Sérgio Tréfaut: Paraiso

White plastic chairs are being arranged in a circle in front of a palace. A show is to begin. A show with lovely people – with a twist from the Beatles text: “All the lovely people where did they all belong, all the lovely people…”. Came to my mind watching Sérgio Tréfaut’s film shot in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, where the director is born, the country he left when a teenager, the country that he has returned to live in. 40 years later. And even if the film is not a political film, as Tréfaut wrote to me, many of the lovely old people singing and dancing have passed away during the pandemic, the film being shot just before covid took over. Read how the director introduces his documentary:

”Elderly people gather every day in the romantic gardens of Catete Palace, the former official residence of the presidents of Brazil from 1867 to 1960, and presently the site of the Museu da República. After sunset, they would tell each other the meaning of life, singing love songs. This film was suddenly interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and became a tribute to a decimated generation.”’

This is of course the aftermath, the tragedy but also the strength of a film, when you see it now, a documentation of a before-Bolsonaro-wonderful-life through songs, performed by people with heart, passion and moving hips, being together on the plastic chairs with the director following some of them to their homes, up the stairs, through many doors and gates to unlock. I read that the singer are called “serestas”, coming from serenades. 

I wrote «documentation», wrong, it is a documentary film, “a little film” Tréfaut wrote to me, maybe for him but for me primarily a warm film, a big tribute to Life and Love that all the songs circle around, made with a big heart. CORAZON is the word; in all the songs you hear that word. 

Portugal, Brazil, France, 74 mins., 2021

Srdan Keca: Museum of the Revolution

To safeguard the truth about us, were the words architect Richter used, when he presented his plan for a Museum of the Revolution to be built in Belgrade in 1961… Director Srdan Keca takes this – with great propaganda archive material – as the starting point for his version of the truth as he sees it in a film that is quite as unconventional as Richter wanted the museum to be. Keca works with several layers surrounding three people, who live in and around the basement of the museum, that is what was left of a vision, conveyed in magic luminous sequences of light coming in to the place, light spots of hope, where Milica and her mother Vera stays together with the old woman Mara, who has no contact to her daughter, who she “gave away” to the social system. In the darkness of poverty they are. Kecha stresses this with compassion, when his camera caresses them, often by taking away the sound staying long on their faces. 

The love relationship between Milica and her mother is beautiful, their life is a constant struggle to survive as polishers of car windows to earn some money to send to the father, who is in prison. The architectural point of view stays in the picture: Modern conventional ugly buildings are constructed now in Belgrade along the river of Sava. Keca paints with his camera in a film that asks the question: Is this what we want to safeguard?

Serbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, 2021, 91 mins.

The film competes in the Luminous section of IDFA with five screenings.

Below a link to a „Creative Dialogue” about the film organised by the IDF (Institute of Documentary Film). Takes place this coming Wednesday 10/11 at 5 pm.

https://dokweb.net/activities/online/2021/upcoming

DOKLeipzig Awards 2021

“Father” earns Golden Dove in International Competition at DOK Leipzig

 

Golden Dove in the German Competition for “A Sound of My Own” | Audience jury awards “Dida” a Golden Dove

The award-winning films of the 64th edition of DOK Leipzig have been chosen. The gala award ceremony for the Golden and Silver Doves was held on Saturday evening before a live audience at Leipzig’s CineStar. 

The Chinese documentary “Father” by Wei Deng has won the Golden Dove in the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film. The director’s first feature film is a portrait of generations about his father and grandfather that depicts tradition and change, violence and alienation in Chinese society. “Sincere, poignant and haunting – the narrative goes beyond what is visible to the eye. It shows the complexity of life and becomes a pure homage to humanity,” the jury’s statement reads. The Golden Dove, which includes 10,000 euros, has been sponsored by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk since 2013. The award was presented by Dr Ulrich Brochhagen, head of MDR’s department of history, documentaries and eastern Europe. The film that earns the Golden Dove in the International Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film qualifies for nomination for the annual ACADEMY AWARDS®, provided it meets the Academy’s standards.

The Silver Dove for the best long documentary or animated film by an emerging director in the International Competition went to Karol Pałka for his first feature-length film, “Bucolic”. This Polish documentary observes a mother and her daughter in their secluded life in the countryside. The jury was impressed by the director’s “fresh and innovative cinematic approach” and highlighted the “sensitive depiction of characters” in the film. “It moves effortlessly around a magical universe with the utmost delicacy and modesty,” said the jury. The 6,000-euro award was sponsored by 3sat. 

The winning long documentaries in the International Competition were selected by Grit Lemke, Anocha Suwichakornpong, Alex Szalat, Katarína Tomková and Raed Yassin. Honourable mentions by the jury went to the documentary “Republic of Silence” by Diana El Jeiroudi as well as to Sarah Noa Bozenhardt and Daniel Abate Tilahun for “among us women”. 

In the German Competition Long Documentary and Animated Film, “A Sound of My Own” by Rebecca Zehr was awarded the Golden Dove. This 

documentary accompanies musician Marja Burchard, who followed in her father’s footsteps and became the bandleader of the legendary Krautrock collective Embryo. She carries on her father’s tradition while seeking her own musical path in a male-dominated industry. “Different materialities and fragments lightly and playfully come together in a composition in which the montage is aware of the specific temporality of cinema,” say jury members Carsten Möller, Gudrun Sommer and Maria Speth. “On the visual as well as the sound level, this extraordinary portrait of an artist is convincing in the way the art of music and the art of documentary film meet.” The 10,000-euro award was sponsored in part by Weltkino Filmverleih GmbH. David Forcht form Weltkino Filmverleih presented the Golden Dove to the filmmaker at the award ceremony.

The Golden Dove in the Competition for the Audience Award Long Documentary and Animated Film, which includes 3,000 euros, was awarded by the audience jury to Nikola Ilić and Corina Schwingruber Ilić for “Dida”. At the centre of the film is the filmmaker’s mother, Dida, who, due to a learning disability, has always been dependent on her mother, but longs for independence. A look at a family in transition. “The film raises various questions: Who is the child, who the adult? How can one live autonomously, how can one take responsibility for a person in need of help? But above all, the film radiates warmth, humour and great joy,” the jury’s statement reads.

In the International Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film, Gugi Gumilang, Marina Koul and Izabela Plucińska chose the recipients of the Golden Doves, each endowed with 3,000 euros. The award for best documentary film went to “Abyssal” by Alejandro Alonso, the documentary observation of a ship scrapyard in western Cuba. The award for best animated film went to Marta Pajek for “Impossible Figures and Other Stories I”, a complex exploration of transience, life and death. These winning films also qualify for nomination for the annual ACADEMY AWARDS®, provided they meet the Academy’s standards. The Indonesian production “Tellurian Drama” by Riar Rizaldi received an honourable mention.

The Silver Dove in the German Competition Short Documentary and Animated Film, which includes 1,500 euros in prize money, went to Tang Han for her documentary “Pink Mao”, an analysis of the 100-yuan note, the largest denomination of Renminbi banknotes in the People’s Republic of China. Honourable mention went to “Happytrail” by Jakob Werner, Thea Sparmeier and Pauline Cremer, an animated short film about female body hair.

The Silver Dove in the Competition for the Audience Award Short Documentary and Animated Film was awarded to Diana Cam Van Nguyen for her animated film “Love, Dad”, in which a young woman comes across a letter her father had written from prison 15 years prior. The award, which includes 1,500 euros, was sponsored by the Leipziger Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Filmkunst e.V. Deputy Chairman Jens Kesseler presented the Silver Dove to the filmmaker. 

Partnership Awards for documentary and animated films in competition

On Saturday afternoon, numerous partner awards were already being presented at the Regina Palast. 

The DEFA Sponsoring Prize, which includes 4,000 euros granted by the DEFA Foundation, went to “Nasim” by Ole Jacobs and Arne Büttner, a portrait of an Afghan woman and her family in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. Jakob Krese and Danilo do Carmo received an honourable mention for “What Remains on the Way”.

The ver.di Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness, which includes 2,500 euros, was also awarded to “Nasim”.

The 3,000-euro MDR Film Prize for an outstanding eastern European documentary film was awarded to the Polish production “The Balcony Movie” by Paweł Łoziński, who, for two years, set up a camera on his balcony and struck up conversations with the passers-by. 

The Film Prize Leipziger Ring honours a documentary film about human rights, democracy or civil engagement, is granted by Stiftung Friedliche Revolution (Foundation of the Peaceful Revolution) and comes with 2,500 euros in prize money. This year’s award went to Rami Farah and Signe Byrge Sørensen for “Our Memory Belongs to Us”, in which Syrian activists now in Paris use video clips to recapitulate their experiences fighting in the Syrian civil war.

The Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize was awarded to the documentary film “Republic of Silence” by Diana El Jeiroudi, whose complex montage encompasses the disintegration of Syria and life in exile in Germany. The award comes with 2,000 euros in prize money, licensing, and subtitling in eight languages.

The 2,000-euro Young Eyes Film Award, granted by Leipziger Stadtbau AG, went to Johanna Seggelke for her coming-of-age story “Reality Must Be Addressed”. The prize was awarded by the Youth Jury in cooperation with Filmschule Leipzig e.V.

The 1,750-euro Prize of the Interreligious Jury was awarded to Cléo Cohen for her film “May God Be with You”, an attempt to reconcile her Arab and Jewish selves by posing questions to her grandparents. The award is granted by the Interreligiöser Runder Tisch Leipzig, the Oratorium zu Leipzig and VCH-Hotels Deutschland GmbH – im Verband Christlicher Hoteliers e.V., including Hotel MICHAELIS Leipzig.

The Prize of the International Film Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) has gone to “Words of Negroes”. In this film, Sylvaine Dampierre has the workers of an old sugar refinery read passages from the transcripts of an 1842 court case, in which slaves testified against their violent master.

The mephisto 97.6 Award went to Mahboobeh Kalaee for the animated Iranian film “The Fourth Wall”, in which a stuttering boy transforms an Iranian kitchen into a fantastic cosmos. 

The Gedanken-Aufschluss Prize went to “The Crossing” by Florence Miailhe. The prize was awarded by a jury of prisoners of the Juvenile Detention Centre Regis-Breitingen.

Awards presented as part of DOK Industry

As part of the industry platform DOK Industry, five awards were presented during the festival week.

Awarded in the DOK Co-Pro Market:

Culture and Tourism Division of the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (along with 5,000 euros): “Broken Flower” by Sarvnaz Alambeigi (Iran)
The prize is donated by: State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts

Current Time TV Award (along with 1,500 euros): “Cadillac Dreams” by Elene Mikaberidze (Georgia, France)
The prize is donated by: Current Time TV

The EWA Diverse Voices Award (along with 1,000 euros and a year-long mentorship by DOK Leipzig): “The Woman Who Poked the Leopard” by Patience Nitumwesiga (Uganda)
The prize is donated by: EWA – European Women’s Audiovisual Network

Presented at DOK Preview Germany:

D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize (post-production grant of 10,000 euros): “President’s Tailor – From Auschwitz to the White House” by Rick Minnich (Germany, USA)
The prize is donated by: D-Facto Motion GmbH

Presented for the first time at DOK Short n’ Sweet:

Square Eyes Festival Consultation Award (along with a festival strategy consultation by Square Eyes): “Me & Her” by Eldar Basmanov & Ahmed Fouad Ragab (Estonia, Russia, Egypt)
The prize is donated by: Square Eyes

A total of around 170 films and extended reality works were shown in the Leipzig venues during the week of the festival. 

After the festival, a selection of the films can also be viewed online throughout Germany in the DOK Stream from 1 to 14 November 2021, including all of the films that have received a Golden or Silver Dove.

https://www.dok-leipzig.de/

Maradia Tsaava: Water Has No Borders

First some background:

Since the end of the civil war in the early 1990s, the region of Abkhazia has been acting independently of Georgia. This has turned a massive dam into a border. But the hydroelectric power station also connects the two political entities: Because over a distance of fifteen kilometres the water flows freely, underground, from one side to the other. When a young journalist gets stranded here, stories of division emerge.

On the way back from a reportage trip to the dam, director Maradia and her cameraman’s car breaks down. Ika takes care of them. For decades, the joyous engineer has worked – in cooperation with his colleagues on the Abkhazian territory – on the maintenance of the plant. Maradia, representative of a whole generation of Georgians who know this place of longing on the Black Sea only from stories, becomes curious. But while the workers take the bus across the border every morning, the film crew is thwarted by bureaucracy. Time and again they are denied passage. This turns out to be fortunate for the film, because waiting for the permission, in the cafeteria of the dam, in driving around the river, the stories of people emerge whose lives are shaped by the secession. They talk of legal and clandestine border crossings, weddings and funerals and of life in the here and there. (Written by Marie Kloos, taken from the website of DOKLeipzig).

And then my evaluation:

… of a film that is shown at DOKLeipzig (world premiere) and is in the international competition section. A film that took me by heart and mind. The latter because again you are faced with the stupidity of humanity, another border, in this case a border at a dam with a tunnel that reaches both sides – Georgia and Abkhazia. A separation of people, of human beings who can not visit their relatives. Every morning Georgian workers cross the border to meet checkpoints with permits in their hands and then in the evening they go back again. Yet water has no borders and the two sides profit from the power of nature: electricity is provided.

… of a film that impressed me visually. It must have been the best job ever of cameraman Nik Voigt, who is giving the viewer stunning images of the colossal dam architecture and its mountain surroundings, the blue sky and more often the clouds, the fog, different angles and then down to the tunnel or filming the power of the water of the Enguri river. Up and down. With the accompanying noise, thanks for having some longer silent sequences that invite the viewer to “just” reflect and enjoy.

… of a film with wonderful persons introduced by and/or talked to by the director Maradia (also called Maro) Tsavaa. I hate the word “character”, therefore “persons” or protagonists, real people from the real world. I want to mention the three that appear first in the credits: Irakli Pipia, Roza Tsotsonava, Luda Akobia Holodova. All three with stories about relatives, about childhood and upbringing, about hard lives, about (Roza) being allowed to cross the border one time, three years ago to go to a funeral! About finally getting a fridge for the food she serves with Luda in the cafeteria. Politics – some officials can get the permit, “we can not ». But it is not only bitterness, it’s also memories from before the separation, when the river was surrounded by villages.

Number one, however, is Ika, who is close to the director all the time and who drives and walks her close to the border, who likes a beer or two, who is full of joy and yet says, sarcastically and with sadness in one of the excellent sequences with him and the director in his car : « Hurray we are alive ». Cut immediately to the two, Ika and Maro, dancing wildly to « Long Tall Sally » ! The film’s comment to Ika and his enjoying Life. Great. And after that a dancing girl, georgian music. A film that took me by heart and mind.

Georgia, France, 2021, 85 mins.

Nikola and Corina Ilić: Dida

Full names: Nikola Ilić and Corina Schwingruber Ilić – I had seen (some of) their previous short works, the lovely ”Rakijada” and the aesthetical perfect ”All Inclusive”, both films that have travelled to short film festivals all over – and I have been in love with Belgrade and rakija for many many years. And I have met the fine directors.

So now you know why I was positive before the screening, and that impression stayed after having been with the son Nikola, his mother Dida and his granny, not to forget Corina, married to Nikola and with him in the hard and sweet life with mother and granny. The latter, who in the beginning of the film is very much present, a strong person who takes care of her grown up daughter in their small flat. Not an easy task for the old woman, who tells Nikola to step into her role, when she is no longer there. The problem is that Nikola and Corina live and work in Switzerland and Dida has problems dealing with life’s many challenges. And she feels lonely now that granny has passed away in a film that is shot over – at least – 4 years. Nikola and Corina move into her place, get their own appartment in Belgrade, help Dida in all thinkable ways, it’s not easy when she has spent her full pension after two days buying «things» at the Chinese market. The fridge is empty.

Dida visits the two in Switzerland but returns to Belgrade and the stray dogs, she feeds. Nikola and Corina give her a dog, she is happy but does not really know what it means to take care of a dog… «She’s getting on my nerves», Nikola says, a lady moves into Dida to help, good, but still «don’t go, stay with me» says Dida to her son and Corina.

Family Life, social reality, generations it’s all there and I enjoyed to be there because of the tone of the film, which is far from being crying but full of warmth and the humour that comes from Dida, primarily, from her original take on life. I am sure spectators will identify with family situations like these. And love the film like I did. Hvala!

Switzerland/Serbia, 2021, 78 mins.

DOKLeipzig 2021, in Competition for Audience Award. 

DOK Leipzig 2021

“At this year’s edition of DOK Leipzig, a total of 63,250 euros in prize money will be awarded. In addition, there are non-cash benefits worth 10,000 euros that filmmakers will be able to use in developing their films…”

A quote from today’s press release from the classic documentary and animation film festival in Leipzig. The 64th edition! A festival that I have loved to attend many many times, a couple of times as a juror and/or sitting in the marketplace’s always well organized video library or going to the cinema. And having a good glass of wine or a beer with the currywurst. This year the festival shows 170 films in the cinemas (October 25 – 31) followed by DOK Stream, 70 films as video on demand (November 1-14). And I will be online, alas.

A quick look into some of the sections with some name-dropping. There is a retrospective that is – as usual at this festival – serious and well curated historical. Here is the intro: “With the division of Germany, Hitler’s empire finally disappeared from the map. But in the new states, the old Germans lived on: perpetrators and onlookers of the mass murder of Europe’s Jews. For both the GDR and FRG, dealing with the Holocaust became a moral touchstone – a standard by which they measured themselves and their neighbour. We look at German-German alternating and counter views, at films about guilt, at images of “Jewishness” that show “Germanness”.” There are films by Heynowski, Farocki, Alain Resnais, Jean-Marie Straub..

In the international competition I will definitely look fwd. to watch the long awaited film by long time friend Diana El Jeiroudi, entitled “Republic of Silence”, 183 minutes,… “Diana, who lives in exile in Germany with her husband, sorts out: the recent history of Syria and its people, whom it has scattered to the four winds.”

And some films I will recommend from the 170: Stefan Pavlovic “Looking for Horses” (reviewed: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4948/), “The Balcony Movie” by Polish Pawel Lozinski, “Flee” by Danish Jonas Poher Rasmussen (http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4890/)

, and from the same Danish production company Final Cut for Real “Our Memory Belongs to Us” by Rami Farah and Signe Byrge Sørensen. Pavlovic film is in the DocAlliance competition, the other three compete in Audience Competition for long films where the festival has decided (wisely I think) to have a jury from the audience, I guess to avoid the voting after each screening on paper to be collected and counted.

And then an homage to Avi Mograbi with the title “Secret Agent Avi”, haha, not funny honey and why only three of this master in modern documentary?

And if I may continue my light-grumpy mood… why are there no films from any of the Baltic countries or Russia? DOK Leipzig has always been looking to the East including films from USSR & now Russia. No correspondents any longer? 

… not to forget, DOK Leipzig has a fine industry section, makes a priority out of having good talks and Q&A’s and a special DOK Neuland exhibition that you who go should visit.

https://www.dok-leipzig.de

Ji.hlava IDFF 25 Years!

25 years, still alive and kicking, young and fresh – is the impression I get from going through the website of the film festival in the Czech provincial town that is full of films, of Cinema from October 10 till October 31. 

The festival’s visual logo is lovely, copy paste from the site: – The official spot of the 25th Ji.hlava IDFF has been designed by the poet and filmmaker Khavn, who thanks to his desire to trespass the borders of film expression, belongs among the most prominent personalities of Philippine cinema. His work was presented in the section Translucent Being at Ji.hlava 2006.“Khavn is a prominent figure on the contemporary independent scene in the Philippines, and the Ji.hlava IDFF has been following his predominantly provocative and surprising work for fifteen years. Khavn himself has also been collaborating with Ji.hlava: he is currently leading the Ji.hlava Academy workshop for emerging filmmakers, and has been among the jurors and authors of the festival diary,” says Marek Hovorka, the director of the festival. And be aware that on the website you will also find a thought provoking poem by Khavn.

They make excellent press releases at this festival, so my job is to pick and copy paste so it fits the format of a film blog like this. Here are some more words from Hovorka: ” “We want to draw on the experience of the last two years. In 2019, Ji.hlava had a very festive and summer-like atmosphere, while last year we took the online opportunity to attract thousands of new viewers and bring documentary cinema to their attention. This year we would like to combine these two aspects,” explains Marek Hovorka, commenting on the hybrid concept of the festival, which will for the first time take place both live and online.”

… with  three hundred films including the latest Czech and international documentary cinema, a unique retrospective of Romanian experimental film, and a section dedicated to the American thinker and essayist Susan Sontag.

”The main Opus Bonum international competition features fifteen titles. Eleven films will be screened in their world premiere, and four will have their international premiere at Ji.hlava… I only know one of the film, reviewed two days ago on this site: Andrei Kutsila’s «When Flowers are not Silent ».

The 25 short docs in Ji.hlava’s Short Joy competition section – all in world or international premiere – are now available online for free at dafilms.com and the jury is audiences across the world. The voting starts today and ends on October 24…Chapeau for having a short film section ».

There are so many other sections, let me just point at the non-competitive « Constellations » that include films by Sergei Loznitsa, Pawel Lozinski, Marc Isaacs and Jay Rosenblatt.

Do your research, lucky you who are able to be in cinemas in Ji.hlava, lucky you who can watch online without being geo-blocked – take a look at

https://www.ji-hlava.com/

Congratulations!

Andrei Kutsila: When the Flowers are not Silent

There is still a media focus on Belarus – but now it seems that the first priority is the latest criminal action by Lukashenko and his regime: the flying in of migrants to Belarus pushing them on to the Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian borders, where they are met with wire and walls financed by the EU, including the country I live in, Denmark… Humanity?

There will be films about this. But luckily we are still met with not only reports but also films made by Belarussian filmmakers on the situation on the background of what happened primarily in August 2020, where the big demonstrations took place and was met with brutality and detainment of thousands of people; hundreds are still in prison and many of those, who are not suffer from nightmares and traumas.

Andrei Kutsila’s new film gives the audience a close look at the human consequences of living in a country being in opposition. The film is dedicated to the bravery of the women, mothers and grandmothers including family of the director. It is moving and heartbreaking to witness the goodbye scenes of a family, where the father, whose one leg was hit by a grenade leaves for Poland, being in facetime contact with his wife and kids. “Will dad walk again”? As well as following Oksana in conversation with her son Sasha about what is a state and what is a country, and why does the EU countries not help more; being hit by lack of energy and apathy constantly studying the atrocities documented and conveyed on cell phones. Two families but also footage shot in front of the prison, where women are hoping and waiting to hear from their men. 

And yet, the flowers are not silent – young girls pick them everyone as Pete Seeger sang – Oksana writes on a piece of paper that she goes to demonstrate – don’t tell dad! And Kutsila catches beautiful moments with Oksana and her mother enjoying the taste of a pear picked by her father, hugging each other, “I’m so happy to have such a young mother”. There is love in that film not only despair. “Long Live Belarus”, “You Must Go”.

Poland, 2021, 71 mins. 

The film won main documentary award at the Warsaw Film Festival two days ago. Kutsila has made several impressive films, for instance “Summa”, here is a link to a review on this blog: http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/4410/.

Samir Karahoda: Displaced

With the working title ”Table Stories”. The producer Erol Bilibani asked me for feedback on the film – no objections, on the contrary, love it. The film shows perfectly how strong a short film can be if you master the short format and if you know the film language that fits. Making a film with table tennis as the direct subject, you have to know where to put the camera to make it interesting to watch, to find the visual line and to find the right rythm in editing, a rythm that works with the sound of the table tennis ball. That the film is much more than a sports film is obvious – also from the title – but I will leave that to the audience… Instead a qoute from an interview with the director on Europe House (https://europehouse-kosovo.com/kosovo-is-a-small-country-but-with-great-stories-samir-karahoda-author-of-the-film-no-place/ :

… ” After having its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Samir Karahoda’s “Displaced” won Best Short Film award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and qualified directly to compete for Oscars 2022.” 

Content-wise I have copy-pasted this text, taken from the website of the Kosovo Cinematography Center:

“After Kosovo’s independence the first internationally recognized sports federation was the one of Table Tennis. Two local Ping-Pong enthusiasts see this as a great opportunity and start self-financing the training sessions for young players. One of them returns to Kosovo after seven years of exile in Germany, in a hope that postwar country will offer prosperity and new business opportunities. He works as a house painter, while the other character of the film is a professional bartender. Their scarce leisure time is completely invested in supporting the local team to prepare for international competitions. 

The challenges they will face goes beyond ones imagination.

Their professional Tennis Table is in constant move, on a tractor, searching the training venues. Garages, warehouses, private basements and wedding salons turn into training rooms, usually for a short period of time, and usually getting evicted after 2 weeks of training. Within one year they move to at least 10 unusual locations.

Main characters of the film always meet in a local bar to discuss solution for their training space. At a bar, young people – usually unemployed, discuss complex world politics and other bizarre themes. Our main characters, although sportsmen in spirit that lead a healthy life, powerless to find a solution end up joining the odd conversations on American foreign policy, corruption in powerful states, religion and other bizarre themes over a alcoholic beverage. 

15 years later, the Table Tennis team still trains in the hallways of the sport center.”

Kosovo, 2021, 20 mins.

Diane Weyermann Passed Away Yesterday

So sad news. Only 66 years old. Lucky us who met Diane and learned from her generosity, passion and knowledge. Always with a smile. My wife and I visited her briefly in Venice CA, had brunch in the sunshine and saw her beautiful house. And talked about ”her” times in Europe working for George (Soros) as she put it. Staying with this flashback, in 2012 I wrote the following on this blog:

Hot Docs gives a Doc Mogul Award every year and there shall be no objection, not at all, on the contrary, to the choice of recipient this year. For this blogger, when he was at EDN (European Documentary Network), Diane Weyermann was a key person for the development of the documentary scene in a new and free Eastern Europe way back in the middle of the 1990’s. She came to many of the EDN workshops in the region and she was precise, warm and generous in her support to documentary films, when she launched the Soros Documentary Fund in 1996. Personally I remember having made an interview for DOX with Diane in New York and met a committed and modest person with a big love to the creative documentary. And a woman with a working and walking pace (down the streets of Manhattan) that was quite different from the Nordic tradition! She managed to transform the Soros Documentary Fund into the Sundance Documentary Fund before she went to (taken from the HotDocs site) “Participant Media, where she has overseen such documentary projects as the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning FOOD INC., WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE, JIMMY CARTER MAN FROM PLAINS, DARFUR NOW, and the Academy Award-winning AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH.” In the funds and in the company, Weyermann has been involved with the production of over 300 documentary films from around the world. The most well deserved documentary recognition I could think of.

RIP.