ARTE celebrates the Louvre Pyramid

20 years have gone since the architect I.M. Pei could show his Louvre pyramid to the public. Heavily discussed back then, but now in general considered as an architectural masterpiece of our time, one of the many monuments decided by Francois Mitterrand.

On this occasion the European cultural channel ARTE dedicates a whole day, next saturday April 25, to the Pyramid through the broadcast of no less than 6 documentaries.

Two of them are new productions: Frédéric Compain tells about the strong opposition and discussions before the building of the pyramid was decided, and Stan Neumann has got unique access to some of the best art conservators, restorers and historians, who are filmed discussing some of the jewels of the Louvre collection. Talking about jewels… the last film in so-called Theme-Day is of course the 20 years old masterpiece of Nicolas Philibert, ”La ville Louvre”.

www.arte.tv

Leaf & Scheinfeld: The U.S. vs. John Lennon

The film was released in December 2006 but I did not get to see it before this saturday afternoon, thanks to SVT, Swedish Television: The story about John Lennon being harrassed by the American authorities during the Nixon administration. He was considered an enemy of the state with his constant Peace manifestations in and out of bed with Yoko Ono at his side. Ending with a deportation notice that was never put into action due to a strong lawyer who was able to prolong the court case again and again, until Nixon was re-elected in 1972 and the White House forgot about this rebel from Liverpool.

It is a highly entertaining documentary, a déjà vu, all in the film is known, it is a repetition but a lovely one for one who grew up with Lennon. Who was at the Beatles concert in Copenhagen in 1964 as a young fan, and who was walking the streets of London on December 9 1980 on holiday with wife and mother, facing the breaking news: John Lennon Shot Dead.

Totally formatted and an overwhelming praise to Lennon documentary: interviews (first and foremost Yoko Ono but also George McGovern and Bobby Seale and Angela Davis), archives from concerts and interviews with Lennon and the bed-in´s in Amsterdam and Montréal, and music all over. All we are Saying is Give Peace a Chance… Retro nostalgia, yes, history, yes, the film about Lennon, no.  

2006, 99 mins.

http://www.theusversusjohnlennon.com/

Wim Wenders: Der Himmel über Berlin 5

Bruno Ganz og Otto Sander kommer som disse frakkeklædte engle usynlige ind til de mange læsende (Rilkes scene fra “Malte Laurids Brigges Optegnelser”) på Staatsbibliothek. De kan, da de er engle, ikke kun høre tanker, men også, hvad der læses, og blandt de mange mumlende stemmer med sætninger om livet i regnskoven, om sommeren, som lakker mod enden, om merværdiafgift, om sammenfatning af ligninger, om kærligheden, om vemod ved soldaterne ved fronten og et bygkorn i øjet (i et Alban Berg brev), om DNA molekylet… skelner jeg:

“Walther Benjamin købte 1921 Paul Klees akvarel ANGELUS NOVUS. Indtil sin flugt fra Paris i juni 1940 hang det i hans vekslende arbejdsværelser. I sit sidste skrift “Über den Begriff der Geschichte”, 1940, fortolkede han billedet som allegori over tilbageblikket på historien…” Så tager andre stemmer over, men jeg erindrer Benjamins tekst:

“… Det viser en engel, som ser ud til at bevæge sig væk fra noget, han stirrer på. Hans øjne er vidtåbne, hans mund er åben, hans vinger er foldet ud. Det er sådan historiens engel må se ud. Hans ansigt er vendt mod fortiden. Mens en kæde af begivenheder er hvad vi oplever, ser han én enkelt katastrofe, som stabler tilintetgørelse på tilintetgørelse og slynger dem for hans fødder. Englen ville gerne blive, levende eller død, og gøre helt igen, hvad der er blevet knust. Men en storm blæser fra Paradis, og den har fået fat i hans vinger. Den er så stærk, at englen ikke kan folde dem sammen. Den storm driver ham uimodståelig ind i fremtiden, som han vender ryggen til, mens stablen af murbrokker foran ham vokser mod himlen. Denne storm er hvad vi kalder fremskridt…”

Som Fassbinder og Pasolini i deres film, skildrer Wenders i sin film det, Klees og Benjamins engel ser..

Wim Wenders: Der Himmel über Berlin, 1987. 122 min. Manuskript (monolog og digt): Peter Handke, kamera: Henri Alekan, klip: Peter Przygodda, medvirkende: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois og Peter Falk. DVD, Arthaus 2005, 500941, Wim Wnders Edition. Litt.: Wim Wenders und Peter Handke: Der Himmel über Berlin, ein Filmbuch, 1987. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. Walther Benjamin: Über den Begriff der Geschichte, 1940, i Gesammelte Schriften I, side 691-704. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. Foto: Paul Klee: Angelus Novus.

Wim Wenders: Der Himmel über Berlin 4

Vi havde Berlinaften på Nordisk Designhøjskole i aftes. Eleverne rejser i dag på studierejse til byen, og hele dagen i går gik med forberedelser. Der var foredrag om Berlins historie og topografi og om aftenen kørte de “Der Himmel über Berlin”, som jeg var derude for at introducere.

Vi talte om Walter Benjamins optagethed af Paul Klees ANGELUS NOVUS, som Tue Steen Müller så sjovt samtidig sidder og skriver om. Jeg fortalte eleverne, at Tue og jeg i julen var i Berlin og en lang aften gik omkring i den store Paul Klee udstilling i det moderne kunstmuseum. Et særligt afsnit der var indrettet omkring det lille maleri med en engelfremstilling, som ellers er på museet i Jerusalem, og på dette maleris særlige proveniens. Det har tilhørt først Rainer Maria Rilke, senere Walter Benjamin, som skrev et essay om det, teksten, Tue citerer fra.

Det bringes der sammen med Fassbinders og Pasolinis værker om smertefuld europæisk besindelse. Jeg prøvede at bringe det sammen med Wenders Berlinfilm. Mine belæg i aftes var noget luftige, intuitive, når jeg identificerede Klees og Benjamins engel med Wenders og Ganzs. Så jeg må efterrationalisere, finde konkrete detaljer..

Read All About It!

A piece of promotion for a serious and competent publishing house with an excellent newsletter with links to events (conferences like the one below about Pasolini and Fassbinder, and festivals) and first of all info on new books on the seventh art. The publisher presents itself like this:

“Wallflower Press is an independent publishing house specialising in cinema and the moving image. We are devoted to the publication of the highest-quality academic and popular literature in film, television and media studies as well as related areas of the visual arts, and publish over thirty new titles each year. Through focusing on this niche area, albeit a large and growing one, we are committed to providing the widest possible range of insightful and significant texts covering the full spectrum of contemporary moving image theory and practice.”

The photo (from Agnes Varda’s Le Bonheur) is from the cover of the book: Feminist Auteurs. Reading Women’s films. By Geetha Ramanathan.

http://www.wallflowerpress.co.uk/

Fassbinder and Pasolini

A conference called ”Pasolini and Fassbinder: the European legacy between Utopia and nihilism” is to be held at Cardiff University, April 25-26. The interesting programme is to be found via the link below. Here is an excerpt from the introductory text:

In an age when Europe is increasingly perceived as an administrative and bureaucratic machine unable to inspire socio-political passion, it is perhaps time to bring back Walter Benjamin’s reflections on Paul Klee’s Angelus Novus: what if it is only by directing our gaze to the ruins of the past that we might be able to think the New? What if, more precisely, we can imagine a truly alternative vision of Europe only by redeeming the utopian spark betrayed by key events in Europe’s recent past?
Pasolini and Fassbinder are amongst the last radical authors to have emerged in Europe. Born in Italy and Germany, they inherited a traumatic social and political past which they chose to address either directly or via different topics related to the cultural memory of Europe…

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/euros/newsandevents/events/pasolini.html

URTI Grand Prix for Author’s Documentaries

URTI stands for Université Radiophonique et Télévisuelle Internationale, and for the 28th time the organisation will give an award, the International Grand Prix for Author’s Documentaries (what is equivalent to ”creative documentaries” or ”author driven documentaries, ed.) in connection with the TV Festival of Monte Carlo June 5- June 8.

10 films have been shortlisted for the final competition, selected from 123 documentaries from 81 tv channnels from 47 countries.

Let 3 of the films be mentioned, all of them known to readers of filmkommentaren.dk: Hungarian Ferenc Moldovanyi’s ”Another Planet” (presented by MTV, Hungary), ”Burma VJ” (photo) by Danish Anders Østergaard (presented by WDR, Germany!) and Bulgarian Boris Despodov’s ”Corridor #8” (presented by YLE, Finland!).

http://www.urti.org/

Thierry Michel: Katanga Business

A new Congo-film by Thierry Michel (photo) opened in French cinemas today. And gets a fine review in “le monde”. I visited the film’s web site, which is extraordinarily well constructed with trailer, extracts from the film, extracts from the making of, interview with the director + good promotion material and info on when and where you can get to see the film. Others could learn from this. Here is the synopsis of the film taken from the site:

“After Mobutu, King of Zaire and Congo River, the Belgian director Thierry Michel pursues his exploration of Central Africa. His new documentary, entitled Katanga Business, is a kind of political economic thriller, which takes place in this south-eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world’s richest regions in mining resources.

While the inhabitants of Katanga continue to live in extreme poverty, multinationals are rivalled by China, newly arrived with its billions of dollars. Staged on economic war, Katanga Business is a tale of globalisation.”

http://www.katanga-lefilm.com/

Hommage to Lithuanian Documentaries

The ECCOS (European Cultural Capital On Screen) organised by Belgian Associate Directors has this year a focus on Lithuanian documentaries to celebrate that Vilnius is Cultural Capital of Europe. In connection with the filmfestival Open Doek in Antwerp a masterclass is organised with the participation of the two, who more than anyone else have characterized the post-soviet Lithuanian wave of poetic documentaries: Arunas Matelis and Audrius Stonys (photo).

On April 26-27 a masterclass is held titled ”Beyond the End of Storytelling” including discussions with the two directors and screenings of masterpieces like ”Alone”, ”Uku Ukai” and ”The Bell” by Stonys and ”Ten Minutes Before the flight of Icarus” and ”Before Flying Back to the Earth” by Matelis.

Other Lithuanian films are added like the one of the late godfather of Lithuanian documentaries, ”Didn´t Come” by Henrikas Sablevicius and ”Three Days of Sarunas Bartas.

http://www.adirector.eu/eccos

Allan Høyer: Filmfaderen

Hvor herligt at blive positivt overrasket! Jeg havde forventet endnu ét af disse holdningsløse historien-bag-filmen pr-programmer, men fik med denne journalistiske dokumentar om Nils Malmros et klogt og velunderbygget og fokuseret indblik i instruktørens perfektionistiske måde at arbejde på og ikke mindst hans glæde ved arbejdet generelt og med børnene specielt. Deraf titlen, går jeg ud fra. Journalisten Allan Høyer har fulgt Malmros under optagelserne til ”Kærestesorger” – der varede tre år – har interviewet ham igen og igen, har interviewet skuespillere, Klaus Rifbjerg, instruktørassistenten Line Arlien-Søborg – og de taler alle sammen kyndigt og varmt om samarbejdet.

Der vendes konstant tilbage til klip fra ”Kundskabens træ”, og Høyer konfronterer fint virkelighedens Elin fra denne film med Malmros egen erindring. Nej, det var ikke Elin, der som voksen kom til Malmros med historien om sine traumatiske oplevelser i skolen, det var snarere omvendt. Siger den anonyme Elin med en latter – og fortsætter: Nils kunne have grebet ind overfor mobberiet men gjorde det ikke. Samme Nils, som det fremgår af både ”Kundskabens træ” og ”Kærestesorger”, måtte se en anden rende af med sin kæreste og gudhjælpemig om ikke Høyer har fundet rivalen, virkelighedens skurk, han der stjal pigen… han interviewes og efterlader et indtryk så vi som tilskuere helt er på Malmros side. Man kan diskutere lødigheden af disse journalistiske ”kup”, men det er godt nok underholdende, og det er vel at mærke ikke det, der bærer dokumentaren om vor fornemste filmiske erindringskunstner.

Set på DR2, 13. April 2009. 1 time lang.