I do not recall, when was the last time that I saw a 334 minutes long documentary in a cinema. Maybe a Fred Wiseman film many many years ago? Anyway, I am very greatful to the organizers of Dokufest in Prizren that they selected this film and made me sit in the jury that was to see a film that of course is a strong candidate to an award.

It is hard to be short about a long film like this, that falls in two parts, ”Before the Fall” and ”After the Battle”. Hard because the film, a ”Documentary Unplugged” (no music or visual tricks, no use of light or tripod, the director Abbas Fahdel has done the sound himself, well he has done everything himself) is so rich of scenes and situations that could be fine to mention. What he does is to generously and in a very fine ”natural way” invite the viewer to meet his family, his big family while they are waiting, they call it ”anticipating” the war to come, preparing for having no water, cooking to have food at hand, there are many mouths to feed. They take it cool, they have tried it before during the after the Gulf War. Apart from the ”waiting for the war to come” it is normal family

life, brothers and sisters and friends teasing each other, situations of humour, television watching of Saddam, the great father of the country, the personalities are developed, they study, they are being driven to school and university or to walk around in the suq with numerous shots of faces of people working there or kids, who come to Fahdel behind the camera smiling, ”film me”. All is made in a rythm where the situations are given time before our eyes and the characters become more than characters. To get that close to daily life, as said jury colleague James Longley, who has been filming in the country, you have to be a member of the family.

The second part of the film is primarily shot from a car – the students and school boys are taken by car – for security reasons – to their respective venues and/or to places, where the director and his brother take a look at what damage the Americans have done AND what local gangs are doing looting and fighting each other.

And then I come to what makes tears come to my eyes – the main character, the one on the photo, Haidar, who stands out because of his boyish, playful way of being, his energy, his clever comments on what happens around him before and after the war… Haidar… In the first half of the film a text comes up, when he is presented, telling us that Haidar will be killed. After the war. That makes you of course look at the film and him in a complete different way. Uncle Fahdel stopped filming, when Haidar died and it took him years to get back to the material and make this film. In a tragic way the film thus has also become an homage to Life as we see it being lived and experienced through Haidar, who lived to become 12 years old. Meaningless. Apart from being a warm, funny, touching film about a family, who just want to live a decent life, you can not help thinking that it should be seen by whoever is interested in seeing, what damage we (USA and the so-called coalition forces) have done to fellow citizens of the world.

www.docufest.com 

”In this seamless blend of fictional and documentary form, we experience a stunning cinematic journey into the beauty of war-tormented Afghanistan. Shot over seven years on evocative 16mm footage, first-time director Pieter-Jan De Pue paints a whimsical yet haunting look at the condition of Afghanistan left for the next generation. De Pue’s transportative and wonderfully crafted film confronts the visceral beauty and roughness of survival, serving as a testament to the spirited innovation of childhood and the extreme resilience of a people and country.”

This is the Dokufest catalogue text for the film ”The Land of the Enlightened” (photo) that I saw yesterday and I agree totally with the superlatives. It is a film that dares to use the cinematic language in all its facets. Readers of filmkommentaren will know that we have never doubted the quality that can be created through the mix of a classical documentary approach and fictional elements – or as Danish documentarian Jon Bang Carlsen has called it, staged documentary. And yet I have to confess that while watching this impressive Afghanistan film, I started to wonder which scenes were staged and which not, and if the first person voice-off of the boy, who will return to pick up the one and only girl and take her to the palace – if that worked well. But again, the end scene with the caravan of boys on horses riding into the ruin of a palace… Wow! A film that placed me in the state of creative confusion!

Earlier on that monday I had seen ”Il Solengo”, Italian film by Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis, a fantastic story featuring old men with wonderfully expressive faces, old men who most of the time talk to the camera about Mario, who is said to have lived in a cave his whole life. This collective of voices are trying to piece together the dramatic portrait of a man, who lived on his own, could be pretty aggressive, when he met other people, who were out to hunt boars. Has he existed, Mario, I started to wonder hearing the very different oral versions coming from the men. But it does not matter, this is storytelling at its best, skillfully visualised, this is a film with atmosphere and a rythm that fits the old men and their style of life. True pleasure.

I am not going to comment ”Hooligan Sparrow” by Nanfu Wang as it is in the Human Rights Competition, where I am part of the jury. That’s for later.

Today I am to attend the screening of Iraqi ”Homeland” by Abbas Fahdel, 5 hours long. A film that I have been longing to watch. They treat us well here at

www.dokufest.com

… and ”I Don’t Want to Sleep with You I Just Want to Make You Hard”, long title, short film, 29 minutes, Japanese, directed by Momoko Seto, French produced, a sweet visit to a Kyabakura, a hostess club, where men pay to come to drink, laugh and play innocent games with young beautiful women with a limit to how far the rendez-vous can go. No sex in other words. Entertaining.

That was the first film I saw yesterday in the DokuKino in Prizren at noon, at a well attended screening, where the second film of the show was one I expected a lot from, the documentary winner of the festival in Karlovy Vary, ”Lovetrue” by Alma Har’et, whose ”Bombay Beach” was impressive – I was not let down. ”Lovetrue” is an amazingly fascinating essay about love told through three very different stories that are woven together in a complicated structure, where you are constantly surprised by the visual phantasy to combine the protagonist’s past and present, as well as the interpretation of their dreams. It’s quite a bombardment, a film you want to see again. On the photo you see the young and old stripper, whose lives you get close to – to say the least.

And then American ”Weiner” by Josh Kriegmann and Elyse

Steinberg, a well made observational documentary about the rise and fall of Anthony Weiner, the congressman whose campaign to become mayor of New York the filmmakers follow. It is one of these full-access films you seldom see made today, where politicians are protected by campaign staff and spindoctors. But Weiner has invited them to get close to follow his dramatic fall from the top, when his ”sexting” addiction is revealed again and again. Jewish Weiner’s Arabic wife Huma is constantly in the picture, it is quite emotional to follow her reactions to the husband’s ”mistakes”. He is trying hard to have her stand beside him, she lives up to that, at the end she stays at home when he is going to vote. You see him transporting his son in a stroller to the voting place… ”a father and his son”, this is America as is the description of the media, who do not want to hear Weiner talk politics. They even try to set up a confrontation between him and one of the women, with whom he – according to her – had phone sex with, up to five times per day… Observational, yes, but Weiner is interviewed after the fall from the sky, and he is actually sympathetic to watch and listen to.

And then the film about the terror regime in Chad, ”Hissein Habré, A Chadian Tragedy” that I am not going to write about now as it is in the competition, where I am a juror.

Ready for a new day, it is raining down here, where the sport interested Kosovo people can be happy that the Republic’s first Olympic medal was won yesterday, one of Gold: The judo athlete Majilinda Kelmindi. Congratulations!

www.dokufest.com

Direct flight from Copenhagen, pretty much turbulence for my taste – don’t worry, it’s not dangerous, the SAS captain said – and arrival to Pristina, Kosova to be picked up and driven to Prizren. Three Danes, Andreas Johnsen, who is here to show his ”Bugs” and Rasmus Nielsen who has made 18 mins. long ”Kwassa Kwassa” together with Vietnamese Tuan Andrew Nguyen. And me to be in a Human Rights Jury with Turkish Mustafa Kerem Yüksel and American James Longley. Jury works starts today with ”Hissein Habré, a Chadian Tragedy” (photo) by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who is from Chad. I have never heard about it before, here is the catalogue description:

”In 2013, former Chadian dictator Hissein Habré’s arrest in Senegal marked the end of a long combat for the survivors of his regime. Accompanied by the Chairman of the Association of the Victims of the Hissein Habré Regime, Mahamat Saleh Haroun goes to meet those who survived this tragedy and who still bear the scars of the horror in their flesh and in their souls. Through their courage and determination, the victims accomplish an unprecedented feat in the history of Africa: that of bringing a Head of State to trial.”

9 films to watch, have seen some of them before so I will have lots of chances to watch other of the 238 (!) films that are to be shown in the many cinemas that host the festival.

Back to yesterday – direct into a reception, hugging the festival directors, Veton Nurkollari and Eroll Bilibani as well as old friend Nenad Puhovski, whose ”Generation 68” was shown earlier that day, full house. Great hospitality, the moment you come there is a young law student, who says hello, ”I am your jury assistant”

http://dokufest.com/

The time of year has come to bid you welcome to the fifteenth edition of the festival, to this jubilee edition that we so tirelessly and passionately worked on in order to bring you all a rich and varied program, details of which you’ll find in the pages that follow. Passion was what actually brought us from a small, three-day, one-venue event to this 10-day full-blown celebration of cinema and music, of arts and culture. All of this happens in a small corner of the world, in a country still shaken from its turbulent past, one continuing to struggle with endemic corruption that is threatening the very future of its citizens.

So no wonder Corruption is the main theme of the festival this year and will be highlighted in many different forms and across many festival sections: a specially curated film program entitled Power, Corruption and Lies; debates and panel discussions; children’s plays, and many other events will address this worldwide, cancer-like phenomenon. Once again our dear friend and Bafta-winning filmmaker Daniel Mulloy has created another striking visual campaign to match the theme of the festival.

As we were putting the finishing touches on our most ambitious program to date, news of yet another deadly shooting and terrorist attack is occupying our news feeds, making fear, seemingly, the only constant of this world. Therefore it is not surprising that several films from this year’s selection reflect upon this.

We’ll be showing films about mass shootings and the rapidly-

growing police militarisation in the US; wars and its atrocities in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world; films about people desperately trying to flee to Europe; and, films about that same Europe, confused and in disbelief as to how to cope with it all. We will also be showing a film about Al-Qaeda suicide bombers in Syria as they’re trying to blow themselves and others up, as we’ll show films about corrupt politicians and crazed dictators.

The fact that documentary filmmakers were there to film all these stories and to bring them back to us is yet another testament to one of the most difficult, dangerous, and noblest professions out there, added reason for us to continue championing and celebrating these films at our festival.

Across six competition categories, you’ll find many films that are dear to our hearts and which we are proudly sharing with you. Our collection of directors includes renowned filmmakers, as well as fresh exciting talents that we’re keen to follow and whose work we’re so eager to share.

We are continuing to bring the fruits of our training programs to you in the form of five films produced under our own Future is Here banner. There are six more made with our regional partners Pravo Ljudski and MakeDox festivals under the banner of Active Creative Documentary School. And there are another half dozen made in collaboration with our partners from France, Pistes Solidaires Méditerranée. One can feel nothing but pride about all this, as most of the films were shot in Prizren and elsewhere in Kosovo, somehow echoing my words from last year’s welcome note about putting Prizren on the map of cities where films are not only being screened, but also made.

We are happy beyond words to welcome back to DokuFest acclaimed Irish photojournalist, filmmaker, and dear friend, Seamus Murphy, whose work will be presented across the festival in the form of the main photo exhibition at DokuPhoto, which features his collaboration with British musician and artist PJ Harvey. There will also be a special event screening of his films and music videos, providing a truly great come back after the visit he and Harvey made to the festival five years ago.

We’re thrilled to welcome our partner festivals from North South Documentary Network with a selection from each of them, thus offering a window through which to glimpse films coming from Mexico, Ecuador, and the US.

The festival will pay tribute to two great masters of cinema, both of whom passed away recently. Chantal Akerman and Abbas Kiarostami as we feature special screenings of some of their films. A restored version of Jean Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels will be shown along with No Home Movie, Akerman’s final film. An interview with Chantal Akerman, filmed during her visit to Kosovo in November of 2014 by Bosnian artist and filmmaker Ibro Hasanovic, will also be shown. To remember the great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, who passed away less than a month ago, we will screen two of his landmark films, Taste of Cherry and Close Up.

We invite you all to experience these and many other offerings from this year’s program and hope that while doing so you’ll be rewarded as much as we were while preparing it.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to all the extraordinary people that have made this beautiful journey and this dream of ours possible: our partners, generous sponsors, our wonderful volunteers, and the filmmakers who shared their films with us. But the biggest thanks we give to all of you, our beautiful and faithful audiences.

I wish you a great festival!

Veton Nurkollari

Artistic Director

The opening film tonight at the Dokufest festival in Prizren, Kosova is a several times awarded Chinese film that colleague Allan Berg, in Danish, praised at its CPH:DOX screening last year in November. I will not be in Prizren before tomorrow night, wish everyone a fine opening ceremony. Here is the DOKUFEST description of the film:

“Hailed as simultaneously intoxicating and terrifying glimpse at the ravages wrought upon Inner Mongolia by its coal and iron industries and elegantly blurring lines between video art and documentary, Behemoth is a stunning look at contemporary China by one of its most acclaimed filmmaker Zhao Liang, who draws inspiration from Dante’s The Divine Comedy to bring the vision of a journey across Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven in startlingly modern way.”

And here is the link to Berg’s review:

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3356/

I had been here on Mount Gurugu for fifteen months, when the two came and asked me if we could make a film, says the protagonist and filmmaker behind the camera, Abou from Mali, who like a thousand other Africans on this spot dream about coming to Europe. From where they are, in Morocco with a view from the mountain to Melilla, the Spanish city on the coast of North Africa.

But fences need to be crossed. They try and try and try again, some get over, others do not, some return to the camps on the mountain, a community that is organised, has its own rules, some return to their native country, and some die from injuries, when they get into fights with the police.

Abou is the one telling the story. His voice-off is full of reflection

and information, and communicates how he sees the world differently through the lens: ”I feel I exist when I film”. Abou will make a great film, one of the filmed ”brothers” say. And he was right, it is a great piece of work because it is able to create this atmosphere of waiting endlessly for the right moment to come for the jump.

It might sound like a very depressing documentary and indeed it’s not fun to experience what these young men go through. But they survive on the mountain, they dream about white women washing them so they get pale, they have a football match, Mali against Ivory Coast, they sing, they rap about their life situation and they discuss – in a very tough scene – what to do with a man, who has betrayed them by telling the Moroccan police about their escape plans. Embarrassing to watch that scene!

In between the shaky camerawork of Abou comes the anonymous images from the surveillance camera that shows us human beings like small insects on looong rows approaching the fences, or human beings climbing up, falling down or going down when they see the police waiting. Scary! And a scoop for the film to be able to make this contrast, yes Big Brother is watching you, go back to where you come from. You have no right to come to Europe. ”Yes, I have”, Abou has said earlier in the film, ”you Europeans have exploited us, giving us a poor life, now we want a decent life”. Words to that effect. I am glad this film has been made.

Denmark, 82 mins., 2016

English title: Those Who Jump.

http://www.finalcutforreal.dk/les-sauteurs