Bibliotekets filmsamling/3

Jeg har efterhånden vænnet mig til, at biblioteket i min by er en filial af mit lands samlede biblioteksvæsen. Så jeg kalder det bare biblioteket, det hele. Der er i samlingen ikke kun, hvad der står på hylderne lige derhenne, selv om det er afgørende vigtigt. Samlingen til rådighed er i princippet alle landets biblioteker. Det har været sådan meget længe for bøgernes vedkommende.

Nu er ved at blive på samme måde for med filmene. Og for filmsamlingens vedkommende er der jo to dele, DVD-samlingen, fordelt på en række filialer, som kan nås og bestilles via Bibliotek.dk og så den netbaserede samling på Filmstriben.dk, som endnu ikke er så omfattende.

Så den kigger jeg på først det er lettest. Jeg vil lige se, hvilke af de film, vi har været glade for og har skrevet om her på siden, hvilke at dem, der kan ses på Filmstriben.dk. Jeg tager dem, jeg finder vigtigst og laver link til vores omtale eller anmeldelse her på Filmkommentaren og til deres startside på Filmstriben, hvor man kan vælge at se de første par minutter eller hele filmen på sin computer:

Anders Østergaard: Burma VJ (2009) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben 

Jon Bang Carlsen: Purity Beats Everything (2007)Filmkommentaren Filmstriben 

Jytte Rex: Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (2007) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Michael Christoffersen: Milosevic on Trial (2007) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Ari Folman: Waltz with Bashir (2008) Filmkommentaren + Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Annette Mari Olsen og Katia Forbert Petersen: Mit iranske paradis (2008) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Janus Metz: Fra Thailand til Thy (2007) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Ulla Boye: Kun med hjertet kan man rigtig se (2008) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Steen Møller Rasmussen: Fotografi (2006) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Michael Moore: Sicko (2007) Filmkommentaren Filmstriben

Se ovenstående som Filmkommentarens anbefaling af Filmstriben. 10 film, som vi kan lide, som vi har beskæftiget os med. 10 film af “vores slags”… Selvfølgelig kan vi finde flere.

www.filmstriben.dk

Toronto Int Film Festival Documentary Boost

The Toronto International Film Festival (September 9-19) is first of all known for its high quality feature film programme focusing on originality and innovation but due to the renaissance of the creative documentary, the festival now also treats that genre with respect and big names, as you can see in the list below of films. This is how they present it, and for our Danish readers who read Allan Berg’s praise of today of Errol Morris, and share his point of view, it all starts with the announcement of a new film by the director. From a Danish point of view it is very much worth mentioning that the long awaited “Erotic Man” (photo) by Jørgen Leth will have its world Premiere in Toronto. The press release runs like this, wow there is much to expect in other festivals, it is worldwide, it has a lof of well known names and alas, of course again with the unfair and incompetent exclusion of documentaries from Eastern Europe…:

TIFF proudly presents a veritable who’s who of documentary filmmaking as Errol Morris explores a woman’s bizarre search for one true love in Tabloid, Thom Zimny reveals Bruce Springsteen’s creative process in The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, Kim Longinotto tracks an Indian feminist group in Pink Saris, and Werner Herzog films humankind’s earliest known images in 3-D in Cave of Forgotten Dreams. These are a few of the high-profile world premieres among the documentaries screening at this year’s Festival… the list goes on

Gala

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town Thom Zimny, USA
World Premiere
The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town takes us into the studio with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for the recording of their fourth album. Grammy and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny has collaborated with Springsteen on this documentary, gaining access to never before seen footage shot between 1976-1978, capturing home rehearsals and recording sessions that allow us to see Springsteen’s creative process at work.

Masters

Erotic Man Jørgen Leth, Denmark
World Premiere
Danish master Jørgen Leth travels the globe in this sensual, provocative and sometimes autobiographical essay film about a man searching … searching the world for the nature of the erotic.

Nostalgia for the Light Patricio Guzmán, France/Germany/Chile
North American Premiere
In Chile’s Atacama Desert, astronomers peer deep into the cosmos in search

for answers concerning the origins of life. Nearby, a group of women sift through the sand searching for body parts of loved ones, dumped unceremoniously by Pinochet’s regime. Master filmmaker Patricio Guzmán contemplates the paradox of their quests.

Real to Reel

ANPO Linda Hoaglund, Japan/USA
World Premiere
ANPO depicts resistance to U.S. military bases in Japan through an electrifying collage of paintings and photographs, as well as animated, narrative and documentary films by Japan’s foremost contemporary artists.

Armadillo Janus Metz, Denmark
North American Premiere
Winner of Cannes Critics Week, Armadillo is a harrowing portrayal of the current conflict in Afghanistan. The film follows a contingent of Danish troops into the chaos of combat in a way that stirs debate over the rules of engagement.

Boxing Gym Frederick Wiseman, USA
North American Premiere
Documentary master Frederick Wiseman explores the world of a boxing gym in Austin, Texas, dwelling on the discipline of training as people from all walks of life aspire to reach their personal best.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams Werner Herzog, USA
World Premiere
Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting. He puts 3-D technology to a profound use, taking us back in time over 30,000 years.

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Alex Gibney, USA
World Premiere
Investigating the sex scandal that forced New York’s Governor to resign, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney gains revelatory interviews from Spitzer, his most frequent escort and his Wall Street enemies that bring new perspective on his downfall.

Cool It Ondi Timoner, USA
World Premiere
Award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner trains her camera on Bjorn Lomborg, the controversial author of “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” who takes on the issue of climate change, challenging the status quo, and pointing toward new science and technology that might hold the solutions for our future.

The Game of Death Christophe Nick & Thomas Bornot, France
North American Premiere
This documentary examines the idea of the limits of obedience and punishment. Based on an experiment conducted in the sixties, the setting is a modern television game show where we see how far people will go to inflict pain on a contestant who stands to win one million dollars.

Genpin Naomi Kawase, Japan
World Premiere
A serene observation of women giving birth at the clinic of Dr. Tadashi Yoshimura who has spent 40 years on the path of natural childbirth, Genpin is Naomi Kawase’s special meditation on life and on the unshakable bond between mother and child.

Guest Jose Luis Guerin, Spain
North American Premiere
­­­­Filmmaker Jose Luis Guerin documents his experience during a year of travelling as a guest of film festivals to present his previous film. What emerges is a wonderfully humane and sincere portrayal of the people that he meets when he goes off the beaten track in some of the world’s major cities.

Inside Job Charles Ferguson, USA
North American Premiere
An in-depth exploration of what caused the financial crisis from the Oscar-nominated director of No End in Sight, highlighting failures in business, government and academia.

Machete Maidens Unleashed! Mark Hartley, Australia
International Premiere
From cult cinema documentary director Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood) comes this account of the wild and unruly world of genre filmmaking in the Philippines when the country was a back-lot for a bevy of B-movie mavericks and cinema visionaries.

Mother of Rock: Lillian Roxon Paul Clarke, Australia
International Premiere
Witness to New York’s infamous punk scene, Lillian Roxon chronicled the movement during the 1960s and 70s. Roxon mingled with the likes of John and Yoko, the Velvet Underground and Janis Joplin and was one of the first on the scene to champion the work of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and the Doors.

Pink Saris Kim Longinotto, UK
World Premiere
Acclaimed director Kim Longinotto is often drawn to tough women. Now she follows Sampat Pal Devi, the leader of the “Pink Gang,” who brings her own brand of justice to the streets of Uttar Pradesh, India, combating violence against women.

The Pipe Risteard Ó Domhnaill, Ireland
International Premiere
Irish farmers and fisherman rise up in protest when Shell tries to build a pipeline for natural gas through their county. The local confrontation reflects an international concern for how energy companies affect the environment and communities.

Precious Life Shlomi Eldar, Israel
International Premiere
With the help of a prominent Israeli journalist, Precious Life chronicles the struggle of an Israeli pediatrician and a Palestinian mother to get treatment for her baby, who suffers from an incurable genetic disease. Each must face their most profound biases as they inch towards a possible friendship in an impossible reality.

The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical Sarah McCarthy, United Kingdom
North American Premiere
For one emotional night, a group of children living in a slum in Mumbai, India, get a chance to experience a different world as they perform The Sound of Music with a classical orchestra, fostering hopes that it could change their lives.

Tabloid Errol Morris, USA
World Premiere
The director of The Thin Blue Line and the Academy Award®-winning The Fog of War tells the story of a former Miss Wyoming whose quest for one true love led her across the globe and onto the pages of tabloid newspapers.  

Tears of Gaza Vibeke Løkkeberg, Norway          
World Premiere
A powerful and emotionally devastating record of the impact the 2008-2009 bombings of Gaza had on the civilian population.

When My Child is Born Guo Jing & Ke Dingding, China
World Premiere 
When a child is born, nothing is ever going to be the same. A journey into the everyday life of young university teachers and researchers up against an unexpected pregnancy, as well as a brilliant document on the challenges of being an academic suspended between modernization and tradition, love, career and family ties in ever-mutating contemporary China.

Windfall Laura Israel, USA
International Premiere
After wind turbines are proposed for installation in upstate New York, the community’s excitement turns to suspicion over what the project entails. This eye-opening story exposes the dark side of wind energy development and the potential for financial scams.

!Women Art Revolution – A Secret History Lynn Hershman Leeson, USA
World Premiere

Filmed over four decades, this inspiring cultural history tracks the struggles and breakthroughs of women artists from Judy Chicago to Guerilla Girls to Miranda July and more, packed with rare archival footage and overflowing with bold art

http://www.tiff.net

http://www.dfi.dk/English.aspx

http://www.realscreen.com/articles/news/20100804/tiffdocs.html

Bibliotekets filmsamling/2

Lige nedenfor skriver Tue Steen Müller – og det er vigtigt – at på søndag kan vi se PeÅ Holmquists nye film Mitt Gaza, på svensk tv. Jeg vil i den forbindelse lige nævne, at Holmquists Unge Freud i Gaza fra 2008, som Müller skrev om efter premieren, nu er på Filmstriben.dk, hvor den kan ses efter blot tre-fire klik. Mit biblioteks langsomt (men forhåbentligt sikkert) voksende filmsamling altså direkte ind på mit skrivebord, så jeg lige kan forberede mig.

Nyt er også, at Katrin Ottarsdóttir kunst-trilogi, som vi for ikke så længe siden har anmeldt her på bloggen, er på Filmstriben.dk: Sporene gror ud af ord, 2009 med digteren Jóanes Nielsen, Ingen kan lave det perfekte, 2008, med billedhuggeren Hans Pauli Olsen, 2008 og En linje om dagen er nok! 2008, med maleren, digteren og musikeren Tóroddur Poulsen.

Endelig vil jeg som endnu en vigtig nyhed på Filmstriben.dk pege på Freddy Tornbergs Bifrost, 2010, om en usædvanlig kunstskoles principper og daglige arbejde, som vi også anmeldte kort efter premieren.

PeÅ Holmquist: Mitt Gaza

This is a special announcement for our Danish and Swedish readers concerning the broadcast of the film by PeÅ Holmquist, ”My Gaza” August 8 at SVT2 22.05. In other words, this coming sunday, with Danish subtitles for Danish viewers. For our English speaking readers who attend international festivals the name of Holmquist will be familiar for a range of politically engaged humanistic documentaries from all over the world, several made together with Suzanne Khardalian, see their website, address below.

Text from the site of Swedish television, SVT: Mitt Gaza är en personlig, politisk och poetisk dokumentärfilm av PeÅ Holmquist. Under 31 år har PeÅ Holmquist filmat i Gaza och skildrat människors öden i denna ofta grymma värld. Nu gör han en egen personlig film av det Gaza han mött, men låter oss också i nyinspelningar efter detta senaste krig i september 2008 träffa några av de palestinier vi mött i de tidigare filmerna. Här finns 62-årige Mustafa, som vid den nya filminspelningen i mars 2009 allvarligt sjuk i prostatacancer. Här finns hans dotter, 39-åriga Raida, med sin lille son som just överlevt ett tre veckors intensivt krig. Första gången PeÅ Holmquist filmade henne var hon tolv år och såg positivt på framtiden, i dag är hon bekymrad om sin fars sjukdom och om framtiden för sin son i ett osäkert och otryggt Gaza.

PeÅ Holmquist har tidigare jort ett 50-tal filmer tillsammans med sin fru Suzanne Khardalian, många av dem prisbelönade och visade över hela världen. Filmer som kan nämnas är Gaza Ghetto, Tillbaka till Ararat, Hennes Armeniske Prins, Unge Freud i Gaza och Bullshit. Foto: PeÅ Holmquist: Gaza efter kriget.

http://svt.se/2.118884/1.1802539/gaza_ar_en_vanlig_och_strapatsrik_plats

http://www.peaholmquist.com/intro.php

Bibliotekets filmsamling/1

Det er måske Morris’ berømte spejlarrangement ved interviews, som gør det. McNamarras blik, fortælling og tolkning plus hans intensitet former uafrysteligt min opfattelse af verdenshistorien den sidste halvdel af 1900-tallet. DR2 Dokumania sluttede sæsonen værdigt her i sommer med The Fog of War fra 2003. Rystet åbnede jeg lige bagefter for Filmstriben.dk for at se dele af filmen igen, se mere af Morris, en anden af hans film, flere måske. Men der var ingenting. Bibliotek.dk kunne imidlertid anvise en dvd-kopi af både The Fog og War og Standard Operating Procedure fra 2008. Jeg bestilte dem begge, og dagen efter kunne jeg hente 2008-filmen på mit bibliotek, et par dage senere 2003-filmen. Fantastisk.

Samtidig gik jeg i gang med at læse min ungdoms historiker igen. Perry Andersons to-binds forklaring på den europæiske statsdannelses udvikling og krigens og voldens tilsyneladende nødvendighed grænsende til selvfølgelighed. Antikkens, middelalderens og renæssancens krigsherrer og den amerikanske minister, er der en lige linje af lovmæssighed, nødvendighed, uundgåelighed?  

McNamarras nøgne, intense og klart erindrende fremstilling afgør ikke, om beslutningstageren former forløbet, eller om forløbet vælger sin beslutningstager. Rystet som sagt må jeg supplere med Andersons analyse af vores voldssamfunds tidlige historie.

Errol Morris er altså et must. Instruktøren, som var den direkte årsag til, at Werner Herzog i agtelse tilberedte og spiste sin sko, instruktøren som ifølge Roger Ebert er lige så stor som Hitchcock og Fellini. I forhold til tidligere er det så godt, at hans to seneste film nu er tilgængelige på biblioteket. Bibliotekets filmsamling vokser. Men jeg savner selvfølgelig resten af hans vigtige produ ktion. Især den overalt berømmede A Thin Blue Line.

Men det var nu underligt ikke at finde spor af ham på bibliotekernes nye, dynamiske Filmstriben.dk. Og mystisk, at der derimod er fem Luc Besson film. Jeg har intet imod Besson, men hvorfor nu ham? I frustration så jeg den sært pjattede science fiction komedie Det femte element og så, at warlords og krig og vold regerer endnu om tre hundrede år, men så standses af det godeste gode væsen, Janovic, som kun forlanger, at Wellis siger ”I love you” først, så indfører hun fredens tilstand. OK OK, men jeg havde da forestillet mig, at den statslige filmstribe havde valgt for eksempel Morris før Besson. Hvad er mon visionen bortset fra dokumentarfilmene og kortfilmene fra filminstituttet, som langsomt dukker op i en gådefuld orden. Det er i hvert fald for mig at se ikke en kunstnerisk eller biblioteksfaglig udvælgelse, det er nærmere en reprisebiografs vælgen blandt, hvad der er sådan til lige at få fat i. Og så er jeg bange for, det også er valg efter formodet efterspørgsel, underholdningsmæssigt, altså mainstreem eller pædagogisk, altså efter årgang og klasseniveau og læseplaner. Det er ikke tilfredsstillende for en almindelig biblioteksbruger. Det kan og skal rettes med tiden.

Men der ER allerede fund at gøre. Det vil jeg vende tilbage til. Og der er jo også videoerne at finde på Bibliotek.dk og låne. Som Morris’ to mesterværker.

Summerfest: Free Documentaries to Watch

One year ago the humourous ”Disco and Atomic War” by Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma, a mix of archive material and reenactments, charmed the audience at the Baltic Sea Forum due to its originality and the story about what it meant to be a child in Soviet Estonia making all kind of efforts to be able to watch Finnish television. Jaak Kilmi (photo, to the left) has proved to be a fine talent for docu-comedies with a serious background. The film has travelled all over, it has won prizes, and Kilmi is a central character in the small country’s film life.

Now the film can be watched for free on the site mentioned below, until August 12. A long interview with Kilmi accompanies the film. Several other documentaries are available, including ”Videocracy” by Erik Gandini.

http://www.snagfilms.com/

Documentaries in France

The French CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’image Animée) has published a study on the market for documentaries in France. According to the French Media Desk and their weekly newsletter no. 194 (newsletter@mediafrance.eu) the study concerns the creative documentaries.

2225 hours of documentaries have been produced in 2009, a progress of 8,1%. The contribution from television is the biggest in 20 years, 47,3%. The documentaries represented 6,5% of the market in 2009 – and with 2008 statistics the sales of tv documentary programmes were 26% of total sales.

Documentaries for cinema release: 30 films were produces for theatrical release in 2009 with almost 3 mio. Tickets sold. The duration of their prseence on the screns are longer than for fiction and animation. In general a French cinema documentary is released in 27 copies.

Crisis… where? (Photo: Agnes Varda)

For details: www.cnc.fr

Hotakainen & Joonas Berghäll: Steam of Life

Stories from Life. Stories brought to the screen by Finnish men. Stories mostly told in saunas where the men are naked. To be naked can also be a metaphor for being vulnerable. Which is exactly what the men are in this extraordinary documentary that keeps your attention from start till end. The clouds or the fog of steam that fill the screen inside or outside the saunas are like the intimate and painful words that hang in the air – or they are to be watched in stunning images from the Finnish landscape, urban or (mostly) in the countryside at the lakes, at the forests.

Sometimes it is good to talk, says one of the men, and they do talk these Finnish men, who – as another man says – normally are meant to be tough. About being a father without seeing your children. About losing job and family. About having a bear as a friend, maybe the only one, out in the wilderness! About a train driver who could not stop when someone jumped to kill himself in front of the train. And the final story about the man who heartbreakingly for 10 minutes give us the story about the death of his daughter.

There is an underlying tone of sadness throughout this film but there is also warmth and (some) humour, and there is the best film music score (Jonas Bohlin) I have heard for a long time to accompany the anxiety and bad feelings that are being sweated out in the sauna AND the tableau-like images (camera: Heikki Farm) from beautiful, melancholic Finland. Do they just sit and talk… no, the director has made them sit and talk, it is amazing what they tell us, no masks, unplugged you might say, and totally controlled in editing with a grande finale that I will not reveal for you.

Trailer(s) and background material for the film, that might be onits way to be nominated for an Oscar… google the title.

www.oktober.fi

Finland, 2010, 82 mins.

Andrea Deaglio: Il futuro del mondo passa da qui/2

… the subtitle being ”city veins”. I wrote about it in June and promised to come back with a review when the film was finished. Which is now.

Angelo, Roky, Frida, Reno, Darius, Gerardo, Jasmina… names of people, who have that in common that they are characters in a film that as location has the  outskirts of Torino, where they all live outside normal urban society trying to survive. For a limited time as the area will be turned into a golf and similar kind of recreation centre, as well as it will be object to making transport out of the city easier through new roads etc.

From this description you might expect a political correct activist film like many others – it is not. On the contrary, the focus is the human. Deaglio and his cameramen follow the individuals in their daily activities: Roky gets up, goes to the lake to get washed, goes to get some drinking water… Frida goes to the drug meeting point… Reno cooks and finishes his van Gogh painting. Washing of hair. Repairing a bicycle. Doing nothing.

The images are stunning. Making the area look beautiful. They come as tableaux, chaptering the characters stories which in words are told by themselves through audio on black images. As I don’t understand Italian, for me the words appear subtitled on black with no ”disturbing” images. Which makes the effect very strong – precise small stories of situations they have experienced, facts accompnied by emotions. The director has no intention to sentimentalise or romanticize – I sense an honest, truthful and distant view, and this is why you stay linked to the screen where you also get many interesting and surprising camera angles. In other words – welcome to a non-mainstream documentary film talent.

http://cityveins.blogspot.com/

http://www.fctp.it/movie_item.php?id=751&type=2&lang=_en

http://vimeo.com/5504493

http://www.ilfuturodelmondopassadaqui.it/ (ready by August 2010)

Marianna Economou: Twelve Neighbours

A street is Athens is the stage for this warm and very well made documentary. The director has come there for years, and again this confirms the simple sentence: Time is quality. If you are a good filmmaker, know your skills and has an eye for people and situations. Marianna Economou has.

A young Iraqi immigrant talks about an old woman on the other side of the street. She is afraid to go out and she only leaves when she can see him. ”I love her. Like my Mum”. In a cellar a Pakistani immigrant has made the room his home, the tv set plays his local music movies as he talks to wife and child at home. An old woman distributes funeral wheat to the people of the street – this is what is being done on ”All Soul’s Day”. The montage is like that, the director builds up the viewer’s relationship with the characters, who live and/or work there. The baker, the old man at the window, who sings for us at the end of the film, the sisters at the flowerish courtyard, it is all very stimulating to meet these ordinary, fine people. Also those who can not sustain their small businesses and have to give up. It is Life with tears and laughter. The director also visits a quite extraordinary clone of Anita Ekberg, who listens to opera and as a real drama queen imagines herself on the stage. 

The key person, however, is the café owner and host of the Alekton theatre. A creative place with poem readings, music and theatre. Costa is his name, known by them all, initiator of activities, and a man who talks to the camera about respecting ”the other”. A message film? Yes, a very nuanced and mature hommage to everyday life as it is being lived all over the world in small streets all over the world.

Greece, 52 mins., 2009

Director cv and stills from the film: http://www.idfa.nl/industry/info/profile.aspx?id=0f8eac84-e6b1-4928-a2a5-433cb44ea6ee