NFB: Watch Hundreds of Films Online

I have been surfing around on the site of NFB for an hour now. I have seen some trailers, I have seen clips from some of the films that I remember from a long festival life, and from the imports that was done when I was employed at the National Film Board of Denmark (Statens Filmcentral). Yes, down memory lane, but also down film history lane when you think about the excellent films that has come from the Canadian sister organisation: animation films by Caroline Leaf and the master himself Norman McLaren (photo), documentary films by Colin Low and direct cinema pioneers Roman Kroitor, Wolf Koenig and Michel Brault. At least a hundred NFB films were offered the Danish audience on 16mm, and if with dialogue and commentary, with Danish subtitles or in a Danish version. And from today “RIP” and “Up the Yangtze”, just to mention a couple that is available online by a click from your home computer in Denmark. Much easier than your home access to the Danish documentary history! Go Canadian, DFI, Danish Film Institute, and learn from them how to advertise. At the NFB site, for all titles, both those you can watch online and for those where only a trailer is watchable – there is information about where to buy a dvd or where to download with prices etc. Pure pleasure for one, who was educated librarian maaany decades ago. But start here:

Create your NFB profile today.Enjoy documentaries, animations, alternative dramas and interactive productions on the web, on your personalized home page, or on your iPhone. Don’t forget to check out our trailers, playlists and upcoming online releases. Free for personal use and on a subscription basis for schools and institutions.

www.nfb.ca

Danish Documentary/Status

Twice per year the Danish Film Institute (DFI) invites the national documentary filmmakers, distributors, promoters and bureaucrats, including television people, to meet for information and inspiration. The first meeting took place on monday this week, a so-called ”DOK-dag” (Documentary Day) was arranged, the second meeting will take place at the European Film College a weekend late August.

It was an optimistic Head of Production, former producer Claus Ladegaard, who gave us some headlines: ”Armadillo” by Janus Metz had sold 135.000 cinema tickets, ”Burma vj” by Anders Østergaard had received its 50th international award, there were more than 1 million tv viewers for ”Armadillo”, ”Tommy” (Danish pop star) by Sami Saif and ”The Home Front” by Phie Ambo, the special documentary distribution initiative DoxBio had done pretty well in its attempt to get documentaries shown around Denmark – and funding-wise it was strong that the new 4 year film agreement with the Ministry of Culture included more money for the creative documentary through the consultant system. In 2011 each of the two documentary consultants will have 15 million DKK, which is a bit more than 2 mio.€, to support production of documentaries. The consultant for children docs and shorts will have a bit less.

For this money 30-35 documentaries are to be made every year. To talk about access a representative from the Distribution department of the DFI told that 240.000 online screenings had been organised, of the 1000 films that are available – primarily in the educational circuit. Schools have subscriptions for the films available through ”Filmstriben”, for libraries goes the same but the individual public library can put a limit on how many films a user can have per month – the more screenings through the libraries, the more expensive it gets. The DFI considers to introduce another system to reach the homes.

www.dfi.dk

Kaspar Schröder Danish Multi Artist

From the DOK Dag (see above): Could have listened to and watched much more of the work of multi artist Kaspar Schröder, an original talent, who also makes films and has got a lot of well deserved praise for his ”The Invention of Dr. Nakamats” and ”The Playground”. I write also, as Schröder, visit his excellent site, is a painter, a photographer, a furniture designer, a graphic artist… he prefers to make all by himself when he films and he is able to get a distinct graphic expression into his work. He told us about how he worked with the showman Dr. Nakamats, who wanted to be in control and always addressed the camera. ”When I discovered that, I made the decision to use it as a stylistical element” , said Schröder who also said that he immediately starts to frame when he enters a room, and that he often has a composer, and music, connected to a film when he starts filming.

Schröder, definitely a refreshing new talent in Danish documentary, is working on a new film, also from Japan. This is what is to be found on the site of DFI:

“No one understands me”, says Mr. Ryuichi, father, husband and keeper of secrets. Mr. Ryuichi, the protagonist of Kaspar Astrup Schröder’s I Want to Cheer Up Ltd., is head of a clandestine business of professional stand-ins. With his portrait of the iconic Dr. Nakamats last year, Kaspar Astrup Schröder moves to the other end of the scale in his choice of a protagonist in his new film I Want to Cheer Up Ltd. Here we have a man who conducts his second life after hours, unobserved by even his immediate family.

Mr. Ryuichi and his 32 employees are professional stand-ins, part of a growing service sector catering for clients who are in need of a companion – a spouse, relative, friend, colleague, boy or girlfriend – to accompany them to social functions such as weddings and funerals. The film explores how Mr. Ryuichi juggles with so many secrets and why his clients cannot bear public scrutiny of their personal lives. Not able to be the ubiquitous dad or face up to his own shortcomings, Mr. Ryuichi finds satisfaction in being a stand-in for other families. But, is this giving him a better life? – Mette Heide, +plus pictures, produces the films of Kaspar Schröder.

www.drnakamatsmovie.com

www.kasparworks.com

http://www.pluspictures.dk/COMING_SOON.html

www.dfi.dk

Vaclav Klaus on Camera

Below is a text about a new Danish television documentary, ”The President”, which describes the absurd process that lead to the nomination of totally unknown haiku-poet and politician, Belgian Herman van Rompuy, as President of the EU – according to Romani Prodi and Joshka Fischer an evidence of the fall of the European project.

It is quite entertaining, well made, but maybe it does not bring anything clever or new to the table, it stays on the surface, reviewer Allan Berg thinks.

An EU sceptic, Czech President Vaclav Klaus (Photo from March this year, Klaus and Sarkozy), however, brings something new to the table: a not very well hidden cleptomania performed during a press meeting in Chile. Oooops, was I on camera? Take a look on your own on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdobFPqr8c4

Christoffer Guldbrandsen: Præsidenten

Det er så ikke, som man ellers efter pressebilledet kunne tro, Romano Prodi, der fortæller historien. Det er Guldbrandsen selv, som er fortælleren, i hvert fald af den journalistiske, handlingsbaserede historie, som er bundet i hans speak. Det er nok de fire klippere, som står for musikken, for rytmen og selve spændingen. Og spændende er det, det er bestemt en god film, en flot film, en underholdende film. Men jeg er ikke sikker på, det er en klog film. Jeg er ikke overbevist om, at Guldbrandsens historiefortælling når dybere end skolebogens oversigt, teksten har ligesom ikke litterær værkhøjde, og kun enkelte steder får klippet lov at fortælle selv, så filmisk når den heller ikke vingefang. Og så savnede jeg sådan tid til Prodis analyse, til Fischers. Nok deres især. Men, hvor er det dog netop spændende og flot med alle disse super-egoer i præcise klip fra alle de mange kampe. Imidlertid, den store film med den samlende skildring af hele kampen og selve kampen om det politiske projekt, Europas forfatning og Europas præsident, er det ikke.   

Christoffer Guldbrandsen: Præsidenten, Danmark 2011, 52 min. DR2 Dokumania 12. april 21:00. Guldbrandsens filmografi: Fogh bag facaden (2003), Rødvinsgenerationen (2004), Lykketoft finale (2005), Den hemmelige krig (2006), Dagbog fra midten (2009).

Lozinski: Father and Son

I met Pawel Lozinski at DocsBarcelona, I have known him for many years, appreciating the films he has made (in Barcelona was shown “Sisters” and “Chemo”). He told me about the film project he and his father, Marcel, is working on. Do I need to write that Marcel Lozinski is one of the masters of documentary cinema, with – for me at least and many others, I am sure – “Anything Can Happen” as the crown jewel in his production. Among many other works. The Polish Film Institute has published dvd boxes of the works of father and son – with English subtitles. But back to the film project, maybe to be edited and finished this year. Here is a description, written by Pawel:

My father and I get into an old camper and head for Paris where, 23 years ago, he dispersed his mother’s ashes in the Luxembourg Garden. Our trip will take two weeks. We’re both documentary filmmakers so we’ve decided to make a film recording the journey. We stop at camper parks or gas stations for the night. We each have a camera to keep the conditions fair and so we’re both the directors and protagonists at the same time. My father is 70, I am 44. We discuss various things – family history, difficult past, my father’s divorces. Any question is allowed. The journey is a pretext to get to know each other a little better. A cinematic-psychological experiment about the father-son relationship. Once in the editing room, will we be able to create a single version that would be acceptable to both?

http://www.filmneweurope.com/

http://www.pisf.pl/en/about/structure  (ask here about where to get the dvd-boxes)

Carsten Foldbæk: Med døden som makker

Jeg synes, det er uheldigt, at DR2 og Carsten Foldbæk leverer os dokumentarisk sjusk og blot i slutteksterne indrømmer, at billederne ikke passer til det, som fortælles. Det er så synd at billeddække Helge Hansens fornemme fortælling med et arkivmateriale så genbrugt og genbrugt eller misvisende eller direkte utroværdigt, så den forvirrende aflæsning af det næsten overskygger hans reelle og autentiske tilstedeværelse i billedet, en medvirkende-præstation, som fortjener at stå alene uden forstyrrelse, med mindre arkivmaterialet er udsøgt sjældent og hundrede procent dækkende. Man var altså blevet klar over svagheden, der var et skilt, som undskyldende fortalte at dækbillederne ikke nødvendigvis havde med de begivenheder at gøre, som Helge Hansen fortalte om. Jeg vil opfordre DR2 til at få den dokumentar rettet eller klippet om og sendt igen i den historisk og topografisk korrekte ramme og billeddækning, den fortjener.

Helge Hansen er tidligere modstandsmand og overlevede tortur, dødsdom og Neuengamme-ophold. Han er en præcis og klar og usentimental fortæller, og han er selvfølgelig den egentlige autor til det trods alvorlige fejl, han ikke er skyld i, gribende og seværdige fortælling.  

Carsten Foldbæk: Med døden som makker, Danmark, 54 min. DR2 dokumentar, kan ses på 

http://www.dr.dk/NU/playerrett/#/med-doeden-som-makker/7536  

Alexandru Solomon: Capitalism. Our Improved Formul

20 years after the change – in Romania after the end of the Ceaucescu regime. How would he, Ceaucescu, look upon/see his country today, if he came down from the skies? Solomon, experienced Romanian director, lets the dictator come back through the use of some archive material, come back to meet the new leaders of the country, businessmen and politicians, who made it from – for several of them – positions in the Securitate to the top. Very often with battles with Justice, accusations of money laundring, general corruption – in surroundings where commercials cover the houses of the streets in Bucharest and the People’s Palace is open for market economy events and the parliament.

Solomon’s film is an intelligent interpretative presentation of a reality that could go for many former Eastern European countries who got their freedom but is still pretty poor. It includes a fine piece of journalistic research – amazing that Solomon could get all these semi-criminals to take part, they must have known that he was there to promote them!? – combined with ”childish” animation sequences and funny camera placements and effects. Much more than a reportage or a investigative documentary, entertaining as well, playful.

Today you can’t be succesful unless you steal, as says one of the filthy rich Romanians in the film.

Romania, 76 mins., 2010

http://www.alexandrusolomon.ro/

Hugues le Paige: The Prince

The director of this film used to be a strong and passionate commissioning editor at RTBF, the French language Belgian public broadcaster. He left when the channel decided to be less active in the commitment to the creative documentary. Le Paige wrote articles and a book about the overall decline of the public broadcasters involvement – as a colleague said to me some days ago: he predicted the crisis as it unfolds right now. For this blogger, in the early days of the EDN (European Documentary Network), it was always a pleasure to have le Paige in a pitching panel with his commitment and critical constructive encouragement to the filmmakers to fight on for quality against mainstream sensationalistic tabloid.

As this film shows, le Paige masters the personal reflection, in this case, on the relation between those who film and those who are being filmed. Who is in power, who is in control, and how is the power performed. le Paige goes back to the material he shot with Francois Mitterrand towards the end of his presidency. The President had given him carte blanche to film during meetings, when he was working at his desk, on visits to his childhood home or to the potential voters in the countryside. We observe the superb controller charmingly conveying what he wants to convey, at the first glance innocent and spontaneous, but you discover his fine way of manipulation, he knows exactly what kind of questions he wants to be put, he is very much conscious about his ”image”. What is seen is a very charismatic man who is in total control with the media.

le Paige wonders what he could say to ”find the truth” and still be free. You might say that the director is a bit naive in retrospect… but great it is to watch the charismatic Mitterrand explode in front of the camera and at the same time, as written, be in total, charming control.

Belgium, 2011, 52 mins.

http://www.arturomio.com/

Erika Hníkova: Matchmaking Mayor

It is not the first time a film about a village with unmarried singles is being made these years. Seems to be a trend! And as the Greek one (”Sugartown”) and the Serbian one (”Village Without Women”) this one from Czech Republic, taking place in Slovakia, is warm and sweet to experience. At the same time as it is describing a provincial community, where daughters often stay with their mums and sons with their mothers as well. The older generation claims that they would love to see their children married, at the same time as they want the grown-up kids to stay at home, simply for their own sake, to avoid loneliness. The mayor, a former general, does what he can, but is not very succesful neither with his attempt to matchmake through a party planned for months, nor with his speeches that reaches the population via loudspeakers on every street corner.  

The director’s voice is heard, when she goes around to make first hand research. She asks questions on our behalf, she enjoys the confidence of the characters and gets good material to bring home. Something happens to the characters during the film, we get closer to them, but real close, no, there are still a natural lot of shyness when it comes to Love. And there should be, this blogger thinks. Zemplinske Hamre is the name of the village, probably the one and only time you hear about it!

80 mins., Czech Republic & Slovak Republic.

http://www.dokweb.net/en/