Storydoc/3

There were three inspirational lectures at the workshop in Corfu.

Louise Rosen, American (from her cv) ”media executive in the international television and film business, project development, production and distribution”, talked precisely and inviting about meeting the audience and urged the filmmakers to use promotion tools like YouTube, vimeo, facebook, twitter etc.

Commissioning editor Iikka Vehkalahti, YLE Finland, was asked to give the audience ”five reasons to be optimistic about the future of the documentary”. He started his speech by doing the opposite naming five obstructions: the decline of the relationship between tv and documentaries, the lack of financing (”the golden age of copro is over”), the cinematic quality is worse than ever, the monocultural perspective reigns, as does the predictability of most films. This total deconstruction was then followed by the positive mention of the many current platforms where you can launch your film, from festivals (which he compared to art exhibitions) to webdoc and vod. Vehkalahti, who always has a very special, unconventional take on his listeners, and has many times been credited on this site for his pioneer work with ”Steps for the Future”, ended by showing two exceptional clips, one from a rough cut of a film from Chechnya, and one from the new Finnish documentary hit, ”Steam of Life” (review will follow).

”Who can bear to feel himself forgotten” is a legendary line from ”Night Mail” the documentary classic from 1936, a film that is famous for using poetry – written by W.H. Auden. Peter Symes, filmmaker and editor and teacher, had his lecture focus on this subject, ”Poetry in Documentaries”, himself being the one, who used it in several films, where he worked with the poet Tony Harrison. Symes stated that you can ”say the unsayable” through poetry, which was exactly what he had been doing with Harrison in the films ”Mimmo Perella” (funeral rituals in southern Italy) and ”Hiroshima”. When he was at BBC, Symes set up ”Poets’ News”, which was great to watch clips from, as was (great) the session with Symes on films where ”the poet will come to work as a commentator”.

Photo: “The Box”, great Greek documentary, by Eva Stefani, one of the tutors at Storydoc in Corfu.

www.storydoc.gr

Dialëktus Film Festival Awards

The festival in Budapest ended with the main award being given to Peter Kerekes for his excellent ”Cooking History”, reviewed and mentioned on this site several times. The jury consisted of Bojána Papp director (Hungary),  Adina Bradeanu director and film critic (Romania) and András Müllner aesthete (Hungary). They gave the following motivation and some general remarks on the state of the art of documentary:

„We will start by noting that the international documentary competition at Dialektus has confronted us with a wide range of documentary films which were not only displaying different levels of artistic accomplishment but have also, stylistically, made us reflect on the wide range of possibilities opened to documentary film-makers today –  meaning by that what exactly we, as audiences, are ready to accept as ‘documentary film’ today, as opposed to, say, 50 years ago.

Some of the films screened have already been extensively awarded in the past year, subsequently reaching a status of almost ‘canonical’ works within the field of documentary film-making – we refer here to films such as Helena Trestikova’s RENE and Kim Longinotto’s ROUGH AUNTIES. Some others presented themselves as straightforward, at the same time entertaining and

chilly stories of access to yet uncharted political contexts – the case of |Linda Jablonska’s WELCOME TO NORTH KOREA. Finally, some of these films introduced some wonderful,  inspiring and powerful characters portrayed with compassion; characters which, although confronted with adverse conditions, did not allow themselves the luxury of self-victimisation and engaged on paths able to empower them and inspire others.”

„And it was by thinking about that sense of widened possibilities within the field of documentary film-making today that we decided to give the main award of our section to a film that stood out by being dramatically different from all the others  – a piece of elaborate film-making, which incorporates extensive staging and reconstruction to come up with a fresh perspective on the various bloodsheds witnessed by Europe from World War II onwards, by bringing imagination, perspective and a pinch of salt to our often didactic and linear understanding of history. The main award in the International Documentary section goes to a film that  appeared to us as the most accomplished embodiment of the term ‘creative documentary’: COOKING HISTORY, by Peter Kerekes.”

„Documentary has been for decades a genre able to inspire crowds and spread hope among the disenfranchised – and in this perspective, our commendation this year goes to GROWN IN DETROIT, a documentary about a group of underage mothers or mothers-to-be at the Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, who remain serene and start a small agro-business by which they redeem both themselves and their battered city.”

Documentary in Europe

The yearly documentary gathering in Bardonecchia in Northern Italy starts this coming wednesday. Bardonecchia is a small winter sport resort that has a fine cultural centre that is used for documentary film screenings, case studies, a so-called matchmaking where directors pitch to producers and other colleagues, and the public pitching session. It is a conference but the organisers also show films for the local audience. This year the event, held for its 14th time, and arranged by the association Documentary in Europe (hosted by the production company Stefilm) and EDN (European Documentary Network), deserves a big applause for its screening focus on Eastern Europe. Among the great films are Gyula Nemes Lost World (PHOTO) and Atanas Georgiev Cash and Marry, not to forget the masterpiece Blind Loves by Juraj Lehotsky. All films mentioned on this site.

Also Boris Mitic, wonderful crazy Serbian director, who made Good bye, How are You (see review on this site) will do a masterclass called ”homemade storytelling”. It will not be boring!

 http://www.docineurope.org/home.php?l=eng

Merete Borker: Fire Muslimske Stemmer

Merete Borkers nye film er professionelt lavet, den har en hensigt, er lavet for at blive brugt, må være glimrende i undervisnings-sammenhænge, pigerne er søde og naturlige og repræsenterer forskellige synspunkter og levemåder. Der er et godt flow i filmen, som instruktøren introducerer således:

Med filmen giver jeg ordet til fire unge, muslimske kvinder. Som på smukkeste vis er integreret I Danmark. Og lader dem fortælle en håbefuld historie om kvinder, der har mål I livet. Og viljen til at nå dem. På eres egen måde. Fire forskellige stemmer, fælles om en mangfoldighed.

Filmen har kørt i nogle uger i Vester Vov Vov i København og vil i september være at se i et Politiken Plus arrangement. Hold øje med det eller køb en dvd hos instruktøren.

Danmark, 28 min.

Distribution og salg: mereteborker@hotmail.com

Niels Christian Jung: Den største sejr

Et ”tæt og ærligt dokumentarisk portræt” stod der i pressemeddelelsen fra DR Sporten om Jungs film. Og jeg glædede mig. Den sympatiske og kloge Brian Holm og den grundige og sagkyndige Niels Christian jung på opgave sammen, i patløb så at sige, om cykelløb og sygdom. Det spændte forventningerne. DR 2 sendte filmen i aftes, og jeg blev skuffet.

Filmen er bestemt seværdig, men den gør ikke arbejdet færdigt, følger ikke sporene, den lægger ud. Følger dem et stykke af vejen, men opgiver så. Ikke bare et af dem, men alle de fire, jeg fik øje på: Kirurgen, Team HTC-Columbia, Familien og især Brian Holm alene. Så altså, tæt… ok, men slet ikke tæt nok. Ærlig… ja, ja, men slet ikke den ærlighed, det dokumentariske oplæg kræver. Som jeg følgelig havde ventet.

Det med forventningerne er bogens skyld. I en scene i filmen sidder Brian Holm i en hotelseng og skriver. Det er under Tour de France sidste år. Han skriver ikke om løbet, ikke om HTC-Columbias etapesejre. Han skriver på sin bog om kræftsygdommen, om sit liv den række år med den altdominerende realitet at være diagnostiseret, opereret og efterbehandlet for tarmkræft. Den bog kender jeg på den måde, at præsten i min kirke en søndag for nogen tid siden tog den som udgangspunkt i sin prædiken og stillede den op mod dagens tekst. Han sagde, det var en god bog. En ærlig bog, en tæt bog – tror jeg, han mente. 

Det med forventningerne er også prisbelønningernes skyld. Niels Christian Jung blev i 2008 af de danske sportsjournalisters forening valgt til årets mand, ”en kompromisløs graver” kaldte formanden Steen Ankerdal ham i sin motivering af valget. Og november sidste år fik han Torsten Tégners mindelegat, som gives til fremragende nordiske sportsjournalister. Nu kunne jeg sådan forberedt møde hans nyeste arbejde, hvor han godt nok ikke skulle afsløre, men gerne selvfølgelig, grave. Skaffe stof frem til en ny og vigtig film, og måske gravede han for meget, fandt for meget og kunne ikke vælge fra. Stof om sygdomsbehandlingen, om arbejdet med HTC-Columbia, om familielivet og om Brian Holm nu og tilbageskuende, biografisk.

De fire historier kommer i de ubegribelige klippevalg til at stå fuldstændig i vejen for hinanden. Først historien om kræftsygdommen. Det er den vigtigste, det ligger i titlen. Og det er en virkelig god idé at komme tilbage til Bispebjerg Hospital og møde lægen. Men denne vigtige medvirkende, som er god at lytte til, får slet ikke lov til at folde sig ud med sin store erfaring. Og han er god sammen med Holm. Hvor havde jeg gerne set en film med de to alene. Så er der skildringen af det professionelle arbejde under touren sidste år. Den genre stiller store krav i den danske dokumentarisme kontekst, og det faktum gøres der end ikke forsøg på at leve op til, så den del af filmen er nærmest overfødig. Familielivsdelen er tv håndværk, når det er mest omklamrende sentimentalt og bornert-nysgerrigt. Sønnen kommer til at fylde det hele, og en far/søn film kunne have været en mulighed, vil jeg tro, men træls at se. Endelig Brian Holm selv. Interviewet med ham er godt, hvor der mærkeligt ind imellem er plads til det, for han er god. Får som lægen bare ikke mulighed for at folde sig ud. Så hvor er ærligheden? Tætheden? Hvordan gik det med stomi-muligheden og potenssvigtet? Det sad vi da og ventede på den fine og kloge mands beretning om.

Det er jo tacklingen af ting som disse, som er den største sejr. Som jeg forstår Brian Holm, når han skriver: ”Jeg har altid godt kunnet lide udtrykket ’La flamme rouge’ – den sidste kilometer. Når man kommer til den sidste kilometer som rytter og ser den røde vimpel, der markerer indgangen til strækningen, gør det altid ondt. Kroppen er tom, og man skal virkelig bide tænderne sammen og grave dybt i kraftreserverne. Man skal kigge frem og ikke tilbage og træde det bedste, man har lært, for det afgør, om man vinder eller taber. Det er det samme i kræftforløb. Altså bortset fra at den sidste kilometer for kræftpatienter er ekstremt lang. Nærmest uendelig.”

Jeg tror bogen er bedre end filmen..

Niels Christian Jung: Den største sejr, 2010. Sendt på DR2 i aftes, produceret for DR Sporten www.dr.dk/brianholm siden indeholder scener, som ikke er med i filmen. Litt.: Brian Holm: Den sidste kilometer, People´s Press, 2009.

The Life of Inaki

This film is in production. The filmmakers are from the Basque country and were the ones behind the beautiful music documentary Nomadak reviewed on this site. I know Igor Otxoa who fights for his projects and does it with charm and commitment. He wrote me a letter with a link to the trailer of the film, that I want to share with our readers. But first the story about a film that deals with compassion and solidarity in such a way that the coach of FC Barcelona, Guardiola, used material from the shooting to build up courage and team feeling among his players:

”On the South of Annapurna, at 7.400 metres, a man is dying. His rope companion sounds the alarm. And one of the biggest rescue attempts in the history of the Himalayas gets underway. For four days a dozen men including some of the best mountaineers in the world, from Canada, USA, UK, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Romanis, Kazakhstan, set out to rescue Inaki Ochoa de Olza. Even beyond his peaks Inaki is an exceptional man. As exceptional as the rescue attempt itself and the men who risked their lives to save him. Exceptional because their one driving rule is to live. To live in the only way possible: with pure intensity and honesty.”

And here is the link to the trailer:

http://www.vimeo.com/12391387  

Dialëktus Festival/1

The director and cinematographer Klara Trencsenyi and her husband, anthropologist Vlada Naumescu made the beautiful documentary Birds Way that was reviewed on this site some months ago. In the review I used the words ”hospitality and openness” and they could very well be used again to characterize how Trencsenyi welcomed her colleagues from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary in the workshop she organised in the framework of the Dialëktus festival, see more about that below.

The workshop was named ”My Deer. Project Development Workshop” and had the very simple aim to have the 9 projects looked at, discussed, rewritten and/or re-edited for the trailers that had been made for presentation at the workshop, where Hungarian director and professor Andras Peterfly and I were the teachers.

Projects included ”Cracow by Polanski” based primarily on the autobiography of the director and presented by the Polish producer Jarek Manka. There was the very promising ”Hungarian Style” (photo) about Hungarian men with impressive moustaches – manhood and patriotism – to be directed by Nora Lakos. ”A Place to Win” by Petra Pelsöczy about old people from Budapest who won a flat in Lotto half a century ago. ”Regina Jonas” by Diana Groó who has a strong filmography of fiction films, animation and documentaries, many of which, like this about the first female rabbi, are Jewish stories. ”Rise of the Snow Leopard” by András Kollmann, a film about a mountain climber who had one leg amputated but wants to go back to climb. The charming ”Roma Rally” by Gabor Hörcher about two young romas who fix cars and want to compete in a race. And another gypsy story by Iraqi director Koutaiba Al-Janabi, himself a foreigner in Hungary, ”7 Days with Gypsies”, it had a great trailer. And ”Young Forever” by Diana Fabianova who will go from menstruation (her first film, ”Moon Inside You”) to questioning the aging.

The film projects were at the end of the week presented to a panel, that included representatives from Hungarian and Czech television, a film critic, an experienced producer, a festival director and a represenative from IDF, Institute of Documentary Film in Prague. One project which is in its editing phase, ”Wonderful Gladiators”, produced by Hungarian HBO, and made by Zsofia Varga-Kabarcz and Panna Boros, was not pitched but I had the privilege to watch a trailer from this film about mentally handicapped actors – looked great, the finished film will travel.  

To read about the projects, go to

www.dialektusfesztival.hu

Dialëktus Festival/2

… is taking place right now in Budapest, last day today for a programme of ”European Documentary and Anthropological Film Festival”. Festival director is Zoltan Füredi, a film director himself, I met him years ago where he was working on a film from Mongolia. He still is, hoping to finish it this year – if he does not initiate new projects for the development and promotion of the documentary in Hungary.

Last time I was in Budapest, Zoltan told me that he would set up a documentary cinema. It is there now, small and cosy art cinema (name DokuArt) with café attached and screening equipment from 35mm to dvd, including an old 16mm machine stading in the corridor as a museum object, but no it still works I was told.

The festival screened, among many others, Cooking History by Peter Kerekes, Moon Inside You by Diana Fabianova, René by Helena Trestikova, Welcome to North Korea by Linda Jablonska and Sevdah (Photo) by Marina Andree – all films that have been reviewed or noticed on this site.

www.dialektusfesztival.hu

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

… takes place July 2-10 and has a fine short trailer with Milos Forman. Take a look at the site below.

The festival has through the last years paid more attention to documentaries and this year 16 titles have made it to the international competition. The on this place constantly mentioned ”Armadillo” is one of them but 4 others reviewed or noticed will be shown in Karlovy Vary:

Katka by Czech Helena Trestikova, The Mouth of the Wolf by Italian Pietro Marcello, The Player by Dutch John Appel and Together (photo) by Russian Pavel Kostomarov.

http://www.kviff.com/en/news/

Janus Metz: Armadillo/9

Ideal 3, Waltz with Bashir: 

“Man kommer ind i universet uden at få en mening stoppet ned i halsen i denne dokumentar. Man får bare lov til at være med og selv bedømme. Og så er der det, at det er en animationsfilm skabt ud fra virkelige optagelser. Animationsformen gør, at man kommer ind i et mere drømmende univers, der ikke bliver så konkret. Den har faktisk samme kvalitet som Stalker , hvor det udefinerbare giver kimen til fantasi. Dokumentarfilm skal ikke nødvendigvis være konkrete, for som filmskabere er vi hele tiden med til at redefinere konventionerne.” (Lars Skree, fotograf på Armadillo i interview i Politiken, Film, 3. juli 2010)

Hvem er denne Bashir? Eller rettere, hvem var han? Har jeg vidst det og glemt det? Filmen handler om at glemme. Historiens fortæller, som også er filmen instruktør har glemt alt det med denne Bashir og krigen i Libanon i hans ungdom. Hvor han var deltager. Det er mere end 25 år siden.

Bashir Pierre Gemayel (1947-1982) var libanesisisk politiker, militschef og valgt libanesisk præsident i tre uger. Han var ledende medlem af falangistpartiet og præsidentkandidat ved valget i 1982, da landet var midt i den lange borgerkrig (1975-1990) og besat af både syriske og israelske tropper. Bashir Gemayel samarbejdede med israelerne og især med forsvarsministeren Ariel Sharon. Han var stærkt støttet af den amerikanske regering under Ronald Reagan. Hovedmodstanderen var det palæstinensiske PLO, ledet af Yassir Arafat og endvidere de syriske styrker. Bashir Gemayel blev sammen med 26 ledende falangister samlet til møde dræbt ved at attentat 14. september 1982 af en syrisk orienteret maronit kristen. Falangisternes hævn blev den massakre, som Folman havde søgt at glemme. Sammen med de øvrige israelske tropper så han og vennerne passivt til fra deres stillinger et par hundrede meter derfra.  

En nat på en bar sidder Ari Folman sammen med en ven fra dengang. Kammeraten fortæller ham om et tilbagevendende mareridt, hvor han jages af 26 bidske hunde. Altid samme antal hunde. De to mænd finder i samtalen frem til, at der er en forbindelse mellem den onde drøm og deres opgave som soldater i den israelske hær dengang under den krig, hvor de rykkede ind i Sydlibanon og stødte helt frem mod Beirut. Kammeratens opgave var faktisk at skyde de hunde, før de ved deres gøen røbede et natligt angreb på landsbyen. Men Folman må erkende, at han faktisk intet husker fra den periode af sit liv. Fortrængningen er manifest.

Han opsøger nu en række af de andre fra hans afdeling dengang, og rekonstruerer begivenhederne, som førte frem til massakren på de mange palæstinensiske flygtninge i Beirutbydelene Sabra og Shatila.  

Waltz with Bashir vakte opsigt ved sin fremkomst sidste år, den havde succes på festival efter festival omkring i verden, var Israels bidrag til festivalen i Cannes, og den deltog også i den københavnske og århusianske festivaler. Havde også biografvisninger. Nu kan vi der bor vestligere selv se efter, er Ari Folmans Waltz with Bashir vildt flot, men kold og tom? Som det er hævdet. De fleste kritikere var dog begejstret. Ekstrabladet gav seks stjerner, DR2 Premiere og Politiken hver fem.

Min kollega Tue Steen Müller her på siden gik imidlertid frustreret fra visningen i København. Og har den erfarne mand dårlige fornemmelser med det kunstneriske fintmærkende nærvær under det fremragende håndværk distancering – ja, så er der noget at kigge efter, ved jeg. Og tale om.

Skree og Metzs Armadillo er måske midt i den gruvækkende realitet også et “drømmende univers, som ikke bliver konkret”. Måske har Lars Skree med sine bemærkelsesværdige enquette svar foræret os nøglen til den uforglemmelige og gådefulde film om krigerne i Armadillo.

Still: Ari Folman: Waltz with Bashir, 2008