DOCLisboa 09/1

Festival director Serge Trefaut launched a passionate attack on Portuguese public broadcaster RTP at the opening of the festival. The young festival (7 years of age with an audience of 40.000 last year!) and its director has managed to get the message to newspapers, radio and  television: RTP does not live up to its public service obligations and does not at all care about the creative documentary.

A panel was put together to discuss the state of the art in other European countries. Anna Glogowski, commissioning editor in France, talked about the situation in a country where the re-organisation of the public channels (FR 2,3,4,5) is in process. Jordi Ambros painted the picture of TV3 Catalunya where he is responsible for coproductions and acquisitions for his late night slot for creative documentaries. And I talked about Danish DR and its new prime time slot Dokumania on tuesday evenings – as well as the upcoming digital channel for history and culture. With the addition of a well deserved praise of the Finnish YLE and its many slots for documentaries and internationally active commissioning editors.

The input was meant to be an inspiration for the Portuguese to continue their action for a better documentary environment in a country with many fine filmmakers, I could add. A festival doing film policy. Next step probably an open letter to the government. Bravo!

Photo: From the new film of Serge Tréfaut, “City of the Dead”, selected for idfa competion 2009.

http://www.doclisboa.org/

Jan Vrijman Fund Films at idfa

It is a very good move that the Jan Vrijman Fund supported films are to be seen at idfa. It is very often among these low budget documentaries that you find films that are made out of necessity and heart. By filmmakers who do not live in countries with strong support systems, and/or in political systems where political and social criticism is not welcomed. Here is the press release inclding the list of the films: A total of 22 films realised with support from the Jan Vrijman Fund have been selected for IDFA 2009. A variety of films representing all Southern continents and made in different styles. Films dealing with a diversity of subjects ranging from a portrait of Pablo Escobar’s Son, keeping a family together in changing China to the survival of the last tightrope dancer in Armenia.

The Jan Vrijman Fund films selected for IDFA 2009 have been programmed in the following sections:
Feature Length Competition: Last Train Home by Lixin Fan, 9 Months 9 Days by Oscar Ramírez Gonzalez 
Short Length Competition: All Restrictions End by Reza Haeri 
First Appearance Competition: Addicted in Afghanistan by Jawed Taiman, Sins of my Father by Nicolas Entel 
Reflecting Images – Panaroma: The Belgrade Phantom by Jovan Todorovic, Dead Youth by Leandro Listorti, For Home Viewing by Mikhail Zheleznikov, Gipsy in the Flower by Ju Anqi, Island Belarus by Victor Asliuk, The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia (PHOTO) by Inna Sahakyan and Arman Yeritsyan, NARGIS when time stopped breathing by young Burmese filmmakers, Nero’s Guests by Deepa Bhatia, News by Bettina Perut and Ivan Osnovikoff, The Peddler by Adriana Yurcovich, Eduardo de la Serna and Lucas Marcheggiano, A Place called los Pereyra by Andrés Livov-Macklin, Shungu: The Resilience of a People by Saki Mafundikwa, Story of a Day by Rosana Matecki, The Tight Rope by Nuria Ibáñez, They Come for the Gold, They Come for it All by Cristian Harbaruk and Pablo d’Aló Abbá, Together by Nenad Puhovski, Women in Shroud by Farid Haerinejad and Mohammad Reza Kazemi.

www.idfa.nl

The Sound of Insects

The European Film Academy proudly announces that the award EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY DOCUMENTARY 2009 – Prix ARTE goes to the film THE SOUND OF INSECTS – Record of a Mummy by Peter Liechti, Switzerland.

The incredible story of how the mummified corpse of a 40-year-old man was discovered by a hunter in one of the most remote parts of the country. The dead man’s detailed notes reveal that he actually committed suicide through self-imposed starvation only the summer before. Liechti’s film is a stunning rapprochement of a fictional text, which itself is based upon a true event: a cinematic manifesto for life, challenged by the main character’s radical renunciation of life itself.

2009, 88 mins.

For the nominated films, see below.

www.docuinter.net

Serbia – Moments of Beauty and Joy

The Popovics (Svetlana and Zoran), the organisers of the festival Magnificent7, that takes place every year in January in Belgrade, and has done so for five years, with my privileged post as co-selector of the seven films (you can read a lot more about it on this site, go to ”search”) arranged the most beautiful four day (almost) film-free tour for me and my wife at the end of September. I want to share some visual moments with you and can only warmly recommend you to go to the Serbia south of Belgrade to experience landscapes of green mountains, fields, rivers, lakes, monasteries and churches – and food and wine and slivovitj and rakija.

Have a look at the Angel and read what Wikipedia says about it:  

White Angel is a detail of a fresco from the Mileševa monastery circa 1230 AD in Serbia, Mironosnice na Hristovom grobu (Myrrhbearers on Christ’s Grave). It is also one of the most famous frescoes in Serbian culture. It depicts an angel sitting in front of the tomb of Christ. This monastery belongs to a Latin period in Byzantine art. The first satellite broadcast in 1963 between Europe and North America sent a picture of White Angel from Mileševa in first broadcasting frames to salute American people from Europeans… a true and unique message of overall peace.

Serbia – Moments of Beauty and Joy 2

There is a golden rule when you are on the road and get hungry – go where the truck drivers go. In combination with the knowledge of our hosts, including Misko, the driver, who take film crews around in his van, we ended up in fine local lunch restaurants, and had meat and water and good bread, and soup, and the Montenegrin wine Vranac. Lunch times are a bit more flexible than we are used to in Northern Europe – could easily be around 3pm.

Photo: Still life with Nokia.

Serbia – Moments of Beauty and Joy 3

Yugoslavia, a country that once was. At a time that was  much easier for many people. It is absurd when you get to talk to people in Serbia and ask them where they come from… well, my mother was born in Croatia and my father is from Montenegro and my grandmother… and they all speak the same language with tiny differences.

Memories from Yugo-time are to be found everywhere. Look at the photo of our driver Misko next to the small car. This is what Zoran Popovic told me about the car: the little car is called FICA (and C hase the same additional dash as French é – and it’s pronounced like in Italian Ciao)…. But how could big strong Serbian males fit into it.

Serbia – Moments of Beauty and Joy 4

Two images came constantly to my eyes when we travelled the amazing landscapes of Serbia – reminded us in many places again and again of Tuscany. One was all the unfinished houses, the reason for which we were told to be a combination of vanity (”we must have a two-store house as the neighbour”) and the fact that when your house is still under construction you dont have to pay tax. So many move into the basement floor and never finish the floor above.

The other image was of the sculptures in the landscape, according to the Popovics: the hay sculpture is called STOG. It is often said STOG SENA (translation: STOG of hay.

Turn your head – sorry I don’t know how to make it en face – and watch the man on the top of a stog, two of them is food for one cow during winter time.

Serbia – Moments of Beauty and Joy 5

And what has Maradona to do with Serbia… a lot since Emir Kusturica made a film about him that I saw in the Stanly Kubrick Cinema in Kustendorf, a village on a hill top set up by the same Kusturica with typical Serbian houses, a perfect weekend holiday place with fine rooms, restaurants and small streets named after Bergman, Fellini, Ivo Andric and many others from cinema and culture.

The Maradona film is not what Kusturica was aiming for, the film about Maradona, but it is probably the best one so far. And he is a fantastic character for a film, Maradona, with his dramatic career of ups and downs, his (naive) political point of views, his family life and his football skills. Now a coach for Argentina’s national team, still not qualified for the World Cup next year as Denmark and Serbia!

Prizes for Deconstruction of an Artist

Latvian director Peteris Krilovs’ documentary about legendary artist Gustav Klucis took several prizes at the National award ceremony in Riga a week ago: best director, best editor (Danish Julie Vinten), best script (Pauls Bankovskis) and best sound mix (Andris Barons). A big triumph for the company Vides Film Studio and its energetic leader Uldis Cekulis, who could also find joy in the fact that Maris Maskalans was given the prize as Best Cameraman for his work in “Three Men and a Fish Pond”, another production of the studio.

To our Danish and Swedish readers: The film about Klucis (one hour version) was shown on Swedish television (SVT2) yesterday and will be repeated October 11 13.30 and October 14 23.05.

http://svt.se/2.109829/1.1715907/gustav_klucis 

http://www.vfs.lv/?lang=2

Frederick Wiseman

Respect – the idfa has sent out this press release:

In honour of his 80th birthday, this year’s IDFA will be devoting special attention to the work of Frederick Wiseman. Wiseman has directed and produced dozens of documentaries, which often focussed on social relations within American institutions. He is regarded as one of the major exponents of Direct Cinema. Alongside a retrospective programme compiled by himself, screening of his latest film and a masterclass, the festival will also be looking at Wiseman’s work as a theatre director.
 
Wiseman (USA, 1930) made his debut as a documentary maker in 1967 with Titicut Follies, about a psychiatric clinic for convicted criminals. The film paints a shocking picture of the humiliating way the detainees were treated, which led to Wiseman being sued many times by the authorities. Many of his later films, including High School, Hospital and Near Death, are also studies of social relations in a variety of – usually American – institutions.
Although he himself would disagree, Wiseman’s work is often included in the category Direct Cinema, the documentary movement, which

strove for the representation of objective reality. In the early 1960s, the introduction of portable cameras and sound recording equipment made it possible for filmmakers to follow their subjects up close, like a ‘fly on the wall’. Wiseman, however, never asserted that his observational style was an attempt to film an objective reality, as he believes film to be by definition a personal and subjective medium.
 
Wiseman has been a faithful IDFA attendee from the very beginning of the festival. He chaired the first jury in 1988, thereby lending tremendous support to a then small festival. 2004 saw the big IDFA Direct Cinema debate, attended by the movement’s foremost representatives: Robert Drew, Albert and David Maysles, Richard Leacock, D.A. Pennebaker and Frederick Wiseman.
To mark his 80th birthday in January 2010, at IDFA’s request Wiseman has selected nine of his old films to be screened at this year’s festival. In addition, Wiseman will give a masterclass, in which he will discuss his work and working method.   
The Frederick Wiseman Retrospective will include Titicut Follies (1967), High School (1968), Hospital (1969), Basic Training (1971), Welfare (1975), Model (1980), Missile (1987), Near Death (1989), Belfast, Maine (1999). His latest film, La Danse – le Ballet de l’Opera de Paris (2009), about the famous ballet company in Paris, also screens in the Reflecting Images: Masters programme.
 
Alongside making documentaries, Wiseman has also directed a number of plays. In late 2005, for example, he directed Happy Days by Samuel Beckett for the Comédie Française in Paris. Together with French actress Catherine Samie, who played the lead, Wiseman will elucidate on his version of this theatre classic at IDFA 2009 by means of live performance, lectures and fragments of recordings of the play.