15TH JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

THE OTHER STORY

Watchable. The director announced it as a story based on facts with something unbelievable in the middle. To me there were no suprises, there were several little twists though so it was engaging but with no "wow" factor.

LADY TITI SINGS THE BLUES

Watchable. I didn't laugh out loud but still thoroughly enjoyed the humour of the dress-up comedy of errors with strong social and gender undertones. I loved the way the man in the lead role struts, especially when deciding in which direction to run - the funniest bits.

In the 1990 there was big immigration of Jews from Ethiopia and the former USSR to Israel. The community was underfunded which led to the creation of a ghetto, crime and drugs. In the most extreme cases Ethiopians are killed by the police and the officers don't even go to trial. So the community don't want to vote for Netanyahu any more after 30 years. The Q&A was with the Israeli producer and the Ethiopian (female) director. At first she wanted to make a drama about it but the producer suggested a comedy and it worked out. The main protagonist is dressed up as a woman to experience being one. He's played by a dancer from the famous Batsheva Dance Company, not an actor. In the audition he knew how to move like a woman. On set he used to forget he was a man. But it had taken him 3 months to create the female image of Worko. He learnt it by imitating his wife's movements. Homosexuality is "non-existent" in Ethiopia so that was another issue to tackle. It's been the first and the last so far screening outside Israel.

COVERED UP

Recommended. About how high standards Hasidic community members have to live up to, the price they pay for being looked after so well and about how the family works, which is visible especially in the scene where the father tells a girl to tuck in loose hair to look modest enough.

I asked the director/protagonist who's divorced, what went wrong, with so many precautions taken by the families before a couple is matched. She responded she had been seeing her prospective husband for 9 days.

YOU ONLY DIE TWICE

Watchable. Hard to comprehend, too much data. But when you hear a Nazi might have been pretending to be a Jew, it nails you to the seat. Nothing is what it seems. The investigation leads to surprising findings.

To sum up the festival, it comprised 33 movies form 15 countries, selected from 800 works. The films were of exceptionally high quality this year and delivered a comprehensive picture of a community of strict rules but supportive to its members. 9000 tickets were issued and 3000 votes cast. I don't know what the entry tickets were for though since you were let in if there were free spaces and extra seats were brought in. The interpreters usually mistranslated what the guests said. The volunteers often had no clue what to do and how. But the core staff were very pleasant and respectful of everyone, even though some people in the audience clearly were homeless or had mental issues. A problem of it being a free event.


GOOD BOYS

Recommended. The trailer implied a low-brow comedy like several class B American stuff. But it's a humorous and intelligent story of the pains of growing up as well as learning the adult world. The tweens, acted masterfully by Jacob Tremblay as Max, Brady Noon as Thor and Keith L. Williams as Lucas, are so cute and the comedy so sweet you remember what it was like to be 12. Several pop culture references appear: "Annabelle", "Game of Thrones", "Stranger Things".

LEGIONY (THE LEGIONS)

Watchable. Shot in pleasant, warm colours, unlike most Polish historical productions which tend to be so dark you can barely recognize the people - this one is clear and easy to watch. Good, humorous dialogues, e.g. "Pieniądze czekają w kasie pancernej." "Twoje?" "Jeszcze nie." ("The money's waiting in a strongbox." "Yours?" "Not yet."). The storyline's balanced and well-structured: military scenes and ordinary life/love ones come alternately. The plot is  quite typical for such patriotic enterprises

ANGEL HAS FALLEN

Watchable. The start is mundane but exactly 20 minutes in, the action takes off with a blast. In an ingenious way. And there are some other entertaining surprises later on. Excellent sound effects and visuals. A satisfactory continuation of the series.

AD ASTRA AT IMAX

Recommended. It tells very realistically about the space. And people too. Plot-wise, it's a space opera which questions itself. It does have gravity, no monkey business - at least not successful (a reference comprehensible only after you've seen the film). At Imax, it makes you feel like you're out there on a space mission. Flying onboard "Cepheus", who in Greek mythology had to sacrifice his daughter to stop a disaster, is a son who has to decide whether to sacrifice his estranged father. "Per aspera ad astra" ("through hardships to the stars").

LYING AND STEALING

Watchable. A standard plot for the genre with thieves having to work off their debts, with some inventive ways of stealing artworks, beautiful Emily Ratajkowski, good cinematography providing the glam effect. Decent music. 

ДЫЛДА (BEANPOLE)

Watchable. Protracted and sick. Only the conversation with Marsha's boyfriend's parents makes sense, clarifying both girls' background from which this disturbing, plain wrong and weird relationship between Masha and Iya stems.

RAMBO: LAST BLOOD

Recommended. What can John Rambo do with his life on return? Is he still fighting the war? Well, the war is on human trafficking across the Mexican border. And he's as fit as new. With a tribute to the whole series over the end credits.

KINO DZIECI (KIDS KINO)

MOOMINVALLEY (2019)

Recommended. Delightful, with cute animals and better animation than in "Muumien joulu" ("Moomins and the Winter Wonderland") of two years ago. Soothing, soft voices in the original dubbing, with Rosamund Pike as Moominmamma. Light, 80s-style songs but also a music piece like from Disney cartoons from a century ago. Viewer-friendly - you don't have to remember the story or who is who to understand the films. It''s a mild way of teaching children how to deal with life issues, suitable for the 6+ year-olds it's aimed at. Good translation into Polish. Children watched the tales infatuated and concentrated.

DIE DREI RAUBER (THE THREE ROBBERS) (2007)

Watchable. The title song with a brass band sounds like in the theatre rather than the cinema. The rapid-movement animation style is annoying. Later varied drawing styles are used. The story and the pictures are dark but it all ends well and you learn the surprising origins of the robbers. In the Polish dubbing the voices are not always clear. There's one mid-credit and later on you hear a song and a silly conversation along the end credits.


And one for adults, outside the festival:

LES CREVETTES PAILLETEES (THE SHINY SHRIMPS)

Watchable. A light-hearted comedy. Not exactly hilarious but moderately amusing anyway. E.g. children called Gaspar and Noé, like the famous film director or, already on opening credits: "dad + dad = a well-dressed child". The highlight is their cover of Sabrina's "Boys (Summertime Love)" - that simply must be heard and seen. Ryan Gosling is mentioned as a "gay icon". I wonder what his wife would say. 


KINO DZIECI (KIDS KINO)

PETTERSSON UND FINDUS - KLEINER QUALGEIST, GROSSE FREUNDSCHAFT (PETTSON & FINDUS: FUN STUFF) (2014)

Recommended. Immaculately acted. Technically superb: digital mushrooms and creatures are superimposed on authentic backgrounds. The story's complex yet perfectly suitable for children. Some bits are funny, e.g. when Petterson realises his cat can talk, other, like action, make kids react tumultously. The story contains ingenious adventures and lots of child psychology. The movie's of perfect length. Pettersson plays antics over the end credits.

OPERASJON MORKEMANN (OPERATION SHADOWMAN) (2018)

Watchable. Quite a typical treasure-hunt story for older children. Typical also for Scandinavian cinema since it's the rich who are guilty here. At least the rich and the poor make peace in the end. There's a scene just after the credits start in which the children ask questions to check how attentively you've been watching. No answers are given at this point.

15TH JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

LEONA

Watchable. The romantic story is engaging but frustrating at times. The second submersion scene is tricky: when you think it might be a suicide, she purifies herself in expectation of a new relationship. But the film clarifies why Jews form such tight-knit communities. They supported each other when they came (to Mexico in this case) 100 years ago, e.g. one would bankroll an enterprise, would hire his relatives and others etc. 

The director is Jewish, the Mexican actress, Naian Gonzales Norvind, isn't. In turn, many Jewish characters are non-actors. The Mexican Jewish community is third after South Africa and New York and, according to the actress, there is a sense of complicity. Asked about sex scenes, she said they had been easy since she trusted the director and the crew. They were harder to watch at the festival than to act. She kind-of directed the director throughout the film. She's re-appropriating the purification ritual in the last scene = we take what predecessors give us and give it a new meaning. Ah, and she speaks excellent English - she's living in New York now.

15TH JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

OUTBACK RABBIS

Recommended. Touching and funny, e.g. the woman who's astonished when she finds out she's Jewish or when the rabbis explain what "Jewish atheism" is: "There is only one God and we don't believe in him." A cheerful documentary with great cinematography.

I've been so busy the last two weeks, watching movies among others, that I have accumulated quite a backlog of notes that I need to edit and post. So reviews of 19 more movies are coming shortly, on Monday most likely.

15TH JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

JONATHAN AGASSI SAVED MY LIFE

Watchable. Another documentary by Tomer Heymann, the director known for exquisite "Mr. Gaga". More niche than the dance movie. This one's about a gay porn star which, I think, is the only reason it did not blow me away. The protagonist, originally Yonatan, who changed his name for stage purposes, is adorably cute and warm. I used to think gay men and straight women had a lot in common but from the part of the picture covering his porn career I can see that gay fantasies are quite different than straight women's. The rest of the film dives deep into Jonathan's psyche. He lived with his mum who would ask him and his brother to act in videos to be sent to his runaway dad. His father used to be the red camera dot. You can see the connection to Agassi's movie career later in life. Then you witness their meeting. He hoovered the flat for his dad's visit which is only unsettling minutes later when you realise how the father had been treating him all his life. After disastrous meetings with his irresponsible father, he goes on a drug spree and loses his libido. He looks like a beaten dog.  

The Q&A with the director and the protagonist's mother gave me extra insight. The director also first thought the movie would be about a successful man. Jonathan Agassi first thought Tomer Heymann would have sex with him in the film. Jonathan/Yonatan is clear of drugs now and has a regular job. As his caring mother says, love at home helped him. Anna, Yonatan's mother, looks better in real life than in the film. His mother's a painter which sheds light on the son's artistic inclinations. These days he maintains kind-of-buddies contact with his father (who's seen the film). Jonathan did drugs for many years. He saw himself in the mirror of the documentary and then he understood his life was an illusion. School was traumatic for Yonatan, they wanted to get rid of the problematic child, the thinking was: "how we can change Yonatan".

LONGING 

Recommended. A deeply moving and tear-jerking manifold psychologic drama not only about mourning but also about how complex life is. You look at the same events with different people's eyes which lets you see how multilayered each person is. 

The scriptwriter's inspiration was a similar ceremony which had really taken place among taoists in Singapore. The director's closest friend died 6 years ago and the initial dedication in the movie is to him. The main actor is a comedian in Israel so the director had to delete the little smile in his eyes. Savi Gabizon said the protagonist didn't give money to the son's friend in the begging in order to show that he didn't solve problems with money. The worse the son was the more fatherhood the writer could get into the father's character.

HERE AND NOW

Walked out. Protracted and without a purpose. Just about daily problems of a rapper who's a young father facing eviction and doing manual work. Nothing I could identify with or look forward to. The gun trope is derivative. 

FRACTURES

Watchable. I was about 20 minutes late but the crystal-clear structure let me get into the story rightaway. The sexual harassment plot is engaging but fails to protect the victim. It demonstrates the viewpoint of each of the people involved without making it clear who's guilty. The kid plays on the defence in a match at the same time his father faces the accusation. The story's not concluded. 

It's based on the director's theatrical play which explains the lack of conclusion. The scriptwriter has had child and adult experience of sexual harassment. I found it shocking how the audience blamed the victim in the film. The bias was disturbing. 

IN YOUR EYES

Watchable. Pleasant, colourful, with top-notch Ethiopian music by Moti Taki. Drag queen Suzi Boum, shown in a few fabulous outfits, disarms haters reacting to their remarks: "Thank you. I love you." You learn about the adoption process for a gay couple. The two Israeli men have to get the embryo from India and use a US mother as a surrogate - the cost is 130 K dollars. Still, the concoction is kind-of insipid.

The subsequent Q&A with Suzi Boum was all about him. If the drag queen encounters reluctance at events where he works 24/7: bachelor parties, company functions, weddings, he explains he comes to bring joy which immediately disarms people. His glamorous skimp dresses are all hand-made in Bangkok. Shaving eye-brows and making up takes him 2 hours. He spent 3 years in the army as an Arabic-Hebrew translator. He doesn't want to be a woman - it's just fun. His boyfriend presented in the documentary from a year ago is his ex now. He wanted an open relationship, Suzi refused, he insisted so then Suzi said: "OK, you want it open so open the door", which wasn't easy after 10 years together. Ah, and he wants to have 3 children. 

15TH JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

ECHO

Watchable. From all the secrecy I would have expected more than just a love affair. Still, the psychologic thriller is so tense it keeps you on the edge of the seat. With limited cast, it places you very close to the main character. I liked the kind-of repetition of the shower scene with changed circumstances. The plot is rewardingly complex.

Avner's job is no coincidence. The character has been designed to have a mathematical mind. Also the tunnels he works in are a metaphor of digging into the subconscious and of a passage between two disconnected places. That was easy in the script but hard to find a tunnel to shoot in. The director explains that in the first shower scene Avner almost asks his wife about his suspicions. But then he concludes that she'd say something and he wouldn't know if it's true so he needs a hard proof. The excellent cinematography was provided by "young hipster supertalented director of photography Daniel Miller" who's about 30 years old and has shot 3-4 films so far. This movie was shot in Haifa hence the hills and greenery since the makers looked for a combination of a city and greenery as the movie wife likes greenery and the husband likes a city. 


INSIDE THE MOSSAD

Recommended. While the documentary focuses on the psychology of a spy, highlighting their sociopathic level of reasoning and lack of remorse with the difference of patriotism and being community-oriented, for me the best parts of the story of the organization world-famous for its efficiency, is the mention of their failures. These range from minor ones like botched murders up to the greatest failure imaginable: when the Shahin Shah of Iran approached them to assassinate Khomeini, they refused deciding they had too little data on the person to perceive him as a threat. The ex-agents clearly enjoyed the power they exerted. They also explain the advantage of intelligence over warfare: it's cheaper, fewer lives are lots. At the same time they admit it creates no real (i.e. lasting) change. As for asset recruitment, no spy is ever 100% sure but "it takes one to know one". They once even recruited a Nazi. After the capture of Eichmann all Nazis lived in fear of Mossad. So they just offered him a life free of that fear. That worked since he exposed a number of other Nazis to Mossad. What's shocking to me, they don't protect the assets who work for them - even if they tell them they will do - whether pawns like a shepherd or the Shahin Shah himself. Mossad also conducted tests of a toxin causing an inexplicable death months later... on passers-by. 

It took 1.5 years to persuade Mossad to let the crew talk to their ex-employees. Obtaining that consent was a matter of being at the right spot at the right time. No more access to the organization has been granted to the media after that. The producers had to run it through the army censorship, after which they received a list of what to exclude. However, they managed to negotiate it down to 5 items since the other listed had already appeared in papers. The ex-spies enjoyed the interviews as a way to explain themselves. The director says that most of them are very normal people. They are very conscious of who they are and of the personality issues they have and of "how they fucked up their lives" meaning the sacrifice of doing immoral things for the sake of others. The Israelis are proud of Mossad, the organization has mythical qualities to them. The agents are paid well, though it's not a fortune, as civil servants. In the case of the woman talking about her background and work it was Mossad that required that her face be blurred. As for showing her school picture - where her eyes were blacked out but not those of the other girls, the picture was old so the risk was deemed small. The director also explains that the cruel side of Israel has been there since the establishment of their state. There's also a Netflix series with the interviews.


And outside the festival, American:
THE CURRENT WAR

Watchable. The plot electrifies but it doesn't shine. It harks back to the times of Edison, Tesla, Insull, Westinghouse (who I had never heard of before) and... J.P. Morgan who bankrolled the inventions. The film certainly filled the gap in my school knowledge with the smear campaigns and even dirtier deeds behind the creation of electricity. The final note on the screen highlights the irony of history. But the whole story's too sketchy, focused on the race and scandals rather than the toil. A well-made movie but schematic like a grid with no flash of genius.

15TH JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

ROBBERY OF THE HEART

Recommended. The documentary tells the story of the Kristallnacht so vividly the fear and agony are palpable. Another,m contemporary, terrifying news comes after the credits.

ANTHRAX

Recommended. I'm not a great fan of mock found footage but this is based on a true story so unsettling it watches like a thriller. 

It took 4 years: 1 year of scriptwriting, 1 year of fund raising and 2 years making. In real life it happened to 800 elite soldiers. The facts presented in the film are true. Some soldiers died from the injection. The mother who advised her son against partaking in the experiment was acted by the real mother of the soldier. The soldiers underwent it out of patriotism. Such experiments are still conducted on Israeli soldiers. The producer himself was in the army in Lebanon and was offered to volunteer. Some army places forbid filming and the film got the "censored" stamp from the Ministry of Defence. The story's been dramatised and made more personal. The beating-up and the doctor's death are fiction. While the cover-up by the army and the American pharmaceutical company conspiracy did take place, the producer is strongly against anti-vaccination movements. In this case, the experiment was conducted after Saddam Hussein had threatened with biological bombs with anthrax, the army deemed the threat real so agreed to the tests of the vaccination. The cover-up lasted till 2 years ago. Then the facts of the case were presented on UDVA TV and the film takes it from there. Peleg has produced 25 documentaries and works of fiction so far. They're trying to sell the film to Netflix or Amazon now. 

(NIE)ZNAJOMI

Recommended. I think it's even better than the Italian "Perfetti sconosciuti" ("Perfect Strangers") it's based on. I had the impression it tapped into comedy tones more often. But it may be because the humour is typically Polish so e.g. a guy considers meat and potatoes as dinner staples and is dissatisfied he has to eat some Italian pasta. Cleverly, there are more references to the Italian original: Kasia Smutniak acts in both and in this one she's a rich expat. And all the elements that made the original so smart: humour, sadness, tension are there again. The Polish version has resigned from the subversive Italian ending which is perfectly natural for this adaptation.

CRAWL

Recommended. Ignore the moronic title, the movie's...wow! Shot in Serbia but you can easily get fooled it's Florida. The premise is quite realistic and a nice break from supernatural horrors. This one's about 'gators. It adopts horror gimmicks but in a creative way. The first jump scare is a tree breaking in through a window during a hurricane. Later a protagonist is dragged back on the floor, like in several scary movies where the force is a corpse, a zombie or a demon. Here it's an animal. The plot keeps you on the edge of the seat and some shots are so evocative and memorable you rarely get to see such quality in this genre, e.g. a girl keeps her eyes above the water like a reptile, the round pipe exit with remnants of bars is striking. Several scenes resemble those in which sharks "acted" in other movies. It's just incredible how it must have been shot with the dangerous animals. You get underwater takes, air-views and level shots at all angles. However it was made, the cinematography stands out. The whole thing provides strong emotions, you feel as if you were in the flooded village yourself, especially that it's shown as if in real time. Also, such hurricanes and flashfloods do happen for real and flood water can move even cars, as shown in the picture, which renders the film even more realistic. "See you later, alligator" by Billie Holiday and His Comets sounds along the final credits changing the mood. The lyrics mention a love for dad which gives the impression the movie was scripted around the song.

PLAYMOBIL: THE MOVIE 3D

Watchable. The 3D is only barely noticeable at times, the Polish version is only dubbed which sounds puerile and you miss out on Meghan Trainor and Daniel Radcliffe's voices, all songs are also in Polish versions while in the original one of the songs is Meghan Trainor's too. Last but not least, doll-like characters are less pleasing to the eye than cartoons would be and it's just audacious merchandise pushing. But the movie's suitable for 3 age groups: children, teenagers and, due to smart dialogues, adults. The plot contains several pop culture references, including: James Bond, "Star Wars", "How to Train Your Dragon", Barbie's ponies, "Jurassic Park". Altogether it's fun. There's an early mid-credit and later songs intertwined with a conversation are heard along with the end credits.

PERDRIX

Watchable. Erwan Le Duc's film resembles those by Bruno Dumont but without violence. Quirky characters, absurd humour - not funny to me at all but I could spot the attempts at amusing the audience and even heard some laughters - and protraction - I was yawning throughout. At least Swann Arlaud as Pierrot Perdrix looks outstandingly good. The ending's not only predictable but also implausible: when two lonely people settle for each other lacking a better option, their happiness and "dream-come-true" confessions are far-fetched

THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN

Recommended. The dog is totally cute, the couple perfect, the bosses compassionate, the story sufficiently complex and very heart-warming. While the plot is a real tear-jerker, it leaves you very peaceful and optimistic.

POLITYKA (POLITICS)

Watchable. For someone who has been following actual politics in Poland it's disappointing, seems like director Patryk Vega did his best to prevent being sued. The movie's too cautious to be as engaging as everyone hopes. Though the make-up and styling are superb and the acting up to scratch, it does not match the original politicians - it appears  dispassionate and flat in comparison to the real persons' audacity. I did laugh out when the police officer realised who was behind the mask and I loved seeing "TV Ufam" instead of "Trwam" - I think that was quite ingenious but most of the time I just waited 'what's next?' and hoped for more pathology than has been published in the official media. Hoped for more behind-the-scenes. Still, it does show how politics works so it is eye-opening .

THE KITCHEN

Recommended. The title carries a double meaning in this feminist gang story set in Hell's Kitchen in New York City. Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss and Tiffany Haddish rock as the mafia bosses and hottie Domhnall Gleeson is a tender brutal. All the other gang roles are cast equally convincingly. The 70s look the part. And the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat while remaining psychologically truthful.

SHOOTING THE MAFIA

Watchable. Letizia Battaglia is vivacious but has been photographing death since she was 19. So the documentary about her and about the dark dealing of la Cosa Nostra is a bit bizarre. Having seen her, now an old woman, in real life, I found it interesting to see the shots of herself from her youth when she was famous locally for her sexual promiscuity. She still appears to be a very open person when you see how she treats her guests these days. But what struck me more was how much history of Sicilly is drenched in blood. Everything appears to have been revolving around the mafia there. Yet, the film is at times incomprehensible to outsiders. 


NIGHT FILM MARATHON - THE MARATHON OF IT

I really disliked the first part so this year I just read the synopsis to jog my memory without having to watch it again.

IT CHAPTER TWO

Watchable. It's longer but feels less lengthy than part one, mostly due to the adult cast. The beginning is the best: adult life problems have caught up with the protagonists so their daily lives are a great start. But what floows are jump scares and tropes from several other horror movies (including obligatory "Shining") but most of all plenty of slimey skeletons. And it's overlong, especially the showdown which is the most tedious and plain stupid part of the movie. No mid- or post-credit. Finally over.

IL PORTRAIT D'UNE JEUNE FEMME EN FEU (PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE)

Recommended. Its beauty lies in its subtlety. Studious cinematography, a limited cast, silence and music, especially Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", create tranquility and an ambience where the erotics has a soothing effect. Adèle Haenel, known for "Le daim" ("Deerskin"), throws her charm on you, it's easy to see why the other protagonist falls for her. The storyline's simple and clear-cut. Some scenes are provocative, e.g. an abortion performed next to a baby, some seductive, e.g. the path on sand leading to a rocky shelter. The secluded seaside location drags you into this world and engulfs you. A rare case of a slow-paced film I didn't want to finish. Luckily it lasted just long enough to satiate my thirst for beauty. Superb music extends over the end credits. 

O ZWIERZETACH I LUDZIACH (OF ANIMALS AND MEN)

Watchable. The documentary is better than "The Zookeper's Wife" - it's told from the perspective of the zookeeper's wife and of then-children. Starts with a fabulous 7-minute footage from the late 1940s presenting how close the zookeeper's family were to the animals. It also contains a scene I wouldn't believe otherwise: some of the cute lion cubs - they all look like in "The Lion King" - get gloves on their clawed paws and suck on... a goat after their own lion mother rejected them. Later it turns horrid since you hear about atrocities committed by the Nazis on animals and see their dead bodies. The Jewish then-child's testimony strangely proves more comforting - he and his sister are still alive to this day. The only thing that detracts from this amazing recollection is the lack of captions and explanations. It's confusing who is speaking and on whose behalf, also some events and even one disease hark back to the times the history of which is not well-known outside Poland. Even I was perplexed.

I asked what had happened to the zoo animals during the war and whether the ones "rented out" to German zoos had been returned after the war. All animals apart from three small rodents were killed, a beaver returned but it wasm't sure if it was actually the same animal and the ones that were taken to Germany never returned. Instead the European Zoo Council decided to donate animals to the reconstructed Warsaw Zoo which is how it came into being all over again.