DocsBarcelona +Medellin/ 2

In times where festivals for documentaries aim for bigger and bigger numbers of audiences, ranging from 50.000 to more than 200.000, it is refreshing to read that much smaller numbers can make the organisers happy like the ones who stood behind the pioneer work in Colombia. Read the press release filmkommentaren.dk received yesterday, and click below to read what we have written about the festival before:

“With over 16 years of experience, DocsBarcelona closed its first edition in Colombia, Docsbarcelona+Medellín, with absolute success. “The last applause” by German director German Kral was the cherry of a four-day festival that turned the city of Medellin into the centre of international documentary.

With a great response from the citizens of Medellín, (2.448 viewers attended the screenings with an average of 87 people per session) DocsBarcelona+Medellín points out to turn into a new meeting point for international documentary.

DocsBarcelona + Medellín , which took place between the 15th and the 20th of October, presented 15 films, most of them screened previously at DocsBarcelona (Spain), morning screenings for teenagers, as well as a program of industry activities including a Development and Documentary Executive Production workshop, 3 master classes and 3 rough cut screenings. The event counted with the support and presence of 6 international guests.”

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/2504/

http://docsbarcelonamedellin.com/

Aneta Kopacz: Joanna

Yesterday midday I mailed Joanna Solecka from Wajda Studio. I have known Joanna for some years and she was the one, who sent me the link to watch their 45 minutes long documentary ”Joanna”, a film about a mother who suffers from cancer. My starting point – to be a bit cynical: I have seen lots of films about a dying parent and their loved ones to be left behind. Nevertheless I don’t remember one with the same high quality. These were the words sent to Joanna about ”Joanna”: 

I watched the film – if you can put it like that – with pleasure and emotionally touched, to say the least, well what else can I say but BEAUTIFUL. As a film and as a hymn to Life and Love, whatever might happen.

One day later, today, Joanna writes me that the film ” won the Silver Eye award at the 10th East Silver Market at Jihlava in the mid-length documentary category”. The jury motivation goes like this:

We decided to award the documentary, which opens the door to the private life of an engaging protagonist in the hardest time of her life. The director approaches her story with a high level of sensitivity and an elegant cinematic approach. We are entirely immersed in her life, through which the viewer experiences a transcendent lift from her story to the bigger values of life and our own personal lives.

One more quote, quite precise actually from the Wajda Studio itself:

Joanna’s hand lovingly strokes her son’s back. They are lying in the grass, listening to the meadow dwellers and the sounds of nature. Jaś says he has a “divine time” with his mom, and Joanna, too, loves to spend time with her boy. But this time is limited. Joanna says she is not afraid of dying, but of leaving behind her little family. Aneta Kopacz’s narrative is remarkably subtle, preserving the tender moments of the remaining days in expressive images.

Subtle, sensitive, tender, expressive, a marvellous music score, BEAUTIFUL.

The film will be shown in competition in DokLeipzig. An obvious candidate for one or more awards.

http://www.dok-leipzig.de/

http://www.eastsilver.net/en/east-silver/news/

Trestikova, Bang Carlsen, Susana de Sousa Dias

Some call their films author driven, some call them auteurs, all agree they make creative documentaries, are artists in the field of filmmaking. They are very different, have their own style, some would call it a hand-writing, which is personal. They come from the East of Europe, the North of Europe and the South of Europe:

Helena Trestikova, Jon Bang Carlsen (photo) and Susana de Sousa Dias, whose portraits are now to be found on top of the front page of filmkommentaren. Here are some quotes from the many articles written about them on this site:

About Helena Trestikova at the Magnificent7 Festival 2013: …a masterclass with a very well prepared presentation with 11 scenes from her films, through her work of long-time observation. She showed us clips from ”Marcela”, ”Katka” and ”René” (Best European Documentary in 2008) and talked about the ethical questions connected to being so close to her characters, helping them ”outside” the film as well, to get on the right track in their lives. Trestikova said that she did not really consider herself as a filmmaker, more as a chronicler, who has new films coming up this year and has plans to continue to film René and maybe also the family in ”Private Universe”. Deep respect for Trestikova for a constant non-tabloid humanistic focus on people outside the celebrity spotlight.

About Jon Bang Carlsen, who had a retrospective in Buchareat early 2013: With a reference to his films shot in Ireland, ”It’s Now or Never” and ”How to Invent Reality” the Romanian organizers presents Bang Carlsen as ”the inventor of Reality”. Here is a clip from the text: This year One World Romania organizes a retrospective dedicated to the Danish documentary filmmaker Jon Bang Carlsen… a legendary director who reinvented documentary film. In his work, Jon Bang Carlsen has always explored the land between fact and fiction. From 1977 onward, mise-en-scene with real characters plays a very important part in his productions, and this method is detailed in his meta-film, How to Invent Reality (1996). His documentaries are often visually and symbolically powerful staged portraits of marginal figures and milieus that involve compelling stories… His new film “Just the Right Amount of Violence” will be shown at DOKLeipzig and idfa 2013.

About ”48” by Susana de Sousa Dias: … with a sense for image and sound, and the putting the two together. To convey with Still Life. Faces of a Dictatorship (2005) the traumatic past of Portugal under Salazar. The film is 77 mins. long without any narration, built on archive from the 48 years between 1926 and till 1974, when the carnation revolution happened. The archive includes news, war footage from the colonies, propaganda films and photos of political prisoners. The musical score for this film, by António de Sousa Dias, is exceptional, first you wonder why but then you see what it does to the images, making a reflective distance and opens for a new both intellectual and emotional interpretation…

Joe Berlinger: Under African Skies

Paul Simon’s 1986 album, “Graceland”, is a pivotal album and more than anything it revealed to us western mono-culture consumers that South Africa is a rich source of rhythms, harmonies and just plain good grooves. Also, the album and the following tour gave musicians like Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Joseph Shabalala, Ray Phiri and Baghiti Kumalo a chance to make the world listen to their (and Simon’s) music.

But since the record was made during the embargo of South Africa, ANC and Artists Against Apartheid were adversaries to Simon’s project – although both Simon and the involved black musicians insisted on the collaboration.

In 2011 Paul Simon returned to South Africa to meet the old gang and to do a 25th anniversary concert. This film, quite traditionally, consists of scenes from the rehearsals, archive footage of the old recordings and concerts, the harsh life under apartheid plus recent interviews with the main characters. Simon himself comes across both enthusiastic (albeit a bit old) and somewhat tired of the old controversy while the other musicians are just a treat to look at and listen to.

There is an important dialogue on a sofa between Simon and founder of AAA, Dali Tembo, where they discuss the political implications, and – in my mind a key scene – Simon also tells us about a meeting he had with ANC. Back then, ANC wanted the black musicians to not go on the tour, and Simon therefore asked the politicians: “Is this the government you will be? A government who wants to control artists?” Powerful stuff, to say the least.

But the film pays an equal attention to the music related topics. For instance, we hear about Simon’s problems with getting his words to fit when he returned to New York with the tapes. He had to re-listen and re-analyze the complex patterns of the instruments.

However, we as an audience aren’t allowed to really listen. Even though the film is packed with music, we mostly get to hear a few seconds before someone talks, and while it seems completely unnecessary to have people like Whoopi Goldberg and Paul McCartney in the film, others like Harry Belafonte and Philip Glass make more sense. It’s always tricky to fit music into a storyline, but apart from that the film is structured rather cleverly.

It is not cinematographically awe-inspiring but certainly inspiring in other ways; especially if you are just slightly interested in Paul Simon, music, culture, politics or… the world.

Joe Berlinger: Under African Skies, 2012. Watched at Cinemateket, Copenhagen.

DOK Leipzig Starts Monday

… and as usual there are many interesting side programmes like this one, text taken from the site of the festival, headline “Putting the Material At a Distance”:

Peter Voigt’s films reveal his special relationship to image material: He has the ability to cinematically represent times of which no visual records exist. He often deliberately does not use historical images, as they are already stored in the collective memory. He puts ‘material at a distance’ and creates a wholly unique position apart from imitation and retelling.

Peter Voigt, born in 1933 in Dessau, became, in 1954, the youngest member of Bertolt Brecht’s directorial team at the Berliner Ensemble. That experience shaped him and is reflected in later works such as Der Zögling or Episches Theater (1998), in which he thematically returns to Brecht. Voigt learned the cinematic craft as a director and writer of contemporary history in documentary film. He worked as an illustrator and director at the DEFA Studio for Animated Films and the DEFA Studio for Documentary Films, which distinguishes him as a crossover artist straddling the genres.

In an interview with producer Andreas Goldstein (Oktoberfilm/Berlin), Peter Voigt will present his work and his artistic method before the master class. In celebration of his 80th birthday, DOK Leipzig has dedicated an homage to the grand master.

To get the most out of the master class we recommend to go to the screening of Peter Voigt’s films Episches Theater, Ich bin Ernst Busch and Kentauren on Friday 01 November at 11:00 in the Passage Kinos Wintergarten. 

Please Note: The master class will be held in German WITHOUT translation. Accredited guests welcome!

Check out petervoigt.info for background information about the filmmaker’s work and career!

http://www.dok-leipzig.de/industry-training/master-class/master-class-peter-voigt

Time to Celebrate Documentaries

… say the DocAlliance people, who again are advertising their vod repertory, including several films that can be streamed for free. The reason for celebration NOW is of course that two of the festivals that are part of the Alliance start today (Jihlava and Lisbon), two other (Leipzig and Copenhagen) follow a bit later.

Go to the site below and see what is on the menu – Frederick Wiseman is not (yet) but his new film “At Berkeley” (photo) will be screened in Lisbon and Copenhagen. Here is the text from DocAlliance:

A month full of the best of contemporary documentary film is about to start! Four Doc Alliance partner festivals are inviting both local and international audiences to meet new talented directors, emerging producers and progressive distribution trends. DAFilms.com offers you the unique opportunity to watch selected festival films during special weekly events online for free. Are you going to one of the festivals only? Are you planning your film trip for the spring months? Watch DAFilms.com and enjoy the festival fall in the comfort of your home!

http://dafilms.com/

Tbilisi

I took this photo from the FB page of Jana Cisar, who was one of the tutors in Tbilisi at the DocStories Georgia workshop that ran parallel to the Cinedoc festival. Cisar has a premiere coming up of her film ”Böhmische Dörfer” at the Hofer Filmtage, that starts today. I have a dvd of the film and will watch and write about it asap. Link below.

The photo is taken from the Hotel Villa, where we were staying and represents very well the impression you get of the capital of Georgia, when you walk around and leave the noisy Rustaveli Avenue for backyards like this, lovely and charming to watch, probably difficult to live in, a lot of in-house discussions going on here and there, comments from the windows, Fellini and Iosseliani.

In FB language this is what I liked in Tbilisi: the food in general, the eggplant with nut cream, the katchapuri, the chinkali, the chacha (got home with two silver bottles and two gold) (thank you dear friends), the decadence, the cafés that are hidden from the streets, the hospitality, Pirosmani, the bookshops in the backyards, the fine weather in the beginning of the week, the organisation of the workshop by Nikos and the volunteers, the outdoor café at the Goethe Institute… and the dislikes: the constant overall smoking, the phone calling and text messaging and small talk in the cinemas, the child sitting on a cardboard begging on Rustaveli placed there by the mother, the disrespect of the car drivers for pedestrians, the sour red wine I got (my fault, could have researched better), the night flights out of the city, the information about the Russian provocation regarding the upcoming Olympics having a soldier hero from Ossetian war carry the torch, the young woman born in Abkhazia who with tears in her eyes told me her father was killed in the 1991- 93 war…

Yes, you are constantly reminded about the recent history and the hard conditions  the Georgians live in – and how priviliged you are coming from a small country where a stupid debate the last week has gone around the scandalous overspending of a former prime minister, who went by first class flights all over the world as chair of an international organisation, luxurious hotels etc.etc. What a different life we live.  

http://www.hofer-filmtage.com/en/festival2011/movies-2012-details/film/boehmische-doerfer.4237/

Cinedoc Tbilisi/ 6/ Awards

The 1st International Documentary Festival in the Caucasus is going towards its end. Today the awarded films – and others – are being screened and last night the award ceremony took place in the Rustaveli Cineme. I was member of the jury of the International Competititon together with film critic and festival programmer Victoria Belopolskaya (Russia) and EDN director Paul Pauwels. The decisions of the international jury are to be found below.

Another jury consisting of Petr Kostorhyz (Czech Republic), Lela Ochiauri (Georgia) and Marina Drozdova (Russia) gave the main prize in the Focus Caucasus section to The English Teacher, directed by Nino Orjonikidze & Vano Arsenishvili (Georgia).

The catalogue description (taken from the website of the production company) of this fine film goes like this:

Young, adventurous “English teacher” is assigned to carry out a “linguistic revolution” in a remote Georgian village. Looking for new adventures, South African Bradley Nelson finds himself on the frontier of a big political change in the country. In order to get rid of the Soviet legacy and engage with the western world, the government initiates a project to “invade” Georgia with English speakers. Excited traveler is determined to contribute to a “radical change” in the small post-Soviet country. But when the first wave of excitement disappears, he is confronted with the gloomy reality. There are no signs of revolutionary changes, and in fact, no desire to change at all. Villagers are facing completely different set of challenges…

The Audience Award went to “Songs of Redemption” by Amanda Sans.

http://www.artefact.ge/englishteacher1

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

Cinedoc Tbilisi/ 5/ Awards

The Main Award at the 1st Cinedoc Tbilisi festival went to Lina Luzyte for her ”Igrushki”. The motivation of the Jury of the International Competition

THE FIRST PRIZE IS AWARDED – BY A UNANIMOUS JURY DECISION – TO A DOCUMENTARY THAT IS SET IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE DEMOCRACY IS STILL A MUCH COVETED GOOD AND DAY BY DAY, PEOPLE STRUGGLE TO BUILD A DECENT LIVING.

THE FILM MAKER MANAGES TO CAPTURE THIS STRANGE ATMOSPHERE IN A DOCUMENTARY THAT SURPRISES BY ITS VERY ORIGINAL STYLE AND MANAGES TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE HEART OF THE VIEWER.

THE DOCUMENTARY IS SET IN A PLACE WHERE TIME SEEMS TO HAVE STOPPED AND CREATED AN OWN AND VERY SPECIAL UNIVERSE.

THE JURY APPRECIATED VERY MUCH THE EXTRAORDINARY CINEMATIC STYLE, THE AUTHOR’S EYE FOR DETAIL AND THE COMPELLING STORYTELLING THAT TURNS EVERY SEQUENCE INTO A STORY OF ITS OWN.

THE JURY ALSO APPRECIATED THE RESPECT – EVEN THE LOVE – WITH WHICH THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE PRESENTED.

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

Cinedoc Tbilisi/ 4/ Awards

The Special Jury Award at the 1st Cinedoc Tbilisi festival went to Pawel Kloc for his ”Phnom Penh Lullaby”. The motivation of the Jury of the International Competition:

THE SPECIAL JURY AWARD GOES TO A DOCUMENTARY THAT VERY MUCH SEDUCED THE JURY BY IT’S CINEMATIC QUALITIES AND ITS INTRIGUING PROTAGONIST.

BY USING POWERFUL IMAGES AND AN IMPRESSIVE AND WELL-BALANCED SOUNDTRACK THE FILM MAKER INTRODUCES US INTO A SOCIETY THAT IN REALITY LOOKS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE TO BE FOUND IN THE GLOSSY IMAGES OF THE TRAVEL AGENCY BROCHURES.

EVERY SCENE OF THIS FILM IS OF A SELDOM SEEN INTIMACY, BRINGING THE VIEWER VERY CLOSE TO THE INTERNAL STRUGGLE OF A MAN TRYING TO BE GOOD IN A BAD WORLD.

IN ADDITION THE FILM MAKER MANAGES TO INTRODUCE A SECOND LAYER ON TOP OF THE PERSONAL STORY: THIS OF THE CONSTANT SCANDAL OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN A SOCIETY THAT AT SOMETIMES SEEMS COMPLETELY LAWLESS.

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