ALAFx + AAFx 2017 /Filmene

AALBORG ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL

AARHUS ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL

Det her still er fra filmen Rem af Tomas Koolhaas, 2016 om hvilken det hedder i katalogteksten: ”Med en hidtil uset grad af intimitet og umiddelbarhed introducerer Rem stjernearkitektens (Rem Koolhaas ed.) liv, arbejde og filosofi og giver dermed en dybere forståelse for hans værk…” Jeg skriver hmm i marginen, men er dog sikker på, jeg vil se den film trods store og vel også noget forbrugte ord i den synopsis, jeg citerer fra. (Vises i Biffen Nordkraft 29. april 19:00, i Øst for Paradis samme dag 19:30)

Arkitekturfestivalerne i Aalborg og Aarhus er gået sammen om i biograferne Biffen Nordkraft og Øst for Paradis og på Gellerup Museum at arrangere en slags filmisk masterclass i arkitekturens æstetik. De samler syv hovedsageligt biografiske essays over seks berømte arkitekter: Rem Koolhaas som nævnt, Bjarke Ingels, Richard Neutra, Robert Moses og Álvaro Siza. I Aalborg tillige Gottfried Böhm og i Aarhus på Gellerup Museum en Álvar Siza film mere. Jeg har lyst til at se det hele! Og i det er der jo en anbefaling, som ikke hviler på en viden og en analyse, men ærlig talt blot på min fornemmelse.

Som et slags belæg samler jeg her lige nogle flere citater fra progamavisens synopser, sætninger som nærer min nysgerrige lyst. For det er under alle omstændigheder et fornemt filmprogram, og kunne det lade sig gøre, så jeg gerne det hele:

Kasper Astrup Schröders helt nye Big Time om Bjarke Ingels, ”giver et intimt portræt af den nyskabende og ambitiøse dansker, der i hele verden fejres som et geni.” (Biffen Nordkraft 3. maj 19:00, i Øst for Paradis samme dag 19:00), Elissa Browns Windshield, 2016 om Richard Neutra, om et særligt hus og om ”den modernistiske arkitekturs historie, som… gik fra idealstatus til siden at blive miskendt og underkendt.” (Øst for Paradis 4. maj 17:00). Matt Tyrnauers Citizen Jane, 2016 handler på sin måde også om miskendelse og underkendelse, men her i form af direkte og samtidig modstand, nemlig bydelsaktivisten Jane Jacobs energiske litterære indsats mod byplanlæggeren Robert Moses’ moderne, ensartet afklarede masterplanarbejde i New York i 1950’erne, ”som var tidens modernistiske mantra” (Biffen Nordkraft 30. april 16:30, i Øst for Paradis 4. maj 17:00). Hvad der skrives i kataloget om Iain Diltheys Having a Cigarette with Álvaro Siza, 2016 begejstrer mig mere end noget: Filmen er ”en samtale om arkitektur”… ”hvad er arkitektur? Og hvad er det særlige ved arkitekturen som kunstform? … Álvaro Siza Vieira giver sine bud på, hvordan disse store spørgsmål kan besvares” (Øst for Paradis 5. maj 19:00).

 

Sådanne spørgsmål kan også besvares i en mere direct cinema skildring, det viser Maurizius Sterkle-Drux i sin Concrete Love, der skrives nemlig: ”Træd med ind i Gottfried Böhms arkitekturgale familie, hvor selv gartneren er arkitekt.” (Biffen Nordkraft 28. april 16:30). Cándida Pinto har lavet fire halvtimes film med Álvaro Siza under titlen Neighbours, 2016, hvor den gamle arkitekt besøger og reflekterer over fire boligbyggerier, han har opført i Porto, Haag, Berlin og Venedig. (Gellerup Museum, Aarhus 5.maj 17:00)

www.cafx.dk

DocsBarcelona 2017

So there they are the films selected for the 20th edition of DocsBarcelona. Listed in alphabetical order or in sections or according to screening hours and venue, it starts May 18 and ends May 28, with an extension of some screening days compared to previous years. It started being an industry event, years ago the festival was added. I have been ”part of the furniture” from the very beginning, first working for the industry and now for the festival selection. It’s been pure pleasure and I am looking forward to a long stay in Barcelona in a professional and warm festival atmosphere.

At the launch of the festival today festival director Joan Gonzalez informed about the opening film, Clare Weiskopf’s ”Amazona” (PHOTO), a film that has already been at several festivals but now returns to Barcelona, where it was presented, when it was a project and where it took part in the rough cut session that DocsBarcelona organises every year.

I have had the privilige of following the film at editing stage, from time to time. I have been worried about the final result – those worries are gone, the final version is excellent. To quote the catalogue text: ”A fascinating journey between mother and daughter through the Colombian Amazon, filled with conversations that fire sparks and leave us facing a moral dilemma around freedom and responsibility.”

I will later return to the films being shown at the festival in Barcelona, a pretty big portion of them have been reviewed on this site – no need to hide that I have been part of the selection team. BUT let me mention the three sections.

The biggest is the “Panorama” – This section shows the best documentaries of the current international scene. The films in this section compite for DocsBarcelona TV3 Award to the Best Documentary and the New Talent Award to the best film of debuting directors.

Then there is “Latitude” – A competitive section which includes a selection of the best documentaries made in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. DocsBarcelona Latitude Award is sponsored by Antaviana Films.

And “What the Doc!” – A competitive section that shows a selection of the most radical and innovative films of the current documentary scene. Like “Untitled” by Glawogger and Monika Willi, “Woman and the Glacier” by Audrius Stonys, “Brothers” by Wojciech Staron and “You have no Idea How Much I love You”.

http://www.docsbarcelona.com/en/docsbarcelona-2017/festival/programacio-2017/

Andrei Dascalescu: Planeta Petrila

I had high expectations. I had seen and admired the director’s ”Constantin and Elena” from 2008. I had seen Andrei Dascalescu pitching the project at East Doc Platform in 2016, I wrote these words on this site: ”(Planeta Petrila was) presented with passion and humour, the director said it to be a rockn’roll film, about a mine to be closed and an artist fighting to keep the old buildings and make them into art. A Don Quijote, the director asks? The trailer was unconventional, hopefully the film will be the same…”

I am not disappointed. There is some rockn’roll atmosphere in the film, there is a Don Quijote, Ion Barbu, and yet he is very grounded in the reality that he lives in; he is a creative charismatic artist, who used to work in the mines of Petrila as topographer; he knows and expresses compassion for the history of the mines and for the few miners, who are there. The last ones before the mine activity stops.

Ion Barbu argues that the only solution for Petrila after losing the mining industry is culture

and he is the one to push in that direction. He wants factory buildings to stay as historic monuments, as a museum, he organises happenings, makes installations, an underground theatre festival, there are slogans and quotations on the walls, the grey buildings become full of life and colours, I noticed the name Kirkegaard… thanks for bringing our national hero to Petrila! It’s fun but it is also serious political activism. Barbu works with Ilinca Paun from an NGO, you understand that she is the one, who communicates with the authorities, and we are told that one of the reasons that the politicians want the mining building taken down is that there is a lot of €´s at stake to be given by the EU meant for ”greening”. But does ”greening” mean demolition, a clever woman says. Ilinca Paun?

It is maybe easy to think from the description above that the film is one of the trendy documentary works – ”movies that matter”, a campaign film, a film with an impact – it is not! There is no ”halleluja” here, it matters as a film about creativity and it is a beautiful homage to a dangerous industry and those who worked there or ”died for the coal”. In an excellent scene you see Barbu and helpers create a wailing wall with the names of the many who died while doing their work in the mines. Followed by a song. Solemnity. To add to that there is a scary scene from underground, where the ventilation suddenly does not work, and where the call to ”upstairs” is ”we have no air, we are dying down here if no ventilation…”. Not to forget the burial ceremony for the mine at the end of the film, it is absurd and moving at the same time.

On the photo Ion Barbu stands in front of a mural called ”Petrila, the Sleeping Beauty”. Yes, the mine has been put to rest but Barbu and his helpers have shown that you can make protests against the power and the bulldozers. Through artistic expression on many platforms. And with humour – as he says in an interview with a television crew: ”In Petrila everything is at risk of demolition. Except for the mayor”. It is possible to make a population wake up to be engaged and committed.   

Young Dascalescu has made two impressive documentaries, this one rockn’roll and unconventional cinema, an obvious talent.

Romania, 2016, 80 mins.

https://www.facebook.com/PlanetaPetrila/

CAFx 2017 /Nysgerrigheder

COPENHAGEN ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL

Og så blader jeg videre i festivalkatataloget og fascineres ved enkelte bemærkninger i præsentationerne, formuleringer som gør mig nysgerrig. Først Kasper Astrup Schröders Big Time, 2017 om arkitekten Bjarke Ingels, hvor jeg bliver optaget af, at den skildrer, hvordan Ingels udfordres af svigtende helbred under arbejdet med de store nye bygninger i det centrale New York. (Grand Teatret 26. april 19:00) Det er åbningsfilm for festivalen og det er premiere for den helt nye film.

Når der i en filmbeskrivelse står at ”indvandrerne ikke vinder over de andre (de ’etnisk svenske’ unge red.) gennem ondskab og vold, men ganske enkelt fordi de bevæger sig i Göteborgs byrum på en klogere måde” bliver jeg nysgerrig på om de fremmede er bedre til at finde vej og på hvor elegant filmklipperen lykkes med at fortælle hvordan bevæge sig i Ruben Östlunds Play, 2011 (KU.BE 5. maj 16:30). Det er ordet ”klog” som i den sammenhæng fæstner sig ved mig. I beskrivelsen af Danmark ved Ganges, 2017 af Nicolás Nørgaard Staffolani er det ordet ”nostalgi” i formuleringen ”om der (i kolonihistorien red.) er plads til nostalgi i en nøgtern postkolonial tid.” For mig er nostalgi en vigtig grundlæggende følelse af længsel, smerte, skønhed, orden, ro. Er det sådan instruktøren skildrer Indiens “engang smukkeste by”? (Nationalmuseet 2. maj 17:00)

”Jacques Tati skabte sin helt egen kulisseby, Tativille, der med den nye 4K-restaurering fremstår lige så imponerende som den var tænkt” står der om instruktørens Playtime, 1967, og jeg tænker lige hvad det mon sådan formuleret i tekst er redaktøren ved om hvor imponerende Tativille var tænkt af Tati, hans arkitekt og snedker? Men den nye version af filmen viser det altså (Cinemateket 4. maj 16:45). Var det muligt, må jeg helt bestemt se den! Ligesom jeg nødvendigvis og absolut skal se Stanley Kubricks ”enorme samling æsker, som var fulde af research fra de perfektionistiske film i hans sene fase”, som Jon Johnson i sin Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes, 2008 åbner og folder ud, vel i det klogeste kloge filmessay håber jeg fuld af forventning. (Cinemateket 6. maj 21:30)

Jeg kan huske, at Frantz Ernsts Ang. Lone, 1970 var en smuk film, nu genser jeg den virkelig gerne, mærker jeg tydeligt, også når den her i kataloget præsenteres som ”70’er-realisme” i et cinéma vérité – inspireret drama med ”socialkritisk bid og udstrakt brug af location-optagelser som giver filmen et næsten dokumentarisk strøg.” (Cinemateket 28. april 16:45) Jeg bliver glad og nysgerrig ved at læse sådanne formuleringer…

www.cafx.dk 

CAFx 2017 /Anbefalinger

COPENHAGEN ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL

Jeg ser det store program igennem, koncentrerer mig jo om filmvisningerne, et par stykker af filmene kender jeg og kan kommentere, de fleste kender jeg ikke, men finder formuleringer i beskrivelserne, som gør mig interesseret. Først de to jeg kender, som jeg tidligere har skrevet om her på Filmkommentaren:Tarkovskijs Solaris, 1972 og Kestners Drømme i København, 2009:

SOLARIS

Jeg ved godt, at Solaris først og fremmest er et visuelt mesterværk. Og i den nye rensede og smukke dvd-udgave bliver jeg overbevist fra første billede. Dette russiske landskab omkring det nye gammeldags landhus brydes kun af en motorvejsbro langt væk – men smerten ved den kommer som et stik i idyllen.

Og smerten sidder i denne spiller Donatas Banionis som en særlig alvor fra dette allerførste billede, hvor skarpheden i smertestikket er lyden fra bilen, som kommer med gæsten, som indfører dialogen i kammerspillet, som herefter i den langsomme, langsomme rytme bliver elementet ved siden af billedfortællingen, og Solaris er mere end noget et kammerspil, et spil i replikskifte, i det russiske landhus, i dets smukke rum, og senere jo i rumstationen anderledes kølighed i kredsløb om planeten Solaris.

Herude forstår vi, at smerten hos Banionis er, som kollegerne der (låste i den videnskabelige kontekst, de selv dementerer) bemærker, en banal kærlighedssorg. Kvinden, som altså er i mandens tanke, kommer derude genfødt til stede og genkender sig selv på fotografiet, han har taget med. Og han ser hende rygvendt til stede, som fotografisk gengivelse og som spejlbillede… Læs mere:

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/547/

Vises under CAFx 5. maj 16:30 i Cinemateket

 

DRØMME I KØBENHAVN

… Netop dette er indsigtens kerne. Det er byen, som er konstansen i en evig variations og forandrings uforandrethed. Byen er der. Altid. Menneskene passerer. Og så er det sådan, at byen ikke er menneskenes.

Det er omvendt. (For alle tegnestuer i filmen er ens, alle forhandlingerne der er ens. Det er først i teksterne til sidst, vi ser, at en længere række tegnestuer har medvirket.) Som menneskene og deres liv er ens. De bliver til i elskov, de er i vejen for forældrenes travlhed, de kører ad de samme ruter alene i busserne, de mødes med hinanden i værksteder, på kontorer og i tegnestuer og tror, de skaber byen. De dør ensomme, og der ryddes anonymt op efter dem. Nye folk flytter ind i deres boliger, som tilsammen er byen, som består. I den fineste komposition af et mylder af juxtapositioner, fortæller Anne Østerud en historie så almindelig og så generel, men også så gribende, at jeg i mørket noterer ”lutter ømhed” som det eneste under den biografvisning… Hele anmeldelsen:

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/979/

Vises under CAFx 27. april 16:45 i Cinemateket

www.cafx.dk 

Krakow Film Festival: Music without Borders

A press release came in from one of the oldest documentary film festivals, in Krakow, that celebrates its 57th edition BUT with a young competition on music documentaries, the fifth edition of this novelty.

A quote of a quote: “As Anita Piotrowska, film critic and the co-creator of the programme of Krakow Film Festival points out, “music documentary film becomes more and more inclusive. Music always plays the main role here, but often it is additionally charged – it tends to be a political manifesto, an expression of rebellion against stereotypes, a new look at history or a sign of a complicated ethnic identity. It is increasingly difficult to find an “unadulterated” music documentary film. But this is which, in my opinion, proves its vitality and richness. And this is precisely this diversity – not only of the music itself, but of the contemporary ways of telling stories about it – that we tried to capture while selecting the competition titles.”

Wise words and here you have the films selected:

“Chavela,” dir. Catherine Gund, Daresha Kyi, USA, 90’

“Far Western,” dir. James Payne, Japan, USA, 82’

“Red Gringo,” dir. Miguel Angel Vidaurre, Chile, 69’

“Festival,” dir. Tomasz Wolski, Anna Gawlita, Poland, 85’

“When God Sleeps,” dir. Till Schauder, USA, Germany, 88’

“Sara Baras, All Her Voices,” dir. Rafá Moles, Pepe Andreu, Spain, 91’

“Revolution of Sound. Tangerine Dream,” dir. Margarete Kreuzer, Germany, 90’

“Born To Lose-a film about Lorenzo Woodrose,” dir. Palle Demant, Denmark, 82’

“Soul Exodus,” dir. Csaba Bereczki, Hungary, 92’

“The Wonderful Kingdom of Papa Alaev,” dir. Tal Barda, Noam Pinchas, Israel, France, 74’

I have seen the latter, which is a family story full of music with the Papa (see the fantastic photo) of the Alaev family (who emigrated from Israel to Tajikistan in 1990s) as the main patriarchial character, who has to face, but does not want to, that children and grandchildren wish to take over, or at least have their independence as members of the family, and a religious community. And the orchestra! Sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching, always with great music! And very well told.

www.krakowfilmfestival.pl

CAFx 2017 /Introduction

This is a copy-paste of the press release from Copenhagen Architecture Festival, that is indeed very active when it comes to the inclusion of the film medium:

Denmark’s largest architecture festival Copenhagen Architecture Festival opens its fourth edition Wednesday, April 26th with a wide program spread over three cities and with the opening film and world premiere of “BIG TIME” on Bjarke Ingels. 

More than 150 architectural events in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Aalborg. 40 film and 42 venues.

The festival takes place over 11 days. The more than 150 events provide a variety of approaches to architecture and through film screenings, exhibitions, lectures, debates, walks, concerts and conferences there are enough to choose from again this year – both for ’feinschmecker’ and the general public. Again this year you can meet experts from home and abroad who will contribute to the audience to get a glimpse of the world of architecture.

In 2015, the festival was the largest of its kind in the world with its focus on architecture and film. This year the festival offers one overarching theme: “Architecture as identity” with four events which the organizers want to direct a particular focus on: Experience the world premiere of ’BIG TIME’ – a new portrait film about Bjarke Ingels and more than 40 other architecture-related films, a major international conference with visiting architcets such as Charles Renfro and Barozzi Veiga and a new exhibition of Lacaton & Vassal, Druot and Hutin in both Aarhus and Copenhagen or be guided to the latest architecture on the bike of the city architects of Copenhagen and Aarhus – in Copenhagen as part of the festival’s collaboration with the municipality on this year’s building awards. The festival is organized into 11 sub-themes distributed across the three cities.

The audience can, among other things, look forward to an exciting theme of Danish colonial architectural trail – both in Denmark in Copenhagen and in the former colonies around the world under the title ‘colonial traces, a dissection of the city’s various layers in a series of events, which is about how we use the city and who uses it – under the theme titled ‘The city in use’, or the ratio of ‘plan and life’ in the cities and their architecture under the theme of the same name or get a glimpse of friends Dan Stubbergaard’s and Henrik Vibskov’s selection of five films that have inspired each of them in their work.

Festival Director Josephine Michau says: “I hope that the festival can help to unfold how architecture helps to create qualities in everyday life at a local, national and global level and to do it in an unpretentious, curious way that can bring a new look at the architecture and make it widely communicated. The festival is both for professionals and for the ’amateur’, and there is indeed something for both audiences. “

The purpose of CAFx 2017 include exploring how architecture is to shape and reflect values ​​in our lives or cities, and especially how we as individuals, groups or nations are reading us into the surroundings. How can architecture express our identity and values, and how do we link ourselves unconsciously to their nature or expression? What is it eg. that makes us feel at home?

www.cafx.dk

CAFx 2017 /Filmliste

COPENHAGEN ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL

Broen i Mostar, som jeg aldrig så i virkeligheden, er i mit sind billedet på, at krigen ødelægger alt, og næsten tydeligst – for de lemlæstede døde sænker jeg blikket ved – er den bevidste og planlagte destruktion af hele byer og enkelte bygningsværker. Den film i rækken af af filmvisninger, jeg først vælger at sætte mig lidt ind og forstå, som jeg vi gå i biografen og se, var det muligt, er Tim Slades Destruction of Memory fra 2016. Det er fra den film det her still stammer. Jeg ser, det handler om arkitektur som identitet. Filmen findes på den liste over festivalfilm, som jeg her bringer i uddrag på grundlag af arkitekturfestivalens meget store og omhyggelige pressemateriale:

BIG TIME

En film om arkitekten Bjarke Ingels, som blev kendt af mange med sine byggerier i Ørestad, og nu er kaldes han af The Wall Street Journal “en af arkitekturens største stjerner.” BIG TIME følger den unge arkitekt over fem år, mens han arbejder med at fuldføre sit største projekt til dato, boligbyggeriet W57 på Manhattan. Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) får samtidig til opgave at bygge World Trade Center 2, en af de skyskrabere, der skal erstatte tvillingetårnene. Mens han er i gang med således at ændre New Yorks skyline, er det pludselig noget så jordnært som helbredet, der volder problemer. Filmen efterfølges af Q&A med Bjarke Ingels og instruktør Kaspar Astrup Schröder.

KASPAR ASTRUP SCHRÖDER | 2017 | 93 min. / DANISH AND ENGLISH W/ENGLISH SUBTITLES / CINEMATEKET | Lørdag 29/4 kl. 14.30 Billetter via cinemateket.dk / ØST FOR PARADIS | Onsdag 3/5 kl. 19.00 Billetter via paradisbio.dk / BIFFEN NORDKRAFT | Onsdag 3/5 kl. 19.90 Billetter via biffen.eu

 

DREAM EMPIRE

24-årige Yana er flyttet til byen Chongqing i Kina for at forfølge sit livs drøm. Den kinesiske boligboble lokker med let tjente penge, og Yana starter et agentur for udlændinge, som skal hjælpe lokale bygherrer med at markedsføre deres nye byggeprojekter. Men projektet tager en tvivlsom drejning, da hendes kunder bliver brugt i et forsøg på at fremstille provinsens spøgelsesbyer som ’globaliserede byer i rivende udvikling’ – belejligt nok hver gang investorer og politiske ledere kommer på besøg. Da boligboblen brister, er Yana tvunget til at sælge sin virksomhed og hun må afvise alt det, hun hidtil har troet på. Filmen efterfølges af en samtale mellem instruktøren David Borenstein og Kristian Skovbakke Villadsen, partner og direktør i Gehl Architects.

DAVID BORENSTEIN | 2016 | 73 min. / CHINESE AND ENGLISH W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES / LOUISIANA MUSEUM OF MODERN ART | Søndag 30/4 kl. 12.30 / Filmvisningerne er gratis, når entré til museet er betalt. Sikr dig billet på louisiana.dk / Debate in English

 

DANMARK VED GANGES

En af Danmarks største byer lå engang i Indien. Danmark ved ganges er en nysgerrig og poetisk dokumentar om kolonihistoriens betydning i dag. Da Serampore ved Gangesfloden var en dansk koloni, blev den kaldt Indiens smukkeste by. I dag arbejder danskere og indere i fællesskab med at redde områdets sidste bygninger fra kolonitiden. Bygningerne er fortidsminder, men hvis minder? Hvad minder de egentlig om i dag? Filmen undersøger, hvordan arkitektur bygger bro til fortiden, om kolonihistorien kan skrives på en ny måde, og om der er plads til nostalgi i en nøgtern postkolonial tid.

NICOLÁS NØRGAARD STAFFOLANI | 2017 | 40 min. / ENGLISH, DANISH, AND BENGALI W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES

BLOK P

Filmen skildrer nedrivningen af den berygtede bygning i Nuuk og vil med det diskutere modernisering og kolonihistorie: hvad er grønlandsk identitet og hvad er dansk velfærd i den udfordring.

RIKKE DIEMER OG PETER JENSEN, 2013, 35 min. / GREENLANDIC AND DANISH W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES

NATIONALMUSEET | Tirsdag 3/5 kl. 17.00 / Billetter via billetto.dk / 17.00: Filmvisning, Danmark ved Ganges / 18.00: filmvisning, Blok P / 18.35: Oplæg og paneldebat.

 

CITIZEN JANE: THE BATTLE FOR THE CITY

Kampen om New York stod i 1950’erne mellem den magtfulde byplanlægger og den idealistiske bydelsaktivist. I 1950’erne stod en enkelt mand for New Yorks byudvikling. Den kontroversielle byplanlægger Robert Moses bulldozede, asfalterede og byggede med beton overalt i de fem burroughs, indtil en enkelt kvinde stillede sig i vejen og sagde stop. Hun hed Jane Jacobs, var antropologisk interesseret bydels-aktivist og forsvarede de enkelte kvarterers særpræg mod den ensformige planlægning, som var tidens modernistiske mantra. Hendes kamp mod mesterbyggeren Moses, såvel som hendes bog The Death and Life of American Cities, fik siden indflydelse overalt i verden. Filmen introduceres af Aarhus’ stadsarkitekt Stephen Willacy, der fortæller om Jane Jacobs’ betydning for dagens byplanlægning og for sin dagligdag som stadsarkitekt.

MATT TYRNAUER | 2016 | 92 min. / ENGLISH W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES / BIFFEN NORDKRAFT | Søndag 30/4 kl. 16.30 / Billetter via biffen.eu / ØST FOR PARADIS | Torsdag 4/5 kl. 17.00 / Billetter via paradisbio.dk

 

DESTRUCTION OF MEMORY

Alt for aktuel film om kulturel udrensning. Syrien, Bosnien og Afghanistan. Moderne krigsførsel har indoptaget et nyt fænomen: bevidste angreb på biblioteker, broer eller skulpturer, som udgør et områdes kulturelle identitet. ‘Cultural genocide’, kaldes det – et begreb, som har en lang historie og som skal understrege de alvorlige konsekvenser, når kulturarv ødelægges. The Destruction of Memory skildrer kampen for at få anerkendt kulturel udrensning som en krigsforbrydelse, en kamp der kan spores over hundrede år tilbage i tiden. Filmen introduceres af Frederik Rosén, seniorforsker i international sikkerhed ved DIIS.

TIM SLADE | 2016 | 125 min. / ENGLISH W/ ENGLISH SUBTITLES / GRAND TEATRET | Lørdag 6/5 kl. 9.30 / Billetter via grandteatret.dk /

Hele filmprogrammet 27. april – 7. maj 2017 findes i Copenhagen Architure Festivals samlede program:

www.cafx.dk

Cinédoc-Tbilisi 2017

With its fifth edition the organisers of this still very young Tbilisi Georgian festival, director Archil Khetagouri and coordinator Ileana Stanculescu, took the decision to move the event from October to May 11-16. Argumentation: Too much happens in October. And my additional argument: Weather must be better in May. I am happy to be able to check that out myself, as the two mentioned have invited me back to a city and a festival I like very much. Regarding the weather: Outdoor screenings are planned.

About the program – there is an international competition, a focus Caucasus, a CivilDOC section, including a pitching session for NGO’s matched with filmmakers, and a CinéDOC Young competition.

There are so many good film titles to be mentioned, let me drop

some names from the international competition: ”A Marriage Story” by Helena Trestikova, ”Normal Autistic Film” by Miroslav Janek, ”You have No Idea How Much I love You” by Pawel Lozinski, ”Woman and the Glacier” by Audrius Stonys and ”Hello I am David” by Cosima Lange. And in the Caucasus section ”Didube, the Last Stop” by Shorena Tevzadze, reviewed on this site a couple of days ago.

Lithuania is the guest country, which means that films by Giedre B(einoriute) and Giedre Z(ickyte) will be played and there will be a longer Q&A with Audrius Stonys, that I have been asked to moderate, with pleasure! And the ”filmmaker in Focus” is Finnish Pirjo Honkasalo with three of her films to be shown, ”A Diary of an Urben Priest” (2009), ”Tanjuska and the Seven Devils” (1993) and ”Three Rooms of Melancholia” (2004). A masterclass will be organised with the master!

A section is called ”Erotic Dox”, where the fine ”Venus” (photo) by Lea Glob and Mette Carla Albrechtsen is to be found. The film goes around the world and happy to say, from a Danish perspective, runs in Danish cinemas with success.

http://www.cinedoc-tbilisi.com/

DOKer 2017

I was a jury member of the first DOKer festival in 2015 and am very happy to see that the filmmakers behind the event are able to continue their pioneer work of bringing films from around the world to the Russian audience. Let me quote the promotion text from their website that you should pay a visit:

”Do not miss Moscow International Documentary Film Festival DOKer. Spend 5 days in the atmosphere of the best creative documentary cinema from around the world! Watch, think, criticise, create!”.

The 3rd DOKer festival takes place May 18-23.

Take a look also at the illustration that says that the selection has a global perspective – and the world is not united. Anyway, here is the list of films for the main feature competition as well as the short film line-up. A third competition ”Let’s DOK it”is still to be announced.

Competition for Feature Docs:

01. ATENTAMENTE by Camila Rodríguez, Colombia 90 min

02. BABYLON DREAMERS by Roman Shumunov, Israel 87 min

03. BECOMING WHO I WAS by Chang-Yong Moon & Jin Jeon, Korea – India 96 min

04. BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT by Patric Chiha, Austria 88 min

05. THE CALM TEMPEST by Omar A. Razzak, Spain – Italy, Spain 73 min

06. THE CHARRO OF TOLUQUILLA by Jose Villalobos Romero, Mexico 90 min

07. THE GIFT by Przemyslaw Kaminski, Poland 56 min

08. GOODBYE DARLING, I’M OFF TO FIGHT by Simone Manetti, Italy 74 min

09. HAPPY by Caroline Genreith, Germany 83 min

10. IN PROCEDURE by Jiska Rickels, Netherlands 58 min

11. THE ISLANDS AND THE WHALES by Mike Day, United Kingdom 81 min

12. THE LOST CITY by Francisco Hervé, Chile 78 min

12. RED CLOTHES by Lida Chan, Cambodia 63 min

14. SACRED WATER by Olivier Jourdain, Belgium – Rwanda 55 min

15. THIRD-CLASS TRAVEL by Rodion Ismailov, Russia 80 min

Competition for Short Docs:

01. AHMAD’S HAIR, by Susan Koenen, Netherlands 23 min
02. BLUEBERRY SPIRITS by Astra Zoldnere, Latvia 13 min
03. BORDERS by Damjan Kozole, Slovenia 10 min
04. DAY AFTER DAY by Sabine Theresa Ehrl, Germany 10 min
05. DISTANT by Leyla Toprak, Turkey — Syrian Arab Republic 16 min
06. FAR EAST by Matteo Delbò & Manuele Mandolesi, Italy 26 min
07. HAPPY HAPPY BABY by Jan Soldat, Germany 37 min
08. HOMELAND by Sam Peeters, Belgium 14 min
09. I WAS ONLY 14 by Froukje van Wengerden, Netherlands 12 min
10. INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY by Artyom Ignatyev, Russia 17 min
11. ISABELLA MORRA by Isabel Pagliai, France 22 min
12. JUNGLE by Colia Vranici, France 18 min
13. THE LONER´S GAME by Silvana Barrero, Argentina 22 min
14. POLONAISE by Agnieszka Elbanowska, Poland 16 min
15. RAKIJADA by Nikola Ilic, Switzerland — Serbia 19 min
16. THE SHENEHEN QUEEN by Anastasiya Zverkova, Russia 42 min
17. THE WITCHER by Maja Tschumi, Switzerland 21 min
18. YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM THE TRUTH by A.a.v. Amasi, United kingdom — Zimbabwe 28 min

http://www.midff.com/home