Tarinoita Leibzigista I-III. Tue Steen Müller.03.11.08

Leibzigin dokumenttifestivaali on muutamassa vuodessa noussut takaisin yhdeksi merkittävämmäksi maailmassa. Pääpalkinnon voitti tänä vuonna myös European Academy Awardin saanut Réne.
 
LEIBZIG I
Of course, you have to be careful when you take a quote from the press office of a festival. Especially as you have not been able to follow the festival intensely because of other obligations. But I went to the festival centre at the new museum every day, met directors and other guests who I knew and they had a good time and were generally happy with the programme. As were the expected-to-be-critical students of the Zelig documentary school in Bolzano. So here comes the quote:

”Crowded cinemas, many international filmmakers and industry guests, lively discussions and a fantastic atmosphere all over the place were characteristical for the 51st edition of the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film. ... Festival director Claas Danielsen anticipates a slight decline of audience numbers compared with last year's 50th anniversary of DOK Leipzig (31.000 viewers). Happily, the number of German and international industry visitors has proved to be stable: Altogether, 1.400 accredited visitors from 49 countries (1.450 in 2007) have come to Leipzig in order to make use of both the manifold film programme and the DOK Industry offers.”

It is amazing what my younger friend Claas Danielsen has achieved in the few years he has been director of the festival. He has changed the festival from being sleeping nach der Wende to a modern international meeting point of high quality. Even if I had suggested Baltic and other films to him and his selection group, and they were wrong in not taking more from my list (!), I was not disappointed with the films I had time to watch in the superb digital video library.

http://www.dok-leipzig.de/v2/cms/en/home/index.html

LEIBZIG II
I have previously - in my diaries from DocLisboa – mentioned the new masterpiece by Avi Mograbi, Z32. It was also shown at DOK Leipzig, Avi Mograbi was there and I told him again, as in Lisbon, that his films divide people, for which reason he will never get a prize in a documentary festival, as juries tend to go for compromises. Right I was, no prize for Mograbi in Leipzig.

One of the reasons could be found in the review of the film from the Leipziger Volkszeitung, November 1st, written by Norbert Wehrstedt, who, as many others, objects to having talking faces in documentaries... he had hoped that this narrative element had died long time ago. He reduces thus the film to be a ”Hörbuch mit Bildern” that nobody needs. Words, words, words to put it in another words.

I totally disagree to this classical rejection of talking faces. It depends on who is talking, on camera angle, light, rythm and reason for using talking faces. What Avi Mograbi does, is that he innovates the documentary language by using talking masks, as his main character, the killing Israeli soldier, does not want to face the camera. Very intelligent trick that combined with his Brechtian musical element, himself singing comments to the soldier’s crime, makes the film into a universal essayistic wish for reflection.

Z32 runs in festivals all over, look out for it and if you are in Copenhagen, you can reach it at cph:dox.

http://www.dok-leipzig.de/v2/cms/en/home/index.html
http://www.cphdox.dk/d1/front.lasso
LEIBZIG III
The awards in Leipzig... Helena Trestikova won another first prize for her ”Réne”, which will be play here in Copenhagen at cph:dox. I did not see it yet but I am sure it deserves a prize, based on what I have seen before from her hand.

Second prize, plus two others, went to wonderful ”Oblivion” by Heddy Honigmann, a director whose work I have followed for many years, always with pleasure and admiration. I wrote a review of the film in the new DOX (Issue 79, November 2008), let me give you a small quote:

”In 1994, the director made ”Metal and Melancholy”, also from Peru, seen through the taxis and their double-job drivers. This new film from Lima is melancholic as well, and beautiful, but you also feel a well-documented anger on behalf of the people you meet who struggle every day to survive”. A humanistic, political film for a big audience. Thank you!

In the same DOX issue you will find a review of Z32, written by editor Ulla Jacobsen.

www.edn.dk
http://www.heddy-honigmann.nl/hhonigmann/
http://www.dok-leipzig.de/v2/cms/en/home/index.html