Message to Man St. Petersburg

There are 11 feature length documentaries in the international competition of the Message to Man festival that takes place September 22-29. There are well known festival hits and winners like ”Bad Weather” (Giovanni Giommi), ”The Collaborator and His Family” (Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz), ”Planet of Snails” (Seung-Jun Yi) and ”Bakhmaro” (Salome Jashi), but also a bordercrossing (between fiction and documentary) film like ”Summer of Giacomo” by Italian Alessandro Comodin. And this film blogger, who was in the jury of the festival two years ago, looks forward to watch Jerome Lemaire’s documentary from Marocco, ”Tea or Electricity”, as well as ”Miner’s Hymns” by Bill Morrison and Antoine Cattin/Pavel Kostomarov ”Playback”.

The festival includes several sections with short films, animation/fiction/documentary and has a national documentary competition, ”Gateway to Russia”, 23 films, long and short. Sergey Miroshnichenko presents his much awaited ”Born in the USSR: 28 UP”, built on the concept that was introduced by Michael Apted with ”7 UP”. The audience will also have the chance to watch talented Sergey Kachin’s ”On the Way Home”.

The festival has special programmes that are intriguing, like a chance to see films by the pioneer Vladislav Starevich, a section called ”nuclear propaganda” and a true film historical focus, the Oberhausen manifest that was made 50 years ago:

“The old film is dead. We believe in the new one.” On 28 February 1962, at the 8th West German Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, 26 West German filmmakers proclaimed the Oberhausen Manifesto. This moment marked a milestone in the development of German cinema – never before, and never again, would a break with existing production conditions be demanded, and induced, with such vehemence. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Oberhausen Manifesto, the project “Provoking Reality – 50 Years of the Oberhausen Manifesto” provides a concrete basis for addressing this proclamation and related 1960s movements aiming at cinematic, cultural and political renewal in Germany.

http://message2man.com/eng/

Vilnius Documentary Film Festival

The 9th edition of the documentary fest in the capital of Lithuania takes place September 20-30. The opening film is Carlos Klein’s fine documentary Where the Condors Fly about Viktor Kossakovsky shooting his masterpiece Vivan las Antipodas. A prologue to a retrospective of the director’s work giving the audience the chance to watch great films like Belovs, Wednesday and Sviato – and of course Vivan las antipodas.

The festival has a strong competition programme with four films from each of the Baltic countries. From Estonia there are The New World by Jaan Tootsen and This is the Day by Kersti Uibo, the latter ”captures the flow and simple beauty of daily life in a monastery standing on a hill above the Serbian village of Velika Hoca in Kosovo”, to quote the webiste of the festival. From Latvia Laila Pakalnina comes with two works, Snow Crazy and 33 Animals of Santa Claus, and from the hosting country you find Giedre Zickyte’s How we Played the Revolution, Ramin by Audrius Stonys, Mindaugas Survila’s The Field of Magic (photo) and Goda Rupeikaite’s Variations on a Subject of Masks.

Furthermore there is a programme of films on beat poets and philosophy (Burroughs, Kerouac abd Ginsberg), and a panorama section with works like Planet of Snails and Private Universe by Helena Trestikova. All in all, an impressive artistic orientated selection. As last year where I was in the jury in Vilnius.

http://www.vdff.lt/uzdarymas

Christian Sønderby Jepsen: Fuglekongerne

Avisen i Skagen har fotograferet denne mand, som er den ene hovedperson i Christian Sønderby Jepsens nye tv-dokumentar. (Det låner jeg. Jeg har desværre ikke noget still fra dokumentaren.) Han hedder Rolf og han er i dag enten nr. 1 eller nr. 2 på en vigtig rangliste, listen over ornitologer, som har set flest fugle. Det er noget mere end 400 og de mest sjældne er selvfølgelig fulgt af mest prestige, en bøffeland, en citronvipstjert, en stribet græshoppesanger. Han er oppe mod en mand fra Ringkøbingegnen, Munck hedder han, og i Sønderby Jepsens film følger vi de to mænds kamp (igen to mænds rivalisering, som i Side by Side…) om at føje en sjælden fugl til deres liste over iagttagelser, som de vel at mærke alle har fået omhyggeligt anerkendt af organisationen, af betroede kolleger. Det er dokumentarens historie, den skildrer nogle afgørende uger, hvor Rolf søger at vippe Munck af stillingen som landets bedste fuglekender, -iagttager, -spotter. 

Kampen skildres mod et smukt tænkt og fotograferet bagtæppe af landskaber og figurer i gruppe. Som en trækfugleflok forbliver de uden enkeltindividualitet, dog enkelte trækkes frem for at kommentere Rolfs og Muncks forehavende, som de bedømmer overbærende, måske også på måder anerkendende, mændene på deres neddæmpede, fagorienterede måde, de få kvinder på deres… Ingen siger særligt præcist, hvad det går ud på, udtalelserne er overfladisk generelle: det er en prestigekamp, det er samlermentalitet, de er, måske i højere grad, men som alle ramt af en samlermentalitet. Rolf selv ser biologisk på det, han og Munck er begge alfahanner, siger han et sted, et kort blik fra en kvinde til ham et andet sted følger den tolkning.

Men hvad mener dokumentaren? Har den overhovedet en kerne af indsigt i det eksistentielle? Jeg er ikke sikker. Men det er tydeligt, at som sine hovedpersoner rummer dokumentaren ej heller tvivl. Den er uden undren, uden tøven, skabt i ren accept. Dens iagttagelse er båret af udelt fascination af de to mænd og deres forehavende. En speciel fascination, man som de fleste i bagtæppets figurgruppe, vil jeg tro, kan have svært ved at dele. Både mens man ser dokumentaren og bagefter. 

Christian Sønderby Jepsen: Fuglekongerne, DK 2012, 28 min. DR2, set på http://www.dr.dk/TV/se/fuglekongerne/fuglekongerne#!/  hvor den kan ses til 12. oktober, altså nogle dage endnu. 

Viktor Kossakovsky: My Top 10

Every year the film festival in Amsterdam, idfa, asks well known filmmakers to pick their favourites. This year Viktor Kossakovsky has made his choice. This is a text taken from the website of idfa:

According to Kossakovsky, the films in his Top 10 are films that challenged him when he first saw them, and again on revisiting them recently. They are films which, instead of trying to tell you something, try to show you something. According to Kossakovsky, if you were to add up all the new elements these films have added to the language of cinema, you would have the perfect documentary alphabet.

Look at the Face by Pavel Kogan (Russia, 1968)

Man of Aran by Robert Flaherty (United Kingdom, 1931)

Man with a Movie Camera by Dziga Vertov (Ukraine, 1929)

Our Mother is a Hero by Nikolai Obukhovich (Russia, 1979)

Position Among the Stars by Leonard Retel Helmrich (the Netherlands, 2010)

Seasons of the Year by Artavazd Pelechian (Armenia, 1975)

Spiritual Voices by Alexander Sokurov (Russia, 1995)

Ten Minutes Older by Herz Frank (Latvia, 1987) (Photo)

A Tram Runs Through the City by Ludmila Stanukinas (Russia, 1973)

Workingman’s Death by Michael Glawogger (Germany/Austria, 2005)

… how many of them did you see?

Orwa Nyrabia Free

It is pouring in from all sides, the wonderful news about the release of the dear friend and colleague Orwa Nyrabia. Without knowing his situation and what he has experienced after being in prison since August 23 there is only one reaction you can have, relief and happiness on his behalf as well as sharing this emotional moment with his wife, parents and sister. From me thank you Lina, HC and Nicolas for passing on the information so swift. More important a google translated warm greeting on facebook from the father of Orwa:  Thank you all .. Thank you also.. did not thank anyone before! And special thanks to the people of culture, art and cinema, in and outside the country, Syrian, Arab and foreign individuals and institutions! Exactly completion … Liberty knocks doors! ..

Baltic Sea Forum 2012/ 4

A kind of summing up after 5 intense days of Baltic Sea Forum in Riga Latvia, the16th edition. The reader should know that I have been part of the event from the very beginning, where it took place on the island of Bornholm as an integrated part ot the Baltic Film & TV Festival. So it is an insider’s personal reflections that you will get, words from one who have enjoyed to be a project selector, tutor and moderator 15 times… after the 10th edition I decided to stop but regretted and was accepted to make a comeback, to use a football term.

Simon Drewsen Holmberg, a founder of and for many years a driving organisational force behind the Forum through the Baltic Media Centre on Bornholm, now director of the Danish Cultural Institute in Riga, asked me and Mikael Opstrup from EDN, whether we still found it useful to set up a Forum as the current financial situation for support of creative documentaries is so much worse compared to when the Forum started 16 years ago…

Indeed, true it is that the broadcasters do not have the same possibilities today, and there was little money around the table at this Forum, BUT anyhow I would say that the Baltic Sea Forum is of great importance for filmmakers, the experienced as well of (especially I would state) the younger ones who get their projects tested and developed at the stage they are. There is a strong project development value connected to the Forum, some projects still do

profit financially from taking part and new eventual coming financial means are introduced – interactive docs, webdocs, vod’s etc. Several of the film projects have the Baltic Sea Forum as the first stop before going to other markets.

Many filmmakers came from Russia (see post below) to meet the EUropeans, they might leave Riga disappointed that noone puts money into their films but hopefully also with the knowledge that ”there is nothing wrong with my film project” even if it does not fit the requirements of Western public television! And hopefully also with the inspiration it was to meet colleagues and try to set up crossborder collaboration. A joy it was to see Estonian producer Marianna Kaat (Pit 8) (photo) work with a new Russian director Evdokia Moskvina, Latvian producer Uldis Cekulis set up a collaboration with extremely talented Ukranian team Darya Averchenko and Roman Bondarchuk, Polish producer Dorota Roszkowska work with Russian Olga Korotkaya, and to have Lithuanian Audrius Stonys help a Norwegian team pitch a film about ”The Man who Knew 75 Languages”. Sauerwein was his name and he wrote, in Lithuanian, the text of what is today considered to be the second anthem of Lithuania. Stonys knew the text by heart and set the tone of the pitch.

The panel reacted positively, and luckily also critically to what they heard and saw. There were new faces around the table from arte France, Britdoc and German rbb, but also veterans, who have been loyal to the Forum year after year: Jenny Westergaard from Finnish YLE, Hjalmar Palmgren from SVT’s excellent documentary slot K-Special, the always attentive and clever Marje Jurtshenko from ETV, Estonia, who is not afraid to go against what colleagues have said about a project, and equally attentive Russian Grigory Libergal, who is always right to the point in his analyses of the pitched projects. Just to mention some of the panelists.

Baltic Sea Forum is also seminars and film screenings. For the latter one could say that the Forum is in the phase of re-making the festival on Bornholm that stopped in 2001. With a broader geographical perspective and with great films like Patricio Guzman’s ”Nostalgia for the Light”. The film programme tours for the first time to other Latvian cities, the q&a with directors present is recorded and put online, in other words, a festival culture is being built up, which is even more important as the Arsenals festival in Riga, as I understand it, has stopped. At the screenings I attended the cinema K Suns was packed, starting with Finnish ”The Punk Syndrome” by Jukka Kärkkäinen and J P Passi. The band was there, went on stage to meet the audience, performed as they do in the film, great fun, positive energy, a fine opening of the film programme of 2012.

In other words a next step could be to establish an international documentary film festival in Riga, which has brought so many big names to the history of documentary.

Baltic Sea Forum 2012/ 3

Second and last day of the pitching forum in Riga, sunday, sunshine and good atmosphere from the very beginning where ”Babushki, Go, Go!” was the first project to be presented. Young director Maria Miro and producer Georgy Molodtsov showed a clip with the folk group Buranovskie Babushki, famous for their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, where they came in as second. The Russians had made a documentary for Russian television and plan to use this material to make a documentary for an international audience including, what happened after the contest for the wonderful old grannies, who sing in udmurt  language.

Equally light in its approach was the Polish ”Maximum Pleasure” by Katarzina Trzaska, also about old women, this time with a focus on what they purchase of devices that can help their daily lives become easier – robot vacuum cleaners, confortable armchairs, you name it, they (the companies that sell the stuff in private homes through demonstrations) have it. As the Russian Babushki film, from the reactions from the panel, it seems to be a perfect buy for television.

Two Latvian projects were pitched. ”Invisible City” by opera and film director Viestur Kairish, supported by experienced producer Guntis Trekteris (”Flashback” by Herz Frank, among others), is to be a philosophical essay on the good life based on material shot in Tjernobyl and Lithuanian Visaginas and Ignalina, where power nuclear plants are and were. And Latvian Laila Pakalnina (photo), international renowned director, with an impressive filmography, is about to finish a film that is shot by herself while running a marathon, camera on her forehead, with her own breathing and clips to the spectators following the run in the streets of Riga. Pakalnina’s original, some would say crazy, project closed the 2012 Baltic Sea Forum.

http://www.mediadesklatvia.eu/baltic-sea-forum-for-documentaries-2012/

Baltic Sea Forum 2012/ 2

First day of pitching at Baltic Sea Forum in Riga taking place at the Albert Hotel on the top floor of the hotel, that has Albert Einstein quotes everywhere (!) – and a beautiful view to the city of the capital of Latvia, including a glimpse of one of the art nouveau buildings built by the father of Sergey Eisenstein. ”Flying Monk’s Temple” from experienced Latvian producer Uldis Cekulis (VFS Films) opened the session that had twelve projects, a mix of film proposals from new directors and producers, new directors and established producers, and filmmakers like Russian Vitaly Manskiy whose project ”The Pipeline” was presented by German producer Simone Baumann.

Thematically Russia and Russians were, like at most of the sixteen Baltic Sea Fora, on the agenda this first day. The Estonian ”Not My Land” was about Estonians of Russian origin, whose allotment gardens are threatened by the planned enlargement of the airport in Tallinn. The Russian ”Playing Paper Games” was an insight to how the presidential election March this year was seen from the humorous point of view of an observer from an opposition party in provincial city of Saratov. Totally different in tone and aesthetics was ”To Sing” by Russian young director Olga Korotkaya (photo), whose producer is Polish Dorota Roszkowska, offering the panel what looks like having potential to become an extraordinary film about two female throat singers in Tuva – who are not allowed to sing in public. Also Russian in theme was the Estonian producer Marianna Kaat’s ”New Silk Way” to be directed by Russian Evdokia Moskvina, an intriguing story about Russian women who go to China to find goods they can sell with profit in Russia.

The day ended with ”The Term”, a project about Russia today, in the trailer presented through direct cinema material from demonstrations, material not seen before unless you follow the work on

www.srok-doc.livejournal.com

by the pitching producer, Estonian Maxim Tuula, described as an alternative tv channel. With names like Pavel Kostomarov, Rastorguev and Swiss Antoine Cattin the idea is to make a film out of this material, using the method that stands behind the films ”I love You” and ”I don’t Love You”.

http://www.mediadesklatvia.eu/baltic-sea-forum-for-documentaries-2012/

Orwa Nyrabia Arrested/ 5

The film magazine realscreen writes today in its newsletter:

The International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Sundance and Tribeca Film Institutes are among nearly 30 organizations and festivals calling for the release of missing Syrian filmmaker and festival director Owra Nyrabia.

As reported last month, Nyrabia has been missing since August 23 after attempting travel from Damascus International Airport, and is widely assumed to be being detained by Syrian authorities in Damascus.

In a statement, the IDA said: “We believe that the artistry and power of film is vital to societies and cultures globally. We strongly defend the right of filmmakers everywhere to practice their art and bring humanity closer together through the telling of our shared stories.

“Orwa Nyrabia is not only a celebrated filmmaker, but also an artist who has devoted his life to bringing people and cultures together through film. Although Orwa is now being held in darkness somewhere, the filmmaking world is paying attention will continue to shine a light on him until he is safely reunited with his family. We call for his immediate return.”

Click below to see the list of organisations… Free Orwa, as also Robert de Niro said on camera today.

Read more: http://realscreen.com/2012/09/07/ida-academy-sundance-tribeca-call-for-nyrabia-release/#ixzz25oX8IEk9

Link to The Guardian  Friday 7 September (Read the comment from Tue Steen Müller)

Baltic Sea Forum 2012/ 1

It is the third day of the Baltic Sea Forum 2012. A workshop goes on during the day, where 24 projects are being evaluated, trailers and teasers are being adjusted, wordings discussed – in order to have the filmmakers be focused on the pitching of their projects. Saturday and sunday a panel of 12 broadcasters and distributors will comment on what they hear and see. It is the 16th edition of the Forum, the format is well known and for many of the filmmakers this is the first step into a documentary market that is full of declining budgets and slots when it comes to television.

These were the words used by Charlie Phillips from Sheffield DocFest, who made a brilliant lecture this friday afternoon in the Cinema K. Suns. Phillips gave ”a overview of the documentary life on new platforms, recent developments and some succesful case studies”. The most interesting for me, who for Phillips is part of ”the old world”, 35+ (!), that is full of ”frustrated distributors and audiences” and only offer ”linear stories”, was his listing of online distribution platforms and examples of interactive projects, that – no surprise – included a couple of high class from National Film Board of Canada (NFB): ”Bears” and ”Welcome to Pinepoint”. ”Who pays” was the headline of one of the last pages Phillips put on screen – maybe it should have been ”who should pay?” because this is where the problem lies: The new fascinating and in perspective very important new ways for the documentary, both in terms of distribution and storytelling, do not yet have business models that can help the producers. Apart from some examples within arte, the NFB and funds like the Tribeca New Media Fund.

The day today also gave time to pay a visit to the cemetery where Juris Podnieks (photo) is buried. The perestroika director (”Is it Easy to be Young?”, ”Homeland”, ”Hello do You Hear Us?”…) died 20 years ago, June 23 1992. A couple of months before he attended the Baltic Film & TV Festival on the island of Bornholm, he gave an excellent masterclass and expressed the ambition to make personal films, ”no more political films”, he said. Audrius Stonys, Lithuanian director and I were at the masterclass on Bornholm and at Podnieks grave today brought there by Antra Cilinska, Podnieks colleague, producer, director and editor, who is today running Juris Podnieks Studio.

http://www.mediadesklatvia.eu/baltic-sea-forum-for-documentaries-2012/