Stephen Smith & Julia Szucs: Vanishing Point

Stephen Smith, one of the directors of “Vanishing Point”, wrote to me a couple of months ago. He asked if I would care to watch his film, produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Apart from a very fine recommendation by late Peter Wintonick, there had been no real attention, he wrote, even if the film – see website, link below – has been going around to mostly Canadian festivals. I got the dvd and started to watch and was immediately brought back down memory lane – Greenland and the many Danish documentaries made from there, especially by Jørgen Roos (1922-1998), who for decades returned to adventurous Greenland to film the hunting culture and the conflicts between traditional way of living and what we Danes has taken with us to Greenland. If anyone Roos has visualised inuit in Greenland. My vision of the island comes from him.

Roos would have loved “Vanishing Point” that is a very well told and beautifully filmed story, non-sensational in a calm rhythm and with a charismatic leading Navarana K’Avigak Sørensen – more Danish can a surname not be! Navarana is the one who tells the story in first person tracking her own family roots back to Qitdlarssuaq, a shaman, who in the 1860’es migrated with a small community of Inuits from Baffin Island to the North of Greenland. Navarana is the descendant, who takes the viewer by the hand to show and reflect on the Inuit culture of today up there near Uummannaq, where her family used to live until they were displaced due to the building of the American Thule base (Jørgen Roos has made a film about this Danish-American scandal).

Naduk is the daughter of Navarana or did I get that wrong… doesn’t matter, Navarana goes with her family (Naduk’s husband is Ole… again more Danish

can a first name not be) out hunting, it’s in May and the ice used to be thick, but now there is danger that the dogsled will sink into the water. The camera catches the beauty of the nature and the equally beauty of the faces of three generations on hunting. One sequence is amazing: No words behind the images of the auk seabirds, who in hundreds (thousands?) fill the sky going to and fro or rather trying to escape the nets brought to catch the birds. Totally non-dramatic you watch the catch, the strangling and the putting the dead birds into sealskin bags that are to rest some month under rocks – and then the delicious kiviaq dish can be served, Navarana and her family say.

The last long part of the film takes Navarana to where Qitdlarssuaq came from, the Bassin Island. She discovers that the culture there has developed in quite another direction – “here life runs on gasoline and and sugar”. She goes hunting a narwhal, that is shot from a motor boat, whereas – to be seen later when she is back in Greenland – where she comes from the whale is first harpooned from a kayak and then shot. Mattak is a delicatesse and Navarana enjoys.

The text of Navarana that is conveyed voice-off, or to the camera is good – like when she is to sum up the situation of the inuits of today: “The World is Melting Under Our Feet” – but maybe also too demonstratively pointing at the theme, letting her repeat sentences like “what do we get when we go to our places” and “what do we lose when we leave”. On the other hand you trust Navarana’s unsentimental approach, an inuit elder she is described being in the synopsis of the film, well she is definitely not old in mind, perfect as a film character. “Qitdlarssuaq is in my blood”. Thanks for updating my vision of inuit culture in Greenland seen (also) on the background of the culture in Canada.

Canada, 2012, 82 mins.

http://www.meltwatermedia.ca/site/Vanishing-Point-movie.html

https://www.nfb.ca/film/vanishing_point/

 

Rain of Awards in Riga

There has been quite a film party going on in the Latvian capital. Not only has the city, as Cultural Capital of Europe, hosted the EFA Awards – films have been shown at the Riga International Film Festival that ran from December 2-12, masterclasses and panel debates have been going on at the new National Library and awards have been distributed, among them the National Film Prizes, which – to my great joy – includes a number of awards for documentaries. My source is Film New Europe, link below for a list of all awards:

Best full-length documentary award went to Peteris Krilovs personal ”Obliging Collaborators” (photo), a personal historical film that as a motivation point has the death of the director’s father due to ”the KGB repressions, which is closely linked to the devious game Soviet Latvia’s KGB played against Swedish-British-American spy agencies”. Original in narration, the films uses clay animation. To be a bit patriotic, the editor of the film is Danish Julie Vinten, with whom Krilovs also worked on the film on Klucis.

Best Documentary Film 60 minutes was Davis Simanis ”Chronicles of the Last Temple”, that has been praised on this site: ”a superb interpretation of the new and much discussed National Library of Riga, a film that shows Simanis ability to capture the grandeur of a building and its details in a super aesthetic form.”

Best Documentary Film Director was Viesturs Kairiss ”Pelican in the Desert” and Best Documentary Film DOP Gints Berzins for the same work. I have written long about this fine film, here is a quote from the end of the article: ” The film has…No message but experience and a hymn to spirituality, sometimes solemn, always letting the dignity of the people come forward whatever mad or weird they might appear. Kairiss did not go there to inform, he went there to experience. He was impressed, he saw an operalike drama or an elegy, if you like. He dwelled like another Visconti on the decadence of the decline. He went with his superb cameraman Berzins to convey this inspiration in an observational, expressionistic film language of super-aesthetic sequences.”

And then to the more formal and institutional European Film Award (EFA) ceremony, that was held at the Latvian National Opera Saturday the 13th. On FaceBook producer Guntis Trekteris posted a photo from the Opera: ” EFA pre-ceremony opens with Ten Minutes Older”, of course it did, one more well deserved tribute to Herz Frank and Juris Podnieks, two late masters of the rich Latvian documentary history, and the two behind the film that was my number one on the Sight & Sound documentary top ten early this year. 10 days before the glamour, at the opening of the Riga International Film Festival, “Beyond the Fear” by Herz Frank and Maria Kravchenko had its premiere.

Back to EFA: Marc Bauder’s ”Master of the Universe” was voted the best European Documentary in competition with Jon Bang Carlsen’s personal narratively wild ”Just the Right Amount of Violence”, Laurent Bécue-Renard’s idfa-winner, impressive ”Of Men and War”, Gianfranco Rosi’s Venezia-winner for me disappointing ”Sacro Ga” and two I have not seen yet: Teodora Ana Mihai’s ”Waiting for August” and Hubert Sauper’s ”We Come as Friends”.

Last but not least, a Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Agnès Varda. No objection at all!

http://www.filmneweurope.com/news/latvia/109706-fne-at-riga-iff-2014-mother-i-love-you-wins-top-latvian-award/menu-id-155

http://www.rigaiff.lv/en/news

http://europeanfilmawards.eu/en_EN/efanight/winners

Measom og Weinstein: An Honest Liar

DR2 Dokumania skriver ægte begejstret: ”Glæd dig til i morgen tirsdag, når Dokumania viser den stærkt underholdende dokumentarfilm ” En ærlig løgner” om den amerikanske tryllekunstner James ’The Amazing’ Randi. Han har gennem de seneste 50 år underholdt millioner af mennesker, men også afsløret og udstillet alverdens svindlere og fupmagere.”

Nu er han ”svindleren, der udstiller andre svindlere” og Dokumania-redaktionen fortsætter: ”James ’The Amazing’ Randi har haft en lang og glorværdig karriere, hvor han har underholdt med magi, flugtforsøg og tusindvis af tricks. Da Randi opdagede, hvordan de samme teknikker blev misbrugt af healere, clairvoyante og spiritister til at lokke penge ud af godtroende mennesker, viede han sit liv til at afsløre dem som de charlataner, han opfattede dem som. Randi forvandlede blandt andet sin partner Jose Alvarez til den falske guru ‘Carlos’ for at vise, hvor let folk lader sig narre. Men for et menneske, hvor magi, snyd og bedrag er hverdag, kan sandheden hurtigt blive gradbøjet. En uventet afsløring om Randi får potentielt en ødelæggende effekt, og der bliver stillet spørgsmålstegn ved, om Randi måske selv er blevet bedraget. Du kan se den underholdende dokumentar i morgen tirsdag kl. 20.45 på DR2! Rigtig god fornøjelse…” slutter redaktionen sit nyhedsbrev.

USA 2014, 83 min.

http://anhonestliar.com/wp/

SYNOPSIS

For the last half-century, James “The Amazing” Randi has entertained millions of people around the world with his remarkable feats of magic, escape and trickery.

Schooled in the techniques of deception, Randi saw his beloved magician’s tricks being used by faith healers, fortune-tellers, and psychics — not for entertainment, but to steal money from innocent people and destroy lives. Enraged by this, he dedicated his life to exposing those frauds, and would do so with the wit and style of the great showman that he is.

A self-described liar, cheat, and charlatan, Randi embarked on a mission for truth by perpetrating a series of unparalleled investigations and elaborate hoaxes. These grand schemes fooled scientists, the media, and a gullible public, but always with a deeper goal of demonstrating the importance of evidence and the dangers of magical thinking. In one of these acts, he transformed his partner, Jose Alvarez, into a fake guru named “Carlos” to show how easily people can be fooled. His work exposing faith healers won him the prestigious MacArthur “Genius” Award in 1987.

But when dealing with a master deceiver, the truth can often be hard to find. A sudden and shocking truth in Randi’s personal life is brought to light when the tale of multiple identities takes an unexpected and potentially devastating turn. And Randi – who spent his life exposing deception – may have perpetrated another grand hoax or become the victim of a very personal one.

”An Honest Liar” is a film about deception, told through Randi’s life and acts using never-before-seen historical footage and many of the original people involved. The film also follows Randi and his partner through this latest dramatic – and potentially devastating – twist in their lives. (”An Honest Liar” site)

Tiazhlov & Shtyka (eds.) Ukraine_Voices

A couple of months ago I wrote a text about the upcoming second edition of the Cinedoc festival in Tbilibi, Georgia. The festival included a section called Ukranian Voices with several films, also one that I had not heard about, ”Ukraine_Voices”. The day after I was informed by Dmytro Tiazhlov and Ella Shtyka, what was hidden behind the title – ”a documentary almanach”, 8 short documentaries made during the workshops organized by the Indie Lab project initiated by the two filmmakers. Tiazhlov has been reviewed on this site before for his works ”Cornered” and ”I was a Monument to Myself”. So I downloaded the film and watched. Here is the synopsis taken from the Georogian festival site:

A collection of 10 documentaries (in my download there were 8, ed.) gives a glimpse into nowadays Ukraine just before the crisis started. These short films are all directed by different filmmakers and tell us various stories, through these films we observe Ukraine from different points of view and get to the heart of what really matters to millions of young Ukrainians, we also get to know some unknown heroes and learn their stories.

And here is Tiazhlov’s comments from the site of festival Eastern Neighbours in Rotterdam last month: “Ukraine today is a pluralist society amidst authoritarian regimes, a fascinating and troubled country Poorly understood by its neighbors. It’s also home for extraordinary tradition of civil society and for Gifted writers, thinkers, artists, many of whom, reflecting on the Maidan, have raised in new ways Fundamental questions. The Ukrainian society realized that it could have a direct and real impact on the Government, as an equal partner in the decision-making process.”

The initiative itself deserves praise, and good also (in several films) to move away from Maidan and Kiev to see what happened elsewhere, filmed by young filmmakers and activists. It makes no sense to review film by film, so let me mention three, that had fine quality, (also) because they had a focus on one character, good idea when you have so little time as a short film allows you: ”More than Nikolai” (photo) by Oksana Sharnik, about the charismatic priest, who helps people in need and is very clear in his opinions, denying to stay at home, when there are demos in the streets of Kherson. Equally the ”Penalty for Justice” by Vyacheslav Bihun, who tells a horror story (nothing to do (at least directly) with politics) about a man, who was beaten up by the police, to end up in a wheelchair paralyzed, being helped by fine people to take his case to the European Court. The film is told through drawings. Excellent choice. And – Madian, yes – ”Right to Protest. The Beginning” by Aksynia Kurina with activist and journalist Mustafa Nayem, later awarded internationally for his contribution and dedication, who via FB called for demonstrations on the square. It is full of energy, has fun at the same time as you never doubt that what is going on is more than serious. Again – this collection of very different films and protagonists, mostly pro-EU, adds another aspect to our knowledge about the tormented country just around the corner from where I live…

Ukraine, 8 short documentaries, 2014, 81 mins.

http://enff.nl/

http://www.cinedoc-tbilisi.com/?p=1915

 

Carmen Cobos: Imperfect Harmony/ 2

Got this mail from Carmen Cobos this morning referring to a screening in Aarhus, Denmark tomorrow; “IMPERFECT HARMONY – my debut film as director will be shown in your country this Thursday, maybe you care to see it” – the Doc Lounge Aarhus is the venue, FB link below and here is what I wrote about it on this site:

Louis Andriessen, charismatic Dutch composer, and Mariss Jansons, charismatic Latvian chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. The two characters in the fascinating observational documentary drama, which is very well told, interesting and entertaining.

The drama evolves as the days pass. Andriessen has composed music for the 125 year’s anniversary of the Concertgebouw, and enters the building to follow the rehearsals during the last five days before the performance. The camera stays very much on the face of the composer, who appears a bit nervous and confused in the beginning. His relationship to the musicians is warm and generous, while the relationship to the conductor is on the contrary a bit complicated. At some moments, to say the least… ”school teacher”, says Andriessen having discussed details with Jansons, ”he is a pain in the…”. Some of the musicians seem to agree with Jansons and his need for pedantry – it is clear that he in his questions to the composer that this is not the kind of music he favours – others like the more open attitude to interpretation that Andriessen stands for.

It is a very generous film. You get very close to the artistic creation of a fine piece of music, you get a fine impression of how two characters of different temperament get closer to each other, two old proud professionals who have to meet each other, whether they like it ot not. You see how an orchestra works preparing down to the smallest details, asking questions to the composer. Andriessen has very interesting comments to his work, to music and to from where his inspiration comes… Happy Ending, Andriessen walks out of the building, out into windy Amsterdam mission completed.

https://www.facebook.com/events/878400385517259/

Nitesh Anjaan: Far from Home

Måske handler det om denne mands alkoholforbrug og hengivelse til spil. Jeg ved det ikke rigtigt, jeg ser efterhånden nærmere en hel stor familie i opløsning. Men filmen følger hovedsageligt denne mand, om hvem jeg får at vide, at Bob Marley døde på hans 18 års fødselsdag. Nu er han i halvtredserne, men det med Marleys død netop den dag viser sig som mere end en anekdote, det er erindringen om et anker, som ikke holdt. Det er musikken og poesien, som forsvandt. Nu er denne mand en præcis og rutineret postarbejder, der som barn kom til Danmark med sin familie. Dette er hans historie, fortæller filmen mig i første omgang.

Hans familie var engang et stort sammenhold omkring et voksende minimarked, det viser familiebillederne på fotos og video. Men nu er den splittet ad. Og nu bor han hos sin gamle far, som også lever alene. Og der i faderens lejlighed ser jeg mændenes nederlag, far og søn, nederlag som kunstnere (faderen er digter med en række bøger bag sig, men har vist senere blot skrevet i ny og næ), nederlag som købmænd (minimarkedet er vist ikke mere), nederlag som ægtemænd, kvinderne har forladt dem. Nu har de besluttet at rejse tilbage til den indiske by, de udvandrede fra. På et dansk statsligt økonomisk tilskud med barske betingelser.

Hovedpersonen er markant og fungerer godt, agerer i sin nervøst distante holdning indtryksfuldt. Men han har noget ved sig, som gør, at jeg har svært ved for alvor at interessere mig for ham. Det er jo ikke hans skyld. Det kan være min fordom. Jeg tror dog, det er fordi, filmen ikke gør ham nærværende for mig, så det han gør, betyder noget for mig. Hans udtryksstærke tavshed blødes op ved replikker, som dementerer hans krops sprog og det er ikke godt. Jeg synes instruktionen vælger forkert og gang på gang svigter filmens egen scene, selve optagelsen. Så sløres hovedpersonen også af de isceneatte scener med flere medvirkende, i begyndelsen familiens unge generation, længere henne lærer jeg postarbejderens fraskilte hustru at kende. Her svigter instruktionen desværre også, det jeg får at vide om min hovedperson bliver hængende som aggressive og moraliserende postulater, og den afgørende konfrontation mellem hovedpersonen og hans unge søn oplever jeg som psykologisk pres mod den medvirkende, og indrømmelsen som aftvunget, som falsk.

Det er en film, der er tænkt filmisk, som dokumentarfilm, men da den er uklar i sit valg af kontekst: vil den være filmkunst om et menneske i eksistentiel krise, vil den være debatskabende oplæg , vil den være oplysning om ludomaniens farer, slår den hele tiden i sine greb over i tv-journalistikken, som nok er det filmmiljø, den vedkender sig bedst. Men den savner den klare, journalistiske reportage og redegørelse. Dens iscenesatte interviews og samtaler kommer i vejen for det observerende kamera. Den kunstneriske holdning forstyrres af tv-dokumentariske lån.

Nitesh Anjaan vil så gerne det hele, tror jeg. Hans store styrke er, at han har kunnet komme ind i sin familie med sit kamera, at han har kunnet vinde sin families spredte medlemmers spredte fortrolighed. Men han har ligesom ikke været der med sit kamera længe nok, disse nætter og dage, måneder og år. Alligevel er der i materialet indlejret to film i filmen, oplever jeg. Der er den store familiehistorie, som ikke rigtigt bliver til noget rigtigt, ikke folder sig ud, men den ligger der. Og så er der den tydeligste film i filmen, som for mig især rejser forventning til Nitesh Anjaan. Den er postarbejderens dagligdag alene og med sin far. Et kammerspil uden de andre medvirkendes uvedkommende forvirring. Den smukke slutscene er lovende, han er på taget af deres indiske hus, det er tidligt morgen, byen er ikke vågnet, kun fuglene og det første, gyldne lys. Faderen sover endnu nedenunder i deres indiske hus. De er hjemme.

Danmark 2014, 40 min. Filmværkstedet og Final Cut for Real

http://final-cut.dk/films2.php?mit_indhold_id=3&films_id=22

Festival dei Popoli Firenze/ Winners

Sergei Loznitsa was awarded one more time for his ”Maidan” (photo) at the festival in Firenze. The brief jury motivation goes like this: Timely in this current passage of History, the filmmaker calmly and masterfully engages in the unfolding of a people’s unrest with a conflicted system.

Click the link below and you will get an interesting interview (in English) with the director – 15 mins.

Alexander Nanau received the audience award for his ”Toto and his Sisters”. There is a clip from the film and an interview with the director – 10 mins. Click the link below.

For other awards check the website for the festival, that has ”Reality is More” as its motto. … Is it?

http://www.festivaldeipopoli.org/en/blog/see_news/2014/best-feature-length-documentary/710

http://www.festivaldeipopoli.org/en/

Mark Levinson: Particle Fever /2

Hun hedder Monica Dunford og hun er eksperimentel fysiker ved CERN, og hun er den, som sidst DR2 Dokumania viste filmen, charmerede mig til rigtig godt at kunne lide den: ”… Her har jeg hele spændet af tid og følelse og arbejdsindsats: fra den gamle fysiske teoretiker, som påviste denne universelle byggesten til den unge eksperimenterende fysiker, som i den vældige organisation er med til at påvise higgspartiklens materielle eksistens. Hun kan forklare, så jeg forstår og især begejstres, så jeg følger med, emotionelt accepterende. Uden modstand.”

Nu på tirsdag 20:45 viser DR2 Dokumania filmen igen, så jeg linker lige til, hvad jeg skrev, sidst de viste den: LINK

USA 2013, 99 min.

Mehran Tamadon: Iranian

After a long career at festivals (winning the Grand Prix at Cinéma du Réel 2014) the feature length documentary by Mehran Tamadon opened in cinemas in Paris December 3. In many cinemas in the French capital, that is still unique in its repertory of art house films. I watched the film at 11 in the morning – 40 people in the cinema…… to a film that basically is built on 105 minutes of talking between the director and the four mullahs he convinced to take part in the film after a couple of years of filming discussions with other, who ended up saying no to take part – some (according to the director) because they did not want to be seen together with ”someone like me”, others out of fear for public reactions in Iran.

”Someone like me” – the director is atheist and his ambition with the film, and inviting the mullahs to stay with him for two days, was to find out if it was possible to find a way to ”vivre ensemble”, to ”live together”. The mullahs arrive to his house outside Tehran, they eat together, some have their wives and children with them, they sit for hours discussing and drawing on paper on the floor, discussing what kind of books could be on common ground, what kind of music could be played, what kind of photos could be on the wall, the veil etc. It’s all being discussed in an atmosphere without aggression and with the mullah number two from the left on the still photo as a very efficient leader of the mullahs in terms of rethoric talent. It’s actually at times quite entertaining to watch, also when the director is instructed on how to pray and wash arms, hands and face.

At the end of the film, driving back to Tehran, the director, who lives in Paris, tells the audience that he had his passport confiscated upon arrival to Iran, because of the official knowledge of his film project. He got it back but with the message that if he came back, his passport would be taken from him, preventing him from leaving Iran. ”Vivre ensemble”?

There is a long – in French – interview with the director on Le Blog Documentaire, worth reading. Link below.

His previous film about the ”Bassidji” (Orig.) (2009 / Frankrig, Iran, Schweiz / 114 min.) is available through DocAlliance, link below.

France/Switzerland, 2014, 105 mins.

https://cinemadocumentaire.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/retour-au-reel-iranien-rencontre-avec-mehran-tamadon/

http://dafilms.dk/director/8852-mehran-tamadon/

Kristof Bilsen: Elephant’s Dream

Is it wrong to characterize a film as lovely? Well, the young woman on the still photo is wonderful to be with, and she has been made lovely through the approach of a director, who dares to leave the main road, when it comes to a documentary from and about Congo. To give the viewer an insight to what some citizens, actually they are all civil servants, think about their jobs, primarily, and the future of their tormented country. It is fun to watch and warm in atmosphere, and reaches the audience brilliantly even if it raises some narrative problems that the director has chosen to bring comments and thoughts forward as voice-offs, stopping the flow sometimes. But by this choice he has made it possible to work with great tableau-like, composed images that you remember so well. Henriette on the still photo is waiting for the post system to be modernised, equally Simon from the railway station sits and waits as does his colleague from the fire brigade. Waiting for something to happen. It does for Henriette, things are moving, and she is the one, we follow to a religious meeting and to her home.

Bilsen showed his film at DOKLeipzig and at idfa this year and a premiere is now to happen in Belgium. He demonstrates an obvious talent for catching situations, create his own tone and visuals, and has a feeling for a montage, where you go from the noisy streets of Kinshasa to the quiet public service venues where something is to happen. Lovely!

Belgium, England, 2014, 72 mins.

http://kristofbilsen.com/portfolio/elephants-dream/

http://www.elephantsdream-film.com/