Here are two reviews of films at Visions du Réel. The first by Trish Thalman is of “Pequenas Voces”, a film which is part of the “Focus on Colombia” series. Trish says this is a “splendid and poignant film” (unfortunately this will not be shown again at this festival), and the second film is “Victoria” set in Romania is reviewed by Kathy Morf, this film will be shown again Sunday 10th April 22:00 at the Capitole 2 cinema.
“Pequenas Voces” directed by Jairo Carillo and Oscar Andrade.
A creative and dedicated team of filmmakers and animation artists have made a splendid and poignant film on behalf of “the kids, and what they have to say”. The ‘kids’ are four Colombian children who each tell their own story with crayons and paper and voice-overs that take on the tones of delight, happiness, sadness, and the sunny pragmatism that only children can have about war, death, and stunning changes in their lives. Their voices bring to life the one-dimensional drawings that, at first, reflect the lively, colourful and innocent lives they once lived in the countryside.
FARC guerillas invade the lush, peaceful countryside.
The animation moves through four inter-woven stories that move from colourful farmhouses to muted shades of battlefields to accompany the painful reality of what has occurred in the lives of these four children, when FARC guerrillas and Colombian army troops invade the lush, peaceful countryside where they lived, grew coffee beans and corn, played with family, friends, beloved pets and animals that provided the family with food and income.
A thirteen year old is offered $25 to leave home and join the guerillas
One young boy age 13 is enamoured with the Guerrilla Commander who comes to his poor farmhouse where he lives with his mother, and kindly shows him glossy coloured pages with photos of a variety of guns, offers him $25 to leave home and join the Guerrillas.
The oldest ‘recruit’ in his group of ‘child soldiers’ is fifteen. He learns to shoot guns and marvels at his target accuracy. He is sent to the ‘front line’ during a fierce gunfight and empties two magazines of bullets, shooting into the air, being terrified that he will hurt or kill someone. This is not the glamorous life with guns he was ‘promised’. After three months, he is able to return to his mother, no longer an innocent child.
A clever young girl from a happy farming family tells of the jokes her father is always playing with her and her two sisters. One day a group of masked rebels with guns came to their farmhouse and take her father away. She runs to him to tell him not to leave. He picks her up and says “do not worry, I will be back”. In a matter-of-fact statement, she tells us that her father’s papers were found in a field three days later, but they do not know if he is alive or dead.
A 16-year-old boy sketches his vital story. He is playing football with his brother, outside their farmhouse when he was 10. A grenade is lobbed onto the field and explodes next to him. He loses his arm and leg. He nearly dies. When he returns to his home, he can only crawl, unable to stand. One day he is taken to a Foundation and receives a new arm and leg. He asks for “no pity” and blames no one. He now plays football as a goalie. There were too many painful accidents for his opponents when he played midfield, because of the hard, strong materials in his new leg.
The film takes you beyond the sketches of guns, helicopters, bloody bodies, dead animals, burned-out farmhouses that somehow become stories of hope, acceptance and a better future for the little voices that speak for themselves and on behalf of the hundreds of other children who have lived the same pain and sorrows of war in Colombia.
“Victoria” – Film directed by Adrian Voicu & Ana Vlad . A Romanian City caught between two times
Here is Kathy’s Morf’s fourth review “ of the film Victoria”. This will be shown again on Sunday 10th April at 22h00 at the Capitole 2 Cinema. This is an international premiere and is the second movie of a triology after last year’s “Metrobranding”. Kathy says; “This first shot takes the viewer to a Romanian city located at the foot of the Transylvanian Alps. It has been caught in time between then and now. We are taken into the lives of families after the American chemical plant shut down. The film begins well and has me captivated but loses me after fifteen minutes. It has potential but I found it dragged on too long with many little stories instead of showing one continuous story that lasts through the entire 54 minutes”.
Stinks like rotten fish
Victoria City was built in 1954 to welcome an American chemical plant. It is a typical Romanian city with white and grey communist blocs that are left crumbling with peeling paint. The plant brought prosperity to the city but also sickness, foul smells and death. We listen to the families tell us about their experiences with the plant and their attachment to the city.
A hunter confides: “I thought about leaving many times. Once my wife and I took a few days vacation in Slovakia and heard a Romanian love song on the radio. I was homesick and came straight back. I love the Transylvanian mountains and the hunting here is amazing. I couldn’t do this everywhere.”
A police officer drives us around Victoria and says “There were two cities in Romania I never wanted to work in ,and Victoria was one of them. I am still here after five years. The city has stood still, nothing changes here. Maybe if they had changed the name of the city would have helped. There are many poor people living here.”
Then we see a hunter who welcomes us into his home. His walls are covered with hundreds of deer antlers. The floor and couches are covered in bear and other animal furs. With his friends they caught a wild boar and are getting ready to cut it up into pieces. The men cut up the large pieces and the women prepare the sausages. “There was always a foul smell from the factory but you got used to it after a while.” they say “The amines smelt like rotten fish.” “Many people died at an early age after having worked for years at the plant.”
The “Paradise” restaurant is empty except for one person.
We move to the fire department where training takes place. Men in uniform arrive in a rush and get ready. Two fire trucks are slowly driven out and parked. About thirty firemen stand in a neat line waiting for instructions. They stand stiffly and sing the national Anthem. We see the paradise restaurant which is empty except for one person. A communist propaganda painting on the wall shows a happy couple in front of the red flag. Cancelled has been painted over it.
In the “cultural house”, a discussion about the organization of the European Union is being held. “Do you want to become a European citizen?” an elderly man asks. All these stories give us a better idea of a city caught between two times and makes us wonder if it will ever change or remain the same as it has been since 1954.
54 minutes in length
Spoken in Romanian, Subtitles in English and French