12-17.06.2008:
| Oslo Dokumentarkino presents International Documentaries at The Short Film Festival (Kortfilmfestivalen) in Grimstad June 12-17, 2008 Read more about the films here | |
               | Oslo
Dokumentarkino chooses feature length documentaries based on two main
facets: cinematic excellence and the ability to convey a message
through moving the viewer intellectually and emotionally. These films
do more than inform and teach the viewers about a subject, they reach
deeper and try to affect our consciousness to leave a lasting emotional
impression. Balanced argumentation may not be included in every film,
often it is in the nature of the genre that subjective views dominate;
a well-argued case for the main points of view will, however, be
essential if the viewer is to be convinced and moved. We believe that the international documentary programme in Grimstad this year is a selection of the very best films that are creative, cinematic, emotionally and intellectually stimulating and in the very top class of the non-fiction films produced this past year. Some excel in delivering unequivocally important messages, others are simply outstanding in their ability to capture subtle and intimate issues on film, and some - the best - do both. The little news we receive from Russia and its neighbours to the South East can be frankly disturbing. News reports are blunt and to the point, but do little to help us understand the context and the importance of the historical and social influences in modern Russia. We are excited to present two films that address this gap in our deeper understanding; two films that in a gripping and urgent manner leave us with no doubt that this is a subject we should enquire more about and be more aware of. Both films are by our guest director Andrei Nekrasov who will be will spend the weekend in Grimstad, together with producer Olga Konskaya. On Sunday evening a highlight of the festival will be the conversation between Andrei Nekrasov and Åsne Seierstad (author of The Angel of Grozny: Inside Chechnya). This will quite simply be a fantastic chance to hear and learn from two of the best communicators on the state of modern Russia as they talk about this fundamentally important and worrying subject for us all. Be there Nekrasov’s most recent film Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case (2007) spans the spectrum from the personal bravery required to speak out to the larger scale picture of misuse of power and corruption that have become the norm in Russia today. The messages are delivered through a mixture of personal interviews and historical flashbacks, resulting in a complex and all-encompassing story of who really runs Russia. Bold accusations come again and again, until we are left thoroughly disturbed. The second film by Andrei Nekrasov, Disbelief (2004), focuses on the official line presented by Russian government vs the results of external investigative reports. The effect of learning what may be an alternative explanation to the bombing of the Moscow apartments is devastating for those affected, and illustrates to us as viewers the lengths that the Russian authorities are prepared to go to ensure Putin remained in power; all this is conveyed in a way few other types of journalistic reportages could achieve. Intimacy is a concept that leads to images and reflections by the people on film that cannot ever result from short term journalistic reporting. Three documentaries in the international programme illustrate the fantastic films that can result from getting close to the subjects. It is certainly true in To See if I’m Smiling, where Tamar Yarom uses her own experience of being a drafted Israeli soldier to talk to six other young female soldiers about how they were affected by their time stationed in the occupied territories. This amazing film subtly reveals much of the incomprehensible process that makes rational human beings complicit in war crimes and illustrates all too clearly that war corrupts and destroys everyone it touches. To See if I’m Smiling reaches the viewer on a deeply emotional level and leaves us all too aware of the phsychological effects of being a soldier, effects that will stay with these women for the rest of their lives Kim Longinotto is supreme in her ability to film intimate portraits of fascinating and often inspirational characters such as Divorce Iranian Style (1998) and Sisters in Law (2005) (which she accompanied to Grimstad in 2005). Her newest film Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go takes a somewhat different setting, in an English school for emotionally traumatised children. Longinotto commented that “…. the whole film's about”…”adults getting it wrong and destroying kids, and how this place has to put them back again. Kids don't get to be that disturbed without adults having done something to them, and you're gradually finding out what's happened to them”. All White in Barking and The Tailor are two close-up films of humanity in its broad and changing forms. From East London and Barcelona respectively, these films use subtle humour and intimate shooting to record how people live together and how they cope with international settings in which they find themselves. They are both wonderful films that relate to us all, focussing as they do on modern attitudes to the multi-ethnic communities we find our selves in. All these films should be seen, need to be seen, must be seen. The modern world is simply too complex to be recorded in the written or spoken word alone. Creative, cinematic documentaries are the ultimate way of getting us to understand and maybe change. Read more about the films here See program at www.kortfilmfestivalen.no |