Dusan Hanak Retrospective

This is a copy-paste of a press release from DocAlliance’s excellent platform DAFilms, written by Martin Černý:

The DAFilms streaming portal is paying tribute to Dušan Hanák, one of the most important Slovak directors, by presenting thirteen digitally restored films in what is the first online retrospective focused on his work. Hanák’s creative start dates to the 1960s, when the Czechoslovak New Wave began to attract interest with the films of Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová, and Jiří Menzel at the head of the list. He made his first feature-length film – 322 – in 1969, one year after Czechoslovakia was occupied by Soviet-led troops. Despite the exceptional international success of his debut film, his next two works – Pictures of the Old World and Rosy Dreams – were relegated to the censor’s vault for many years. They were not acknowledged until after 1989, when they once again became accessible to public audiences. Originally condemned to be forgotten because of how they depict the raw reality of life under a totalitarian regime, today these films are admired for the filmmaker’s experimentation with documentary methods and how he portrayed life without any embellishment.

 

 

 

A film director, scriptwriter and photographer, Dušan Hanák is one of Slovakia’s most prominent filmmakers and also a key figure of the Czechoslovak New Wave. From the time they were first made to the present day, his films have attracted exceptional interest even abroad, and so the DAFilms platform is also presenting them on their international domains in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Christopher Small, the DAFilms.com programme curator provides more details about this director’s work: “Dušan Hanák’s films are different from other films of the Czechoslovak New Wave because of the extent to which he used documentary methods even in his fiction films. He portrayed daily life under the Communist regime without any embellishment and with all of its negative consequences, and so it is not surprising that the regime found him uncomfortable. He has always approached his protagonists with extraordinary empathy, revealing all of their layers, and with a considerable dose of intimacy.”

Hanák studied directing at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) from 1960 to 1965, during the cultural upswing from which the Czechoslovak New Wave emerged. He did not start making feature-length films until after the occupation of Czechoslovakia. The DAFilm platform’s Dušan Hanák Retrospective will present all of his feature-length films. The first – his feature-length film debut – is the psychological drama 322 (1969) about the sickness of an individual and the sickness of society. This is followed by the comedy Rosy Dreams (1976), which tells the story of the village postman Jakub and the young Roma woman Jolanda; the tragicomedy I Love, You Love (1980) centred around a bachelor but also an emotional testimony about people living on the periphery of society; and two psychological films: Silent Joy (1985) about a 36-year-old nurse and her search for the meaning of life, and Private Lives (1990), which tells the story of two step-sisters.

The collection also includes Pictures of the Old World (1972), which is one of the most recognised Slovak feature-length documentaries of all time. In it, Hanák presents vivid portraits of old people living in Slovakia’s rural regions, all of whom continue to live in a state of inner freedom even within civilisation’s chaos and uncertainty. His second feature-length documentary is also included – Paper Heads (1995), about the relationship between citizen and power, and the various ways in which human rights were violated in Czechoslovakia between 1945 and 1989.

Many of Hanák’s films have received prestigious awards. His debut fiction film 322 won the Grand Prize at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival, and his first feature-length documentary Pictures of the Old World (1972) was successfully presented around the entire world, and received prizes in Nyon, Munich, and Montreal as well as the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for best documentary film. Both Rosy Dreams and I Love, You Love also enjoyed international success, with the latter earning Hanák a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Dušan Hanák is a holder of the Slovak Pribina Cross, 1st Class . He has also received awards for his lifelong work and exceptional contribution to international cinematography at the festivals held in Bergamo, Karlovy Vary, Trieste, and Sofia. All of the films presented in the DAFilms retrospective have been digitally restored under the supervision of the Slovak Film Institute, which is a partner in the project. The Institute’s general director, Peter Dubecký, says: “We greatly value our collaboration with the DAFilms platform. It is important to us that the first complete retrospective dedicated to Dušan Hanák, an important filmmaker of the Czechoslovak New Wave, will be presented on DAFilms – not only because his films rank amongst the most significant works of Slovak cinematography and are the subject of great viewer interest as well as international acclaim, but also because his films bring even today’s viewers true honesty, authenticity and even humour.”

The Dušan Hanák Retrospective will be available on the DAFilms platform both to those who have a subscription as well as on the basis of payment for a single film. The cost is EUR 2.50 for a feature-length film and EUR 1.50 for a short film of up to thirty minutes.

https://dafilms.com/program/925-dusan-hanak-retrospective

Dimitra Kouzi: Good Morning Mr Fotis

In these times of lockdown all over, where kids sit at home meeting their classmates, and their teacher(s), via a computer, this is a film that can show us how important it is that children are together, when they are together in a class at school – and that they have a teacher for whom the profession is a calling. Mr Fotis is his name and he is the teacher that I would have loved to have.

The kids in the multicultural primary school in Athens profit from his passion and ability to make the 6-12 year old girls and boys interested, listen, be creative and first of all take part in their own individual development; maybe without knowing it, but some of them will never forget – and all right I also had teachers wayyyy back who taught me how to navigate in this crazy world.

The observational documentary, the first film of Dimitra Kouzi as director and producer, is one of those that makes you smile through the 70 minutes it lasts. Because of the kids and their energy, sometimes no-energy because they have to stay up late to pray, because of the interaction between them and Mr Fotis, who builds up his teaching step by step with the goal that the class performs a play with references to Greek culture and myths. ”Where will you be in 10 years”, Mr Fotis asks the kids and they answer… none of them will be in Greece, as one puts it ”Greece has a Past but no future”! Strong words from children! 

There are water fights in the schoolyard, there are small episodes where the background of the kids is revealed, there are many fine poetic moments caught by the very active camera. Wonderful. The director knew what she was looking for. And if you wait and are patient, magical moments will come forward. Actually it is lovely to watch Mr Fotis and his smile and whole warm attitude towards the children. A teacher with will and curiosity, who wants to give the children a fundament in life. 

Of course the film has been used as an inspiration for teachers to see what you can achieve with the right attitude and commitment. It has been part of workshops for teachers who have intercultural classes as well as in film education. Happy to read that in material provided by Dimitra Kouzi, and happy to see small clips with some of the children made for the promotion of the screening at Thessaloniki Documentary FF. 

Greece, 70 mins., 2020  

https://goodmorningmrfotis.com/

Bar Mario Closed

I got a mail this morning that made me sad but also made me think of many many good visits to the bar next door the Zelig Film School in Bolzano. The mail came from Stefano Lisci, here is the beginning: 

… Ciao Tue, It’s Stefano Lisci from Zelig. How are you? Here in Bolzano I am a little bit tired for the corona…but good! I write to tell you that Bar Mario had to close! Marina and Paolo had the corona virus, it was a long convalescence, especially for Paolo that was positive for 3 moths. Now they are good…

”Those who have visited the film school know what I am talking about, for those who don’t know: The Bar Mario is next door to the Zelig film school and for students, staff and teachers this is the place you go in the breaks to have a coffee, or where you drink a beer at the end of the day. And where you will meet the captain Marina, the cook Roberto and Paolo – who live there behind the door on which ”privato” is written.

Here is a quote from an article on this site written in 2016, where the film ”Bar Mario” that Stefano directed, had its premiere:

”Bar Mario” is a film that enters to the ”privato”, to the world of the three, in a chaptered, visually impressive story that takes us viewers on board a ship that has crossed mountains to be here, among mountains. The father of Marina, Mario, was a sailor and she has taken over his job to conduct the ship of life in good and harsh weather. She, and the film, does so in a warm, sweet and compassionate way. And with the fun and atmosphere that reigns in the Bar.” The film went to several festivals in Italy, well deserved, and now, as the bar is closed (and the cook Roberto has passed away last year) – and small local bars like this all over have to close due to the pandemic – I can only recommend you to watch it – Stefano had put it on line, price a bit more than 3$:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/barmarioilfilm/499952078

http://www.filmkommentaren.dk/blog/blogpost/3746/

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