Memorimage 09/2

The festival invited producer and director Edmon Roch to present his ambitious docu-spy film ”Garbo – the Man who Saved the World”, which is the story about Juan Puol, the double agent who during WW2 for the Germans was Arabal and for the Allies Garbo. Roch showed half of the film within a closed master class arrangement – the film will have its international premiere at idfa in Amsterdam, where it will be in the First Apperance competition.

Roch, however, though this is his first film as a director, is not a beginner as it was obvious from the high production value of an archive based, entertaining narrative that includes clips from feature films (you see Leslie Howard, Peter Lorre, Edward G. Robinson among others), documentary archive from Barcelona and elsewhere, and interviews with knowledgeable people who have studied the life and mystery of the intelligence work of Pujol.

I don’t like reconstruction, Roch said, and if I had fictionalised the film totally with actors, noone would have believed this extraordinary story. From what I saw the audience (the film will be released in cinemas in Spain) at festivals and in television can look forward to a fascinating and playful documentary film. Huge potential. Can’t wait to see the whole film!

www.memorimagefestival.org

Memorimage 09/1

Reus, town of Gaudi in Catalonia, a couple of hours from Barcelona. For the fourth time the city hosts a film festival that deals with memories and presents films that work creatively with archives. It is a small festival with an exclusive and high quality programme. Among the films shown are Terence Davies ”Of time and the City”, Peter Kerekes ”Cooking History”, Jaak Kilmi’s ”Disco and Atomic War” – all written about on this site. I am a juror and look forward to seeing these films again as well as the other works by for instance Sergei Loznitsa, Pavel Medvedev and Katia Forbert Petersen & Annette Mari Olsen (Photo from “My Iranian Paradise”).

There are production workshops, case studies – it’s all very promising, I can say after the opening screening (”The Judge and the General” by Patricio Lanfranco and Elisabeth Farnsworth) last night in the beautiful theatre Bartrina.

www.memorimagefestival.org

CPH:DOX 09/1

It’s show time in Copenhagen. The international documentary film festival starts November 6 and runs until November 15. A huge programme is set up to satisfy the local documentary addicts and the visiting professionals.

BUT they don’t get the best of the best. A close study of the programme shows that there are no films from Eastern Europe, so often praised for originality, strong human interest topics and cinematic quality on this site. Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland. Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia etc. Films from these countries, films that win awards in festivals are simply not there – Czech Republic is represented with one film, and that’s it. The festival has sections that group the best films of the year, there is an amnesty award, there is a section for ”new vision” – but there are no films by Sergei Loznitsa, Audrius Stonys, Marko Skop, Jan Gogola, Peter Kerekes (Photo from “Cooking History”), Atanas Georgiev, Pawel Lozinski, Bartek Konopka, György Nemes – all names that loyal readers of this site know, and I could have mentioned many more. Not good, actually quite insufficient programming.

www.cphdox.dk

Dola Bonfils: K-notatet 2

FC (vi ved det er forsvarschefen) er i Polen. DC (vi ved det er departementschefen) er på pinden, ventende. Politikerne er på spring med følelsesparaderne oppe. Den inderste kreds i forsvarskommandoen er samlet, en situation er ved at komme ud af kontrol, spin-manøvren er i gang, de har FC i røret, læser forslaget til pressemeddelelse for ham. ”Uheldig..”, han retter et ord. ”Nej, ’upassende’ er det rigtige ord, fastholder Tim Sloth Jørgensen og de andre omkring bordet nikker og siger ja og bekræfter. Og Tim (som han jovialt kaldes) skærer igennem: ”Alle her synes det også. Vi skriver ’upassende’…”. Og FC bøjer sig.

FC, altså forsvarschefen Jesper Helsø er en ganske anden type leder end de tidligere og nok også end de senere. Rummelig, gammeldags moderne, ubureaukratisk, uteknokratisk, humanistisk indstillet. Filmen følger hans og medarbejdernes arbejde med at præge det kommende forsvarsforlig med værnenes egne forslag samlet i K-notatet. Dybt fortroligt. Undervejs skildrer filmen også et par episoder med ubehagelig presseopmærksomhed, som forsvarsledelsen må spinne sig ud af. Det er i 2003. Upassende, som de undskyldende på FC´s vegne skriver, har Helsø under et foredrag for de værnepligtige sagt, at han ville provokere ved at foreslå tre måneders værnepligt. Ved at køre ud i rabatten, kunne han tvinge dem, politikerne, til at forhandlingerne kom ind på midten af vejen igen. Men nu spurgte de og journalisterne, om der var flere af forsvarschefens forslag, som var provokationer.

Bonfils filmhold fik af Helsø adgang til selve situationsrummet. Jeg fandt aldrig ud af, om han mente et særligt war-room, hvor cheferne blev samlet i krisesituationer, eller om det blot var adgang til møder af den slags, som den refererede scene, som et møde med planlægning af en mulig operation i Dafur, som overværelse af træning i at blive udsat for tortur og en række flere rum, ja, nemlig situationsrum, instruktøren lister os ind i. Det observerende kamera registrerer, at sådan er der her, dette sker der. Vi forstår det umiddelbart. For vi er styret af Dola Bonfils egen personlige nysgerrighed. Hun vil præge sit værk med det signerende blik, som hun engang kaldte de gode films tydelige vinkling. Fra disse autentiske steder samler hun materialet til en samfundsbeskrivelse, som konstant har nålen inde og mærker, hvordan det er. Hendes samfundslære er ikke en oversigtlig tekst at lære til eksamen om, hvordan det bør være.

Hun har i en række film gjort det med institution efter institution, gymnasiet, politiet, sundhedsvæsnet. Dybt loyalt, vidende og gennemført skeptisk, kritisk. Nogle burde finde på at udgive dette værk samlet på dvd. Og K-notatet er så den seneste af disse samfundsskildringer inden Dola Bonfils en årrække blev optaget af at være til fingerspidserne engageret filmkonsulent på DFI. Det er hun ikke mere, nu venter jeg spændt, spændt på den næste film. Imens finder jeg alle de gamle frem og ser dem en efter en. På mandag er K-Notatet og Bonfils filmkunst emnet på min mandagshøjskole i FOF-Randers.

Dola Bonfils: K-notatet, Danmark 2004, 59 min. Manuskript: Dola Bonfils, fotografi: Henrik Bohn Ipsen, klip: David Rosenquist, lyd: Roar Skau Olsen, produktion: Claus Ladegaard. Produceret af Easy Film. Del af Magtens Billeder, 12 film på DR1, findes i samlet dvd-udgivelse, Det Dansk Filminstitut. Kan lånes på biblioteket og findes på www.filmstriben.dk 

Jihlava 09/6

Stop reading if you want to avoid a personal text that is full of emotions and warm thanks from me to the women running the IDF, Institute of Documentary Film, based in Prague with the task to promote Eastern European Documentaries. Sunday was the closing day of the Eastern European Forum where 20 exciting film projects were presented/pitched to broadcasters and film fund representatives with an audience that included sales agents and distributors from all over the world. And mind my words: excellent films are in the process of being made.

Sunday was also the last Eastern European Forum for me after years as a tutor and moderator and conductor of the Ex Oriente workshop. It has been pure pleasure and I feel both proud and humble to have been part of a promotion team that has seen one strong film after the other be developed into strong and original creative works.

Go to the website of the IDF and read all about the films coming up in a year or two. Yes, it takes time to make creative documentaries, and it takes time to raise funding for them, and many will not be able to do so, but they make the films anyway! And what a gift to the Eastern European filmmakers to have IDF. Thank you for having given me so many wonderful moments, to Andrea Prenghyova, Ivana Milosevic, Hanka Rezkova – and all the other clever and dedicated and creative people! Thanks for generosity, warmness and friendships that will last.

Photo from Jihlava taken by Bulgarian documentarian Svetoslav Draganov. Autumn and a white line leading the festivalgoers from location to location.

www.docuinter.net

Aage Rais-Nordentoft: Afvist

“Jesu budskab skal til enhver tid tale ind i vores menneskeliv. Som kirke skal vi aldrig tale partipolitik, men vi skal heller aldrig holde op med at være talerør for de svageste, hvad enten det er flygtninge, de børn og unge, der har det svært her i Århus eller helt andre grupper. Den dag, vi glemmer, at Jesu budskab også gælder i de valg, vi står i her og nu, er det jo blevet en verdensfjern kirke.”

Sådan skriver præsten i Gellerup Kirke, Annette Bennedsgaard i pressemeddelelsen om premieren på Aage Rais-Nordentofts nye film om de irakiske flygtninge fra Brorsons Kirke. Filmen får premiere i hendes kirke 15. november 13:00. Bagefter er der orgelkoncert. Kirkens organist spiller. Aarhus Filmfestival står bag arrangementet. CPH:DOX arrangerer en lignende premiere 14. november i Brorsons Kirke.

Rais-Nordentoft har haft adgang til fem timer af politiets optagelser. Pressens optagelser af begivenhederne uden for kirken (fotoet for eksempel) er måske også en del af materialet. Det mest spændende er den tænksomme vurdering af billederne og deres udtrykskraft og dernæst de moralske implikationer, Rais-Nordentoft leverer i sin films konstruktion. Til nu har jeg kun set rå, forvirrede reportager brugt som billeddækning. Nu kommer en film..

Max Kestner: Drømme i København

Et par ting fra formaterialet til Kestners film drejer mine forventninger i en ganske særlig retning. Først billedet. Jeg funderer, skal det være DFI’s beskæring eller CPH:DOXs? Jeg vælger DFI. Det er vigtigt det her. Det drejer sig om Henrik Bohn Ipsens billede. Og jeg tænker jo på billedet til Nede på jorden, Esbjergs boligarkitektur og havne skyline. Mon igen dette i lodret og vandret kontrollerede kamera? Den mondrianske opbygning i Københavnnatbilledet lover mig det næsten. Og jeg glæder mig.   

Så er der sætningen i instruktørens korte synopsis: ”… and the walls upon which we have scratched our loved one’s name before it is too late.” Jeg tøver lige i den så almindelige sætning, noterer i lynluk af øjnene smertens riv ”… før det er for sent.”  

Nærværet i Esbjerg og poesien i de valgte replikker på fabrikken, i hjemmene, i bilerne – og i i Tivoli i København. Og nu måske dertil ruttmannske billedrytmer i endnu en bysymfoni.  Jeg glæder mig. Det således kontrollerede kamera og poesien. Mon den nye film har bevaret det, eller?  

Max Kestner: Drømme i København, Danmark 2009. 72 min. Produceret af Upfront Films. Manuskript: Dunja Gry Jensen og Max Kestner, fotografi: Henrik Bohn Ipsen, klip: Anne Østerud, lyd: Morten Green, musik Jóhan: Jóhannsson, produktion: Henrik Veileborg. Åbningsfilm på CPH:DOX 6. november 21:00 i Koncerthuset DR.

Ada Bligaard Søby: Complaints Choir

Ada Bligaard Søbys tidligere film hænger så tydeligt sammen, i sujet, i billedsyn, i opfindsomt konstrueret anderledeshed. De er så selvfølgeligt til stede i tiden nu. Det sted, de vælger at være til stede. Hele rækken er præget af hendes signerende blik. Nu sker der noget andet. Det personlige blik stiller hun i sin nye film til rådighed for en bunden opgave, en redegørelse for og en skildring af det internationale projekt Complaints Choirs art projekt. 

Filmen følger to finske korinstruktører, Tellervo og Oliver Kalleinen til Singapore og til Chicago, hvor de sætter Complaints Choir forestillinger op. I Chicago lykkes det at komme igennem, men i Singapore forbyder myndighederne at opføre den færdige samarbejdede klagesang offentlig.

Filmen slår således meget aktuel ind i den stadigt voksende Complaints Choirs verdensomspændende bevægelse.

Ada Bligaard Søby: Complaints Choir, Danmark 2009. 56 min. Produceret af Fine & Mellow production@finemellow.dk www.finemellow.dk Filmen bliver vist i konkurrenceprogrammet på CPH:DOX første gang 7. november 21:30 i Grand Teatret.

Jihlava 09/5

I saw the winner of the section ”Czech Joy”, ”I love my Boring Life” (PHOTO) by Jan Gogola, director, but also very much esteemed dramaturg, some call him an icon of Czech documentary, who has worked with several Czech and Slovak filmmakers like Filip Remunda (”Czech Dream”), Marko Skop(”Osadne” and Peter Kerekes (”66 Seasons” and ”Cooking History”). I will wait with my review of a fascinating and original film that was shown in a version with English version, and as the text is crucial for the experience of the film. I did not get out of it what it deserves and will wait until a German voice version of the film has been made.

But the Breathless project, German-Czech, deserves to be mentioned so I took this from the website:

Breathless, Dominance of the Moment – A collection of 5 Czech-German documentary films:

As a unique example of Czech-German cooperation are five creative documentary films presented under the common name Breathless, Dominance of the Moment. Czech-German project was established to support daring creative documentary proposals and to fund and develop outstanding documentary films from the Czech Republic and Germany. In Spring 2008,

Zipp – Czech-German Cultural Projects, an initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation, DOK Leipzig and the Prague-based Institute of Documentary Film invited filmmakers to submit innovative and artistic documentary proposals that deal with the socially relevant subjects of ‘acceleration’ and ‘time’ of today’s life.

Among its objectives, the initiative promotes creative documentary proposals that bear a distinct stamp of the author but that would otherwise have little chance of being made. Another aim is to encourage cultural dialogue between Germany and the Czech Republic and to demonstrate how relevant, versatile and established documentary filmmaking in both countries is.

Out of more than 130 submissions, the international selection committee chose six compelling proposals. Two Czech and three German documentary films have been finally produced; Jirí Konecný, endorfilm s.r.o. is the producer of the Czech entries, while Stefan Kloos, Kloos & Co. Medien GmbH supervises production of the German documentaries.

The films have been developed with the support of international experts, filmmakers and professionals from all of Europe; Miroslav Janek (Czech Republic), Peter Badel (Germany), Niels Pagh Andersen (Denmark), Susanna Helke (Finland), Clare Paterson (UK), Stephan Krumbiegel (Germany) and Catherine Rascon (France).

http://www.breathless-films.com/

Jihlava 09/4

The best films of the thirteenth year of the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival were announced at its closing ceremony.

In the Czech Joy category, the jury selected the film I Love my Boring Life (Mám ráda nudný ivot, Jan Gogola Jr., Czech Republic 2009) (PHOTO). Further on, the film Brain Fight (Souboj z mozkem, Jan Šípek, Czech Republic 2009) received a Special Mention.

The Opus Bonum award for the best documentary film of 2009 went to the film Bassidji (Tamadon Mehran, Iran – France – Switzerland 2009).

Further on, the jury of the Between the Seas section awarded the film The Border (Hranica, Jaroslav Vojtek, Slovakia 2009) as the best East European documentary film of 2009.

The award of the Fascinations section for the best experimental documentary film of 2009 went to the work with the title Workers Leaving the Factory (Dubai) (Ben Russell, USA 2008).

The Audience Award was presented by chief programming director Alena Müllerová on behalf of the Czech Television, going to the film Auto*mat (Martin Mareček, Czech Republic 2009).

www.docuinter.net

http://www.breathless-films.com/