Sourav Sarangi: Bilal

Bilal is a boy, whose parents are blind and have a hard life in a poor area of Calcutta. For a year the director has followed the little boy stumbling into the world as any other child does, who is not born with a silver spoon in hand. He has a smaller brother, who has to suffer from some beatings of the older Bilal, as small brothers normally do. It is laughter and crying, shouting and teasing, and learning in school and at home, where the blind parents do an unbelievingly beautiful job to bring up two seeing children. The father had a phone booth close to home, but it was closed and he ended up having heavy debt but they cope, probably due to help from the family that lives – literally – next door, and due to the return to serving a public street phone seems to happen.

The director manages to lift this film from being just-another-film-about-poverty to something universal about childhood to identify with, told from a humanistic point of view, where you can not help fall in love, as the director did, with the boy who ends the film having a circumcision done – ”they cut my dick”, he says to his father. Banal you might say, yes it is, as the observational documentary is at its best. With a calm rythm where you almost sense the days just going on and on, as they do for a child and his family. And thematically I got to think about the trilogy about Apu, by Satyayit Ray. I wish all the best for Bilal, and please follow him with the camera in the years to come!

The film had its premiere at idfa 2008. Supported by Jan Vrijman Fund and YLE.

India, 2008, 92 mins.
souravsarangi@hotmail.com
http://www.millenniumfilm.fi/tbr_bilal.html

Claus Bohm: Tiden er Guds hemmelighed

… har undertitlen ”en film om forfatteren Leif Hasle”, om hvem filmen sig drejer, en sympatisk og beskeden ældre herre, som instruktøren lader komme til orde, og han har mange kloge reflektioner at byde på, først på en rejse tilbage til hans barndomsby Århus og så i forskellige sammenhænge i by og på land, i mange tilfælde med fin oplæsning fra hans romaner, som har besættelsestiden som tema, men som rummer både fortid og nutid.

Med andre ord, en behagelig introduktion til et forfatterskab, jeg ikke kendte til, loyalt formidlet af Claus Bohm, som har gjort det til sin genre at introducere gode kunstnere, som ikke rammer kultursidernes forsider.

Problematikken, fra en filmisk synsvinkel, ligger i måden hvorpå Bohm kombinerer sine billeder – han fotograferer selv – og teksterne. Undertiden bliver teksterne meddigtende og fortolkende og får sit eget liv som i en ordløs sekvens med en mariehøne, der udforsker verden. Men undertiden bliver sammenhængen for bastant, et ord fremsiges og vi ser, hvad ordet rummer. Bohms stil kræver en høj grad af præcision og stramhed og den er ikke til stede hele vejen igennem. Hvorfor skal vi f.eks se ligegyldigheder som Hasle på café og restaurant. Men lyst til at læse en af hans bøger fik jeg nu.

www.multivers.dk
www.leifhasle.dk
    

D. Taylor Black: David Farrell’s Elusive Moments

This documentary is an inspiration for people, who deal with, work with or like to watch a photographer at work and listen to his thoughts about what he is doing and why and how. The documentary has for me too many words, and I could have done without some few scenes where people say how good David Farrell is, but those are details that a critic has to say in order to get to the point – that Farrell invites us generously to share the many projects he has worked on and is working on, as well as his dilemma (as any creative documentarian) to get into a market that is main-stream, tough and money-orientated. Logically the last sequences of the film shows him as a teacher, who teaches (which he must be good at, my remark from seeing this film) to have a steady income and then go and make his photos as he wants to.

The quality of Taylor Black’s work lies comes from the simple fact that he has followed Farrell for years and that he takes his time when he is with him in the Irish landscapes and in Italy, in Lugo, a place that I want to visit having seen the photos of Farrell. He says himself that the cities he saw was like Fellini, I would say Olmi, the fog, the emptiness, the has-been atmosphere.

The technical side is also touched upon. He shoots on film material, he loves the development process, he shot 900 pictures during 12 days in Italy, he has to edit them, this is where the work starts he says. Does it ring a bell, you documentary observers out there?

Ireland, 64 mins. 2008

Volha Nikalaichyk: Khash

An envelope arrived with a dvd. Posted in Lithuania by Volha Nikalaichyk, a woman from Belarus, producer of documentary films, and many times a participant in workshops in Eastern Europe, outside her own country, where I also met her once, years ago, in Minsk, capital of Belarus, a country led by Lukashenko. I had no idea about the content of the dvd but guessed that it could have something to do with Yuri Khashchavatski.

It had, Volha – calling herself one of Khash’s disciples – had made a film about her master, the film director who turned 60 last year and has made more than 30 films, many of which deal with life in Belarus and the tough militant dictatorship of the president, as seen for instance in ”The Square” that has been texted about on filmkommentaren.dk

In this wonderfully unpretentious film (title written on the dvd: Cinema and Cutlets) with Khash (nickname) and his very close friend, the singer, actor etc. Zhora Melski, the two of them go shopping and return home to prepare a meal which is inspired – as I got it – by the native town of Khash, Odessa. The director talks us through the film with clips from his films, those that were, and the ones to come, among them ”Searching for Yiddish”, where Khash declares his love to the painter Soutine, and in general to why he makes documentary films: to learn about something new, not to preach. My films are not political, he says… well, you taught me about Belarus and Chechnya (”Prisoners of Caucasus”) but I want to see more of your films. In other words, a retrospective must be organised for this important documentarian, a man who enjoys Life, as the film shows. Thank you Volha.

Bramafilm, 2008, 70 mins.
Lon7volha@gmail.com

1/2 Meter of Berliner Bratwurst

… yes, you can buy that in the streets of Berlin, ready for the xmas holidays as this wonderful city is, markets all over, too many sausages for my taste but also glühwein and chocolate and marzipan and beer, economic crisis… not visible, at least not when you walk the streets around Wittenberger Platz and enter into KaDeWe, Kaufhaus des Westens. Consume and more consume. You are part of it. You enjoy and dislike at the same time.

But Berlin is also two K´s for the moment, both to be found at Neue Nationalgallerie – Paul Klee and Jeff Koons. Klee, who had his big artistic development between two wars, presented with a huge and very exciting exhibition showing his refined, colour balanced philosophical and often very humourous work, and Koons the Sunnyboy, who acts like the showman he is according to the rules of the market. The dog, the heart and so on, we know them all. No crisis for his market, it seems.

And Bertolt Brecht is not out of fashion as the Robert Wilson edition of ”Die Dreigroschen Oper” at the Berliner Ensemble runs for full houses, with an enthusiastic reception, lots of fun, relevance of today? Well, dont we have a lot of Mackie Messer’s who survive any crisis whatsoever? And Brecht as intelligent entertainment is always relevant, is it not?

Sarkozy (1)

… is the name of the hyper active French president, very much disliked by the French film people I know, for his law proposal, his ”réforme de l’audiovisuel” that (according to le Monde 18.12) now has passed through the Parliament to be further discussed at the Senate from January 7. The opposition was very much against the proposal, some even comparing his move to how Berlusconi and Putin control the media.

The idea of Sarkozy is 1) to make France Télévisions into one enterprise with for example one overall documentary unit for the involved France 2, 3, 4, 5, to 2) have the President (c’est moi!) appoint the Presidents of the channels, to 3) take away commercials from the channels from 8pm to 6am with a total disappearance of commercials from 2011. The financial compensation is to be made up by a tax on commercials from the commercial channels and electronic operators plus a guarantee from the state that runs until 2011. The executive council of France Télévisions has already decided to follow the president’s commercial proposal.

What all this means for the creative (and critical) documentary in a country that has always been at the foreground when it comes to the financial support for the arts – I will ask some French documentarians for their comments. Will a lot of people be fired? How will the decision making be if there will only be one unit for documentaries? Centralisation? Will the foreseen raise in budget/income for the commercial channels mean a fall in financing for documentaries on the public channels? And so on, so forth… Voilà!   

Justin Webster: The Madrid Connection

March 11 2004, the bombings in Madrid. 191 people died, more than 2000 were wounded, when trains were exploded in the early morning. Two young males stood behind the crime, Jamal and Sarhane, a criminal and an islamic extremist, both from North Africa.

Why did it come to this, is the question that Justin Webster raises in this fine, yet predictable in storytelling piece of journalistic documentary. Who were they, how did they get into terrorism, and how was the crime organised? What happened?

Interviews, blurred images of reconstructions of actions of the two involved, effectful sound design, anonymous persons witnessing, shots from the trial, where judges go after others, who are involved – the main criminals Jamal and Sarhane committed suicide, when they were about to be caught, but after they had published videos justifying the jihad.

It brings the viewer a well a professionally done character focused narrative that is carried by a wish to understand or at least explain but never justify. A one layered documentary, could it have been more?

Spain, UK, Denmark, 2007, 94 mins.

http://www.jwproductions.tv/

Andrej Tarkovskij: Solaris

“… Wie grossartig dagegen etwa Antonionis Schauspielerarbeit in seinem Film “L’Avventura” oder jene von Orson Welles in “Citizen Kane”. Bei ihnen kommt einfach das Gefühl auf, einmalig überzeugende Figuren vor sich zu haben. Doch das ist einequalitativ ganz andere, filmspezifische Überzeugungskraft, die sich prinzipiell von der Expressivität eines Theaterschauspielers unterscheidet.

So kam es seinerzeit nicht zu einer wirklich kreativen Zusammenarbeit mit Donatas Banionis, der die Hauptrolle (Kris Kelvin) in meinem “Solaris”-Film spielte. Banionis Gehört nämlich zur Kategorie analytischer Schauspieler, die einfach nicht arbeiten können, wenn sie…”

… können, wenn sie noch nicht begriffen haben, “wozu” und “weshalb” sie etwas spielen. Er ist unfähig, spontan, aus sich heraus zu spielen, und muss seine Rolle zunächst erst einmal strukturieren. Das heisst, er braucht genaue Informationen über den Zusammenhang der einzelnen Passagen und über die anderen Schauspieler, die nicht nur in seinen eigenen Szenen, sondern überhaupt im Film mitspielen. Auf diese Weise versucht er, sich selbst an die Stelle des Regisseurs zu setzen, was wahrscheinlich eine Folge langjähriger Theaterarbeit ist. Er kann sich einfach nicht mit dem Gedanken abfinden, dass ein Filmschauspieler ausserstande ist, sich den fertigen Film vorzustellen. Sogar der beste Regisseur, der genau weiss, was er will, kann dies nicht immer. Dennoch gelang Donatas die Rolle Kelvins sehr, und ich bin dem Schicksal dafür dankbar, dass gerade er sie gespielt hat…” (Andrej Tarkovskij, 1984)

Jeg ved godt, at “Solaris” først og fremmest er et visuelt mesterværk. Og i den nye rensede og smukke dvd-udgave bliver jeg overbevist fra første billede. Dette russiske landskab omkring det nye gammeldags landhus brydes kun af en motorvejsbro langt væk – men smerten ved den kommer som et stik i idyllen.

Og smerten sidder i denne spiller Donatas Banionis som en særlig alvor fra dette allerførste billede, hvor skarpheden i smertestikket er lyden fra bilen, som kommer med gæsten, som indfører dialogen i kammerspillet, som herefter i den langsomme, langsomme rytme bliver elementet ved siden af billedfortællingen. “Solaris” er også et kammerspil, i det russiske landhus, i dets smukke rum, og senere jo i rumstationen i kredsløb om planeten Solaris.

Herude forstår vi, at smerten hos Banionis er som kollegerne der (låste i den videnskabelige kontekst, de selv dementerer) bemærker en banal kærlighedssorg. Kvinden, som altså er i mandens tanke, kommer derude genfødt til stede og genkender sig selv på fotografiet, han har taget med. Og han ser hende rygvendt til stede, som fotografisk gengivelse og som spejlbillede.

Kammerspillets litterære lag (jeg stoler faktisk på den danske oversættelse i underteksterne) er helt i balance med Vadim Yusovs billeders tyngde, og det siger jeg så lige til instruktøren. Skuespillernes teatertræning og replikbehandling tror jeg er det, som gør, at jeg efter de to en halv time straks begynder forfra i filmen, atter er ude i engene ved dachaen. Skuespil og fotografi i ustandselig balance med Eduard Artemyevs orgelmotiv som kontrapunkt: alt skal ikke forstås og oversættes. Det skal blot være til stede, for det er virkeligt. Det har Andrej Tarkovskij jo sørget for. Sådan ser et mesterværk ud.

Still: Natalya Bondarchuk som Kris Kelvins hustru Hari genkender sig selv..

Solaris, Rusland 1972. 161 min. Andrej Tarkovskij Collection 1-6. Remasteret, med danske undertekster. Another World Entertainment, 2008. I boghandler og videobutikker, kan også lånes på biblioteket.

Litt.: Peter Schepelern i Ekko #41, maj 2008 (anmeldelse af dvd-udgaven). Andrej Tarkowskij: Die vesiegelte Zeit, 1984, ny udgave 2000.  

Docpoint Celebrates Documentary Legends

The British Dochouse at the Riverside Studios in London does a lot for the creation of a documentary culture in the UK… but is apparently not only promoting films within the UK but also outside. I found this very interesting press release about the Finnish documentary film festival Docpoint (January 20-25 in Helsinki) that clearly wants to celebrate two documentary icons:   
Nick Broomfield and Richard Leacock (photo) Leacock will attend DocPoint 2009. The 2009 programme includes a retrospective of Nick Broomfield’s work. Broomfield’s early work followed in the footsteps of cinéma vérité, influenced by Frederick Wiseman and Richard Leacock. Later Broomfield’s style became more distinctive. The retrospective is a comprehensive review of Broomfield’s work. The British censorship laws led Broomfield to work in the United States for most of his career. Since the 1990’s in his films Broomfield has focused mainly on various celebrities, including serial killer Aileen Wuornos, rap artist Tupac Shakur and a Neo-Nazi Leader Eugène Terre’Blanche.

Richard Leacock attend DocPoint with his wife and co-film maker Valerie Lalonde. DocPoint Festival presents A Tribute to Richard Leacock programme. Ever since his film debut at the age of 13 (Canary Bananas, 1935), Leacock has believed in showing the viewer the truest possible record of events. During his career he has worked with legends such as Robert Flaherty, Robert Drew and D.A. Pennebaker, the co-founders of cinéma vérité. A Tribute to Richard Leacock includes among others A Musical Adventure in Siberia (2001), a film about an opera production in Russia, put together decades after it was banned by the authorities. At present Leacock and Lalonde are making an autobiographical documentary of Leacock’s honourable 74- year-long career.

http://www.dochouse.org/
http://www.docpoint.info/en

and Sara Thelle`s  recommendation: http://www.richardleacock.com/index.html

Warhol in Berlin

It is still fascinating and entertaining to watch Andy Warhol exhibitions: ”If you want to know all about AW, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There´s nothing behind it”. Sounds one of the texts written on the wall at the Berlin ”Celebrities and the stars and Andy Warhol”, that is a small exhibition with some interesting drawings and photos and of course the magnificent painting of Mao. One more quote: ”Publicity is like eating peanuts. Once you start you can´t stop”. (Open until January 11).

Hamburger Bahnhof is a great place for exhibitions. We also saw Joseph Beuys, the German phenomenon, the man with the hat, huge exhibition under the title ”Die Revolution sind Wir” – and some contemporary artists with inpiration from Duchamps and Fluxus.

The museum is easy to reach – go to the new Hauptbahnhof, 5 minutes from there.

http://www.hamburgerbahnhof.de/exhibition.php?id=16914⟨=en