Manon Loizeau: Chechnya, War without Trace

French journalist and documentary maker Manon Loizeau has made a remarkable film about todays Chechnya that premiered on Arte last week and just received the Grand Prize of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva this Saturday.

Loizeau has lived in Russia for many years and she has covered Chechnya since 1995. In Chechnya, War without Trace she returns for the first time in 10 years. Gone are the ravaged buildings of war-torn Grozny, the city has been completely rebuild and transformed in to something that resembles a Caucasian mini-Dubai with glass-facade towers and colourful neon lights along sleek avenues now named after Kadyrov and Putin. Gone are the traces of the two recent wars with Russia (a fifth of the population died), Ramzan Kadyrov, the Head of the Chechen Republic since now eight years, has cleaned it all up. Supported by Russia, he holds the population with the use of fear. A reign of terror where the fight against terrorism, encouraged by Russia, becomes a carte blanche for a monsterous regime turned against its own people. Disappearances, torture, death squads, false accusations of terrorism or drug possession. But also the eradication of the history and the memory of the Chechen people, who has fought fiercely for independence from Russia for centuries (such as when the commemoration of the deportation of Chechens under Stalin in 1944 was replaced with a celebration of the Winter Olympic in Sochi last year). It is absolutely terrifying. And it is an impressive achievement that Loizeau has been able to gather the voices of the few who still dares to speak. The film is dedicated to the memory of Anna Politkovskaya and Natalya Estemirova.

Loizeau is showing us the immensely sad latest chapter of the history of Chechnya. And she is also giving us an important part of the picture, the context and history, in order to better understand Russian politics, Putin and the situation in Ukraine as well as the apparent powerstruggles behind the pointing out of a suspect for the murder of Boris Nemtsov.

Here are the comments of the jury in Geneva: For its strength and accuracy in the testimony of human rights violations, its tribute to victims of torture and kidnappings by the regime of Ramzan Kadyrov, who rules as an absolute autocrat. The film reminds us of the dramatic situation, which continues to escape international notice.

Manon Loizeau: Tchétchénie, une guerre sans traces / Tschetschenien – Vergessen auf Befehl, France, 2014, 82 min., prod. Magneto Presse for Arte

You can watch the film in French or German at Arte+7 until March 11th:

http://www.arte.tv/guide/fr/048888-000/tchetchenie-une-guerre-sans-traces

http://www.arte.tv/guide/de/048888-000/tschetschenien-vergessen-auf-befehl

Alex Gibney: Going Clear

Alex Gibneys nyeste film ”Going Clear – Scientology and the Prison of Belief” har fået den danske titel ”Scientologys religiøse fængsel”. Gibney går her i sin undersøgende journalistik bag facaden på Scientology og taler med otte tidligere medlemmer af Scientology. De beretter afslørende om dagligdagen i den meget tillukkede organisation. Somm baggrund skildres i filmen, hvordan Scientology har udviklet sig, og hvordan organisationens grundlægger gik fra at være science fiction forfatter til at grundlægge denne samlede tilværelsesforståelse med tusinder af dedikerede tilhængere for derefter at få Scientology registreret som en skattefritaget religiøs organisation.

SCIENTOLOGYS RELIGIØSE FÆNGSEL har tv-premiere i DR2 DOKUMANIA til april, men allerede nu inviteres til forpremiere i Dronningesalen, Den Sorte Diamant, Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1, København på torsdag den 12. marts 2015 kl. 17-19. Billetter, som er gratis, bestilles på tcth@dr.dk 

Foto: forfatteren Lawrence Wright and instruktøren Alex Gibney

SYNOPSIS

“In the film, based on Lawrence’s Wright’s muckraking book of the same name, Gibney talks to defectors from the church, including Crash director Paul Haggis. He explores the history of the religion from its founder L Ron Hubbard through to current leader David Miscavige, who is accused during the film of intimidating, beating and imprisoning insubordinate followers; high-profile followers like Tom Cruise also have their involvement raked over…” (The Guardian)

ANDRE ALEX GIBNEY FILM

Taxi to the dark side, 2007 

Gonzo:Life and Work of Hunter Thompson, 2008

Magnus Gertten: Every Face has a Name

Den 28. april 1945 kom 1948 flygtninge med skib til Malmö, jeg ser det i en smuk newsreel beregnet til biograferne næste dag. Eller rettere, jeg ser det i en hensynsfuldt og dygtigt bearbejdet version af optagelserne fra den dag. En fortællerstemme af den slags, jeg altid bliver tryg ved, tager over, tager ved hånden, fortæller roligt, hvad det er, jeg ser. Det er befriede fanger fra de efterhånden erobrede tyske koncentrationslejre, mange af dem jøder i sidste øjeblik reddet fra udryddelsen, polske unge, nogle mødre med børn, franske modstandsfolk og britiske efterretningsfolk og også dem, som var forfærdende uheldige på et bestemt sted et bestemt tidspunkt. Roligt vises deres ansigter, mange er nu glade og smilende, andre forholder sig afventende, vil jeg tro, i en smertende ro. Alt i denne film er ro, bliver jeg lovet, fra begyndelsen til slutningen. Det giver mig tid til at tænke mig om, til at huske selv, til at associere. Til at udvide filmen i en egentlig tilegnelse.

Ja, udvide. For der egentlig ikke så meget. De filmiske elementer er få, men de er bragt i anvendelse aldeles overbevisende. Der er altså en 35 mm arkivfilm, men klippet med en ny opmærksomhed og behandlet i overførslen, så nye detaljer må være kommet til syne. Desuden er optagelserne varsomt og varieret (tror jeg) tempoændret, så jeg sættes i en opmærksomt drømmende tilstand, hvor reportageoptagelserne får alvor og tyngde og overraskende skønhed, de viser ikke længere alene hen til fortidens hændelser, de er nuværende begivenheder. Og der er en forbilledlig og lykkelig research, som først og fremmest har fundet et stort antal vidner frem blandt flygtningene, og heraf medvirker en markant række i filmen, og mens de ser optagelserne på skærmen, formår de hver og en på meget forskellig måde, men alle tøvende og prøvende, at tale om disse optagelser sådan, at de derved statuerer optagelsernes poesi ved billedernes iboende kraft mere end ved deres historiske og biografiske meddelelser. Det er disse ansigters navne, det handler om, men selvfølgelig på alle glemte navnes vegne. Her er den smukke titels meningsfuldhed, her er filmens kerne, værkets essay, dets overvejelse af humanitetens evige genetablering.

Det første vidne foran computerskærmen med den gamle reportage hedder Fredzia Marmur. Hun var fra Lodz i Polen, bor nu i Toronto, Canada, Hvor Gertten besøger hende med sin computer og sin fotograf. Hun gennemspiller hele den vanskelige genkendelse over de mange år, over de fortrængte følelser, bliver usikker på sig selv, men opdager lidt efter lidt med filmens publikum, at hun husker alt, genkender meget. Ansigt efter ansigt får navn. Elsie Ragusin er amerikaner. Med sin far var hun i 1939 på familiebesøg i Italien. Ved krigens udbrud blev de tilbageholdt og endte i Auschwitz. Hun overlevede og genkender tøvende sig selv på billederne fra havnen i Malmö. Nordmanden Svenn Martinsen er også med skibet, 23 år dengang med huen kækt på sned. Nu sidder han på sengekanten og snakker med sig selv, fortæller han. Han fortæller om en mislykket aktion, han var med i dengang, en norsk gruppe ville for svensk Røde Kors redde jødiske børn fra medicinske forsøg i en lejr nær Hamburg. De nåede ikke frem i tide, børnene var dræbt, da de fandt dem. To flygtninge, spædbørn dengang, Ryszard Glozacha, som nu bor i Oxelösund, Sverige og Piotr Górska, som nu bor i Drezdenko, Polen og deres mødre, Sabina Glozacha er ansigter i havnescenen, som nu får navne, jeg ved at de levende bylter i kvindernes arme er de to små drenge. En tredje kvinde med et spædbarn, Alicja Lutostanska får sit navn forbundet med scenen og med de to andre kvinder. De var alle tre, gravide forstår jeg, blevet fanget af tyske tropper under Warszawa opstanden 1944. Alicja Lutostanskas lille datter Bozna døde kort efter i Malmö. Dette kunne fortsætte, alle ansigter har et navn.

Filmens højdepunkt er en lang smukt, smukt klippet sekvens om lykken ved at komme i brusebad. Efter lægeundersøgelse og desinficering kommer alle flygtningene i bad, det første i årevis. Klipperen Jesper Osmund fortæller også denne mærkelige hændelse, denne som et crescendo af lykkefølelse, disse forpinte, nøgne kroppe i masser af styrtende vand. Rensende og livgivende.

Et sidste element er optagelser fra 1. juli 2014 af 596 flygtninge til havnebyen Pozzallo, Sicilien. 45 af den bringes op fra fiskerbådens lastrum, døde. Disse optagelser dæmpet til langsomme filmscener som arkivoptagelserne fra 1945 har Jesper Osmund sat ind i filmens forløb som vignetter til min eftertanke. Ja, netop. De udvider provokerende min forståelse, at denne genetablering er en evig gentagelse.

Sverige 2015, 73 min.

SYNOPSIS

”In the fascinating Swedish documentary “Every Face Has a Name,” helmer Magnus Gertten tracks down and interviews survivors from German concentration camps seen in a 35mm archival film reel showing their arrival at the harbor of Malmo, Sweden, on April 28, 1945. The group includes Jews from all over Europe, Norwegian prisoners of war, Polish mothers and children, members of the French resistance and British spies — and perhaps unique among them, a young Italian-American who was accused of being a spy while visiting her grandparents and deported to Auschwitz…”

”Figuring prominently here is the shocking story of Elsie Ragusin, a now-93-year-old Roman Catholic who lives in Orlando, Fla. The only Italian-American to survive Auschwitz, she went with her father to visit relatives in their home country in 1939; the pair found themselves stuck there when Italy entered the war in 1941 and were soon arrested by Germans who accused them of espionage.”

”New York-based brother-sister duo Bernhard Kempler and Anita Lobel relate their remarkable survival tale with a surprising lack of sentiment. Bernhard was 9 years old when he came to Malmo, having remained alive during the war by dressing as a girl. He and older sister Anita were sent away from Krakow by their parents and spent the war years together, under false identities, constantly escaping and hiding. When they were finally reunited with their parents in Sweden in 1947, he recalls that he felt no emotion, only the feeling they he didn’t want to be looked at.”

”In contrast, former Norwegian POW Svenn Martinsen is obviously moved by the images of his 23-year-old self disembarking in Malmo after two-and-a-half years in captivity. He recalls the sense of cognitive dissonance he felt, not able to believe that this was freedom at last. More disturbingly, he recounts being at a camp outside Hamburg where the SS were performing experiments on Jewish children. The Norwegians hatched a plan with the Swedish Red Cross to rescue the kids, but before it could be carried out, the youngsters were murdered…”

”Throughout the film, editor Jesper Osmund cuts to a small harbor in Sicily where Gertten and his team filmed as nearly 600 refugees arrived after a dramatic journey over the Mediterranean Sea…”

PRODUCTION

”Tech package looks fine, with a new 4k scan of the archival footage revealing novel details.

Reviewed at Gothenburg Film Festival (competing), Feb. 1, 2015. Running time: 76 MIN.

An Auto Images production in co-production with SVT, Film i Skane, DHF, Ikon, Nord Vision, with the support of the SFI, Nordisk Film & TV Fond, Midt Norsk Filmsenter, Konstnarsnamnden, Malmo Stadt, Malmo Forkskonings, Media, in cooperation with Nordvision. (International sales: Rise and Shine World Sales, Berlin.) Produced by Leonard Strom, Magnus Gertten, Dag Hoel.”

CREW

”Directed by Magnus Gertten. Written by Gertten, Jesper Osmund. Camera (color/B&W, HD), Gustaf Boge Claredio, Adam Makarenko, Caroline Troedsson, Arne D.S. Haldorsen, Sven Lindahl, Tony Miller, Mattias Olsson, Magnus Rutberg, Jacek Szymanski, Ita Zbroniec-Zagr; editor, Jesper Osmund; music, Hans Appelqvist; sound, Audun Rostad, Jorgen Meyer; visual effects supervisor, Rune Felix Holm; research, Sebastian Claesson, Gertten.”

WITH

”Piotr Gorski, Phillip Jackson, Bernhard Kempler, Ryszard Lagemo, Anita Lobel, Fredzia Marmur, Svenn Martinsen, Judith Popinski, Elsie Ragusin, Nurit Stern.” (From a review by Alissa Simon in variety.com Read the review here: variety.com)

And the trailer here:

https://vimeo.com/118833404?from=facebook

Magnus Gertten har over samme begivenhed og materiale tidligere, i 2012, lavet ”Harbour of Hope”.

Albert Maysles 1926 – 2015

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our founder, legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles.  Albert was a loving husband, father, brother and friend to many.  For more than five decades, Albert created groundbreaking films, inspired filmmakers and touched all those with his humanity, presence and his belief in the power of love.  He was also a teacher, mentor and a source of inspiration for countless filmmakers, artists and everyday people.

A statement from the Maysles family from yesteday – photo also taken from there:

“The press release from the family goes like this: Maysles, a pioneer of Direct Cinema along with his late brother David, was the first to make nonfiction feature films, where the drama of life unfolds as is without scripts, sets, interviews or narration. The Maysles brothers founded Maysles Films together in the 1960s. Among his more than 50 films are some of the most iconic works in documentary history: including the first Beatles’ film What’s Happening, Salesman, Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens.

In the spring of 2015, Iris, a portrait of Legendary New York style icon, Iris Apfel will have a worldwide theatrical release, and In Transit, a portrait of America told through the personal stories of riders aboard Amtrak’s Empire Builder, premiering in competition at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in April.

Maysles’ celebrated career has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Peabody Awards, three Emmy Awards, six Lifetime Achievement Awards, the Columbia DuPont Award, and the award for best cinematography at Sundance for HBO’s Lalee’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton (2001), which was also nominated for an Academy Award. Eastman Kodak has saluted him as one of the “world’s 100 finest cinematographers”. In 2014 Albert received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama, along with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Made In New York” award.

Erika Dilday, Executive Director of Maysles Documentary Center, founded in 2006, echoes the family’s sentiments. “While we mourn the loss of Albert, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as inspiration to people around the world to be willing to push themselves creatively and take the time to observe and reflect on life as it unfolds.

Albert’s legacy will continue as new generations of film goers and filmmakers discover his work, and as we at Maysles Documentary Center continue to celebrate his movies and his mission through our production, Education and Cinema programs.”

… Numerous are the posts on this site where Albert Maysles is mentioned. And what a pleasure it was to meet the master, when he visited Denmark to give advice and encouragement to young filmmakers. With humour and warmth. Take 5 minutes and watch the Guardian interview with him, link below.

And read what Sare Thelle wrote in 2010 from Cinéma du Réel, that paid a tribute to the Maysles.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2008/aug/06/albert.maysles

http://mayslesfilms.com 

Avi Mograbi in Paris

The French love the Israeli film artist Avi Mograbi – and do so this film blogger, who has followed his carreer with great enthusiasm. From March 14 the prestigious museum Jeu de Paume has invited Mograbi to meet the audience, discuss art and politics, and show his works, oeuvre, to stay in the French cultural context. A well deserved hommage!

A couple of quotations from this site:

…he innovates the documentary language by using talking masks, as his main character, the killing Israeli soldier, does not want to face the camera. Very intelligent trick that combined with his Brechtian musical element, himself singing comments to the soldier’s crime, makes the film into a universal essayistic wish for reflection… (about Z32)

…A masterclass, a master’s class, Mograbi is exactly as his films are: tense, sometimes comic, but always dealing with the embarrassing reality of the country he lives in. A frustrated artist, as he says himself, who wants to move something, raise a debate in Israel, but does not succeed, he is met with total silence, no reactions, whereas he now is an estimated artist in Western Europe! In the next issue of Cahiers du Cinema, the headline is characterising him as ”Le Grand sculpteur de notre temps”. (DocsBarcelona, masterclass with Avi Mograbi)

and in French, from le Monde: ”Voici maintenant vingt ans qu’Avi Mograbi bricole dans son coin de terre promise des films bizarres et inclassables. Ils tiennent à la fois du documentaire, de la fiction, du journal intime, de la farce brechtienne. Voici vingt ans que cet Israélien moyen, violemment opposé à la politique de son pays, s’estime personnellement comptable de l’impasse douloureuse dans laquelle l’Etat dont il est le citoyen a contribué à enfermer la région. Contre cela, il invente des dispositifs aussi subtils qu’extravagants, tient la chronique de sa vie domestique, met le feu aux check-points, mouline l’air de ses imprécations. En un mot, il boxe, avec sa caméra pour arme, jetant à chaque fois son corps de clown triste poids lourd dans un ring régulièrement déserté par l’adversaire…” (17.2.2009, Jacques Mandelbaum)

Photo from “How I learned to overcome my fear and love Arik Sharon” ( 1997).

www.avimograbi.com

http://www.jeudepaume.org/pdf/Programmation_AviMograbi.pdf

Jestem Oleg Sentsov

The following is a text excerpt from the site of Human Rights in Ukraine:

In a wonderful show of solidarity, members of the Polish Film Academy have called on Russia to release Crimean film director Oleg Sentsov and have promised not to abandon their Ukrainian colleague.  As can be seen from the photos, all those present at the Academy’s Orły 2015 award ceremony on March 3 were invited to raise placards reading ‘Jestem OLEG SENTSOV’ [Je suis Oleg Sentsov, after the original act of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo). 

The announcement on the Polska Akademia Filmowa [PAF] website explains that they are continuing their action “in support for Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian film director imprisoned in Moscow for his protest against Crimean annexation.”

Oleg Sentsov’s letter to Agnieszkka Holland in response to joint protests with other European film directors, actors, etc. is cited.  He wrote:   

“I am sincerely grateful to all the film people who support me, and I particularly thank Poles who are helping Ukraine at this difficult time, and who are proving to be real brothers.”

Read more on:

http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1425416069

Film Themes Accepted in Russia

Yesterday Guardian brought an article on the official Russian film political line for 2015. It was taken from “The Calvert Journal” that is (taken from its site) … a daily briefing on the culture and creativity of modern Russia. From art and film to architecture and design, avant-garde Russian culture has helped shape our view of modern life. But as a consequence of its difficult politics and history, contemporary Russia still remains unfamiliar territory to many… (Photo: The Calvert Journal brought an article on Michael Glawogger’s cinematic ode to the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg – a part of the Cathedrals of Culture series, which became the last film of Glawogger.) 

And from the article of yesterday: Russia’s ministry of culture has released a list of approved themes for films which will be financially supported by the state in 2015:

1. Inspirational success stories (including in industries, entrepreneurial business and social work)

2. Crimea and Ukraine in the thousand-year history of the Russian state

3. The military glory of Russia: winning and winners

4. References to movies: the new life of the classics

5. Modern heroes in the fight against crime and corruption

6. A society without borders: the self-realisation of people with disabilities

7. Anniversaries: the 100th anniversary of the events of 1917, the 25th anniversary of the August 1991 coup

8. Family values as the foundation of society

9. Russia — a multiethnic country

OMG…

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/02/russia-list-state-approved-themes-film-industry-ukraine?CMP=share_btn_fb

http://calvertjournal.com/about

Jannik Splidsboel: Misfits

Den skal lige i gang før den får tag i den fulde opmærksomhed. De tre hovedpersoner skal præsenteres, ungdomsklubben hvor de og andre homo- og transseksuelle holder til ligeså, den hedder Openarms Youth Club, og vi skal have at vide, at vi er i Tulsa, Oklahoma midt i det konservative amerikanske bibelbælte. Det ses ofte, at der fyres en pokkers masse informationer af i starten af en film, hvor du sidder og siger til dig selv, ”kom så i gang”. For den kommer i gang og portrætterer fint de tre, så de bliver interessante karakterer, som du kun kan ønske alt godt for.

Se på billedet af familien hjemme i sofaen – Benny og hans storebror Gage rækker ud efter hinanden. Gage havde svært ved at acceptere, at Bennys seksualitet var anderledes, den tid er ovre nu viser filmen glimrende i stærke scener mellem de to i bil eller på græsplænen i broderlig slåskamp. Det er i scener som disse, at Jannik Splidsboel viser sit talent ved at lade scenerne stå længe.

Lesbiske Larissa brænder også igennem, der er knald på hende, hun skifter udseende (maler skæg i ansigtet, tager paryk på) flere gange i løbet af filmen, hvorimod ”D” med hatten er den, som tydeligst formulerer, hvad en dårlig opvækst og misbrug har gjort ved ham.

Filmen lader de unge fortælle deres historier enten direkte gennem de mange sessions i klubben og i skolerne, eller gennem voice-offs, eller (som i Bennys tilfælde) i familiens skød.

Bibelbæltet… jo, det er der, men filmholdet har valgt rigtigt ved ikke at lade (bortset fra nogle anti-homoseksuelle demonstrationer med skamfulde bannere i starten af filmen) homofobiske udsagn forstyrre fortællingen om de tre og deres energi og vilje til at få et ordentligt liv. Omvendt kan det diskuteres, om det var nødvendigt med den afsluttende verbale glorificering af ungdomsklubben, dens værdi har vi jo opfattet.

Men det er i det hele taget et ordentlig stykke arbejde, der her lægges frem. Henrik Bohn Ipsen har fotograferet og det er (som altid) i orden med (få, tak for det) flotte neonoplyste highways, og hvor herligt, at der er tænkt distribution og brug af filmen i en dansk undervisningssammenhæng. Jeg citerer fra pressemeddelelsen:

”MISFITS skal være udgangspunktet i undervisningen af skolebørn omkring homofobi og diskrimination. Amnesty International tilbyder, per 4. Marts 2015, lærere i grundskolens 7.-10. Klasse gratis undervisningsmateriale.” 

Filmen får premiere i udvalgte biografer den 5. Marts 2015 og bliver senere på året vist på DRK.  Alle undervisningsinstitutioner kan desuden streame filmen gratis i undervisningen fra www.filmcentralen.dk fra d. 1. April 2015.

Danmark, 2015, 74 mins.

http://www.amnesty.dk/undervisning

http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/film/da/87805.aspx?id=87805

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Misfits-The-Documentary/1553798764875844?fref=ts

Alain Cavalier: Le Paradis

In the mid 1980’es I fell in love with the French film ”Thérèse” by Alain Cavalier. Like many others did. Let me refresh your memory and let newcomers know about it –

The back cover of the dvd, according to Amazon, goes like this: ”Winner of eight Cesar Awards including Best Film and Best Director, Alain Cavalier’s monumental film depicts the true story of St. Therese de Lisieux, a young woman who found personal joy and spiritual liberation within the restrictive traditions of an austere religious order. Wishing to dedicate her life to Christ, Therese (Catherine Mouchet) enters a cloistered convent of Carmelite nuns at the age of 15. But shortly after joining the order, she finds her devotion to the Lord tested by a grim battle against the debilitating effects of tuberculosis, for which she refuses any treatment. The strength of her faith eventually becomes an inspiration to both her fellow sisters and the millions of admirers who remember her as “The Little Flower of Jesus.”

In 2008 Cavalier visited DocsBarcelona, invited by Thierry Garrel for a session “Le Dernier Repas”, that the former director of documentaries at arte France had chosen to share with the French director. Garrel introduced him like this:

… Alain Cavalier is a pedestrian in Paris. He loves the city. Unexpectedly on his walks, with his eyes and his ears always wide open, he has come across a woman who makes mattresses, a woman who works in a dry-cleaner’s, the owner of a bistro, a woman who makes thread… and decided to film these women…

The films he refers to are to be found in the minimalistic series ”Portraits”.

Today I have seen ”Paradise”, which is the 83 year old director’s latest work, quite challenging to watch with its introspective, fragmented structure, like a stream-of-consciousness of images, maybe an essayistic reflection on Life and Death, best when it concentrates on the small observations and details of life that you believe you make when you reach that age, where you don’t move around so much any longer: The peacock in the garden, the baby-peacock (as he says or rather whispers, the voice-off has character of being a whisper) that dies and get its small grave that is still there season after season in the countryhouse where so much is filmed. A text introduces the journey of Odysseus as well as many other literary quotes that I can not identify but also images of objects, Cavalier is obsessed with, small sculptures, memories, a textural narrative, you are attracted but still it is distant and a cinematic world difficult to enter. ”It’s My Time”, it is said, is the film a testament from Cavalier… And beauty there is to find in many sequences and a personal tone and approach that is his own.

France, 68 mins., 2014

Bodil Award to The Look of Silence

The Danish film critics yearly ceremony took place last night and Joshua Oppenheimer, director and Signe Byrge, producer were on stage to get the statuette, named after the two important actresses in Danish cinema Bodil Kjer and Bodil Ipsen, an award established in 1948. The statuette is of porcelain, designed by Ebbe Sadolin, sculpted by Svend Jespersen for Bing & Grøndahl, porcelain manufacturer. The motivation speech went like this:

“Dear Joshua. Back in 2012 you blew us away with your thought provoking, original and absolutely brilliant film “The Act of Killing” You had just moved to Denmark to work with Signe Byrge and Final Cut for Real, and we were regrettably not able to award you the prize for Best Danish Documentary – so we awarded you the special Bodil instead. We simply had to give you something back for all that you had given us. This time, with “The Look of Silence”, we insist on claiming you as one of us. As a most welcome addition to the Danish film society. Thank you for that, and thank you, most of all, for “The Look of Silence”, an amazingly brave and at the same time harsh and loving follow-up to “The Act of Killing”, in which you give the victims a much needed voice and allow us viewers an unprecedented access into the events of 1965 and into the minds and lives of the people involved on both sides – killers and victims. Your film makes us feel, it makes us think, it opens our eyes to the world. For that we thank you”.

And the acceptance speech by Oppenheimer like this: “Fifty years ago this year, the Indonesian genocide began, and in one terrible, important way it has never ended: the perpetrators still hold power throughout the country, and many people in Indonesia remain afraid. Just last week, two hundred elderly survivors were attacked by thugs as they tried to meet and commemorate the atrocities. Despite how much still remains to be done, I am proud that our two films, The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence, have helped trigger a national debate about this terrible history where once there was only silence. This would not be possible without many wonderful people, including my wonderful producer, Signe Byrge Sørensen, my family, my beloved partner, without whom I could not do anything in life, my fantastic Danish crew, our anonymous Indonesian crew, who risked their safety to create these two films and bring them out safely and widely in Indonesia. And above all, the courageous, wise, and loving protagonist of The Look of Silence: my friend Adi Rukun, and his wonderful family. This prize is for all of you, to whom I say tusind, tusind tak, terima kasih sebesar-besarnya.”