EDN & DocAlliance join Forces

Here is an offer you can’t refuse, taken from the EDN website: EDN is happy to announce that all members, who are part of the organization on April 12, will get free access to over 700 documentaries at Doc Alliance Films.

EDN and Doc Alliance Films will offer all members of EDN free access to stream the over 700 documentaries available at the DAFilms.com web site. The offer will be available for current EDN members with a valid membership on April 12 and those joining the organization before this date. The over 700 documentary films at Doc Alliance Films will be available for streaming for three months. The free streaming period will start on April 16 and run until July 16 2013.

DAFilms.com is an online documentary distribution site offering access to a selection of over 700 documentary films from around the world, with an emphasis on European cinema. In addition to offering notable recent films, the website also functions as a film archive of important documentaries. This includes works by masters such as Ulrich Seidl, Jørgen Leth and Peter Mettler. Every month, DAFilms.com expands its catalogue with the addition of up to 20 new titles. The films are selected on the basis of strict dramaturgic criteria, with an emphasis on their social and aesthetic value and signature style. Photo from Michael Glawogger’s extraordinary “Working Man’s Death”, one of many classics at DocAlliance.

http://www.edn.dk/

http://dafilms.com/

Dox Box Global Day for Syria

… is a project initiated by the film festival DoxBox in Damascus where the festival for obvious reasons do not take place. Instead Syrain films have been shown all over the world – and there has been a “soirée thématique” on arte last week. The Danish cph:dox offers until midnight Sunday/Monday free streaming of “professional short films from Syrian filmmakers, but focus mainly on films and videos made by the Syrian people themselves. Films that often circulate and are seen outside of the official media circuit. Therefore we have decided to host this year’s event online: Free streaming in support of free speach! “

Hurry up, watch the films – there are a bit more than 3 hours:

http://www.cphdox.dk/d/blog.lasso?s=2012800&show=430&n=430

and go on facebook, write Dox Box Syria Global Day, to see how wide the support is with screenings all over. Bravo!

Photo: Lina al Abed: Damascus, My first Kiss

Boris B. Bertram: The War Campaign

Boris B. Bertrams “The War Campaign” har den danske titel “Krigskampagnen” og den har premiere på DR2 Dokumania på tirsdag 19. marts 20:30. De skriver “Bush, Blair og Fogh” som overtitel. Og det er ikke urimeligt, det var deres krig.

Det er en flot række vidner Bertram har samlet, udsøgt smukt fotograferet og intelligent og indfølt intrtviewet, ser det ud til, ja, der ville være nok tilbage og helheden meget stærk og overbevisende, vil jeg tro, hvis de svageste, Frank Grevil og Per Stig Møller ikke havde forstyrret det samlede billede. Nu må jeg med det samme notere, at jeg foreløbig har set filmen i en arbejdskopi, meget vil ske / er sket før tv-visningen på tirsdag.

Men hvad er det nu for noget, Bertram har lavet? Dorte R. Stidsing kalder det på DFI’s FILMupdate “en dokumentarisk politisk thriller”, og ja, det er da spændende at få repeteret begivenhderne for årtiet siden, men jeg vidste det jo godt. Nu har Boris Bertram snakket med alle disse kloge velformulerede folk som er med i filmen og flere til og læst alle artiklerne, alle rapporterne og alle bøgerne og så gør han alligevel det, at han i sin kommentar nøjes med et handlingsreferat. Nu må du selv bedømme, mærker jeg, han siger bag det, og den nødvendige analyse og samlende overvejelse lægger han fra sig, essayet overlader han til mig at skrive selv…

Thessaloniki Doc Fest 15

The 15th edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival started two days ago and runs until the 24th of March. The programme is as always impressive – as is the communication from the festival that in a classical journaistic form reports on debates, speeches, meetings with the directors present, for us who are not able to attend… The section titles give a clear hint to what the visitors will be able to watch: “Greek Panorama”, “Music and Dance”, “Human Rights”, “Habitat”, “Portraits: Human Journeys”, “Recordings of Memory”, “Stories to Tell”, “Views of the World”. The director and selector for the festival, been there from the very beginning, Dimitri Eipides has put together a tribute to celebrate the 15 years. Here is his introduction and a link to the list of 36 films, in alphabetical order, (PHOTO) “Gaea Girls” by Kim Longinotto:

A retrospective marking the 15 years of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival can only be in the form of a summary. For how can one fit so many films, so many conferences and masterclasses, so many guests, so many parties – so many memories, in other words – in just a few lines? Each one of the Festival’s editions stands alone, as a living, breathing life collage, rich with emotions, experiences, social and existential questions, empathy and spiritual elation. Our tribute entitled “A Fascinating Journey” does not refer to the Festival’s best editions or best moments. In our hearts, each Festival is the best one. Our aim was rather to seek out and bring to mind of some of the documentaries that were especially discussed and loved by audiences; documentaries that followed developments or revaled hidden aspects of our daily lives; documentaries that caused a reaction; documentaries that moved or inspired us. This is a selection of films which we have been unable to been unable to forget; films which drew the public to the Festival; films which gave shape to the Festival’s character, ethos and role. It would not be an exaggeration to say that these documentaries are responsible for the boom of the documentary genre, its renewal, its release from past constraints and its elevation as the main form of expression of the human experience. One could say, then, that this 36-film tribute is our own summary of the fascinating journey the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has been taking us on all these years. We hope you enjoy the view!

http://tdf.filmfestival.gr/default.aspx?lang=en-US&page=1110

Ulla Boye, samlede tekster om hendes film

Fulde af trodsalthumør behandler hendes film alvorlige sager og konstruerer verdener, hvor udveje og lyssyn overalt er til stede som konkret iagttaget realitet – og den vamle sentimentalitet og organiserede bedreviden helt ukendte størrelser…

 

 

 

 

 

Ulla Boye er månedens instruktør i FILMKLUB FOF i Randers. Vi skal se ”Kun med hjertet” og før den klip fra andre af hendes film. Og bagefter diskutere det hele.

LEENDE FILM

Lattermilde Ulla Boye laver leende film. Også om tunge emner. Fulde af trodsalthumør behandler hendes film alvorlige sager og konstruerer verdener, hvor udveje og lyssyn overalt er til stede som konkret iagttaget realitet – og den vamle sentimentalitet og organiserede bedreviden helt ukendte størrelser.

“Ludvig og lidenskaben” fra 1999 er om en enlig mand og hans gennemorganiserede dagligdag, “To må man være” fra 2001 var en folkelig succes på tv vistnok uden lige blandt dokumentarfilm. Det er en række ti minutters film med par, som har været gift i mere end et par årtier og stadig er forelskede. Og fulde af mild latter. “Rêverie”, 2002 er korte sansninger i en græsk landsby, et forelsket smil med kant af smerte og “Dage med Kathrine”, 2003 er en hjerteknuser af en biografi over en kvinde, som sandelig ikke har haft det let, ikke har det let, det forstår man i hendes overdådighed af begavet og selvironisk fortællekunst, som Ulla Boye har lokket ud af hende. Ja, så det forstås gennem tårer og – ved latter. (Blogindlæg 09-01-2009) 

TO MÅ MAN VÆRE (2001)

Portrættet er en vanskelig kunst. Den som portrætteres skal sidde længe. For han skal iagttages af maleren, som skal finde alle overensstemmelser og uoverensstemmelser. Alle ligheder med sig selv og alle forskelligheder. Fra sig selv. Så dette menneske foran ham skiller sig ud fra ham og bringes i kontakt med ham. På én gang. 

Dobbeltportrættet er endnu vanskeligere. Her går forbindelseslinjerne, disse elektriske impulser, vi benævner udstråling, nærvær, forståelse ikke alene mellem maler og modeller, men også mellem de to.

Når de to i dobbeltportrættet så kender hinanden gennem mere end tyve år i ægteskab, er med ét – ud over alt det nævnte – alle disse forbindelsestråde mellem dem det mest mærkbare, og det bliver det som skal skildres først og fremmest. Mellem de to i rammen findes det gnistgab af nerveender tæt på hinanden, som Paulus vier det største af alle ord. 

Det er den opgave Ulla Boye og filmholdet stillede sig. De prøvede først én gang. Anbragte kameraet foran to, en kvinde og en mand, som instruktøren havde lært at kende gennem researchens lange samtale. En mand og en kvinde i en båd, hvor de bor. Der i kahytten sidder de og fortæller. Og underet sker: de åbner sig og indvier os i hemmeligheden. Sådan lykkes det at blive sammen og elske hinanden.

Denne muntert og musikalsk klippede bagatel havde premiere på Odense Festival sidste år. Man kunne bestemt lide den. Det var ikke til at tage fejl af, når man sad i salen. Ulla Boye og Lasse Jensen ville så gerne videre med syv mere. Ulla Boye tog rundt i landet og fandt de medvirkende par. De skulle kunne det der, de skulle komme fra forskellige egne, fra forskellige kulturer, fra land som by. Der fandtes flere. Og det forunderlige kunne gentages. Nu foreligger resultatet.

Hvordan gik det til? Jeg tror det er instruktørens særlige evne som søger og lytter, der gjorde det. Der skulle ses og høres efter og vælges midt i nærværet. Men det skulle også bringes sammen i fotografens ramme, som her blev så afgørende, fordi den ikke siden ændredes. Og så måtte fotografen og tonemesteren opmærksomt registrere disse samvær, skabe det forråd af erindring i computerens harddisk Der skulle uafbrudt ses og lyttes og vælges.

Bagefter sad klipperen og instruktøren i klipperummet med dette potentielle erindringsmateriale. Igen skulle der ses og lyttes og vælges: en bevægelse af en hånd, et kast med hovedet, et særligt blik, en bestemt formulering udgjorde erindringen om samværene. Og valgene blev monteret med små sorte mellemrum i disse billedrækker vi kalder film. Her blev dobbeltportrætterne til. I atter et nærvær. Tro mod de første.

Når vi erindrer et andet menneske, husker to sammen, to elskende, vi mødte og iagttog, samler vi et billede af øjeblikke. Klip i vores hukommelse så at sige. Theodor Christensen sagde vistnok, at hver gang to scener lagdes sammen i klippebordet, var det som når kirurgen forbandt hundredvis af nervetråde. I klipperummet ovre på Easy Film talte vi meget om den sorte markering af de der klip, om det at montagen derved blev synlig, fordi man ser sytrådene.

I Ulla Boyes, Jørgen Johanssons, Kasper Munks, Gregers Kjars, Mette Esmarks, Marie Louise Bordinggaards, Mette Zeruneiths og Lasse Jensens otte dobbeltportrætter ser vi således nu om et øjeblik, hvordan billedet af selve kærligheden, måske – er syet sammen. Rigtig god fornøjelse. (28. september 2001, tale ved premieren)

RÊVERIE (2002)

Hun lægger sig til at sove, og dagens billedrester i øjnene passerer hjernen. Lige før hun falder i den dybe søvn. Dette fjerlette drømmeri er for det drømmende kamera, som ellers nærmest havde fri. Næsten af sig selv (og selvfølgelig er det ikke sådan) optager det tydelige billeder af stedets farver og rum og ting – af havet, marken, dyrene, menneskene, køkkenet, kirken. Så jeg ved jeg er i en lille græsk landsby ved havet. Det er enkle, selvfølgelige billeder. Det er akademisk fotografi, at scenen er drømmen før søvnen gør dem ikke eksperimenterende eller noget. Det er præcis og opmærksom impressionisme.

På mange måder er disse anderledes optagelser anderledes på den måde, som jeg ser i Søborgs optagelser til ”Under New York” (1996). De to film er i slægt med hinanden. Det er vidt forskellige steder, det er en lille film og en stor film, ok, men fotografernes dristige følsomhed ligner hinanden også deri, at den konkluderer, at tingene hænger sammen, at tiden findes. Og et tiårs karakter skrives i hvert sit kamera.

Fotografen Jørgen Johansson er med ”Rêverie” på en lille koncentreret ferie fra rækken af store spillefilmopgaver. Imidlertid har Johansson for Ulla Boye også fotograferet den gennemførte tv-succes “To må man være” (2001) og den prægnante og lige så ægte folkelige og opmærksomt iagttagne “Kun med hjertet” (2008) (Fra ”Billedets skriven” i Dirk Brüel m. fl., red.: ”Fotografens Øje”, 2009)

DAGE MED KATHRINE (2003)

Den skotske dokumentarist John Grierson har til sit fag en mærkelig bemærkning, som jeg igen og igen vender tilbage til. Det gælder om for dokumentarfilmen at finde sit sted, at gøre dette steds drama til filmens drama og med filmen bygge stammens værdighed op. Sted og drama. Værdighed. Her står vi ved en central bestemmelse for den klassiske dokumentarfilm: det gælder om at bygge op, ikke rive ned. Når dokumentarfilminstruktøren beskrev livet på stillehavsøen, i landsbyen i bjergene, i fiskerbyen ved Atlanterhavet.

Ulla Boye skildrede for nogen tid siden den danske stamme. I en række korte film, hvor ægteparrene, som stammen består af, omgivet af den særlige sproglige fortrolighed, vi kalder lune, fortæller om hinanden og snakker med hinanden. Og Boye demonstrerer i denne filmrække, hvad den griersonske værdighed kan være limet sammen af. Elementerne er indlevelse og humor. DR viser stadigvæk de film. Stammen har brug for den opbygning. Måske især på tv, hvor en anden, mindst lige så vigtig dokumentarisk tradition, den journalistiske, har så travlt med at afdække, travlt med at rive ned. Det er en anden opgave. Lige så vigtig, altså. Sådan holder eksistentielle elementer hinanden i balance i en indsigtens arbejdsdeling.

I dag skal vi se en film om menneskelig værdighed, hvor mennesket er helt alene. Det er Kathrine Jacobsen, der som medvirkende så generøst og, vil vi indse, modigt byder os indenfor i sit hjem, i sin erfaring.

I den film er det menneskets værdighed, som bygges op. Ikke Kathrine Jacobsens alene, ikke stammens alene, men hele den gudsskabte eksistens.

Som Gud berøver Job alt, ejendom, formue, familie, helbred, berøver Kathrine Jacobsen sig selv alt. Men som Job bevarer sin tro, bevarer hun sin, som er troen på det humane, på livet, på sig selv. Og hun giver sin tro navnet friheden. Når Kathrine Jacobsen drikker med vilje, er hun stadigvæk fri, fortæller hun os.

Og vi forstår hende i det samvær, vi aldrig havde etableret alene, et samvær, som Ulla Boye forærer os med dette dokumentariske arbejde. Ulla Boye har været til stede (og stedet er dette andet Griersonbegreb), hun har talt og spurgt og lyttet. Registreret og samlet ind. Så hensynsfuldt og nænsomt. Så antastelsen blev mindst mulig. Så fortroligheden dukkede op, og humoren og lunen. Skønheden i umistelige glimt og autenticiteten hele tiden.

Mette Esmark har så siddet med materialet og instruktøren i klipperummet og lyttet og lyttet og kigget og kigget. Og valgt ud og lagt væk og flyttet om. I dage og uger. Hvor jeg dog beundrer hende og hendes håndværk. Som på et maleri af Hammershøi vender på filmens plakat den rygvendte kvinde sig om. I skønhed og værdighed. Sådan er portrættets øjeblik. Med filmens forløb opbygger Esmark det drama (det sidste af Griersonordene), dramaet af smerte og glæde, et sådant øjeblik vokser ud af.

Kære Ulla Boye og Mette Esmark, det skal I have tak for. Tak for endnu en film. Kære Kathrine Jacobsen. Du har modigt vist os din tillid. Vi lover dig at tage vare på den og bruge den. Filmen handler om dig – og om os. Må jeg ønske publikum en god filmkørsel. Tak. (12. september 2003, tale ved premieren)

GULDDOK 2008/CPH:DOX 4

Danish Producers Association distributed documentary prizes at the opening of CPH:DOX 2008. 3 films took the five prizes. All three films have been reviewed at filmkommentaren.dk In Danish. All three films have very local themes.

Årets GuldDok/Grand Prix: Instruktøren Ulla Boyes “Kun med hjertet”, der handler om hverdagen på Kofoeds Skole i København. Koncern TV- og Filmproduktion.

Bedste lange dokumentar/Best feature length doc: Instruktørerne Mads Kamp Thulstrups og Carsten Søsteds “…Og det var Danmark!”, filmen om det danske landsholds udvikling fra 70’erne til EM-triumfen i 1992. SF Film Production.

Bedste korte dokumentar/Best short doc: Instruktøren Janus Metz’ “Fra Thailand til Thy”, om thailandske kvinder, der søger lykken i det nordlige Danmark. Research: Sine Plambech. Cosmo Doc.

Bedste foto/Best Camerawork: Lars Skree og Henrik Bohn Ipsen for “Fra Thailand til Thy”.

Bedste klip/Best montage: Janus Billeskov Jansen, Stig Bilde og Mette Esmark for “Kun med hjertet”. (Tue Steen Müller, Blogindlæg 07-11-2008)

KUN MED HJERTET KAN MAN RIGTIGT SE (2008)

På Odense festivalen kan man så se kronen på værket, instruktørens nye film. Den har vi ventet længe på. Og den er værd at vente på. Den kan vist alt det Ulla Boye kan. Og det er en del. Selvfølgelig åbner den i en set scene, set så tydeligt med hjertet, netop som Saint-Exupérys tamgjorte ræv i titlens citat pointerer over for den lille prins. Øjet alene ville ikke se det, Boye og fotografen Jørgen Johansson ser til os. Det væsentlige er usynligt for øjet, tilføjer jo ræven. Og scenen er så også lyttet af de tre klippere, den er balanceret, den er lang, og alt muligt andet. Den er en lattermild dialog mellem hende og ham i kantinen på Kofoeds Skole. Og det fortsætter bare. Det er en vidunderlig film, en ægte dokumentarisk komedie. Glæd jer!

Ulla Boye: “Kun med hjertet kan man rigtigt se”, 2008. Kamera: Jørgen Johansson, klip: Mette Esmark, Stig Bilde og Janus Billeskov Jansen, produktion: Koncern www.koncern.dk  Distribueres på Filmstriben www.filmstriben.dk (Blogindlæg 16-08-2008)

Ken Loach: The Spirit of 45

A new film by Ken Loach, this time a documentary. The director (born 1936) looks into ”the spirit of 45” in England, the post-war time where a welfare state was built on social and human values which are difficult to discover today. The film opens tomorrow, March 15, with a ”satellite Q&A nationwide” in 40+ cinemas with Loach and other guests. There is an interview available on the Guardian website, and a trailer and a lot of info on the site of the film, see below. Here is a text from that site:

An impassioned documentary about how the spirit of unity which buoyed Britain during the war years carried through to create a vision of a fairer, united society.

1945 was a pivotal year in British history. The unity that carried Britain through the war allied to the bitter memories of the inter-war years led to a vision of a better society. The spirit of the age was to be our brother’s and our sister’s keeper. Director Ken Loach has used film from Britain’s regional and national archives, alongside sound recordings and contemporary interviews, to create a rich political and social narrative. The Spirit of ’45 hopes to illuminate and celebrate a period of unprecedented community spirit in the UK, the impact of which endured for many years and which may yet be rediscovered today.

Ken Loach: “The achievements of the ’45 Labour government have largely been written out of our history.  From near economic collapse we took leading industries into public ownership and established the Welfare State.  Generosity, mutual support and co-operation were the watch words of the age.  It is time to remember the determination of those who were intent on building a better world.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2013/mar/13/ken-loach-spirit-45-video

http://www.thespiritof45.com/About-The-Film/Satellite-Q-A

Films for Free from East and Central Europe

We have previously praised the work of the vod DocAlliance, its special collaboration with the IDF (Institute of Documentary Film) in Prague and what this institution is doing to promote films from Central and Eastern Europe. Today a mail came in with the following (edited) text and useful links:

In the week from March 11 to 17, VOD portal DAFilms presents a selection of films from the new collection of recently finished documentaries from Central and Eastern Europe which have been included in the East Silver market.

What is Love (dir. Mader Ruth, Austria, 2012, 81 min.)

We Will Be Happy One Day (dir. Pawel Wysoczański, Poland, 2011, 42 min.)

The Black Box (dir. Krzysztof Kowalski, Poland, 2013, 76 min.) (photo)

New Life (dir. Adam, Czech Republic, Slovakia, 2012, 80 min.)

Out of the original 268 films from the 9th edition of the market, presented in October 2012 in Jihlava, East Silver catalogue has expanded by 75 brand new films introduced at the East Silver Videolibrary within East Doc Platform held in March 2013. DAFilms portal now provides the unique opportunity to watch three of these films for free.

The Black Box is presented like this: Tomasz Tomaszewski (*1953 in Warsaw) is a famous photographer who was working for many Polish newspapers, documenting historical events in Poland (such as Lech Wałęsa and Gdańsk Shipyard, Solidarity, protests in Warsaw). Since December 1981, during the Martial law, using his camera hidden in a glove, he managed to capture the warfare: tanks on the streets of Warsaw, soldiers suppressing manifestations and many more. Those photos were smuggled abroad by diplomats and published in foregin press. He also took some unique photos by smuggling camera in a jamjar with the instructions how to use it to Polish prisons. The most important and famous picture from this action was a photo of imprisoned Lech Wałęsa. It was published in newspapers all over the world.

http://dafilms.com/event/112-east-european-caravan-online/

http://www.dokweb.net/en/

Jon Bang Carlsen – The Inventor of Reality

Danish master Jon Bang Carlsen is in Bucharest these days. He has been invited to present a retrospective of his works at the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, One World Romania, that runs until March 17, like the one in Prague, ”in memory of Vaclav Havel”. 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. Fairly unknown in Romania, but considered a legendary director who reinvented documentary film, Carlsen will be… a special guest of the festival. Between the 11th and the 17th of March, the audience will have the chance to see more than half of his works, produced between the 1970s and 2013, and to participate in debates with the director.

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) – which will also be screened in Bucharest. His documentaries are often visually and symbolically powerful staged portraits of marginal figures and milieus that involve compelling stories…

There are many other films at the festival, ”Shoah” in its full duration and ”Act of Killing” just to mention two masterpieces.

http://oneworld.ro/2013/l/en/news/103/jon-bang-carlsen-at-owr-the-inventor-of-reality-in-bucharest/

Archidoc 2012/13

On the International Women’s Day, March 8, the third session of the EU MEDIA Programme supported training and development scheme Archidoc took place in Prague as part of the East Doc Platform. It was thus very appropiate, that most of the 10 projects pitched to broadcasters and distributors at the director orientated workshop were presented by women.

And some had women as their main characters. Finnish/Estonian Tiina Madisson wants to make an animated archive documentary about Vera Zasulich, who in 1878 shot General Trepov in St. Petersburg in pre-revolutionary Russia, became an icon for the masses and was written about by Dostojevsky and Oscar Wilde – an appealing story about a woman, who has been called Russia’s first notorious terrorist, who became a killer and a martyr and a socialist hero. Title: The Truth about Vera.

More close to our time, and at a more developed stage, is Belgian Ellen Vermeulen’s The Double Life of Marie-Louise, who left her husband and children to realise her ambition to climb the top of Himalaya – and travel the world as an adventurer. The time was in the 1950’es and Marie-Louise, whose husband was mayor of the town, hit the front pages and was subject to public gossip – to leave the family for six months of the year! Vermuelen has brilliant archive material from Marie-Louise’s adventures, family member’s memories, and artistically strong ideas on how to visualise the story.

Portuguese Catarina Mourao (photo) has in the last 15 years with several films demonstrated her talent as a documentarian. The first person project she

pitched in Prague started off from these lines from the catalogue: In the 1950’es my grandfater was committed to a psychiatric hospital, my uncle became a prisoner, and my mother aged 11 was sent to a boarding school… Based on the background of Salazar’s dictatorship a true drama unfolds in a split family. Mourao wants to ”unravel secrets and mysteries” 38 years after the 1974 revolution. The film, if it can keep the level of the teaser, has definitely a theatrical potential.

Most of the projects at the Archidoc programme, run perfectly by Helena Fantl on behalf of la fémis, the French film school, were at an early development stage and more cinema than television as the reactions showed from the 12-headed panel of commissioning editors from YLE, SVT, ORF, Channel4, Rai, Lichpunt Belgium, FR3 France, Wide Management Paris, CBA Wallonie, idfa forum and Doc Educational Ressources.

The Swedish I have Bathed in Broads and Champagne about Johny Bode, however, will be a hit on television, for sure. Director Bo Sjökvist wants to make an entertaining film about this ”jolly good fellow”, who were chasing women and money all over Europe in the 1950’es and 60’es, composing music, and pornographic songs, was in and out of mental institutions, got sterilised… and died as a lonely man. A Citizen Kane story as one of the tutors said. Swedish television supports, German ma.ja.de will co-produce the film that – due to Bode’s travels, stays and troublemaking all over – is a true European project.

Also French Dorothée Lachaud came up with fine television material. She presented ”Correspondances”, a series, that had a great teaser to give us an idea of how good it could be to have a collection of letters visually interpreted – between Roosevelt and Churchill, Virginia Woolf and her lover, Sigmund Freud and his daughter… High quality ambition, 26 minutes per episode, must have an audience appeal on the public broadcaster’s cultural channels.

For the remaining 5 projects – not to make this too long – I will just mention director and titles: Stéphanie Fortunato’s The Open City from Chile, Lorenzo Giordano’s Maritime Memories of Riva Trigoso (near Italian Cinque Terre), Julien Lahmi’s Cut Cut Bang Bang, a playful work on four hours of found footage, Isabelle Putod’s Exiled from Time about French Michel Siffre’s time experiment going down in a cave for two months to check the feeling of Time, the inner clock one could say, and Cathal O Cuaig’s Welcome to Connemara about the directors’ great granduncle and his fight for Irish independence and the Gaelic language. Was it worth the effort, seen from today?

The three sessions were with warmth, passion and competence tutored by French director Catherine Bernstein and former documentary head of arte France, Thierry Felix Garrel. My job was to train the filmmakers for the pitch in Prague.

www.lafemis.fr

Iris Olsson: Between Dreams

As the third edition of Cinetrain arrived at its finish line a few weeks ago, it might be just the right time to have a look at one of the first films produced within this unique creative documentary project, which took up the original idea of the Soviet documentary filmmaker Medvedkin, who in the  1930’s pulled a film studio off its stone foundations and reset it inside the train carriage to chronicle lives of his people and open up realms often unattainable in a fixed film studio.

“You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? […]”  “Second to the right and then straight on till morning”, Between Dreams too seems to have found its own Neverland. A short documentary conceived as part of the first edition of Cinetrain 2008, the films draws upon the parallel between the dreaming and waking worlds. “A cryptic, puzzling, yet ultimately satisfying vignette of our most peaceful and vulnerable state”, the film explores the unsettling dreams of those who share the sojourn of a train on the 9, 500 km ride from Moscow to Vladivostok.

Perched on the dingy wagon beds, fellow travellers recline as the night approaches falling into the arms of Morpheus. Everything around them is enraptured with drowsiness: the objects, the neighbours, the entire décor reads sleep. The jolting noise of a train sluggishly come in sync with the sound of sleep creating a somewhat hypnotic pacing. This beautifully crafted short documentary attempts to unfetter the dark secrets of passengers through the stories of their dreams. Some stories that are given voice are left anonymous, faceless. “I am sitting on a white bench in a white room,” a woman tells. “My sister’s husband enters the room. He has a gun in his hand. I see a bullet fires out in a slow motion towards me. Not long after that dream, he got killed.”

Taking dreams as “part of the adversary’s game” more often than as a harbinger of a good fortune, this 11-minute film hauntingly revisits the characters’ night time foregone experiences that are recurrently resisted in the light of a day.

There is a degree of shadow felt in a film that gives it a certain dark mood evincing the relatively abstruse and little known phenomenon.

Gorged by the land of dreams, the train as if having passed through the sweet circles of Morpheus eventually meets the purple sunrise with a love story of a young woman with a little son by her side who tells how she met the father of her son in a dream a few years back…

2008, Olsson, 11 minutes.

http://www.cinetrain.net/russian_winter/betweendreams.html