Patrick Chappatte, cartoonist in a scene from his own film “La Mort est Dans le Champ”
Photo and images above and below: Courtesy Visions du Réel.
Nyon’s film festival is now in its final day and tonight the winners of films that were entered into the different categories of competition, will be announced at the closing ceremony. There were hundreds of films on offer for festival goers, and reviewers Trish Thalman and Kathy Morf have done their bit to see quite a few of them. They have enjoyed many of the films but here is a summary of some of their favourites, plus a few from the Living in Nyon editor. It will be interesting to see if the jury’s winning choice of films will be the same as those of the Living in Nyon writers. All will be revealed tomorrow!
Trish Thalman Five Winning Films – My Choices
This year, Visions du Réel provided a jam-packed, fanciful table laden with the most delicious ‘desserts’. There was something for everyone, and far too many tasty choices to be able to get through in the six days. Of the fourteen films I had the happy opportunity to view, there are five that stand out for me.
‘Ivan and Ivana’ – a more than credible, colourful history of an immigrant couple to the US who believed in the ‘American Dream’. The story covers a period of 10 years in their lives: from blue-sky, golden beach, Porsche owning California Dreamin’ to the reality of how life gradually changes and becomes something other than ‘fast money’ in America.
‘Hula and Natan’ – a joyful, riotous story of two brothers, with very grimy, oily hands, who often sleep in the junked-out cars that appear to ‘grow’ in the dusty, full of weeds and rusted piles of metal field that is their ‘auto repair shop’ close to the Gaza – Israel border. These men are more concerned with daily living, and selling used car batteries than with the incoming Hamas rockets that put them and their beloved, well cared for animals in harms way.
‘Edmund U Knezevac’ – a short film that gleefully tells the story of a transplanted, free spirited Swiss lawyer who left all things that annoyed him about and organised Switzerland, and moved his family to ‘another time’ in rural Serbia. Unable to loose his Swiss sense of organisation, he has implemented an efficient program that greatly improved the standards of payment and collections for farmers and how they use their water supplies. The hilarious shots of Edmund trying to tame his headstrong horse are some of the finest moments of the film festival for me. The audience was howling with laughter, as was the intention. Lighten Up!
‘The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975’ – a stunning and historical collection of Swedish media reports covering Black Power in the US, particularly in the San Francisco Bay area. Many of the film clips were never seen in the US, due to Government censorship during those tense times, just after the Civil Rights Bill was signed in 1963 and the turmoil of the US involvement in the Vietnam war. I lived in San Francisco during those days, an altruistic, young adult, and was vividly reminded of the conflicts and unnecessary violence that went hand-in-hand with the Black Power movement and Anti-Vietnam protests that had more opportunity to thrive in liberal, activist San Francisco Bay Area than any other part of the US at that time.
Eine Ruhige Jacke’ – A Still Jacket – this exquisitely beautiful, powerful film about a young man, entrapped in a furious life of autism, is the one that has touched me beyond a sense of my soul. A young man who cannot speak, but understands every word said to him, is lovingly, and in the most practical sense, guided from the depth of his chaotic life and lack of communication with others, to successfully gain the ability to competently use a chainsaw to cut logs in the Jura mountains. Perhaps it is a metaphor for sawing through the communication barriers of autism. I was overwhelmed with emotion by the sensitivity and profound depth of respect the filmmaker had for the young man and his autism.
Kathy’s says on her film selection
The list of movies this year made it difficult for me to choose which ones to see. I’ve seen thirteen films since last Thursday and enjoyed most of them. It’s been a great time of discovery. There were so many different subjects, styles and origins. And with so many talented film directors it was a tough choice. However my favourite three are Phnom Penh Lullaby by Pawel Kloc, Poland, Milk and Iron by Claudia Priscilla Goifman, Brazil, Born under Z by Frédérique Pollet Rouyer, France/Belgium. You can read Kathy’s reviews of these fims on previous posts here on the site.
As for the Living in Nyon editor’s choice. To be honest I don’t think I have had as much luck in choosing films as Kathy and Trish. Quite a few of the films that I saw started off with great potential, but then let themselves down by the editing. Either they were too long and needed to be cut considerably or the construction of the film meant that it was difficult for the viewer to grasp what the subject matter was about. Having said that, the films that have left their mark for me are the following:
“Rechokim” by Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz.
For the past fourteen years Ibrahim and his family worked as an informer for Israeli intelligence. Due to his dangerous situation as a traitor in the Palestinian authorities he was granted asylum with his family in a run down area of Tel Aviv. The film chronicles his life, and the difficulties he encounters, not only with the Israeli authorities but also with his family. Although the film inevitably touches on the political situation in the area, the film is also about family, about parents trying to keep theirs together, about the angst of teenage children, about the simple joy of blowing out candles on a birthday cake, about surviving under difficult circumstances and about the relationship between a husband and wife. The official programme calls this film “A fascinating and tactful social analysis” . I agree.
“Max Kennedy and the American Dream” by Vikram Zutshi is a strong film and another story about finding the American dream (as in “Ivan and Ivana” ) but from the pespepctive of Max an American living on the U.S/Mexican border and from the Mexicans trying to cross it illegally.
However the first film “Kampf der Köniningen” – “The fight of the Cows” shown on the opening night (see review here) still remains one of my overall full length film favourites.
There are also five short films for me that stood out amongst the rest. The first two were in the “First Steps” category for young film makers. “Pêle-Mêle” by Maelle Grand Bossi and ”A Father’s Prayer” by Andre Hörmann.
Pêle Mêle is a second hand book store in Brussels and the film of the same name gives us a delightful portrayals of its patrons, one of them a loyal regular customer for over forty years, “I bought my first school books from here”. We first see him rooting around for books in the shop and then haggling over the price with the assistants. Then again later, back in his own elegant but crammed apartment, every single surface covered with books, barely an inch to move. Then there is the young man who scours the streets of Brussels for rubbish bags containing books and magazines. He sifts through them to take them to the store to sell on for a few euros. I want to visit this book store myself, not only to purchase books, but just to see these characters. A charming and well executed film.
“A Father’s Prayer” by Andre Hörmann, is my second choice of the strong “First Steps” films although in the feedback, one of the tutors said he felt the subject matter was rather clichéd. A father training his teenage son to become a boxer to keep him on the straight and narrow, in a crime ridden area of the Chicago, maybe a familiar story, but it didn’t matter.
From the opening deep rich timbre of the father’s voice; “As a coach I want to bring the mean side out of him, as a father I want to see him smile”, this intro led into a powerful and superbly moving portrait of a one parent family. This film is a wonderful mastery of sound and images. The father himself poetic in his statements; “What happens when one lobster climbs to the top of the pan? There are always other lobsters waiting to pull him down” referring to the crack houses and dens on their street tempting his son on every corner. The applause for this film was long and well deserved.
Three other films worth a mention are “Twinset “by Amy Rose (review below), “La Mort est Dans le Champ” and “Monsieur M” by Laurent Cibien and Isabelle Berteletti. On this latter film, the documentary film makers discover a diary from 1968 in the cellar of a house in France after the has owner died. They chronicle the revolutionary years in France through this diary of a worker and map maker at the National Geographic Institute (he is also a confirmed bachelor living with his parents). A charming, at times funny, and fascinating film.
“La Mort est Dans le Champ” by Patrick Chappatte and Marco Dellamula is a film made by the famous cartoonist Chappate (his cartoons are in the newspaers the International Herald Tribune and Le Temps). In the film he portrays the situation in the Lebanon where hundred of thousands of explosive devices are still left on the land for farmers to risk encountering them in their fields and for children find them in bushes and trees. The illustrator tells of this horrendous situation in this animated documentary.
“Twinset” by Amy Rose is set in the very English world of Women’s Guilds, of tea served in green melanine cups, of retired ladies with permed white hair, Wesleyan notice boards, and of rain. The film features Jennifer, a transsexual living in a small seaside town in Essex and chronicles just a small part of her life, from the tetchy conversations with her mother about her transexuality (“body parts on their own don’t make the gender”) to whether she should be using the mens, ladies or disabled toilets when out in public. Despite the deepish and evidently masculine voice, Jennifer is ladylike in her actions. When she walks, skirts float and skim her slim hips. As she tries on different hats to complement an outfit, or listens politely to the amount of money raised at a charity guild event (£2.59), she has the mannerisms of a female. She is a good looking woman albeit with brighter clothes and more make up than the rest of the ladies. In the age of sketch shows featuring caricatures of such women, this film could easily have tipped the wrong way and turned Jennifer into a figure to be mocked. Fortunately the director manages to avoid this and cast a respectful eye on the character.