Realscreen

I have written about and praised the DOX magazine a couple of times as the magazine for the creative (artistic, authored, call it what you want) documentary. But if you want to follow what happens in the more commercial sector of the documentary, call it non-fiction, you should take a subscription to the FREE daily email newsletter of the magazine realscreen. It gives a lot of good information, it contains very often small interviews with documentarians, it is quickly read. You could also take a (to be paid for) subscription for a print version of the magazine.

To give you an impression of what has been written about the last days: American documentary icon Ken Burns premieres a new tv series, Prohibition (photo), about the American attempt to ban alcohol in the 1920’es. Report from the HotDocs festival, including the forum for documentary projects. Tim Hetherington, killed in Libya, receives a tribute at HotDocs and Restrepo is being shown. Albert Maysles to be honoured at the Sheffield DocFest. New film from James Marsh (Man on Wire), Project Nim, the perfect case study for the nature versus nurture debate, with the story of a chimpanzee at the center of a 1970s experiment. A lot about what Discovery and National Geographic channels are up to, including quickly produced programmes on Bin Laden… check it out and subscribe if you find it useful.

http://realscreen.com/

Stefan Valdobrev: My Mate Manchester United

He lives in Bulgaria in Svishtov a town by the Danube. He is a building worker. And a fan. Of Manchester United. He orders a visit card that says “fan” as occupation and he wants to change his name to Manchester United Zdravkov Levidzho. The authorities do not agree with him, he takes it to court, he loses, but he keeps his identity as a fan, who friends and colleagues call  Manchester. His friend and the friend’s wife remember the glorious evening in 1999 where Manchester United went from 0-1 in the last minutes against Bayern München in an unbelievable finish in the final of Champion’s League (I also remember where I was… in a German airport waiting for a connecting flight) – the two were hugging each other on the floor, crying of joy, the wife thought they were having a fight!

Manchester is an emotional man and his big wish is to shake the hand of the number 9 of the current Manchester United team, the Bulgarian striker Berbatov, topscorer in the English Premier League. He succeeds in a much bigger scale that he had hoped for, and he wears the sweaty shirt of Berbatov for three weeks before it is being washed and added to the collection and the photos on the wall!

No Marin alias Manchester Zdravkov Levidzho is not a stupid man. The film proves the opposite. He carries his obsession in a way that needs to be respected, and he has good observations on life in Bulgaria today. In that way the film also offers something to the non-football fanatics like the one, who writes these lines, and who went from the screening for a dinner in a restaurant where the television screen was showing Manchester United in their second match against Schalke 04, easily won by the Reds (4-1), who will meet Barcelona in the final May 28. I know what Manchester and I will be doing that evening. Thanks for a fine, both entertaining and thoughtful football documentary! (See also the text about “Football is God”).

Bulgaria, 2011, 57 mins.

www.mymatemanchesterunited.com

Balkan Documentary Center

For the second year the Balkan Documentary Center organises a workshop for 7 creative documentary projects from the region. During one week the participants met tutors like Aleksandar Manic (”The Shutka Book of Records”), Boris Mitic (”Goodbye, How are You”), DOKLeipzig festival director Claas Danielsen, ETMA director and former producer Paul Pauwels, web-documentary director Stefano Strocchi and myself, who gave an introduction to European documentary scene and commented on the projects participating. It is organised by Agitprop, the production company behind several internationally acknowledged productions like ”Georgi and the Butterflies” and ”Mosquito Problems and other Stories” (photo). Two more sessions follow, in Istanbul and in Kosovo. Here are some text clips from the site of BDC, one more fine training initiative supported by the EU MEDIA Programme:

“The Balkan Documentary Center (BDC) is an initiative of the team behind AGITPROP production company. On the one hand, it is a virtual network and framework for support, our very own 0700-BALKANDOCU helpline. On the other, it is a brick-and-mortar actual house in downtown Sofia to be equipped with everything necessary to make this support technically possible, from research lab to production equipment and post facilities.

Our focus is catalyzing the creation and distribution of critical minded documentaries and social campaigns in the Balkans. We want to bring together the creative potential of filmmakers, journalists and media professionals with the resources of civil society institutions and businesses that are up for supporting documentaries. In the end, what we want is to bring the documentary scene of our region to international standards, still keeping the fresh ideas, originality and Balkan drive.

For this we have come up with three intertwined lines of activities: 1) Educational and institutional support, 2) Promoting debate and increasing the level of awareness, and 3) Foster networking and international collaboration.”

Yes, “agitprop” this is, an idea and practice!

http://bdcwebsite.com/

http://agitprop.bg/#/info/home

Buldoc

I felt priviliged to attend the so-called demo screenings of the first 3 films under “the informal label “buldoc”. Arranged in connection with the first session of the Balkan Documentary Center, and created by Martichka Bozhilova from the documentary production company in Bulgaria, Agitprop, the programme was very well attended. The three films, all of fine quality, were “The Rules of Single Life”, a Finnish-Bulgarian coproduction by Tonislav Hristov, “My Mate Manchester United” by Stefan Valdobrev, and “Dad Made Dirty Movies” by Jordan Todorov. The following text is taken from the site of the brilliant promotion initiative, Buldoc, “a non-fiction kitchen!”:

“It is an unofficial truth that the contemporary documentary film has a leading position in determining the cinematographic aesthetics and cinema tendencies.  The organic relation of documentary cinema with television and Internet is another proof of its adaptability. Its potential in the new media world is yet to be determined and developed.  The “non-fiction” platform is the last island of the free, experimental and independent film expression. From the ashes of the “supermarket culture” rises the spirit of Flaherty and Dziga Vertov and making films turns into a moving adventure.

In times of crisis and post-communist transition the documentary cinema in Bulgaria is no longer crying for help. Beyond state institutions and regardless of the lack of dedicated state support, Bulgarian documentaries produced over the last decade are a proof of the new wave in Bulgarian non-fiction cinema.  We are a bunch of filmmakers active in making films, professing solely the

outstanding creative author’s approach. Our themes and inspiration come from the real life – no matter if they finally result in documentaries, fiction or experimental films. Therefore we decided to coin this multi-spectrum union as Buldoc – an informal label to spread our kind of movies. There are no rules, theme or style restrictions other than standing for high artistic standards and true reflection on reality.

The Buldoc logo will label films shown at cinemas, clubs, your neighbor’s backyard or alternative Web-based platforms. Buldoc will support also the international distribution of these films all over the world. In the next 5 years we will make and gather 20 films that struck, moved and inspired us to start the Buldoc label.  Buldoc will appear on the new films of Andrey Paounov, Boris Despodov, Valentin Valchev, Jordan Todorov, Svetoslav Stoyanov…  We use informally the name Buldoc with the kind permission of our colleague, documentary filmmaker Mr. Hristo Bakalski.

www.buldoc.net 

Morten Henriksen: Bag Blixens maske

Det er et vildt projekt, et meget modigt foretagende. At åbne en film med i en omhyggeligt arrangeret troskyldighed at begynde en selvbiografi og så gøre den muntrere og muntrere, flere gange dobbeltbundet farligere og farligere og anbringe hele konstruktionen i en stor litterær sammenhæng og fuldende den i et kærlighedsindsigtens drama, som er alt andet end troskyldig og langt mere end en personlig eller blot privat erindring.

Alt andet og langt mere. Men hvad så? Nu bliver det svært. Et sted i Morten Henriksens spindelvæv af en film, klæbende og irriterende og overdådig smuk, inde i laget af samtale mellem søn og far, mellem filminstruktør og litterat spørger Morten Henriksen: “Betingelsen for samtalerne var, at jeg troede på det?” Og Aage Henriksen svarer: “Ja, at du gav det en mulighed… uden at reagere negativt og kritisk.” Kun i hengivelsen kan fortællingen blive til.

Filmen rammer og rummer dette usigelige, som vi skal give en mulighed. Hvad er det så? Vil man naturligvis spørge. Og der må svares, at det jo netop ikke kan siges, ikke kan skrives. Men i filmen findes det fanget ind og pakket i spindelvæv. Se selv efter! Og læs så bogen, for i den er vigtige dele af dialogen fastholdt til læsning om og om og dernæst videre i flere af litteratens og digterens bøger.

Personerne er altså filmens instruktør, Morten Henriksen og hans far, litteraten Aage Henriksen. Og selvfølgelig Aage Henriksen og Karen Blixen, litteraten og digteren, fremstillet dels af dem selv og dels af Ole Lemmeke og Birthe Neumann. Det danner en række fortællinger om afgørende relationer: sønnen og faderen, litteraten og digteren, Aage Henriksen og Karen Blixen og sammenvævede specielle og generelle temaer, familiehistorie, kunstvidenskab og kunsthistorie plus vigtige bidrag til skildringen af Blixen og især et stort og dybt fascinerende portræt af Aage Henriksen, fortsat skabende i feltet mellem videnskab og essay.  

Still: Lemmeke og Neumann som litteraten og digteren i et øjeblik af den 10 år lange samtale, som filmen undersøger på det underfundigste. Klogt og besindigt.

Morten Henriksen: Bag Blixens maske, Danmark 2011, 54 min. Filmen kan ses i fire biografer, i Aalborg, Aarhus, Odense og København.

Litt.: Morten Henriksen: Bag Blixens Maske, samtale med Aage Henriksen (2010), Aage Henriksen: Budbringersken, samlede essays om Karen Blixen (2008)

A Call from Syrian Filmmakers

Syrian human rights activists disappear… The statement below was originally issued as an online petition, but for safety reasons, this petition has now been closed down. Around 1000 film people from all over have signed. However, you can still show your support and solidarity by posting your message to the Syrian filmmakers on Facebook

‘To:  Filmmakers Everywhere

Peaceful Syrian citizens are being killed today for their demands of basic rights and liberties.

It is the same oppression and corruption that kept Syrians prisoners and swallowed their freedom, properties and lives for decades, that is assassinating their bodies and dreams today.

We, the undersigned Syrian filmmakers, believe that a reform which does not start with putting an end to security forces control over our people’s lives and bodies, and with closing an era of shameful political imprisonment for good, is not enough.

Hereby, we call on all filmmakers in the world to contribute to stopping the killing by exposing and denouncing it, and by announcing their solidarity with the Syrian people and with their dreams of justice, equality and freedom.’

DOX 90

What do you do when you sit in an airplane, don’t want to read any more newspapers or have done enough mails for today? Well, I was lucky to have received the new DOX magazine, summer 2011, the 90th edition of the ”European Documentary Film Magazine”. It kept my attention for the a bit more than two hours it takes to go from Frankfurt to Sofia. I was informed and entertained – and simply happy to read about all the good documentaries which are being made.

I have previously saluted the editor, Truls Lie, for his own texts, and will do so again. I liked his worried editorial about ”aestheticizing” a theme like refugees, making them objects ”at the risk of somehow reducing their significant humanity” and he delivers a fine report from the Cinema for Peace ”circus” in Berlin with Sean Penn in the leading role. ”Sustaining Credibility” is the title of an informative and thoughtful article from German Bettina Rehmann, who refers to the many examples of branding within the modern documentary. Some, like the people around the Britdoc Foundation in the UK, live well with and support this development, others are worried that the independence of the documentary will go away.

DOX puts its emphasis on documentaries that are creative and relate to the world we live in. A good choice it is to have an article about ”Into Eternity” after Fukushima, and of course a report from a seminar in Berlin about docs on war has its tragic relevance. But for an old cat like me it is also nice to read an article on art films, where the name Luciano Emmer pops up, the master in this genre. There is also a historical element in the exemplary festival article on the festival Punto de Vista, where the memory of the masterpiece ”Les Statues meurent aussi” (1953) by Alain Resnais is brought back. Exemplary, I write, contrary to many articles in the magazine, because again the editor faces the problem on how to write festivals articles in a different way than by name-dropping of titles. Like Sverre V. Sand does so well. I know it is not easy… but also the critiques could be more precise in analysis, and less content descriptive. Yask Desai reviews Mark Isaacs ”Men of the City” first of all from a formal perspective. Well written and bringing new views.

I have still more to read in this important, high quality film magazine.

DOX, 58 pages, 10€, subscription: 28€, or membership of EDN. Photo from All that Glitters, reviewed in this issue, directed by Tomas Kudrna.

www.dox.dk

www.edn.dk

Rudolf Ming about Himself

Zanda Dudina from the National Film Centre in Latvia read my text about the film on Rudolf Ming, see below. She tells me that Rudolf – 13 at the time of the film, 16 today – now have a real camera and continues to make films. He also has a website where works of him can be watched. From publicity material for the HotDocs screenings, here is an edited text by filmmaking talent Rudolf himself:

Parallel to my regular studies I also attend music and art school, a folk dancing group and choir rehearsals, and train for the biathlon.

It all started when I went to see a movie “by myself” for the first time. By myself. I guess it was the right film at the right moment – Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. This film really spoke to me, and after I watched it I firmly decided that I too will be part of the film world.

The first challenge I needed to solve was how to shape my ideas into a form that others would be able to watch. Because (small problem) – I didn’t have one bit of technology that I could use to make a real film. After thinking about it for a long time I came up with the idea to make paper films – drawing my film plots on strips of paper that I then put into an old projector that my Mother had used to show us Russian folk stories. I was around 11 years-old at the time.  The pseudonym Rūdolf Ming came from the paper film period when I

wanted everything to be like in American cinema. I couldn’t figure out how to write my name. I didn’t know English so I made-up a special language because it seemed to me that everything in real film should be written in a foreign language.

As someone who makes films I of course have the overpowering desire to some day work in my own studio. When this plan came about it was clear that the name is very important. I had these small plastic letters meant for little kids to make play stamps. Of course most of them were lost, and the only reasonable word I could come up with was Muris 89.

How do I make films? In the classic American manner, of course. For example: Universal Studios, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, Icon Productions, Imagine Entertainment etc. Each film has a title, poster and advertising, also created on paper strips. I used this technique until the moment I understood that what I’m lacking is a large editing studio and real American actors. Around that time I received a digital camera and started making films in video format. The first of these is about some pathetic drug-user, played by my little brother. …I’m not as into watching films anymore. I’ve become interested in European films. American films are all the same! I watch the trailers online. Even the credits are the same. All the same! Even animation. That’s how they hope to get audiences interested …

My whole class came to the premiere of Kā Tev klājas, Rūdolf Ming? in Riga. I was abnormally nervous, almost shaking. So many people have come, and they’re going to be watching me … But the film was well received.

I am 16 years old now and everything is bloody simple. The main principle for me is that each film has to be better than the previous one. For example, the name of my first film is Legend of the Forest Witch, but my latest – All or Nothing. Get it? Exactly!

http://www.rudolfsmings.lv/

Sophia Tzavella: Paradise Hotel

It seems to be in the middle of nowhere, and isolated it is, what was meant to be (25 years ago) a place to live, in noble decency, planned to house the Romas by the socialist government. Today block 20 is a pigpen with no water and often no electricity, with garbage all over, people throwing their swill from the balconies, and doing shit anywhere, rats all over. Disgusting living conditions.

The director has chosen a complicated, yet interesting structure. Upfront and towards the last part of the film, she goes with hardcore social documentation: Inside and outside the appartments, talking faces, stories about the unbelievable poverty and why they choose to stay here (what could the alternative be?). In some cases she goes close, in others she stays with a distance. There is a dynamic pace in the narrative, no sentimentalism, this is how it is, carried by a strong musical score. In between there are some staged sequences, for instance with an albino, whose enigmatic silent role in the film I never really understood.

… and then documentation is taken over by Fellini! A marriage is going to be, and colourful and entertaining it becomes with the young couple’s appartment being painted, everyone getting dressed up, music, dance, food, happiness, and a sign saying ”Paradise Hotel”. The director makes a point, dreams of a better world with her protagonists for whom you can only have empathy.

The market is full of films about romas and the living conditions, this is one of the better ones.

Bulgaria, 2010, 54 mins., HBO Central Europe & Agitprop

http://www.agitprop.bg/#/info/home

http://www.taskovskifilms.com/

Roberts Rubins: How are you doing Rudolf Ming?

Good news it is that this Latvian documentary, produced by the studio that carries the name of documentary legend Juris Podnieks, has made it to the Hot Docs festival (see below) and will have three screenings in Toronto in the coming week. It is one of those stories that at first glance seems simple, but actually is multi-layered and leaves you a bit puzzled. There is much more than you see in the straight forward narration about Rudolf Ming and his obsessive talent for making films, or rather drawing films on parchment paper and let it pass through a projector. There is more in Rudolf, anger maybe, a dark side, unwillingness to adapt to normality, even if he seems to be surrounded by a nice family, he is an outsider and the drawing and the piano playing is his escape to the phantasy world. Why is there so much blood in your (horror) film, is the comment of the kind priest, who has discovered Rudolf’s talent and asks him to make a (religious motive) film to be screened in the church. The conversations between priest and Rudolf are the red thread of the film. At one point Rudolf says, I hate films about love… one day that will be a theme for him, of course it will, if he continues to make films. Now he is presented in Canada, a country with a tradition for drawn films, Norman McLaren in memoriam. Not bad, not bad at all!

Latvia, 60 mins., 2010

Festival contacts: National Film Centre of Latvia,: zanda.dudina@nfc.gov.lv

http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/how_are_you_doing_rudolf_ming