Pop in TV and the Movies

The well composed and entertaining exhibition on Whitney in New York runs until March 2013. It has the title ”Dark and Deadpan: Pop in TV and the Movies” and invites you to a dark room with a dozen of screens in different sizes with moving images from the 1960’es. You walk into the room and get the sound – a true cacaphony – from the screens around you, the sound of dialogues, music, speeches, monologues like the one from Andy Warhol, who is eating a burger in the film by Jørgen Leth and Ole John, ”66 Scenes from America” (1981).

That for me very well known clip from the Danish documentary classic is placed on one of the four walls close to a tv screen on the floor showing Warhol’s ice cream commercial for Schrafft’s restaurants. Next to that a clip (by Ger van Elk, 1970) of a cactus being shaved!… Also in the playful genre is George Kuchar’s ”Hold Me While I am Naked” (1961), said to be loosely autobiographical, very funny to watch today as is David Lynch ”The Alphabet” (1968) by imb characterised as ”a woman’s dark and absurdist nightmare vision comprising a continuous recitation of the alphabet and bizarre living representations of each letter.” You dare say so, playful yes, as is the video close by not – that presents numbered photos of soldiers who died in Vietnam.

Pop art is also Godard, isn’t it? Wonderful to see the original trailer of “A Bout de Souffle”, Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, a revolver, the pretty girl, the bad boy etc.

There is a lot of creativity and naivity in this room (forgot to write that in the more informational end the landing on the moon (July 20 1969) was also in the room, as well as presidential promotion clips for Johnson and Nixon), which is balanced in the room next door with pop art of a more sinister approach. You are really reminded how great an artist Andy Warhol was, when you see his “Nine Jackies” (1964), three times three Jacqueline Kennedy, just before and just after her husband had been shot (November 1963), and in deep grief – and his series “Electric Chair” (1971).

Most of the mentioned films/tv clips you can find on youtube. 

Photo:Sherman Price (active 1960s), still from The Imp-Probable Mr. Weegee, 1966. 35mm film transferred to high-definition video, color, sound; 75 min. Image courtesy Something Weird Video (from the site of Whitney, below). Totally humorous short film about a photographer taking pictures of women and big boobs in Paris.   

http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/DarkAndDeadpan

Khaled Jarrar: Infiltrators

I can not write a review as I have not seen the final edit of the film, and as I have seen material shot by Khaled Jarrar as well as cuts during sessions of the Storydoc programme, I would definitely not be able to be neutral in my judgement. BUT, having said so, it is no surprise at all that Khaled Jarrar (photo), the Palestinian multi-artist, ”an amazing artist,” I have called him on this site, has won two awards at the Dubai International Film festival that ended yesterday.

The film in question is ”Infiltrators”, produced by Sami Said and Mohanad Yaqubi, 70  mins. long, that won a Special Jury Prize at the Muhr Arab Documentary Competition as well as the Fipresci (the critics) award.

This is what was written on filmkommentaren.dk almost 9 months ago:

”We met at the office of Idiomfilms in Ramallah to see a first draft of Jarrar’s first documentary… We watched a 75 mins. cut of a film that with its non-aggressive approach gives the viewer a unique account of the climbers, big and small, old and young, who go to Jerusalem illegally. To work first of all. It uses a non-linear structure, it has many angles and stylistical elements that wonderfully surprise you as a viewer, who is used to strong films in all genres, aggressive against the Israeli occupation. You have sometimes a clear laugh when you see the different ways of climbing, sometimes you laugh because of the absurdity, and sometimes you are moved and feel angry: this can not be true, this is not civilisation 2012! But it is.”

And the catalogue description of the festival in Dubai: The checkpoint is closed. “Detour, detour!” shouts a taxi driver and announces the beginning of the journey. The film unravels adventures of various attempts by individuals and groups during their search for gaps in the Wall in order to permeate and sneak past it.

http://www.dubaifilmfest.com/en/films/detail/mutasalilun/19362/2012

http://www.facebook.com/infiltrators.pal?fref=ts

POV – Visiting Simon Kilmurry

I have during the last years tried my best to understand the organisation of the POV, that had its 25th season in 2012. I have – as many others – always been impressed by the commitment of Simon Kilmurry, Executive director and producer of American Documentary (independent non-profit media company) that produces the strand POV – documentaries with a Point of View. Kilmurry has attended workshops and pitching events all over, this year I have met him in Barcelona, Edinburgh (he is Scottish born), Leipzig and Amsterdam, and before that in Buenos Aires. In the last two years of the idfa forum, he has received the so-called Cuban Hat as the best commissioning editor around the table. For his constant support to creative authored documentaries, I would add.

So, being in New York anyway, I was welcomed in the Brooklyn office by Kilmurry to get more information and knowledge. In the beginning I have found POV very different from what we know about in Europe – and it is when it comes to financing – but basically there are many similariities to what we have and had in Europe. POV is much more than broadcasting one to four times, POV organises screenings locally, POV publishes and facilitates debates around the themes of the films, POV offers interviews with the filmmakers online, POV has a catalogue of short films, a lending library… and so on so forth. A cultural institution, we would say in Europe.

In other words POV is like a European film institute, take as an example the Danish Film Institute that has a film political role to play – documentary films should play a role in society, raise debate. At POV it is put like this: ”Since

1988, POV has pioneered the art of presentation and outreach using independent documentaries to engage communities in conversation about today’s most pressing social issues… community engament and education”.

Being financed by the PBS and a long range of funders, with an acquisition and copro budget of 900.000$, POV can reach 97% of the Americans on-air. On top af that you can go online and watch films like Patricio Guzman’s ”Nostalgia for the Light”, ”Perestroika” by Robin Hessmann or take a look at the fact sheet of ”Give Up Tomorrow” (Collins and Syjuco), where you can get all needed information about this important film. Or watch and enjoy (if you live in the USA), to mention an American film, ”The Kings of Pastry” by Pennebaker and Hegedus.

Kilmurry has brought non-American documentaries to the American audience. He is right now finishing negociations to get ”Act of Killing” on the 2013 programme, he will make a special screening of ”56 UP”, he has acquired the controversial ”The Law in these Parts” by Ra’anan Alexandrovicz and intends to have ”5 Broken Cameras” as well.

To conclude: Back to the educational/informational aspect of POV, read this text and get impressed as I did: POV offers free resources for educators, including 200+ online film clips connected to 100+ standards-aligned lesson plans, discussion guides and reading lists. Registered educators can use any of 80+ full-length films in the classroom for free through our documentary lending library.

Respect!

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

Orwa Nyrabia and Ali Farzat Honoured

Read and enjoy the following – so well deserved and chapeau also for DR’s Horisont (the Danes can watch it online), which dedicated their whole monday programme to tell about the two Syrians and their meeting with the regime’s brutality.

The IMS (International Media Support) wrote this introduction, for the full article go online, photo taken by Rasmus Steen, IMS:

”Film producer Orwa Nyrabia (lives now in Cairo) and political cartoonist Ali Farzat (lives now in Kuweit) were smiling and making jokes on Wednesday in Copenhagen with good reason. They each received the Danish Poul Lauritzen (PL) human rights award and 10,000 euros each for their work on human rights and political freedom in Syria.

With the ongoing violence in the country, the PL Foundation sought to honour Syrians who still fight by nonviolent means.

“We decided to honour two people who have worked tirelessly for political freedom long before the war started, and now from their exile,” says Poul Søgaard, chairman of the PL Foundation. Established by Danish merchant Poul Lauritzen, the foundation aims to support people and activities that work in compliance with the UN Declaration of Human Rights.”

http://www.i-m-s.dk/exiled-syrians-honoured-with-human-rights-award/

Greek Television Fires Kostas Spyropoulos

The film project “Kismet” was presented at the idfa forum in Amsterdam last month. A behind-the-scene documentary which is described like this at the website of the Greek production company, Anemon, that stands behind several professional, internationally distributed works:

“Turkish soap operas have taken the world by storm, conquering the hearts of millions of viewers in the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, South America and Asia. With unprecedented access to the industry’s most glamorous actors and creative talent, ‘Kismet’ unravels the secrets of this success.”

The film project has support from arte, al jazeera, SVT, YLE and (of course) ERT, Greek Public Broadcaster. The latter has had consequences for its General Manager, Kostas Spyropoulos, a competent promoter and fighter for the creative documentary and for international cooperation. This blogger has worked with Spyropoulos for several years, at the latest through Storydoc. The following text is taken from haberler.com:

“Greek state broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting (ERT) General Manager Kostas Spyropoulos was recently fired by a board decision which cited his contribution to a documentary on Turkish dramas as the reason for his dismissal, it was revealed on Friday.

The documentary titled “Kismet”, which is still being filmed, is about the effects of Turkish dramas on Greek and other societies where they are being

broadcasted. In a statement issued by the ERT on Friday, it was stated that Spyropoulos was removed from his position as his contribution to the documentary “Kismet” was found to be against “procedures.”

“The board of management took this decision as Spyropoulos did not accept his fault and he had some previous actions which had disturbed the corporation,” the statement also said.

Speaking to the Anatolia new agency, Spyropoulos stated that he argued against the decision of the board which found the documentary to be a form of propaganda for Turkey while in fact the documentary depicted realities about Turkish dramas.

Yuri Averof, one of the producers of the documentary, said it was still being filmed and they plan to complete it by spring. He added that he believed the board of management might have misunderstood the content of the film as the documentary has raised great interest in other countries.”

http://www.anemon.gr/kismet.html

http://en.haberler.com/turkish-dramas-behind-greek-state-tv-gm-s-firing-247669/

 

Kostomarov Got Visit from Investigators

Max Tuula and Maria Gavrilova from Marx Film in Estonia sent this important report:

We address you because this situation does not only concern Russia and Russian politics, but also the freedom of expression and the rights of the artist and documentarian.

Last Friday the Moscow apartment of award-winning documentarian Pavel Kostomarov (a Silver Bear-winnig DoP) was searched by the order of Russia’s Investigative Committee (notorious for its fight against the activists of the anti-government rallies). On Monday he was summoned for interrogation and will be summoned again on Thursday. 

The reason was Kostomarov’s involvement in the shooting of the documentary project The Term. Since May, Pavel Kostomarov, Aleksandr Rastorguev and Aleksei Pivovarov film the leaders of Russian politics, including both oppositionists (from Navalny to Pussy Riot) and pro-Kremlin polticians, and place short videos online at http://srok-doc.livejournal.com/. 

The investigators came to the director’s apartment at 7 am and announced that he was a witness in the case of the May 6 protest rallies and that they needed

the footage for the investigation. The details remain unknown, because Kostomarov had to sign a non-diclosure paper that doesn’t allow him to make any comments. 

That’s why at the moment he cannot tell whether any of the materials stored at Kostomarov’s apartment were confiscated or harmed. However, the director claims that the project has suffered essential damage.

As participants of the project who have been working with Kostomarov and Rastorguev on two films already, we have to state that we see this search as an instrument of intimidation. We are also concerned that the materials of The Term may be used in politically biased cases againts its heroes–and we consider the non-disclosure paper as another tool to put pressure on the authors of The Term.

However, we still continue our work on the project. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

Photo from Kostomarov’s Together.

Christoffer Guldbrandsen: Tyveriet af Afrika

Det er en overvældende film, Christoffer Guldbrandsen, Henrik Veileborg, Lars Skree og deres kolleger præsenterer for os, et imponerende værk, som er tætpakket med detaljer, informationer, vurderinger, synspunkter, anklager og forsvar, forbindende tråde i ufatteligt virvar, hovedfortælling og sidefortællinger for hen over det hele klart og uafrysteligt overbevisende atter i litteraturen at belyse den enkle fortælling om, at de riges investeringer i de fattiges lande omgående alle statslige og overstatslige forsøg på regulering viser sig at give de rige en enorm fortjeneste, denne gang åbenbart noget over (mildt udtrykt) Paul Sweezys 1. lovs historiske konstatering: 70 procent. Derfor fattigdom!

Raymond Baker, lederen af Global Financial Integrity, siger nemlig i det første af interviewklippene med ham: ” Mange tror, at vi i Vesten gavmildt har ydet bistand til udviklingslandene og især til Afrika. På globalt plan vurderer vi imidlertid, at der føres ti gange så mange penge ud af udviklingslandene, som der føres ind i udviklingslandene.” Udtalelsen er placeret i titelsekvensen umiddelbart før skiltet:Tyveriet af Afrika. Så er det sagt. Resten af filmen er egentlig herefter blot en enkelt farverig case, som detaljeret, nøgternt og gruopvækkende med teknik og historik og visse biografiske detaljer beskriver, hvordan tyveriet begås.

Og Raymond Baker er blot én i en imponerende række højt kvalificerede vidner, som udsøgt fotograferet i cinematografiske opsætninger fyldt med skønhed og medfortællende betydningsladning, nøgternt og med foruroligende dæmpet lidenskab forsyner os med rækker af facts, så vi økonomiske lægmænd bliver svimle og konfuse, til det efterhånden samler sig om forståelsen af en enkelt, endog særdeles aktuel, finansiel teknik, transfer pricing, en almindelig og ofte anvendt metode til undvigelse af statslig finansiel regulering.

Klipperen Bodil Kjærhauges ordning af det store materiale i blokke af fortællinger, som kan holdes fast i tanken undervejs, og Guldbrandsens saglige og rolige fortællerstemme filmen igennem fører en gang til i den økonomiske verdenshistorie frem til et klart svar på spørgsmålet: Hvorfor Fattigdom? Svaret består af fem sætninger og varer som først nævnt nogle få sekunder, der fornemt retorisk underbygges i 58 minutter, og vi får svaret på én gang som en økonomisk forelæsning, et juridisk anklageskrift, et politisk debatindlæg samlet i en moralsk og indigneret pamflet: Jeg anklager!

Jean-Louis Trintignant

Michael Haneke’s ”Amour” has Jean-Louis Trigtignant in the leading male role. In connection with the opening of that film in New York, the art cinema house Film Forum is running a retrospective of films with the actor. A unique chance to study a great actor, just one masterpiece after the other, here are some of the titles:

”Il conformista” (Bertolucci), ”Red” (Kieslowski), ”Z” (Costa-Gavras), ”Un homme et une femme” (Lelouch), ”Ma nuit chez Maude” (Rohmer), ”Les biches” (Chabrol)…

An inspiration for cinematheques around the world to do a retrospective as well?

About ”Amour” Trintignant said in a quote from New York Times: “I’ve worked in more than 135 films, and to me Michael Haneke is the greatest director in the world working today,” Mr. Trintignant said in a telephone interview from Europe. “I choose what films I will work in on the basis not of the script but of the director, and he has the most complete mastery of the cinematic discipline, from technical aspects like sound and photography to the way he handles actors. This film deals with themes that are very dark, but I’ve never enjoyed working with a director as much as I have with him.”

PS. By the way it is his birthday today, born December 11 1931.

http://www.filmforum.org/movies/more/trintignant

Michael Apted: 56 UP

Does it need an introduction this magnificent achievement in the history of documentary cinema and television? Lucky you who have not seen the series that started in 1964, when the children were 7 and have continued every 7 years until now when they are 56 years old. Half a century with Jackie, Suzy, Neil, Nick, Tony, Charles and the rest of them – and Michael Apted (born 1941) intends to continue, ”as long as I am above ground” as he has stated it.

And lucky us who have followed them, and have been able to mirror ourselves and our lives in these characters, who came from different places in society and took different roads in life. Some did what they said they wanted to do when 7 or 14, others – luckily – broke the pattern, for good or worse.

What you can say about 56 Up is that not much has changed since 49, it is like that, is it not? And yet there are illnesses, and there is the society around you and its politics. Neil is trying to change things through involvement in the local community but he is still a person, you sense suffers a lot. Jackie gets a grandchild but is not able to work and is surrounded by illness. Tony (the one on the poster) still has this huge appetite for life but has had his downs. Bruce is camping with his sons and wife and seems to have settled after years abroad. And, great move by Apted, Suzy and Nick, who got friends through the series, talk to each other about being in this film series. ”I hate it”, says Suzy, ”but I guess I feel a kind of loyalty to it.. it is like reading a bad book, but you see it through”. Nick contemplates on the little you can achieve by filming people for 7 days every 7 years. ”It is not about me but about somebody”, he says, and right he is if he by that means that it could be you and me, at least there are so many identification points for all of us when watching.

A link below refers to an article in Guardian, where three of the kids who are now 56 talk about what it has meant to take part in the Up series. 

56 UP, already broadcast on British tv, will open at New York’s IFC Center on Friday January 4th, 2013 with a national theatrical run to follow. The film will have its US broadcast on POV in Fall 2013. Amazone has a dvd box available.

England, 2012, 140 minutes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/may/07/56-up-its-like-having-another-family

Jonas Mekas Turns 90!

Legendary underground filmmaker and tireless defender of the independent cinema Jonas Mekas turns 90 years old and is of course celebrated in New York in the Anthology Film Archives with a small retrospective that runs December 17-23. Here are some words from the site:

This December marks the 90th birthday of Jonas Mekas – renowned filmmaker, critic, and co-founder of many of the foundational institutions of the NY underground film movement (the Film-Maker’s Coop, the Film-Makers’ Cinematheque, Film Culture Magazine, and Anthology itself). To mark this momentous occasion we’ve assembled a series showcasing lesser-known and more rarely-screened works from Jonas’s long and varied filmmaking career. For more than 50 years Jonas has pioneered the ‘film diary’ form, chronicled many of the most important events, scenes, and figures of his time (including John Lennon, Jackie Onassis, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, and many others), and made dozens of film and videos lasting anywhere from a couple minutes to almost 5 hours in length.

… Of particular interest is the NYC premiere of his 2005 video documenting Martin Scorsese at work, and his most recent feature opus, MY PARIS MOVIE.

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/40226

http://jonasmekasfilms.com/diary/