-death-row-inmate

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-fear-of-13-film-review-suspense-drama-and-macabre-humour-from-death-row-inmate-nick-yarris-a6732641.html

www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jul/13/netnotes.derekbrown

(om triskaidekaphobia)

Docudays Kiev 2017 Awards

A press release came out last night: The 14th International documentary films about human rights festival has ended in Kyiv. The awards ceremony was held in the Cinema House. The closing ceremony began with a gesture of solidarity with Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, imprisoned in Russia.

Films were competing for prizes in categories: DOCU/LIFE, DOCU/RIGHT, DOCU/SHORT, DOCU/UKRAINE and for the special prize from Students’ Jury. The festivals’ Orzanizing Committee favorite is awarded with the Andriy Matrosov Award. The ceremony was followed by the Ukrainian premiere of “Liberation Day” by Ugis Olte and Morten Traavik.

The results of the final stages of three long-term workshops were announced during the closing ceremony – DocWorks: UA/UK, Warscape, and Youth about Ukraine. During the closing ceremony the results of WARSCAPE international competition were announced. The award of 5.000 USD was given to the “Double trap” (director Valeria Treshchova and producer Viktoria Gusenok). Also the international programm DocWorks: UA/UK announced the results. The winning project “UNDERWATER” (dir. Oksana Kazmina and producer Ljosha Chashchyn) received 3.000 GBP. “(N)OSTALGIA” (director Vicki Thornton Written and producer Marion Guthdirector) received a prize (50 000 hryvnia) for the best pitching from KWA SOUND PRODUCTION company.

Winners were also announced for Instagram competition #ECOOKO: show the country’s environment. A prize from the WWF in Ukraine was given to Oleksandr Stepanenko. Prizes from the Green School educational project were received by: Oksana Vashchuk, Serhiy Handusenko, Oleg and Dariya Promahovy. Oleg and Dariya Promahovy received prizes from the Docudays UA team.

Docudays UA 2017 Winners:

DOCU/LIFE – Main Prize

All This Panic dir. Jenny Gage/ USA

Deliberate well thought through camerawork serves the subject matter and the desired atmosphere. Daring use of colors together with sensual use of depth of field made this film particularly efficient. The filmmakers are thinking outside of the box at the same time as the directorial approach creates unparalleled intimacy. It is transparent that creators are coming from contemporary art. The film unveils the secret life of teenage girls who usually go out of their way to keep their inner life closed to adults. It is the opinion of the jury that by giving these girls a voice the filmmakers are creating a bold platform for young women. Girls all over the world deserve to be heard – it is a crucial human rights issue that also resonates here in Ukraine.

Honourable mention

Gogita’s New Life dir. Levan Koguashvili/ Georgia, Croatia, Ukraine

The director’s decision to get close enough to share Gogita’s and his wife’s experience while respecting their quiet intimacy. This in combination with a remarkably beautiful frame and a consistent rhythm in the editing, bounds the story together in a completely engaging way.

DOCU/RIGHT- Main Prize

When Paul Came Over the Sea – Journal of an Encounter dir. Jakob Preuss/ Germany

The film is i an honest, meticulous, serious and responsible way dealing with one of the most critical issues we face today in Europe – the question of mass scale migration and how we as Europeans should and will respond on migration, what will be the consequence of our decision on other people’s lives and what will be the consequence for our comfort and security.

Honourable mention The Return dir. Zahavi Sanjavi Sweden

DOCU/SHORT- Main Prize

I’m Not From Here dir. Maite Alberdi, Giedrė ickyte Lithuania, Chile

In just 26 minutes, two talented directors create a multi-layered and emotionally complex world, skilfully and artistically captured through their lens. Facing the end of her life, the protagonist and her fellow residents live with humor, sadness and often prideful moments, despite the march of time taking them closer to inevitable death.

Special Mention

Rakijada dir. Nikola Ilić Switzerland

For a charming view into a brutal society.

DOCU/UKRAINE- Main Prize

Refuge dir. Anastasia Maksymchuk Ukraine

An unusual portrait of volunteer activists, working without stats support, the struggle against cruelty and the strength of ordinary citizens takes the forefront. The small-scale story shows a broader picture of the battle between good and evil.

Special Mention

The Fall of Lenin dir. Svitlana Shymko Ukraine

A witty and formally ambitious study on the changing ideologies of a society.

STUDENTS’ JURY AWARD

5 October dir. Martin Kollar Slovakia, Czech Republic

ANDRIY MATROSOV AWARD FROM THE DOCUDAYS UA ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Amazona dir. Clare Weiskopf Columbia

For an extremely high degree of sensitivity and bravery in researching the eternal dilemma of humanity – the balance between personal freedom and responsibility before one’s children.

AUDIENCE AWARD

Born To Be Free dir. Gayane Petrosyan UK, Russia

Also the LETTER TO FEST festival distributor has chosen the best Ukrainian documentary of the Docudays UA-2017 program. It is film See You Later by Yulia Kochetova-Nabozhniak. The prize from the distributor is a certificate for a free submission to 50 international film festivals.

docudays.org.ua/eng/ 

Docudays: Children

What kind of world do we leave for our children? A banal and pathetic question maybe. But it came to my mind this morning, when I attended the Warscape pitching in Kiev at the Docu/Pro section of Docudays. 6 projects from around 25 were selected – ”an international competition for documentary film projects about Ukraine or the Eurasia region, on the consequences of conflicts and other situations of violence inflicted upon civilians.”

In ”84” by cameraman Volodimir Yermakov, his first film as a director, to be 10-15 mins. long, children are playing in the city of Sloviansk, that was occupied by rebels for 84 days. The final scene of the lyrical clip presented by the director shows children ”playing funeral”. Heartbreaking, makes you think.

In the Georgian ”The Playground” by Ana Tsiminia and Esma Berikishvili children of Abkhazian refugees play among the ruins of a paper factory near the border between Georgia and Abkhazia chatting about where to go. Paris? The plays represent their social reality in what is going to be an observational documentary. Expectations are high after the director’s ”Biblioteka”.

The pitching this morning ended with the French/Ukrainian ”The New Life of Vitaly”, a film by director Vadim Moiseenko, produced by Marie Odile Gazin to be shot in small Krymske in the Luhansk region close to the frontline. Like small grown-ups the kids, with Vitaly as the main protagonist, talk about who is in war with whom, what foreign nationalities are there as soldiers, what the rebels took and destroyed, when they were there… They lost their childhood.

Photo: Ana Tsiminia and Esma Berikishvili preparing their pitch outside the venue of The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the sponsor of the workshop and the award for the best project.

http://docudays.org.ua/eng/

Docudays Kiev: Form Comes First

… which is of course a simplification but I was thinking of it several times during the days here in Kiev, where the Docudays goes on, one of those many festivals, less known, compared to IDFA, CPH:DOX, DOKLeipzig and Hotdocs BUT with a high quality selection and, as far as I have been able to register attending a handful of screenings, full houses. With a professional relaxed atmosphere.

Form comes first has director and editor French/Czech Stan Neumann said at many tutoring sessions. The same goes for Viktor Kossakovsky who talks about making an aesthetic choice as the first thing to do before you start shooting.

But sometimes you find the form, the shape, the handwriting as you go along, as did Georgian Alexander Kvatashidze, when he

did his “See You in Chechnya” (PHOTO) that was shown here in Kiev Monday the 26th. The director told the audience after the screening, how he kept on filming the war photographers, the subjects of his film, for years, at the same time as he was looking for the right way, the right form to tell the story. He found it, he made a first person narration that takes himself and the audience to the many interesting war photographers, we meet in the film. He could have made a straight forward more journalistic documentary, he did not make that choice and thanks for that.

The same goes for Salomé Jashi with her “The Dazzling Light of Sunset”, who starts her film with an amazing camera movement that ends up at a choir singing beautifully and thus setting the mood and telling the audience that here is someone, who makes films in a different, personal manner. As does Roman Bondarchuk with “Dixie Land”, when he opens his film with the band at the sea to set the tone regardless of classical dramaturgical rules.

One more to be mentioned among many, Slovak cinematographer and director Martin Kollar, whose “5 October” I had been waiting to see, and I was not disappointed – it is an intimate film about the director’s brother, who is to undergo a serious surgery and goes on a journey that might be his last… It sounds like a sensationalistic suspense documentary but Kollar has chosen his form, has made an aesthetic choice that for me takes the theme to a high existential, philosophical level. A many-layered documentary of the best.

http://docudays.org.ua/eng/ 

CPH:DOX 2017 /Return of a President

LOTTE MIK-MEYER: RETURN OF A PRESIDENT

The Danish filmmaker Lotte Mik-Meyer has made a documentary about a very important and interesting subject and a region that certainly could need our attention. Return of a President is about the fight for democracy in Madagascar in the aftermath of the 2009 military coup and the influence interests of foreign powers have on the political situation of poor countries in a post-colonial context.

Mik-Meyer has gained access to the diplomatic negotiations surrounding the efforts of making possible the return of the ousted president Ravalomanana to Madagascar from his exile in South Africa, where he has been living since the coup d’état. Through her contact with the Danish advisor to the former president, Jens Thorsen, she has embedded the inner circle of the delegation, consisting of Thorsen, the South African media advisor Peter Mann and the Madagascan human rights lawyer Bakoly Rakotomalala, and has come close to the couple Marc and Lalao Ravalomanana during her five years of filming.

The negotiation process is full of obstacles. The young Andry Rajoelina, in power since the coup as the president of the High Transitional Authority of Madagascar, supported by the military and quite possibly French interests, is firmly opposing to Ravalomanana’s return. Ravalomanana is counting on help from the international community and in particular the intergovernmental organization SADC (the Southern African Development Community), but realizes that larger interests are pulling the strings in the diplomatic game. He finally returns to Madagascar in secret in 2014 and spends 6 months in prison.

Unfortunately Mik-Meyer’s focus is on the intimacy of her relationship to her characters, that is her method and it is, in my opinion, not to the film’s advantage. If, as a filmmaker, you choose to place yourself in your film, it has to be for a good reason, here it only distracts the story. We are getting surprisingly little out of the closeness, I still don’t feel that I got to know Ravalomanana more than superficially. I would have liked more substantial portrait of the man, his (ultra-liberal) political thoughts, more information about his presidency while he was in power (2002-2009). I get curious, what is the story of Jens Thorsen? How do you go from being the manager of the largest dairy company in Madagascar, part of the Ravalomananas’ business group TIKO, to become a political and diplomatic advisor? Who are the other people involved? I would have liked to hear more voices and have a broader view. Paradoxically, had Mik-Meyer kept more distance to her characters, she could have maybe made a more powerful film.

The film ends with what seems to be a reminder of what is meant to be the real subject of the documentary: the people of Madagascar. We see poor women and children in a rundown building. But this short sequence seems misplaced and detached from the rest of the film.

At the world premiere in the Grand Theatre last Saturday, the director was there with Ravalomanana and his wife Lalao (now mayor of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar) and the advisors Jens Thorsen, Peter Mann and Bakoly Rakotomalala. The French ambassador was in the audience, in private, but he insisted on responding to the film. “The film is one point of view!” (and he’s totally right about that) he opposes to France being depicted as the bad guy. While greeting Mr. Ravalomanana, who will be presenting himself at the elections in 2018, the ambassador added: “We used to be a colonial power”, pointing out that that was a long time ago and now the neo-colonial influence is coming from commercial and economic powers (as if these are not also of national interest! For French speaking readers here’s an interesting article about France playing a key role in the Madagascan crisis: Le Monde Diplomatique, March 2012, “Françafrique”, the term used to designate the shady relationship between France and Sub Saharan African countries, had particularly strong ties to the Sarkozy presidency, a key figure, Robert Bourgi, is by the way involved in one of president candidate François Fillon’s many scandals, it just turned out that he has been paying Fillon luxury suits for an amount of nearly 50.000 €..). An interesting moment of probably not improvised diplomacy, right there at CPH:DOX. Unfortunately there was no time for answers or further comments or questions..

Return of a President, Denmark/South Africa/ France 2017. Filmkommentaren: 4 pens.