Nicolas Philibert Interviewed

… In le Monde by Jacques Mandelbaum, film critic at the newspaper since 1995. You have to be a subscriber of le Monde to read the whole interview. I have taken the liberty to quote from the excellent meeting with the great French filmmaker:

« Nicolas Philibert, 70 ans, est une figure tutélaire du documentaire en France après quarante ans d’activité dans le domaine. A toutes fins utiles, un rappel de son parcours pour la route. Démarrage en 1978 avec La Voix de son maître, coréalisé avec Gérard Mordillat, entretien avec douze grands patrons de l’époque et chronique discrète de la mutation capitaliste en cours, pas suffisamment toutefois pour n’être pas censurée durant treize ans. »

« … Nicolas Philibert a pris la direction régulière, depuis quelques mois, du quai de la Rapée, dans le 12earrondissement de Paris, où est accostée la péniche de l’Adamant, centre psychiatrique de jour dépendant des hôpitaux de Saint-Maurice (Val-de-Marne). »

« Filmer le désordre mental : Rien d’évident toutefois, pour beaucoup de raisons. La première, naturellement, consiste à filmer le désordre mental. Terrain instable, souffrance humaine, fragilité de tout, risque avéré du pittoresque. La seconde, non moins prégnante, est la pandémie qui sévit depuis dix mois. Nicolas Philibert, qui habite à Paris, s’estime à cet égard relativement chanceux : « Contrairement à beaucoup de mes collègues qui se sont arrêtés au milieu d’un tournage, la période du premier confinement a été pour moi celle de l’isolement nécessaire à l’écriture du projet. Je n’ai donc pas trop souffert. J’ai programmé mes journées. Une heure de marche rapide le matin, puis lecture et écriture. J’ai aussi mis à profit ce temps libre pour filmer ma mère, qui a eu 100 ans en avril 2020. Ça a été très important pour moi d’aller la voir régulièrement, même si je ne sais pas encore le devenir de ces images. » »

« Moi, je me fous de faire un film de plus. Faire un film avec de l’acquis, ça ne m’intéresse pas. Je veux être dérouté, questionné. Je veux qu’un tournage m’attire et me fasse peur. Et affronter cette peur en filmant . »

« La pandémie touche le quotidien de tout un chacun. L’activité du centre en est, pour le moment, fortement impactée. Par ailleurs, la maladie a, pour certains patients, de fortes répercussions psychiques. J’intègre naturellement ces éléments à mon écriture. »

https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/01/11/nicolas-philibert-je-veux-qu-un-tournage-m-attire-et-me-fasse-peur_6065920_3246.html

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/1931/

dok.incubator 2021

Andrea Prenghyova wrote me a couple of days ago, asking if I could mention that the 10th edition of her dokincubator is coming up. Really, 10th edition (!), I thought, and I dare say that Prenghyova has managed to put the training initiative on the map of popular workshops in Europe. I don’t recall having met filmmakers, who have been critical to the content of the workshops that have high class professionals as tutors, not only editors but also a marketing specialist like Freddy Neumann and the producer Christine le Goff. But for those who want to know more than, what can be read on the website of dokincubator I have picked a quite from one of the interviews Prenghyova has made, one published today: 

In an interview with Steve Rickinson from Modern Times Review, published today, link below, Andrea Prenghyova says:

„There are two most important things that distinguish us from other training programmes and workshops. First thing is that we are the workshop which is coming quite late to the filmmakers – at the stage of the rough cut. Therefore, we are able to work with the real material and to participate in the real creative process. This is very important…

The second thing that distinguishes us is our quite special methodology, we are learning through doing – we are a very pragmatic workshop, but at the same time, we cover various aspects. On one side you get a very high quality of your creative process and on the other, you also get quite a wide perspective on your film – you test your film…”

https://www.moderntimes.review/we-are-simply-looking-for-good-films/

https://dokincubator.net/introduction-to-applications/?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=submission_deadline_January_27th_2021&utm_medium=email#.YAG56uB7nOQ

Vibe Mogensen: De pårørende

VIBE MOGENSEN: DE PÅRØRENDE blev sendt på TV2 i aftes og den kan nu ses på TV2 Play. Se den!

Jeg så Vibe Mogensens film i forgårs. Jeg er stadigvæk bevæget, imponeret og glad. Generøst blev jeg lukket ind i den lange smertefulde samtale. Fik en syvende stol omkring bordet. Dokumentaren forsvandt i ubønhørlig virkelighed…

Der er kun det rum med bordet og stolene og så psykologen, de fem pårørende, forældre til psykisk syge børn, nærbillederne af deres ansigter og deres fortællinger, som Nanna Frank Møller kærligt og kompetent har klippet til én fortælling om hvad der sker når ens barn rammes af psykisk sygdom.

 

NANNA FRANK MØLLER OG VIBE MOGENSEN

Tue Steen Müller har på sin Facebookside “…en tilføjelse til ovenstående, en anmeldelse af Vibe Mogensens fremragende Min fars sind, som havde samme klipper, Nanna Frank Møller og samme producer, Vibeke Vogel. Filmen har været vist i udlandet – med succes og med Vibe og Nanna tilstede. Dygtige dokumentarister.”

Tue Steen Müller refererer fra et filmmøde i Litauen i 2011 hvor Nanna Frank Møller havde masterclass og citerer hendes bemærkninger om Min fars sind: “… ”As an editor I’m trying to find the soul/the spirit of the film”, she said and continued to show material from the masterpiece of Vibe Mogensen, Min fars sind (The Mind of my Father): A grown-up man one day starts to cry, he does not know why, it gets worse, turns into a mental illness bringing him on strong medicine to survive. The daughter, the director, visits him, films him, as he has been filming her on holidays way back before he got ill. I have seen the film several times, every time it moves me immensely.”

Filmkommentaren – Summer Filmmaking in Lithuania 

 Jeg skrev kort efter premieren på Min fars sind en introduktion / anmeldelse til en visning i Randers: Det er en meget smuk titel Vibe Mogensen har givet sin film. Den dækker fuldstændig filmens overvejelse og indhold. Jeg har fulgt den fra de første skitseagtige optagelser for nogle år siden – den var længe undervejs, men den har ikke ændret retning, den var og blev denne uro: min fars sind. Filmen har to medvirkende, Vibe Mogensen selv og hendes sindssyge far. Og den handler om dette sind og tanken i titlen. Arven. Er det sådan i en familie, at alt arves? Og er det så også sådan, at vi må vedgå denne arv? Læs mere: 

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3156/ 

Lisa Blond: Lys på den lukkede

“Lys på den lukkede er en af de mest rørende, fortvivlende og kærlige udsendelser, jeg har set længe”, skriver AnneLise Marstrand-Jørgensen på sin Facebookside, “dygtige, empatiske Lisa Blond har fulgt enestående Søren Magnussens arbejde med at skabe bedre vilkår for mennesker på den lukkede afdeling på Rigshospitalet. 

Efter en langvarig indlæggelse samme sted, fik Søren den tanke, at der måtte kunne skabes mere liv og glæde blandt de forpinte psykiatriske patienter. Og så gik han i gang. Med at plante en have fuld af blomster, arrangere kagebord og en lille hvid hest og sørge for en salsafest bag hegnet.

Arrangemeter og smukke blomster er synlige. Men det allermest bemærkelsesværdige er den måde, Søren Magnussen møder alle på sin vej: Med uforfærdet respekt, ligeværdighed, tro på dem som andre har opgivet, stædig insisteren på at sprede et glimt af lys selv i den mørkeste nat. Det er inspirerende, og det er forbilledligt – og noget de færreste evner.

Og derfor bliver udsendelsen i al sin skønhed også så forfærdelig trist. For den lukkede – eller psykiatrien i det hele taget – tager sjældent så godt imod mennesker, som de fortjener. Besparelser, nedskæringer, manglende prioritering skaber let forråelse og mange steder er medicin kongen af alle tilbud. Unge mennesker bliver tabt, gengangere bliver sjældent set med de friske øjne som ethvert møde med et andet menneske bør kalde på.

Vi møder mennesker i serien som hungrer efter kærlighed og omsorg, men ikke finder den noget sted. Vi møder unge mennesker med ressourcer og talenter og evner ud over det sædvanlige, som ikke får den hjælp af systemet, der lettere ville kunne få dem til at blomstre (igen).

Og så møder vi Søren. Og Lisa der så nænsomt skildrer det hele med sit kamera og sine spørgsmål. Hvis man kunne sørge for, at hver eneste psykiatrisk afdeling havde en Søren-klon ville meget være nået.

Problemet er blot, at det har de færreste. Og at menneskelighed og livsmod i psykiatrien ikke burde afhænge af enkelte individer, men af et grundliggende værdiskifte og en voldsom tilføring af midler.”

 Sådan tilskyndet af AnneLise Marstrand-Jørgensens smukke tekst, introduktion og anmeldelse så jeg i går begge episoder af Lisa Blonds forbløffende tv-dokumentar. Jeg så og så og lyttede og forstod uden afbrydelse uden sans for andet end livet på denne psykiatriske afdeling. Nu bagefter tror jeg at det må være de umærkelige klip, denne David Rosenquists på en særlig udsøgt måde selvfølgelige sammenføjning af Lisa Blonds uafbrudt tæt tilstedeværende optagelser i en filmisk pageturner.

Den centrale scene i Lys på den lukkede må hedde Se mig! En ung kvinde som er indlagt har skrevet et langt digt i sin notesbog. det er Søren Magnussen som har bedt hende gøre det, og på en times tid er hun færdig. Søren Magnussen sætter sig ret op og ned på en stol som eneste tilhører, smilende og spændt. Den unge kvinde stiller sig foran ham på nogle meters afstand åbner uden tøven sin notesbog og læser med stor autoritet sin gribende tekst Se mig! Sammenfatter ved poesiens forbløffende metode på baggrund af det mimiske set up’s selvfølgelighed dokumentarens kerne: at føje det uvanlige til det vanlige. Se mig! Hun slutter så fast stilfærdigt som hun begyndte. Søren Magnussen udbryder: Jeg er målløs! Der sker ikke mere. Da dokumentaren slutter gentager jeg de tre ord for mig selv. 

Danmark 2020, DR 1, 2 x 45 min. Lys på den lukkede: Sæson 1 – Salsa bag hegnet | Se online her | DRTV

Still: Søren Magnussen

Michael Apted 1941 – 2021

“I wanna be a jockey…” is a sentence that my wife and I always remember, when we talk about and recall the UP series by Michael Apted, who passed away yesterday. We got acquainted with the series at a festival in Cork, Ireland in the 1990’es, where we could not stop talking about the children, who have been filmed since 1964, 9 episodes, with 7 years in between, and with 63UP as the last one from Apted’s hands, a magnificent piece of documentary film history – about Life lived and about the English class society. The 14 children were chosen from upper and working class, it is fascinating to follow their journeys. Tony (on the poster) had a short carreer as a jockey, went on to become a taxi driver keeping his charm and cockney accent. Andrew became a solicitor, John a barrister – and Bruce, touching Bruce, who from the start wanted to be a missionary « to help the poor people in Africa » and did not think he would ever get married, did get into charity work and did get married and did have children. Jackie, Lynn, Sue are the women in the series, Suzy took also part but did not want to be in the 63UP. In the enormous amount of articles about the series – and also in the films – you often hear the children as grown-ups reflect on what it has meant for them to be on television every seven years. Apted regrets in many interviews the lack of gender equity – and says that made him be very careful when selecting female stars for his many fiction films.

Neil, however, is the most exciting person to follow in the series. A lively energetic kid with a bright future, we assume, leaves the society, wanders around as homeless, has mental problems, but comes back, becomes a politician and wants to help others as his close friend Bruce, who helped him, when he was down. Does voluntary work at the church.

I had the privilege to be a juror with Michael Apted at the Moscow International Film Festival – for the documentary competition when that started in 2011 – with Russian Alexander Gutman as the third man in the jury. We watched 7 films, were invited to stay 10 days in the Russian capital, so my wife and I had lot of time with Apted and his wife Paige Simpson. He was a true English man with the most wonderful voice (as you can hear it in the series) and with a typical sense of humour. Without me saying so the organisers of the festival called me “expert”, which made Apted salute me every morning at breakfast with “Good Morning Expert”.

5 years later we visited Paige and Apted in Venice California in their beautiful funkis house. The 63UP was on its way, the expert and his wife were trying to get information about what had happened since 56UP. A wedding, an illness, a new place to live for the jockey… We have not yet seen the 63UP that came out in 2019. Was that the last episode as Michael Apted is no longer among us? RIP.

“’Give Me the Child Until He Is Seven and I Will Show You the Man’.

You can buy the series on Amazon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)#Andrew

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/may/07/56-up-its-like-having-another-family

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iKOrjqEb5I

Šabotić & Varushev: Twins Woven from Dreams

The film is co-directed by Sead Šabotić & Lea Vahrušev, the latter is also the producer.

Take a look at the still above. Marko is trying to find out if his new sneakers fit him. His wife has sent them to him. His is not that happy, they are not so comfortable but he does not want to tell her. The scene, in itself it could be seen as insignificant, becomes important as the camera stays with him for a long time, no hurry – as in many other moments in the film. And the scene builds up to the visit of the wife at the Belgrade District Prison, Block 5-1, where the filmmakers have found a handful of young (and younger) inmates, with charisma and well built bodies – and a lot of worries about how to cope with the life outside that is waiting for them; work and family, kids.

The film goes close to the characters. You get a strong impression of how it is to be in the prison, of the friendships, of the very much time they choose to exercise and think and talk openly with each other about what is waiting for them. Outside. They talk with staff and each other.

The film refrains from digging into, why they are there. The camera work is excellent (Milan Petkovic) and the edting (Mina Petrovic) likewise, allowing well framed significant images to be informative mixed with close-ups of heads and bodies. The filmmakers trust the image, bravo for that. And through the narrative approach they express respect towards the inmates and let us viewers see what it means to leave the prison.

The world is full of prison-documentaries. This one is one of the better.

Serbia, 2020, 67 mins.

 

 

Lithuanian Documentarians Honoured

… well, they are so far nominated « For Promoting Lithuania Globally », the directors and producers Arunas Matelis and Giedre Zickyté, by an organisation GLL (Global Lithuanian Leaders), that  is a non-profit association for professional individuals that identify with Lithuania and care about its future. If you click below you will find more information about the categories, where Lithuanians who have done something important for the country and its culture are listed as nominees to awards being given out in the month of January.

This information gives me the chance to salute two good friends I have known for one and two, almost three decades. Arunas from the time of Balticum Film & TV Festival in the 1990’es, Giedre from this century. Both of them filmmakers with an international network, ready to overcome all the trouble making coproductions gives, for their own works and ready to step into helping colleagues to make their film sas Arunas did with “Lobster Soup” and Giedre with “The Earth is Bleu as an Orange”. Two films from Spain and Ukrainia. It’s a generosity that many other filmmakers could learn from, commitment and the ambition to get the films out to as many as possible whatever country. Here follows the motivation for the nomainations:       

Arunas Matelis: For the first Lithuanian representation on global film distribution platforms with documentary “Wonderful Losers. A Different World“. This year, the documentary of Arūnas Matelis “Wonderful Losers. A Different World” was uploaded to online film distribution platforms of more than 90 countries including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Kanopy. In the USA, the film has reached TOP 3 among iTunes documentaries. The film features the backstage dramas of cycling competition Giro d’Italia, it has been awarded at 14 international film festivals, in 2017 it received the title of the best Lithuanian film, and in 2018 it represented Lithuania in two categories of Academy Awards.

Giedre Zickyte: For captivating story-telling of dramatic history of Lithuania through the documentary “The Jump” and its victories at Warsaw, Rome and New York film festivals. The Documentary “The Jump” tells the story of Lithuanian soviet sailor Simas Kudirka who during the Cold War made an attempt to escape the Soviet Union by jumping from the Soviet to the American ship. The film captivated the global audience by the thrilling story and the way it is told. At the international Warsaw A Class festival, it was awarded as the best documentary. Documentary “The Jump” has become the first Lithuanian film invited to Rome Film Fest and DOC NYC 2020 in New York.

https://gllawards.lt/en/nominees-2020/?fbclid=IwAR3um3y5B9hpO6L8Jip4oz_iXj9Bu4c1omM53znWrwqVSne_hUAK5ZO1vhU

Oeke Hoogendijk: My Rembrandt

This text is written by Svetlana and Zoran Popovic, directors of the Magnificent7 Festival in Belgrade.

A dramatic documentary exclusive insight into the world behind the facades of top art, the author who amazed us with a saga about the reconstruction of one of the largest museums in Europe.

Through masterful direction, Oeke Hoogendijk tells a story about a sensation roaring through the world, the discovery of a new and previously unknown painting of the greatest of the greatest masters, Rembrandt, and transforms it to an exciting thriller that leaves us breathless. This film shows us the world behind the art, the world of collectors, art historians, authenticity experts, those possessed by both true passion and prestige, with discrete dark shades of basic greed. This is a fascinating story about a detective search from the sensing of vague outlines in the shadows and secrets of time, to the brutal penetration of x-rays and flashes in the hunt for the unseen. Balancing between fascination with the subtlest ups and downs of genius and the need to possess or profit, the heroes of this film are constantly torn, revealing the face of the modern world driven by ambition to ceaselessly produce newer and newer things and to raise values on a pedestal which simultaneously degrades and questions them.

A film that truly ‘touches’ for you the original works of masters and leads you into the space of their complex and turbulent existence.

The Netherlands 2019 95 minutes 

Joonas Berghäll: The Happiest Man on Earth

This text is written by Svetlana and Zoran Popovic, directors of the Magnificent7 Festival in Belgrade.

The celebrated author of the film about saunas, one of the greatest documentary hits in Finland, reveals in his latest work the world of unrecognized emotions of Finnish men. Talking, above all, about the deep longing for intimacy, made with a virtuoso authorial procedure, this is a film of exceptional strength and beauty.

Starting from the surprising conclusion of the research, according to which Finns are declared the happiest people in the modern world, the author documents a different, exciting, extremely emotional and colorful world of Finland, through the story of several men who reveal their sorrows, disappointments, sufferings and hopelessness. Colored with harsh humor, this film of stunning camera and photography takes us through mysterious and at times surreal landscapes. With complete openness, and as the protagonist of the story, the author masterfully intertwines individual currents, building a broad and complex image without stereotypes about the unusual mentality, misunderstanding, rejection and conflict, but also the universality of the deep sensitivity of Finnish men.

A top representative of always especially inspiring Finnish documentaries.

Finland 2019 85 minutes 

Magnificent 2020 Belgrade/ 2

Just a quick note of enthusiasm. They had less than a week to announce the 16th edition of Magnificent7 that is running right now in Belgrade. I am not there as at the 15 first editions but contrary to pandemic scepticism from the two festival directors the three screenings so far (“Gunda”, “Patrimonium”, “Bitter Love”) have had audiences from 100 to 200 people in the Dombank Hall Theatre where you can keep distance – and watch films on a big screen. On the photo you see Svetlana and Zoran Popovic celebrating the 100th film screening, which was the film by Audrius Stonys and Kristine Briede, “Bridges of Time”.