DocPoint Helsinki

The programme of the Finnish documentary film festival reflects again that the festival selectors know what they are doing – and they should in a country that has such a high standard in documentary culture.

From January 22-27 more than a hundred films will be shown. Personally I am not sure I like the thematic curating approach that is used to section the films to be screened on the website, I find it confusing, but behind headlines like ”Der Prozess”, ”Hard Day’s Night”, ”Higher Ground”, ”Home Sweet Home”, ”Kaleidoscope”, you find many exciting works like Eugene Jarecki’s ”The House I Live In”,  Jerome le Maire’s ”Tea or Electricity”, ”Private Universe” by Helena Trestikova, ”The Gatekeepers” by Dror Moreh and ”The Reluctant Revolutionary” by Sean McAllister – to mention those seen by this blogger.

There is a retrospective of films by Mario Ruspoli, ”surrealist as a documentarist”. Have to confess that I know his name but do not remember having seen any of his films. I quote from the site of Cinema du Réel 2012, where a retrospective was held: “Mario Ruspoli (1925-1986), one of the pioneers of the modern documentary, explored and experimented with image and sound techniques, yet his work remains unfamiliar to many despite its richness, its eclecticism and its historical importance. This year (2012), Cinéma du réel is proposing some of his classics and little gems.” And now DocPoint does the same. Bravo!

There is – of course – a series of New Finnish documentaries, 13, with good names like Susanna Helke, “American Vagabond”, the original and touching “Finnish Blood Swedish Heart” by Mika Ronkainen and “Hilton” by Virpi Suutari. There is “North by Northwest” with films from Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Norway and Denmark. I mention the films that have been reviewed on this blog: “Winter go Away”, “The Will” (“Testamentet”) and “Documentarian” – at the same time as I would like to raise attention for Lithuanian Giedre Beinoriute’s “Conversation on Serious Topics” (photo) that will be reviewed here as soon as I get the final version of a film, I was priviliged to watch when in rough cut state.

And there are more sections ending up with the “Winners and Bestsellers”, 12 films and I am happy for the Finnish audience that they are to watch “I am Breathing” by Emma Davie and Morag McKinnon and many more films that have been at DOKLeipzig and idfa.

http://docpoint.info/en/content/etusivu

Oscar Nominations January 10/2

So, the nominations have been announced. For the Best Feature Documentary. We will know the winner by February 24. Apart from ”5 Broken Cameras” with Burnat and Davidi, the nominees (= names) will be determined later. The names here are the directors of the films. 

5 Broken Cameras (Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi)

The Gatekeepers (Dror Moreh) (photo)

How to Survive a Plague (David France)

The Invisible War (Kirby Dick)

Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul)

There is a tradition for writing “… and why is this film not nominated”, I will not do so, just say that of course many other films could have been on the list. Instead I will salute the presence of the two films from Israel/Palestine as well as “Searching for Sugar Man”, which contrary to the other films do not deal with politics or social matters/activism. I had some reservations about “The Invisible War” (see post below) and I still have not seen “How to survive a Plague”.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jan/10/oscars-2013-nominations-list

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Cinema Eye Honors 2013

Awards are being lined up to be distributed these days. The Oscar nominees will be announced in a couple of hours and in three days the Golde Globe comes up. Good for cinema with all this artificial competition?, maybe, good for publicity for the documentary genre in general, I think so. Here is another one, Cinema Eye, quite interesting:

Just a couple of lines about the Cinema Eye Honors taken from the press release that was received this morning: The Cinema Eye Honors were founded in 2007 to recognize excellence in artistry and craft in nonfiction filmmaking.  It remains the only international nonfiction award to recognize the whole creative team, presenting annual craft awards in directing, producing, cinematography, editing, composing and graphic design/animation.

Lovely to see “5 Broken Cameras” (photo) by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi to receive the main recognition for “Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking”. Michael Moore accepted the award for the two directors, saying ““I personally feel it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of artistic cinema, you don’t see this on the evening news. You don’t see Palestinians portrayed this way.”

Direction prize went to Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady for “Detropia”, the audience chose “Bully” by Lee Hirsch and Jeff Orlowski was honored for an outstanding achievement in cinematography for “Chasing Ice”. Not to forget a film close to the heart of this blogger, “Argentinian Lesson” by Wojciech Staron, which got the “Spotlight Award”. More to be read about on the website, also that a Legacy Award was presented to Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker for “The War Room”, a classic in documentary history.

http://www.cinemaeyehonors.com/

Oscar Nominations January 10

At the beginning of December 2012 15 documentary flms were shortlisted. Tomorrow (I am writing this January 9 late evening) 15 will become 5. Originally there were 126 official submissions, that were taken down to these 15:

Alison Klayman’S “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,”

Lee Hirsch’s “Bully,”

Jeff Orlowski’s “Chasing Ice,” (photo)

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s “Detropia”,

Rory Kennedy’s “Ethel”,

Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi’s “5 Broken Cameras“,

Dror Moreh’s “The Gatekeepers,”

Eugene Jarecki’s “The House I Live In,”

David France’s “How To Survive a Plague”,

Bart Layton’s “The Imposter”,

Kirby Dick’s “The Invisible War,”

Alex Gibney’s “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God,”

Malik Bendjelloul’s “Searching for Sugar Man,”

Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Jafar Panahi’s “This Is Not a Film”,

Peter Nicks’ “The Waiting Room”.

I have seen 6 of them and they are all good films although I found ”The Invisible War” (shown on Danish DR yesterday night) far too long and repititive touching a very important theme: sexual abuse in the American army. Of the others I read in Danish newspapers a lukewarm review of the film about Ai Weiwei, Juste Eigminaite praised ”Chasing Ice” on filmkommentaren.dk, Bart Layton’s ”The Imposter” is on all hit lists as an original film, Alex Gibney is a fine filmmaker…

Why bother? There are many great films that should have been nominated for an Oscar. Of course, but having been in New York during the month of December, checking the movies pages of newspapers, watching tabloid US television, you get hooked and seeing ”5 Broken Cameras”, ”The Gatekeepers” (review will follow one of the coming days), ”Searching for Sugarman” and ”This is not a Film” among the 15, quality is there. The question is how many of these 4 will survive for the final? We will know tomorrow.

Sevara Pan

Sevara Pan is the name of our first 2013 guest writer. She is of Uzbek-Korean origin, was born in Siberia (Russia) back in the 1980’s. She was raised in Central Asia in the post-Soviet period and moved to Germany where she was educated in social sciences with focus on media communications. After assisting the industry team of DOK Leipzig, she worked on a number of international co-productions in Leipzig, Berlin, and Brussels. Since July 2012, she has been working at Documentary Campus as editor for one of its initiatives — reelisor, an online networking platform for documentary professionals within and outside Europe.

Sevara Pan makes her debut with the two posts below. Welcome!

Apted & Miroshnichenko: The Up Series

As the 56Up landmark documentary has started to roll out in US theaters past weekend, it might be just the right time to take a look at its Russian equivalent that was broadcast on ARTE in winter of 2012.

Inspired by the UK-based Granada’s World in Action documentary directed by Michael Apted,  the Russian director Sergej Miroshnichenko too dares to probe the statement by the Jesuit maxim “Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man” in his 28Up series “Born in the USSR.”

The first footage that now looks like a few generations old, was filmed in the 80’s. “Born in the USSR” is the film about a group of ordinary 7-year-old children taken from all over the expansive territory of the Soviet Union and the course of their lives in the post-Soviet era.

Alike Apted, Miroshnichenko revisits children every seven years with the gaze of an interested observer coming to their lives to ask the questions of love, marriage, success, career, class, and prejudices. Yet “Born in the USSR” goes beyond the hypothesis that lies at the heart of the original film — whatever happens by 7 sets the course. Sure, Apted never claimed to have been able to predict lives of those children but he did articulate on the idea of the core personality, that look in the eye, and the essence that one sees in the faces of 7-year-olds manifesting itself later in their adult lives. Deftly inter-cut footage from earlier films with contemporary interviews puts forth Apted’s surprising discoveries that seem to support the ruminations of the Up series.

However, I reckon, “Born in the USSR” excels in bringing to light accounts of ordinary lives in resonate with changing times. “Born in the USSR” masterfully tells the stories of very different people who were born in the empire that aimed for uniformity. They come from Russia, the Baltic states, Caucasus, and Central Asia. They witnessed the fall of the Soviet command and found themselves in the environment of transition with the prospects, values, and norms that have changed drastically. 

“Born in the USSR” is more than a film about life in the post-Soviet era. It is even more than a mere collection of biographies. Direct and unpretentious, it raises a universal question about growing up, about hopes and dreams, adult realities and their disappointments, and the big question is what life has in store in times where nothing is certain.

Dongnan & Doran: The Sound of Vision

“I wasn’t sure if I felt special or left out”, Frank Senior reflects on a moment of realization of being blind. Thought-provoking and insightful, this 8-minute documentary, conceived as part of the International Documentary Challenge, captures a glimpse of a man’s journey in the world unseen. Blind from birth, a native New Yorker walks us through the city he has never seen. Alien to light, he finds colors in sounds, voices, and music.

A beautiful short film by aspiring New York-based filmmakers Dongnan Chen and Julia Doran, that is a PBS premiere, available online on POV until September 13, 2016.

Additional information: Frank Senior works as a guide at the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition in New York City. He leads groups of people through a tour of simulated Manhattan — specially constructed dark rooms in which sound, scent, wind, temperature, and texture convey the characteristics of the environment. In the world without pictures, “it is all about combining other senses and letting them come out and play.” Over 7 million people have experienced Dialogue in the Dark in over 30 countries and 130 cities worldwide.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/soundofvision/

Per Wennick: Frits Helmuth

”Et udgangspunkt for den film, jeg gerne vil lave, den der historie, ikke? … Da vil jeg være fortælleren, som går igennem filmen og leder den videre. Hvorfor ikke være fuldstændig clean på at fortælle folk historien ud fra dit eget selv, fra mig. Sige goddag, jeg hedder Frits Helmuth, nu vil jeg gerne fortælle en historie, som ligger mig meget på sinde. Den begynder sådan her…” Dette siger Frits Helmuth i filmens titelsekvens, og det er en klar og ligetil plan. Den begyndelse er jeg vel nok med på.

Den plan saboterer Wennick imidlertid, han indlemmer Helmuths fortælling i Henrik Helsgauns enestående optagelser fra 2004 i sin fortælling uden at beslutte sig for en klar, alternativ fortælleposition, uden at formå at tilføje en kunstnerisk autoritet, som kan modsvare Frits Helmuths forførelse. Han lukker andre medvirkende ind, medvirkende, som ikke er vidner om, men som er kommentatorer til Frits Helmuths livsvalg, ofte i en selvcentreret, anklagende form, ind imellem med direkte angreb på og sladder om den oprindelige fortæller. Og det ville for så vidt kunne rummes i Wennicks film, hvis disse medvirkende havde haft eller var blevet instrueret til en intellektuel og emotionel tyngde, som vægtede Frits Helmuths. Det sker ikke på noget tidspunkt, og ikke kun Helmuths projekt, vistnok også Wennicks vælter. Man må give alt det man kan, alt det man har til publikum, siger Helmuth. Det forstår de tilsyneladende på hver sin måde, og det går galt.

Frits Helmuth fortæller henrevet om Osvald Helmuth i forståelse og beundring. Pusle Darville og Mikael Helmuth vidner resigneret bittert om Frits Helmuths svigtende forståelse og fravær som far. Kaspar Rostrup magter mærkeligt ikke afbalanceringen. Wennick lader endnu mærkeligere dem alle tre medvirke sært tilbagelænet (også i scenografi, fotografering og interviewindsats) som er de vidner ved en høring, i en retssag, som er de deltagere i et mødepanel i et tv-program. Måske er de?

Filmen indfører dertil et vidne mere, Frits Helmuths mor, som via sin efterladte dagbog tegner et bittert billede af faderen, Osvald Helmuth. Det bliver til en vigtig del af filmkonstruktionens problematiske insisteren på ”som far sådan også søn”- teorien, som der kan skrives videre på i pressemeddelelsens tale om den tunge sociale arv. Den personlige historie er konverteret til et debatprogram.

For mig er det Frits Helmuth, som er autentisk og gribende. Han er ikke flæbende, han græder, han hulker. Voldsomt og ærligt. Og sådan skal det være med skuespilkunsten – måske med kunst i det hele taget – siger han tydeligt et sted i materialet, først når jeg græder eller ler, ved jeg, at det er et ægte værk, jeg møder. Helmuths værk inde i værket er, tror jeg, på den måde stor kunst.

Men Mads Houmøller Bødker har i sit klip i overensstemmelse med dokumentarens tydelige profil, ”vi kan ligesom komme bredere ud”, valgt at være tydeliggørende og påpegende, hans klip er oftest mere illustrerende end det er præcist associerende. Frits Helmuth fortæller i en scene ved forældrenes gravsted en prægnant historie om edderkop-hannens skæbne. Den dør udsuget i nettet, som den har tjent sin familie ved omhyggeligt at genopbygge gang på gang gennem et edderkopliv. Helmuth fortæller historien fremragende og billeddannende, selvfølgelig. Alligevel klippes der til et naturfilm-billede af en edderkop et andet sted fra, der klippes væk fra Helmuths ansigt, hvor filmens oprindelige drama udspilles.

Jeg tror, der inde i Per Wennicks debatskabende tv-dokumentar ligger en stor eksistentiel film i og omkring optagelserne fra 2004. Den film er tilsyneladende tabt nu, hvor DR1 har valgt at sætte Helmuths, Helsgauns og Wennicks værk ind i en diskussion om forældresvigt generelt. Men, men, denne besynderlige offentlige samtale kan man som seer så vælge at afstå fra og for sig selv filtrere dokumentarens essens, som er en skildring af de barske og lykkelige betingelser for den livslange kunstneriske præstations dybe gråd og høje, hjertelige latter.

Per Wennick: Frits Helmuth, 2013, 59 min. Medvirkende: Frits Helmuth, Kaspar Rostrup, Pusle Helmuth Darville og Mikael Helmuth. Foto: Henrik Helsgaun. Klip: Mads Houmøller Bødker. Produktion: Ulrik Skotte, Doc Eye for DR1. Sendt i aftes.

Norwegian Documentary – a Critique

DOX editor and documentarian Truls Lie has written an article for the Norwegian Le Monde Diplomatique, in Norwegian and now also printed in the film magazine Rushprint. Lie attended a documentary meeting for the Norwegian documentary film community in December, where the main discussion point was the demand from the Norwegian Film Institute that ”Norwegian films should promote Norwegian culture, history and nature”. Which, according to Lie, means that Norwegian documentaries are almost not present on international festivals.

The article is written in Norwegian, readable for us Danes and the Swedes. The following quotes from the well writen, reflective article, are in Norwegian:

” I dag gir NFI drøye 30 millioner kroner til norsk dokumentarproduksjon og har dermed en enorm mulighet til å fremme uavhengig kvalitetsfilm. Men den særnorske «kulturtesten» hos NFI virker hemmende for internasjonal dokumentarfilm: Forskriftene krever at norsk dokumentar skal ha et manus skrevet på norsk/samisk, hovedtema være knyttet til norsk historie, kultur eller samfunnsforhold, samt at handling og opphavsmenn/kunstnere hovedsakelig skal være fra Norge, et annet EØS-land eller Sveits…”

“…Norge henger dessverre etter internasjonalt. Mikael Opstrup fra European Documentary Network (EDN) i København nevner at ingen av de danske, svenske eller finske filminstituttene har nasjonen med i deres formålsparagrafer. I Sverige skal støtten «fremme høy kvalitet, skape kontinuitet og fornyelse». Dansk støtte gis for at det samlede utbud av dokumentar «skal ha kunstnerisk kvalitet». Mens her i Norge dreier paragrafen seg om å sikre kontinuerlig og kostnadseffektiv produksjon, samt ha med norsk og samisk kultur og samfunnsforhold å gjøre. Hva er bakgrunnen for denne særnorske vektleggingen av nasjonen?..”

Something is rotten in …. and discussions will lead to a change?

BUT there are exceptions, photo from Margaret Olin’s documentary about the official asylum politics in Norway, “De andre” (Nowhere Home). a film that was shown at idfa 2012.

http://rushprint.no/2013/1/kvaliteten-som-uteble/

Big Boys Gone Bananas

They are proud, and they, the filmmakers, have all reason to be. Both because the Swedish film around the banana company Dole trying to block the US showing of Bananas (reviewed and praised here in Danish by Allan Berg), a film about the right to express your opinion, it has the subtitle ”about free speech in documentary film”, has gained an enormous international attention and won awards, has gone all over the world, check the webwite of the production company, BUT also because the film has been selected to be part of the ”documental del mes” initiative, grown out of and run by the Barcelona company Parallel 40.

In the coming week the film by Fredrik Gertten will be shown in around 30 venues not only in Catalunia and Spain but also in Chile and Argentina.

Film policy, ladies and gentlemen, get the films out to the audience!

PS. In the next month ”Planet of Snails” by Korean Seun-Jun Yi will have the same film great treatment.

http://www.wgfilm.com/english/home/

http://www.eldocumentaldelmes.com/en/documentals/salas.html