CineDOC Tbilisi Second Day

With Lithuania as the guest country here at CineDOC Tbilisi festival, it was natural to have Giedre Zickyte visiting. The director, who has had a big success with the film ”Master and Tatyana” with and about the brilliant photographer Vitas Luckus and his widow – and with the film she made with Chilean Maite Alberti, ”I’m not from here”, was giving a masterclass on the way she has used archives in ”Master and Tatyana” and in her ”How We Played the Revolution”. It was a very much alive, energetic and passionate Zickyte, who showed clips and told the audience how she kept on looking for material that could be used, sometimes (with the revolution film) it could take weeks to find the right material as she did, when she discovered a wonderful scene, where two children discuss – around 1990 – what the street demonstration was for. Hilarious! And she demonstrated how she integrated archive footage into the narrative flow. And how she used the photos of Luckus in two ways: to tell the dramatic story of his life and to show how fantastic a photographer he is.

Zickyte is now working on ”The Jump” that was pitched last year at the IDFA festival in Amsterdam. Logline: ”A breath-taking jump over the icy ocean propels a sailor from a Soviet boat to an American vessel. But is it enough to fulfil his dream of freedom?”

The film will have amazing archive material and Zickyte told us that she will travel back to the US, Florida with the protagonist Simas Kudirka as she after one and a half year now has the permission to film on the American ship. She showed the trailer of ”The jump” that Simas took in 1970. There is a very promising film coming up.

Ida Grøn: Stay Behind

Det er mærkelig dobbelt det her still. De to, dette ægtepar vender ryggen til filmen, som de tålmodigt har medvirket i og beholder dens konklusion i sit budskab for sig selv på dette sted ved vestkysten, hvor brohovedet for en mulig CIA ledet landgang under en russisk besættelse efter krigen i den kolde krigs første tid som ville finde sted for at bistå en privat dansk stay behind styrke, er placeret, hvor denne hemmelige landingsbane er anlagt. De to er instruktørens farfar og farmor, og hun og filmen søger gennem hele fortælleforløbet at placere de to centralt, dels i familiehistoriens hemmelighed, dels i den noget mere afdækkede historie om, hvordan en del af den danske modstandsbevægelse mod tyskerne efter befrielsen fortsatte under jorden, nu for ledet af CIA at opbygge en modstand mod en ventet russisk besættelse til umiddelbar afløsning af den tyske.

Den rygvendte mand, farfaren Otto Grøn er styrken i filmen, og han er styrken i familien. Den rygvendte kvinde, hans hustru gennem dette mere end halve århundrede er hans fortrolige. Måske, måske ikke. Hendes loyalitet er ikke tvivl, ikke et sekund. Men det er ham, som holder filmens plot i sin hånd, i en snor, han hele tiden ændrer længden på vel for sig selv ræsonnerende: de skal jo have deres film, men jeg bestemmer, hvornår den er færdig… Det spændende er ikke afdækningen af stay behind teorien, det vildt spændende er, hvordan han klarer sig i filmens lange afhøring ledet af barnebarnet, filminstruktøren Ida Grøn.

Hun på sin side gennemfører, fra først til sidst i billedet som medvirkende, ved siden af interviewene en fornem og ægte fortællestemme og kommentar på fint århusiansk, en fortælling, som dog ikke vil essayets form, den vil den gravende journalistiks metode, den vil hendes, Ida Grøns og hendes far, arkæologen Ole Grøns projekt, nemlig afdækningen af den militære hemmelighed og Otto Grøns ledende rolle i den, og den vil opklaringen af familiehemmeligheden. Men filmen Stay Behind’s afgørende styrke er imidlertid farfarens projekt, som tydeligt er at erstatte erindringen med en strengt styret retrospektiv fortællekonstruktion ved at gøre visse dele af sin fortid til eventyrlig myte og fingere et hukommelsessvigt når et bestemt årstal kommer ind i samtalen. Et journalistisk formål torpederes af et poetisk, fortællekunstnerisk.

Imidlertid lykkes det som jeg oplever det ikke klipperen Anders Villadsen fuldt harmonisk integreret at få de to holdninger til at virke sammen i filmens fortællelinje. Det skyldes måske billedsidens spaltede æstetik, Otto Grøn denne gamle mand erobrer ved sin udstråling det fulde omfang af fotografen Henrik Ipsens klassisk akademiske fotografi i interviews og landskabsskildring. Barnebarnet, instruktøren har sin journalistiske, måske mere ensporede og tv-egnede reportagestil i sit fotografi. Og da så det tredje billedlag, familiefilmens og fotoalbummets i Villadsens hånd følsomt sansede billeder bringes i tæt samvær med Ipsens professionelle, men tilsvarende fotografiske ømhed, vinder farfar historien. Ida og Ole Grøns møjsommelige dokumentation tilfører den en beundringsværdig saglighed, som får mig til at opfatte den som en effektiv argumentation: ja, det kan jo godt være et kapitel mere til efterkrigstidens faglige historieskrivning, mens farfaren Otto Grøns urokkelige, smilende og charmerende svar vokser til en vidunderlig familiehistorie i en kunstnerisk retning mod en Karen Blixens sensuelle plots – og sikrer at det trods de uforenelige kræfter er endt som en god film. Både som filmkunst og tv-journalistik altså en rigtig god film. Og jeg er overbevist! Der eksisterer virkelig en stand behind historie og der eksisterer virkelig en familiehemmelighed, men hvordan de to fortællinger hænger sammen, ja, det ved kun den gamle mand, som effektivt har lært at holde det for sig selv.

Stay Behind, Danmark 2017, 90 min. Directed by: Ida Grøn. Producer: Vibeke Vogel. Cinematographer: Henrik B. Ipsen, Ida Grøn. Editor: Anders Villadsen. Composer: Roger Gouda Production Company: Bullitt Film ApS. Filmen deltog i CPH:DOX 2017. En kortere tv-version har premiere på DR1 den 17. maj kl. 20:00.

SYNOPSIS

One trace after the other indicates that Ida’s 94-year old beloved Grandfather, a respected dentist from the province and a freedom fighter under the occupation of Denmark, worked directly under the CIA during the Cold War in Denmark. It´s not something he´s willing to admit to, though. This is a family affair with global wings, high stakes and big surprises.

Why did Otto sleep with a loaded gun right next his bed until he dropped it in the sea in 1982? How come he and his soulmate Dagmar took off to the USA in 1952, leaving their new flourishing dentist business behind to spend a year that they´ve forgotten all details about? And why is the traumatized Polish hitman, Jan, who admits to have served secretly under the CIA on Danish ground insisting that he has known and worked with Otto during the Cold War? These questions, along with the findings of a secret archive in a basement downtown Copenhagen, are what Ida sets out to learn more about. (Bullit Film)

http://bullittfilm.dk/

http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/person/da/174150.aspx?id=174150

http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/film/da/98440.aspx?id=98440 

www.facebook.com/staybehindminfarfarshemmeligekrig/ (fyldig samling kommentarer til især filmens faktuelle indhold) 

CinéDOC-Tbilisi First Day

… for me, arriving early saturday morning to the Georgian capital to have a wonderful first day at the five year old festival led by Ileana Stanculescu and Artchil Khetagouri. ”Welcome home”, a Georgian filmmaker said to me, and right he is, I feel very much at home here among the many talented Georgian directors and with the Lithuanians, who are here as Lithuania is the Guest Country.

One of them, of course, is Audrius Stonys, who is experiencing a great festival success with his ”Woman and the Glacier”. Just back from HotDocs festival in Canada, the world traveller had a one hour conversation with me about the film and about ”The Baltic New Wave”, his next film where his task is to introduce the audience to what was and is the poetic cinema as it comes out/came out in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

I sat on the first row in the Amirani Cinema, full house for the film of Stonys and for the film that followed, Pawel Lozinski’s ”You Have No Idea How Much I Love You”, the magic chamber play by the Polish director, who took the audience behind the film, how was the casting, how many cameras, the research, the ”why” he wanted to make the film. Anna Dziapshipa, filmmaker, producer, photographer – and professional interpreter gave the long Q&A the rythm it needed. I was happy to be there, also because this was the preparation for the two hour masterclass with Lozinski at the upcoming DocsBarcelona.

Finally an outdoor screening of the Israeli ”Presenting Princess Shaw” by Ido Haar, a film I had heard about and thought ”ah, another of these ”American Dream came through” films”, and it was, but Samantha aka Princess Shaw is such a lively and charming character and the Israeli musician Kutiman, who makes fine art out of her youtube clips is such a sympathetic person, it is a warm film that has its magic moments.

www.cinedoc-tbilisi.com

Joe Bini Interview

I was there in Prague when American editor Joe Bini made his lecture in connection with the East Doc Platform. I wrote a small report that first of all had its focus on his collaboration with Werner Herzog. Now you have the chance to read a more in-depth interview with the editor, made by Marta Obršálová and brought on the IDF (Institute of Documentary Film) website, link below.

Two clips to stimulate your appetite to read it all:

On trailers: To be honest, I hate trailers. For me, it is putting the  cart before the horse, as they say. Especially when you are asked to cut a trailer before the film has been edited or perhaps even shot. How can I make a trailer when I do not know what the film is about? It’s more like advertising. I absolutely understand how important it is but it is not something I am good at. I did a couple early on in my career and I just realized it is definitely not something I enjoy doing…

On the director and editor relationship: A film is generally edited by two people – the director and the editor – two people who have a different relationship to the same material. In a documentary, I usually start my job after the filming is done. By that point, the director has already formed a relationship with the material. He or she already has an idea about the characters – who is lying, who is telling the truth, who is important in the story or not. The editor does not have any of that in his mind. The editor has only what they see when they look at the footage. I have often had the experience, especially with young filmmakers, when they come back from shooting, they say to me: This is what happened, it was an amazing scene, the guy was great! etc. But after I have a look I often have to say: Maybe so, but that’s not what I saw…

https://dokweb.net/articles/

Carolin Genreith: Happy

The CinéDOC-Tbilisi festival starts tonight and what is the habit of most festivals for the opening night film, this is a light and entertaining one. With a subject that has been treated again and again, mostly in kliché-language: White male from Western country goes to Thailand and finds a wife. He wants an obedient woman with whom he can have sex. Thai woman wants to marry to be able to survive herself and support her family. Of course there are many nuances and the director manages to get some of them out of the shade because Carolin Genreith’s father is wonderful as a film character. He is quite open to all the questions coming from his daughter, he fights hard to learn the thai language, he likes his wife to be, who is 30 years younger than him, close to the age of his daughter – he wants as a 60 year old to have a good rest of  time, he can not stand to be alone any longer. He is energetic at his farm in Germany, a farm he takes care of, when he is not in his office at the city hall, if I got it right. In other words, he is present, the camera likes him. But the cultural differences are big, the understanding of what is love, the understanding of what is a family is not the same in Germany and Thailand. The first third part of the film takes place in Germany with father and daughter. Then off to Thailand where father Dieter, daughter Carolin and Thai woman Tukta are in focus.

The festival has included the presentation text of the director/daughter. Here it is:

”It’s probably every daughter’s worst nightmare: a postcard from Thailand that reads: “My darling, I’m doing great here, eating Pad Thai and drinking Chang Beer. And I met a woman who is your age. Love, Dad.” My father has changed a lot in the past couple of years. After separating from my mother, he exchanged his hiking boots for flip-flops and travels to Thailand every year for a couple of weeks. Sometimes he travels alone, sometimes with friends – all of whom are divorced and over 60. My father says that he is having the time of his life in Thailand. I think to myself: Oh my God, is my father a sex tourist? To me the Thailand trips are a source of embarrassment. Has my father become one of those men who are strolling the streets of Bangkok in the company of a young, attractive local woman? What is he looking for? Are his trips just aimed at finding happiness or an expression of his inner race against time? And now: a Thai girlfriend, 30 years younger than him! What does my father want from her? And what the hell does she want from him? I keep wondering whether I should just ignore my father’s postcard from Thailand or make a flm about it. I choose the latter option and travel to my home village in the Northern Eifel region in order to understand the man who is my father and whom I’ve always found somewhat embarrassing. Too loud. Too outgoing. Too odd. My father lives quietly in a half-timbered house with many rooms and low ceilings. It’s lonely there and it’s sad. We approach each other in ruthless discussions. What does he long for? What are his fears? And – most importantly: Does my father really intend to marry his young, attractive girlfriend? Is that right? We travel to Thailand together, where I meet my almost stepmother and her family. Slowly but surely I begin to realize that there are no defnite answers to my various indignant questions. Happy is an affectionate, ruthless, cheerful and very personal documentary about a father and his daughter, the search for happiness in the autumn years of life and the question of what love actually is when you are over 60 and afraid of growing old alone.”

Germany, 2016, 85 mins.

http://www.cinedoc-tbilisi.com/?p=3856

http://happy-der-film.de/

Nick Fraser to Receive BAFTA Award

My first reaction was ”oh, did he not get that already”, but no. But this year the former BBC Storyville editor is to get it, the Special Award at the British Academy Television Awards 2017. No objections!

Nick Fraser has been a name mentioned on filmkommentaren since we started almost 10 years ago. He has been a clever, often tough commentator at pitching sessions, he has commissioned classics as “Searching for Sugarman” and “Man on Wire”, he has written books and articles on the importance of documentaries in today’s society.

And he has – with Danish Mette Hoffman Meyer, producer Don Edkins and previously Finnish Iikka Vehkalahti – been behind the “Why”-series, like “Why Democracy” and “Why Poverty”, tv documentary series that went all over the world.

A press release came in yesterday from Yaddo, “the global online documentary platform” with Fraser as founder and editor. It was set up in 2016, interesting to see what he can get out of that.

I remember Nick Fraser from the 90’es, when he came to Bornholm to the Baltic Sea Forum. He was enormously positive to the Eastern European documentaries and their makers, and his commitment to Viktor Kossakovsky and his “Wednesday” was very important for this “documentary star”.

Congratulations!  

www.yaddo.com

Cinédoc Focus on Civic Activism

More and more documentary film festivals pick a theme for their programs. The festivals want to state their comments on what goes on in the world and/or in their own country. This goes for the young Cinédoc-Tbilisi festival in Georgia. I asked Ileana Stanculescu from the festival what the poster represented. She answered like this outlining the chosen themes:

“This year (the festival runs from May 11 till May 16) we have a strong focus on civic activism. Our program this year covers five themes reflecting five human needs: safety, passion, faith, imagination and solidarity. 

Under the umbrella of the theme ‘solidarity’ we will present and

discuss documentary films specifically on labor rights. Unfortunately there are very big problems in Georgia, when it comes to labor rights, there is no functioning labor inspection department, no protection of basic labor rights, a lot of invisible labor, etc. Yesterday, on 9 May, four miners have passed away in a mine accident in the Georgian coal mine city of Tkibuli, a tragic event.  

We have selected nine films from all over the world that deal with the topic ‘solidarity’ and we will screen them in Tbilisi, as well as in other locations in Georgia (within our year long CinéDOC-On Tour Program). Please find the film selection at following link: http://www.cinedoc-tbilisi.com/?cat=105 

For the focus on labor rights we are glad to partner with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Caucasus Office. 

Under the umbrella of safety – we will screen films about migration (Stranger in Paradise, The Longest Run, Imagining Emanuel, A Maid for Each, Vienna – Passion Week). 

We try to reflect Georgian civic activism with our film selection and with the discussions and debates we organize. There is a young and dynamic civil society in Georgia and we cooperate with many of its representatives to bring important topics to a large audience. Sometimes it is easier to understand the problems of women who are exploited if you watch a documentary like ‘A Maid for Each’ than if you read statistics on the website of a human rights organization.

And I think that many NGOs have understood that they can have a better communication towards a wider audience, if they partner with a documentary film festival. This is why they cooperate with the festival for the discussions and promotion of certain films.”

More will come from Tbilisi, where I will be from the 13th. I have already written an introduction to film titles and filmmakers:

 

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3893/

 

http://www.cinedoc-tbilisi.com/ 

 

 

Their Finest Hour… and Humphrey Jennings

… is the title of the British WW2 comedy drama, directed by Danish Lone Scherfig, that I saw this morning in Grand Teatret in Copenhagen. It is a lovely picture to bring up the same term the protagonists use, when they talk about their job, which is to make good scripts for propaganda films that serve one purpose: to keep the population optimistic while Hitler’s bombs are hitting London and other bigger cities. The propaganda films were screened after a short film and before a feature. And there were many of them.

Authenticity and Optimism are – in the film – the key words given by the leaders of the Film Division of the Ministry of Information during the years of 1940-1945. But I suppose that these words were also important for the documentarians, who worked at that time. While watching the film by Scherfig I was thinking about the true auteur of that time, Humphrey Jennings, whose films I saw when I got the job at Statens Filmcentral (National Film Board of Denmark) way back in 1975. Thanks to Werner Pedersen who loved his works as did another mentor of mine, Niels Jensen. They imported and promoted several British war time propaganda films.

Derek Malcolm wrote in the Guardian about Jennings and his ”Fires Were Started” (check Youtube) from 1943, 65 mins. – a quote: ”… Jennings had founded the Mass Observation movement which collected information on the British way of life much as Malinowski had documented the behaviour of the South Sea islanders. He put this to good effect in Fires Were Started and other films, notably the equally famous Listen To Britain and Diary For Timothy. But, though ineffably patrician, he transcended the class clichés of the time by recognising the way war can unite disparate people and by making us think about what would have been lost if the conflict had gone the other way…”

Yes, ”Listen to Britain” from 1942 (it is on Youtube) is THE masterpiece of British wartime propaganda documentaries… written together with Stewart McAllister. 19 minutes of superb seducing montage and use of sound (including songs), reconstruction of authenticity (!). It is still a very modern film in its playfulness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listen_to_Britain

www.theguardian.com/film

Phie Ambo om filmmusik

I programmet ”Filmharmonikerne” på DR P2 i går 18:05 var Phie Ambo vært. Det var så fint, smukt, ordentligt, tænksomt og brugbart. Jeg tror det også for fagfolk var en masterclass med en filminstruktør, som deler ud af sine erfaringer om valg af musik og komponister og samarbejde med dem i sine film, for Phie Ambo er det jo alle dokumentarfilm til biografen og for det store lærreds alliance med den store lyd, som hun sagde. Hun fortalte om inspiration, komponister og musik til film som Mechanical love, 2007 og Hjemmefronten, 2010, (komponist Sanna Salmenkallio). Free the Mind, 2012 og Så meget godt i vente, 2014 (komponist Johan Johansson) Og så var der det, at Phie Ambo altid havde ønsket kormusik, og til mange af billederne her er naturskildringer i lange forløb hvor kor kunne bruges. Og det fik hun, det skrev Johansson og skaffede et vidunderligt kor.

Hun uddybede her musikkens indhold ved at fortælle om teksten, som koret synger, at det er Lucrets’ digt om naturen (De rerum natura, 1. årh. f. Kr.) og undrede sig så overbevisende kvalificeret (hun er netop færdig med sit komplicerede og videnfyldte filosofiske værk om teoretisk fysik / kvantefysik, … when you look away, som får premiere senere i år som tredje del af den naturvidenskabelige trilogi) over denne teksts forunderligt moderne oldtidige kosmologi, som er frisk og ny, sagde hun og citerede fra digtets 5. bog om kosmos, som er dannet ved atomernes tilfældige sammensmeltninger, og som synges til lange afsnit om naturens forvandlingsformer i filmens sjællandske landskab.

Og hun lavede så samtidig på dette sted i naturen den dialogløse film Songs for the Soil, 2014, som helst skulle være med Arvo Pärts musik, som hun imidlertid mente hun vanskeligt kunne nærme sig. Men det kunne koret! Og hun fik korværket af Pärt over temaet fra hans meget kendte Spiegel im Spiegel stillet til rådighed og brød alle sine regler for brug af maskemusik, klippede den nye film Songs for the Soil, 2014 til den færdige og endelige musik som så faktisk var masken sunget af dette kor i bordets højttalere.

Jeg kan ikke takke Phie Ambo nok for denne analyse og kommentar og forklaring ikke blot her i eksemplet, men hele vejen igennem radioprogrammet, som Anna Thaulow havde produceret så indforstået med vid plads til Phie Ambos forsigtigtige omhyggelighed og lange uddrag af sin valgte musik til både eksempel og til nærmere undersøgelse. Masterclass for filmfolk, ja bestemt, men også seriøs musikradio underholdning for os radiolyttere og biografgængere.

http://www.dr.dk/radio/ondemand/p2/filmharmonikerne-14 (link til radioprogrammet)

http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/person/da/147913.aspx?id=147913 (filmografi)

DOKLeipzig 2017

The press releases coming from the Leipzig festival are always well written. The one about the 2017 is copy-pasted here:

DOK Leipzig’s anniversary edition’s theme is Nach der Angst (Post-Angst). It runs through the Special Programmes and is also linked to the festival’s history.

In its 60th anniversary edition, which will be taking place against a backdrop of political polarisation and the erosion of democratic values across the world, DOK Leipzig will propose forward-thinking strategies for art and politics. The leitmotif of this year’s festival is Nach der Angst (Post-Angst) and also runs through the Special Programmes.

Taking place as it is 100 years after the October Revolution, the Retrospective will be about totalitarian regimes’ filmic strategies for the representation of power after 1917. It will highlight the geographic and temporal range of visual politics in communist states and also show how methods resorted to in the past are once again being employed today, in times of heated political debate.

The festival’s Country Focus will be Georgia; thus DOK Leipzig will

be paying tribute to a country, whose flourishing film industry has been witnessed and admired at international festivals for some years now and at the same time shedding light on a region which has had to develop a new understanding of itself as it has cast off its Soviet past.

This year’s Homage is dedicated to the US filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt, a master in the art of deconstructing archival footage. In his experimental filmmaking, he frees images and sound from their original context, enabling new associations and interpretations.

“At a time when many political foundations are on shaky ground, we want to know what could come after the angst?” says festival director Leena Pasanen. “What visions for the future can be developed when fear is driving people towards authoritarian power structures? What can art and society do with regard to the erosion of democracy, the developments in the US and Europe’s uncertain future? We want to learn from history, rub salt in the wounds but also dare to dream of utopia,” she continues.

The other Special Programmes will also highlight the festival’s theme. The programme for young audiences will focus on films that depict how many youths are fleeing reality, through fancy dress (e.g. “cosplay”), role play or other types of games. It will examine the reasons youths have for wanting to escape the world and their needs and at the same time explore the creativity and potential involved with developing new realities. An animation programme inspired by the festival’s theme and a DEFA Matinee will complement the Special Programmes.

The theme is not only the leitmotif of all the Special Programmes but also alludes to the festival’s eventful past, as Leena Pasanen says: “In the GDR, from the time the festival was founded, filmmakers and audience members would seek places that were free during the documentary film week – despite the censorship and interference – where artistic exchange could take place in a safe zone, a refuge. Looking to the past and the future, we intend to uphold principles that the festival’s founders always sought to defend: freedom of speech, artistic freedom and human dignity. At the same time, the festival’s history teaches us that post-angst can also be pre-angst. In the GDR, festival years that were more liberal tended to be followed by years when the state’s censorship was more rigid. We have to fight constantly for democratic values.”

This year’s DOK Leipzig will take place between 30th October and 5th November. The Official Selection and the Special Programmes will comprise over 300 films from all over the world. As in previous years, the Official Selection is chosen independently of the festival’s theme.

http://www.dok-leipzig.de