Short Film News

In a very professional set-up the site ”Short Film News” offers you – with a daily update – news from the film world in Asia, and the rest of the world with a strong focus on North America. Being based in Iran the site covers Iranian cinema under the caption ”Iranian News” and there is also a section called ”Documentary”.

Here is a text clip from ”about us” by the editor, Marjan Riahi:     

Short Film News, as the first news network on short films and documentaries in Iran & Asia, was established in 2004 by Riahi sisters as a non-governmental independent institution. Considering the activities of thousands of filmmakers on short films and documentaries and producing 3 thousand short films and documentaries each year by Iranian filmmakers, it was necessary to have a professional network media to cover the related news to this field. Since, in the last decades, the most success of Iran cinema in the international events belongs to Iranian short films and documentaries, and on the other hand, the audiences of short films are increasing all over the world due to new medias (internet, mobile phone, etc.), we decided to activate the English page of our website in 2005 as well. Our main goal is to make an international network for independent filmmakers all over the world where they can find the related news to festivals, short films and documentaries events in different parts of the world. We publish all news relating to short film and documentary in any part of the world and filmmakers and festival directors can contact us for publishing their news in our website. Introducing Iranian shorts and documentaries to the festivals and other showing programs is another service we can arrange. We can provide a collection of the best Iranian shorts and documentaries for the events and festivals interested in screening Iranian films.

http://en.shortfilmnews.com/

Maria Kravchenko: Body Parts

This film has a powerful rythm that you seldom meet. It is not the MTV-style that is so much present in modern documentaries, it is more carried by an expressive associative editing that could be compared to a Russian tradition that again could be said to go back to the principles of Eisenstein. Or to – in some sequences – Armenian director Pelichian and his masterpiece ”Seasons”. Contrary to that one, young Kravchenko, her second documentary it is, uses interviews with characters, who are filmed in ultra close-ups, intercut with images of landscapes, of old women, of wedding rituals, from the country side, and with archive material from war and destruction, and building-up again. Accompanied by a sound design that stresses the tension and vulnerability in the treated theme.

It is Chechnya and it is young people, who got tragically hurt during the Chechen wars, 1994/95-1996 & 1999/2000. They lost – most of the ones in the film – a leg as kids, and they are now part of a one-legged football team that in the film is going back to Grozny after a tournament in Moscow (my guess, it is not being said). Adam, Muslim, Ibrahim, Aslanbek, Isa and others survived ”a childhood in war”.

Red Cross has supported the film and the fact that the youngsters are together and do something, is in itself uplifting. You want to believe that they still have the chance to get a decent life. With her unconventional interpretation of their situation and her energy in filmmaking, through the excellent scenes from the football matches and the beautiful way the young men express themselves… she gives hope. Even if a tragicomic scene in the film reveals that the word ”happiness” does not exist in Chechnyan!

Russia, Ostrov Studio, 2009, 39 mins. Producer: Sergey Miroschnicenko.

Lars Johansson 60 år i dag

FILMOGRAFI

Røgdykker, 1985 Om mandsmod og professionalisme. Om munterhed og sammenhold. Et filmisk hyldestdigt til et røgdykkerhold ved Københavns Brandvæsen. Stilen veksler mellem både lyrisk og dramatisk reportage og en scenisk stilisering som hos Jørgen Leth

Anholt, stedet, rejsen, 1988 Om stedets betydning og om at rejse dertil og om at være der. Om tilstedeværelse, altså. Og så om et anderledes integreret liv i naturen, i kulturen, i historien.  Og om Guds bestemmelse med menneskene. Igen en stilvekslen som i forrige film.

Hvem slukker lyset, 1989 Filmen er et frikvarter, en opgave fra aftenskolerne. Og der var kun én chance for at løse opgaven, det skulle være grundlæggende morsomt. Så filmen studerer den morsomste mand, den kunne forestille sig, Finn Nørbygård, katalogiserer hans bedste (og morsomste greb) og beder ham på det repertoire gennemspille tre små episoder og alle fire roller i hver af dem.

Traveller’s Tale, 1994 Her udvides rejsemotivet fra Anholtfilmen. Den rejsende slår sig ikke ned, men når til gengæld sted efter sted. Menneskene, han møder, fascinerer også hurtigere skiftende, og på dette bagtæppe af europæiske billeder dukker erotikken op sammen med denne nye energi. Nærværet er konstant, også i ganske korte scener. Blikket bliver introduceret. Den lyriske reportage er enerådende i stilen, visse afsnit griber tilbage i en stor og international dokumentarisk tradition.

Mellem lys og skygge, 1996 Og filmen om den københavnske arkitektur bliver en fortsættelse derved, at dette æstetiske emne skildres som bagtæppe, mens undersøgelsen af kvinden i mandens blik er i forgrunden under selve handlingen gennem en eftermiddag, en aften og en nat i den sommervarme by. Konstruktionen udvides med en på forhånd fastlagt og skrevet dialog.

Højholt, 1997 Og blikket vendes indad i en spejling, skønt opgaven er at skildre en digters eneboerliv, som ikke flytter sig ud af dets fysiske sted, men til gengæld lever den rigeste indre eksistens. I teksten. I rytmen. I gentagelsen. Og filmen hviler tryg i en gedigen reportage, som til gengæld udsættes for tankespring og -udfordringer, i dialogen for det første og i klipningen for det andet.

Simona, 1998 Det erotiske motiv, som dukkede op i Traveller’s Tale, isoleres nu, og blikket bliver det afgørende greb. Dette er så Lars Johanssons første samlede kvindeskildring, en arbejdsopgave, som fortsætter frem til senest romanen Signe fra 2006. Et stykke af vejen er det mandens forelskede blik, som skildrer. I romanen skifter denne synsvinkel afgørende.

Blod og håb, 2001 Filmen om det militære opgør bliver (som den begivenhed altid er) en afbrydelse. Ved ekstra grundig research og mange reportagerejser og journalistiske greb skildres den europæiske borgerkrig som en fortsættelse af undersøgelsen, bekymringen og vemodet, som var bagtæppe for møderne med kvinderne i rejsefilmen fra 94. 

Den tyske hemmelighed, 2004 Her knyttes trådene. Rejsen sydpå i verdensdelen, alvorlige og ærbødige møder med de andre i klassisk sikre reportagescener i deres rum. Mandens blik er nu på hans kvinde, hustruen. Og hans film skildrer hendes projekt. Og selve researchen bliver filmens materiale. Æstetikken fornys afgørende med det detektiviske greb. Filmen bliver spændende. Historien er nu omsider i Lars Johanssons arbejde det, hvorom alt drejer sig. Så en roman måtte blive det næste, kan der efterrationaliseres videre..

Dokumania: Stranded

First in Danish: DR2 Dokumania, tirsdag den 28.7 kl. 20.30 leveres en gave til danske dokumentarelskere: Gonzalo Arijon’s “Stranded. I’ve come from a Plane that Crashed in th Mountains”. DR2 introducerer således: Den 13. oktober 1972 fløj et rugbyhold fra Uruguay til Santiago i Chile for at spille kamp. Undervejs blev flyet ramt af turbulens. Piloten kom ud af kurs, og flyet styrtede ned i Andesbjergene. De fleste af de 45 passagerer døde øjeblikkeligt, flere døde af deres kvæstelser i dagene efter, og otte omkom senere i en lavine. Efter ti dage opgav det chilenske luftvåben eftersøgningen, men det opdagede de overlevende først på et senere tidspunkt.

And then in English:Here is a clip from the review that I wrote on this site:A well constructed dramatic story with a wonderful panel of survivors from the air crash in the Andes in 1972. Good tellers they are and… what I wanted to draw your attention to, first of all, is the way the film reconstructs. In a non-bombastic sketchy manner, where the right balance is found and the facial similarities to the found archive photos of survivors are quite obvious.

The second potential inspiration for filmmaking colleagues could be the talking faces that certainly have been and still is subject to general discussions about to use or not to use. Look at the middle aged men and hear them talk naturally and not only in one sentence lines. There are many characters but we get to know them because we are invited to watch their interesting facial expressions.

The film is a bit too long but the story is fantastic and the craft skills of the Uruguayan and Argentinian film makers are admirable.

France, 2007, 127 mins.

www.idfa.nl (about the film at IDFA 2007)

www.dr.dk/dokumania

http://www.arteboutique.com/detailProduct.action?attributeId=1&vlhId=437946&moveValue=6&product.id=274469 (dvd version with English subtitles can be bought via this site, around 20€)

Masterpiece Docs for Free

”Watch hundreds of films, anytime, anywhere, for free. Documentaries, animations and alternative dramas on the web, on your personalized home page, or on your iPhone. Also, watch trailers, upcoming online releases and playlists.”

This generous offer comes from the National Film Board of Canada, this wonderful documentary publicly funded goldmine in the world. If you are not already knowledgeable about the Canadian contribution to world documentary history, click on the many available films by Donald Brittain, Colin Low, Roman Kroitor and Wolf Koenig. Pearls like ”City of Gold”, ”Lonely Boy” (about Paul Anka, photo) and ”Stravinsky” can be watched for free, and you can see clips from the recently published film ”Capturing Reality” with strong statements from, among others, Werner Herzog, Molly Dineen, Errol Morris as well as a beautiful thank you from Patricio Guzman to Chris Marker, who helped the director while he was working in Chile during the Allende tragedy.

http://www.nfb.ca/

Istanbul Calling

The 12th International 1001 Documentary Film Festival takes place in Istanbul December 4-11. But if you have a film to offer, you better hurry up with your application as the deadline is close. Your screeners and connected material should be with the organisers in a week. You can read more about that on the site below. The reason that we exceptionally make promotion for one out of hundreds of festivals, is the very simple that Allan Berg and I have wonderful memories from our visit years ago to this warm and generous non-competitive festival and film conference. So, even if you are not a filmmaker, if you have plans to visit the beautiful Istanbul, why not go when the festival is on. Festival president this year, Bahriye Kabadayi, a filmmaker herself, writes this:

”The 12th International 1001 Documentary Film Festival defines documentary film as one of the main instruments of the world citizens to express and to face up to themselves and understand each other. Documentary filmmaking is aesthetics of searching verity, and a creative way for designing the future. International 1001 Documentary Film Festival focuses on the human as a respectful being to the other beings in the world, and supports the human rights struggle for a better world, with its civic and independent identity.We’re waiting for your documentaries that make contribution to common history and cultural heritage of the world, to motivate the awareness of each other and sharing our stories…”

Passion and commitment!

http://www.1001documentary.net/#

Cineuropa

The publicly funded film site Cineuropa – published in English, French, Spanish and Italian – for free – brings every day news about films in Europe. But not only news, also longer interviews, festival reports and you can watch trailers from new films. The focus is on the fiction films but a week ago the site brought in the documentary with good and useful information, see link below. This info has been collected with the help of the training programmes Documentary Campus and Eurodoc. This is a text clip from the intention behind the Cineuropa initiative:

The European Cinema Portal is a site dedicated to European cinema, films, actors, filmmakers, professionals, producers, distributors, sales agents, scriptwriters, film finance and the film industry as a whole… Cineuropa provides up-to-date information and other services essential to know one another better to cinephiles from all over the world interested in knowing more about European films, as well as to film and television professionals.

http://cineuropa.org/dossier.aspx?lang=en&treeID=1703&documentID=90814

Jukka Kärkkäinen: The Living Room of the Nation

Could it be everywhere? Yes, the film has many layers and thus a universal appeal. Is it very Finnish? Yes, it has this special feel of Finnish humour and treats its theme with both tough directness and tenderness. Is it good? Yes, more than that, it is excellent. Why? Because the director has something on his mind and has thought of form and thus avoided to make just another poverty story about poor people with poor lives and too much alcohol.

People and their stories. A classical documentary theme. Ordinary people of different age, from different places in Finland. They are in their living rooms the whole film through (apart from the very ending, not to be revealed), they sit, they lie, they talk about their life, their parents, their children, or to each other, or fight with each other or cry together, of joy or out of sadness.

This minimalistic approach is underligned by the way the camera is placed without any movement recording what happens within the frame. Or one could say on the stage of Life. It gives a distance, it gives you respect for the people you are watching, and, the more you get into the film, also compassion for their destinies. The main character is the young man, who becomes a father – you never see the mother – and knows that a new life must begin, without alcohol. Towards the end of the film you hear him say that he can only see his child once a week. He is indeed a tragic character, as is the big man who moves from one apartment to another, a smaller one, where he gets his arm chair placed at the point for watching television. The filmmakers must have been with the characters for a very long time. It all seems so truthful what we are invited to watch, most of the time with a sad feeling but as in a play of Samuel Beckett or a film of Roy Andersson, the interpretation of meaningless goes well with humour. And bravo for an editing that elegantly takes us from one situation and character to the next and the next… and back again.

Finland, 2009, 79 mins.
http://www.thelivingroomofthenation.com/
http://www.deckert-distribution.com/films/deckert_268.htm
http://www.mouka.fi/english/productions/kansakunnan-olohuone.html

Christian Braad Thomsen: Hjemstavnsfilm

DVD-sættet består af en god film, en modig film og en fremragende film. Den sidste et mesterværk og absolut klassiker i dansk filmhistorie. Morten Korch – solskin kan man altid finde fra 1999 er simpelthen en god film, som sætter mandens forfatterskab på plads. Hvor mindets blomster gror fra 1991 er en solid biografisk film, på mange måder i slægt med den fremragende Karen Blixen film og en minimalistisk elegi over den tabte kultur modigt konstrueret af bare to lydelementer, Kraftwerks musik og fortællerstemmens drama samt to billedelementer, en bilrejses monotoni og en række familiebilleders almindelighed, dristigt insisterende på at komme mig ved, hvilket naturligvis i den grad lykkes. Og så Herfra min verden går fra 1976, som er hovedværket, igen en elegi, denne gang i det på alle måder store format. En sådan film var ikke set før dengang, en sådan film er ikke set siden. Den er oprørende og uforglemmelig.  

Det afgørende vigtige ved disse film er i dag, tror jeg, det, som Braad Thomsen skriver i dvd-udgivelsens ledsagetekst om sproget. Ja, som med Jørgen Vestergaards på de fleste andre måder fuldstændig anderledes film har det først og sidst noget med sproget at gøre. Det bliver jeg nødt til lige at tænke videre over… men jeg er dog klar over, at Braad Thomsen ikke havde kunnet lave dem på københavnsk eller engelsk (det har han gjort med andre), for de integrerer et særligt sind, som alene findes på den egn, på disse egne… Filmene lever i det jyske sprog, ja, også den om Morten Korch, for hans historie foregår i biografen i Skanderborg og iagttages fra den kant. Som fynsk og eksotisk. 

Braad Thomsen ser i sin tekst de tre film som personlige sejre, jeg ser dem som kulturelle monumenter over det land. De film har jo ikke en skid med kopis i den thomsenske stald at gøre, i hvert fald ikke længere. De har med mit Jylland at gøre. Al tid.   

Christian Braad Thomsen: Hjemstavsfilm, 50 + 50 + 80 min., 2009. Another World Entertainment.

Jan Vrijman Fund on Tour

Another (see below for Sundance Institute) very important supporter of the non-mainstream, non-anglosaxon documentary production and distribution is the idfa-associated Jan Vrijman Fund. Bravo for a new initiative from JVF:

”Starting the end of July, ten JVF films will tour through Latin America. Besides the screening of beautiful documentaries from the continent itself, the fund subtitled films from Iran, South Africa, India, Bulgaria and Russia into Spanish for the Latin American audience. Moving stories varying from the unfulfilled election promises to Indian women in Six Yards to Democracy, a strikingly visualized portrait of three blind singing sisters from Brazil in Born to be Blind and not to forget Victor Kossakovsky’s Tishe! in which he filmed the repairs on a St. Petersburg street for one year from his apartment window. So far the tour is going to the Festidoc in Paraguay, the International Documentary Encounters in Colombia, Ícaro in Guatemala and to DocuPeru. Photo: Viktor Kossakovsky.

http://www.idfa.nl/industry/vrijman-fund/latestnews.aspx