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/

Paul Sweezys 1. lov om udenlandske investeringer

Hver gang jeg ser Christoffer Guldbrandsens film Tyveriet af Afrika synger for min erindring fra for virkelig lang tid siden denne bemærkning: ”… indtægterne fra udenlandske investeringer over en hvilken som helst signifikant periode vil overstige kapitaludgifterne med 70 procent.” Udsagnet er økonomen Paul Sweezys (1910-2004). Det stammer fra en forelæsning, han gav i juli 1967 på Round House i Chalk Farm, London under en 14 dages tværvidenskabelig konference arrangeret af Institute of Phenomenological Studies, London med titlen Dialectis of Liberation. Det lille afsnit af forelæsningen, hvori bemærkningen faldt, ser sådan ud:

”… Blomstringsperioden for den britiske imperialisme og dens udenlandske investeringer var naturligvis det halve århundrede før Første Verdenskrig. I perioden 1870-1913 investerede England ifølge de almindeligt accepterede tal et nettobeløb på 2,4 milliarder pund. Det vil sige, at de engelske investeringer i udlandet overgik de udenlandske investeringer i England med 2,4 milliarder pund. Ved første blik ser det ud som om England af sine ressourcer gjorde meget betragtelige summer tilgængelige for resten af verden. Der var faktisk tale om en ret betragtelig sum, på den tid svarende til 12 milliarder dollars, hvor dollarens købekraft mindst var det dobbelte af hvad den er i dag (altså i 1967). Således svarede de engelske nettoinvesteringer i det halve århundrede før Første Verdenskrig til omkring 25 milliarder dollars, efter deres nugældende værdi (1967). Det er temmelig  store investeringer efter en hvilken som helst målestok, dengang som nu. Men udbyttet er selvfølgelig den anden side af denne mønt – indtjeningen på investeringerne. Og i den samme periode, 1873-1913, beløb den engelske nettofortjeneste på udenlandske investeringer sig til 4,1 milliard pund. Så når man sammenligher, ser man at beløbene på indtægtssiden oversteg udgifterne til investeringer med rundt regnet 70 procent. Det var denne periodes virkelige strøm af rigdom. Der blev givet ud med denhøjre hånd og taget tilbage med den venstre, og den venstre hånd tog 70 procent mere tilbage end den højre gav ud. Hvem hjalp hvem? Det er åbenbart, at resten af verden, udviklet eller underudviklet ydede sit til Storbritannien gennem denne investeringsmekanisme.

Eller tag de amerikanske erfaringer efter Anden Verdenskrig. Jeg tager kun de amerikanske koncerners direkte investeringer i udlandet i betragtning, de er langt  den vigtigste type af udenlandske investeringer i vore dage (1967). Tallene, der kan sammenlignes med dem, jeg netop har anført for Englands vekommende, er for perioden 1950-63 følgende: nettooverførsel af kapital fra USA 17,4 milliarder dollars; overførsel af kapital til USA – 29,4 milliarder dollars. Atter viser det sig, at der kom næsten nøjagtigt 70 procent mere tilbage end der blev givet ud.

Jeg føler mig fristet til at ophøje dette til Sweezys første lov for udenlandske investeringer: at indtægterne fra udenlandske investeringer over en hvilken som helst signifikant periode vil overstige kapitaludgifterne med 70 procent. Og dette baserer jeg på en god videnskabelig metode; jeg har mindst to tilfælde! Jeg venter nu på mine efterfølgere, som kan afprøve og sandsynliggøre denne lov ved hver nyt tilfælde, der dukker op. Vi må atter spørge hvem der har brugt hvis rigdom? Og svaret er ikke til at tage fejl af.” 

Nu her sent på året 2012 har Christoffer Guldbrandsen med Tyveriet af Afrika vist nok foretaget en afprøvning, og måske vil loven vise sig at fungere stadigvæk. I hvert fald er svaret på hvem, der har brugt hvis rigdom heller ikke denne gang til at tage fejl af.

Litt.: Paul Sweezy: Kapitalismens fremtid i David Cooper, ed.: Dialectics of Liberation, Penguin Books Ltd., 1968. Dansk oversættelse: Frigørelsens dialektik, Rhodos 1969.

South African Apartheid Documentary Exhibition

The Treason Trial 1956-61 (photo), The Sharpville Massacre 1960, the Soweto Uprising 1976… it is all in its immense brutality very well documented in ICP (International Center of Photography) in New York – runs until January 6 2013 – there are photos from the lives of the white oppressors and the black oppressed in Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life, the title of the exhibition that “includes nearly 500 photographs, films, books, magazines, newspapers, and assorted archival documents and covers more than 60 years of powerful photographic and visual production that forms part of the historical record of South Africa.”

Nelson Mandela in a short interview with BBC in 1960, the last one before he was imprisoned for 27 years (1963-1990), we all know about it and have seen it before and yet it brings tears to the eyes to watch him walking hand in hand with Winnie after the release. There are many film and tv clips in this amazing exhibition, where – of course – the classic “Come Back Africa” by Lionel Rogosin (1959) is also to be seen, with wonderful Miriam Makeba. Martin Scorcese once said that it is “a film of terrible beauty”.

However, what the exhibition first of all does is what is stated on the site: (it..) proposes a complex understanding of photography and the aesthetic power of the documentary form and honors the exceptional achievement of South African photographers.

http://www.icp.org/museum/exhibitions/apartheid

http://comebackafrica.com/

Picasso in New York

118 black and white works by Picasso at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The exhibition runs until January 23 and is highly recommended. As the curators put it on the site of Guggenheim: the first exhibition to explore the remarkable use of black and white throughout the Spanish artist’s prolific career. Claiming that color weakens, Pablo Picasso purged it from his work in order to highlight the formal structure and autonomy of form inherent in his art. His repeated minimal palette correlates to his obsessive interest in line and form, drawing, and monochromatic and tonal values, while developing a complex language of pictorial and sculptural signs…

In the basement cinema hall of the building of Frank Lloyd Wright the classic art documentary of Henri-Georges Clouzot, ”Le Mystère de Picasso”, is shown, filmed in the 1950’es with the energetic Picasso in shorts painting on glass. The American distributor Milestone Films describes the film precisely as such:

In 1955, Clouzot joined forces with his friend Picasso to make an entirely new kind of art film — a film that could capture the moment and the mystery of creativity. Together, they devised an innovative technique — the filmmaker placed his camera behind a semi-transparent surface on which the artist drew with special inks that bled through. Clouzot thus captured a perfect reverse image of Picasso’s brushstrokes and the motion picture screen itself becomes the artist’s canvas. Here, the master creates, and sometimes obliterates, 20 works (most of them, in fact, destroyed after the shoot), ranging from playful black-and-white sketches to Cinemascope color murals — artworks which evolve in minutes through the magic of stop-motion animation. Unavailable for more than a decade, The Mystery of Picasso is exhilarating, mesmerizing, enchanting and unforgettable. It is simply one of the greatest documentaries on art ever made. The French government agreed — in 1984 it declared the film a national treasure. Indeed a classic in the art documentary genre.

France, 1956, 78 mins.

http://www.guggenheim.org/

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DFP 10 Years Celebration

DFP stands for Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Fund and has existed for 10 years which is the reason that realscreen, the fine trade magazine that calls itself ”the best in non-fiction”, brings an interview with the director Cara Mertes (photo) in its daily newsletter.

There are far too few international funds for documentary support, there should be more as the importance of the public broadcasters in connection with creative documentaries is strongly decreasing, so it is important to know about the activitites and ambition of the Sundance DFP. Here is what Cara Mertes says:

“[We’ve] also developed a third area that I call international creative partnerships, and they’re really about increasing resources for documentary filmmakers around the world.” Those partnerships include the Skoll Foundation on Stories of Change, which brings social entrepreneurs and storytellers together at the Sundance Film Festival and the Skoll World Forum; the Channel 4/Britdoc Foundation partnership, which created the Good Pitch in North America, where NGOs, philanthropic, corporate and individual investors are brought together to support films; the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture to support Arab documentaries; and CNEX, a Beijing-based not-for-profit, to run labs and design funding protocols.”

… “DFP has supported films and filmmakers from around the world, through the Sundance Documentary Funds, which grant between US$1 million and $2 million per year in development, production and post-production categories; creative documentary labs; Sundance Creative Producers Summit, and more”. Titles include Lixin Fan’s Last Train Home, Mahmoud al Massad’s Recycle, Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s The Law in These Parts and U.S. films The Island President, directed by Jon Shenk, and Detropia from Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, along with Laura Poitras’s My Country, My Country and The Oath.

Read more: http://realscreen.com/2012/12/07/institutional-thinking-sundance-documentary-film-program-wraps-10th-year/#ixzz2EPxDkBxp

Jay Bulger: Beware of Mr. Baker

For one who was around 20 in the short lifetime of Cream – 1966-68 – with ”White Room”, ”where the shadows run for themselves”, as one of their songs that still gives you the chills when you hear it, and you do so in this film, with old man Ginger Baker in a chair smoking constantly talking about his incredible career as drummer and constant traveller in Life… Yes, this is pure shocking pleasure that stays untouched for the whole duration of a documentary that puts its focus on a man, who socially with other people was quite an asshole and according to colleagues and critics the best rock drummer ever.

Normally you say that you must have some kind of empathy for a main character in a film. It is difficult with Ginger Baker but his Life and his no bullshit attitude to a film about himself is second to none. Are you a tragic hero, the director asks him, the answer is ”go on with the interview, stop being an intellectual dickhead”. And he does, the director, and gets it (all?) into the film: the childhood, the early marriage and his first child, his wives, his inspiration from other drummers, mostly from the jazz scene (he was more a jazz drummer than a rock drummer, several colleagues say), his journey around the globe with constant controversies and break-ups.

The material is unique, archive from concerts, from previous televison reports, music videos before they were called that, so much has been recorded including his travel to Africa, the origin of drumming, where he set up a studio, performed with Fela Kuti, afrobeat musician, and started to have interest in horses and polo playing. It is a rich film, full of details, and where there is no archive and we need to leave the old man in his armchair down in South Africa on his ranch, fine animation sequences come in and do the job – like when Baker and Jack Bruce shout at each other with the third Cream member, Eric Clapton, in the background, suffering when the two were fighting. Sorry Eric, says Bruce, who looks like a poor forgotten bird in the film, referring to the times when Clapton had a breakdown because of the tension between the others. Clapton, by the way, is as always pleasant and precise in his characteristic of Baker, as he was with George Harrison in Scorcese’s film.

Baker is a man who needs oxygen to breathe, but in his 70’es still makes his gigs once in a while, and who needs morphine to ease the pain after a hard life as a junkie, and who at any time would prefer his drums to anything or anyone else and whose best friends were his drumming idols – among them Max Roach, who said ”Ginger plays like a Nigger”. Talking about this is the only time Baker shows any emphatic emotions in a film that is basically chronological, very much based on interviews, maybe too many, but with a fine sense of Time as Baker says of himself. 

USA, 92 mins., 2012

http://bewareofmrbaker.com/