Tuesday 30 November 2021

NZARA  - HUNGER

Watchable. It's a compelling performance but not a movie - it has wonderful voice actors, the sound comes from both sides and the screen but the picture is awfully static, it's just decor which changes as seldom as theatrical decor would. The thing is voiced in English with insertions from Shona. The play is based on oral literature: with repetitions and a modern version of a myth explaining the world. No physical hunger features in the content, it's abstract only. Music can be heard only in the background to speaking. I hoped for more African tunes and on their own. The film's translated by writer-director Klara Wojtkowska herself which is surprising since in her version English 'fill' ('napełnić', 'wypełnić' in Polish) becomes 'zatkać' ('block', 'clog').

Klara Wojtkowska is a musicology and African studies graduate. For the last 2 or 3 years she lived mostly in Zimbabwe but she's been an emigrant all her life. The film has its own history: She fell ill in the US, saw a Zimbabwean healer who told her: "You're in the wrong place. Speak to your ancestors" which led to: "Go to Zimbabwe." She refused but got more and more ill. She healed in Zimbabwe. It took her 3 weeks to write the play. Originally it was a theatrical play on show in Zimbabwe but after just one day the police ordered to take it down. There's actual hunger in Zimbabwe which is a possible explanation. The police didn't say why. That's how censorship works. So you won't say a lot instead of that one thing the censor picked on. She had limited time and money to make it into a film which it became out of necessity. One of the actors did electronic engineering in Poland. A theatre in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe is interested in making it into a musical.

Sunday 28 November 2021

DUNE 3D

Recommended. This epic adaptation of the novel "Dune" by Frank Herbert is nothing short of spectacular and best appreciated at Imax or at least in 3D since here the depth does enhance the picture. Surrounding sound and unique music by Hans Zimmer let you immerse yourself in the universe. The suns and moons of Arrakis look magnificent. Some weapons, gadgets, aircraft and spacecraft are new to science fiction cinema. The language of the Emperor's planet imitates Amharic, the Fremen's is based on Arabic, the messiah is even dubbed "Mahdi".The plot is lucid even if you haven't read the book. The movie's captivating, builds tension gently and offers one profoundly touching moment. It's easy to feel empowered by the movie. Convincingly acted by Timothée Chalamet in the leading role of Paul Atreides but Oscar Isaac as Leto Atreides makes a lasting impression too. The pleasure lasts 155 minutes, including the end credits with their memorable score. True space opera. 

PETIT VAMPIRE (LITTLE VAMPIRE)

Watchable. I didn't quite get the historic opening, it's a mess. The contemporary part makes more sense: the undead creatures have their own outlook, e.g. they cry when monsters are killed in movies. Still, neither the animation nor the action is sophisticated. 

Friday 26 November 2021

Sunday 21 November 2021

BIALY POTOK 

Watchable. All dark, as if in a shadow, and greenish. Starts with a ludicrous and obscene conversation. Next the action finally starts and involves a lot of angry people arguing, yelling and fighting. The dream scene is ridiculous and obscene again. It could have been a comedy of errors. Instead it's a pathetic tragicomedy. 

Some info form the Q&Q with director Michał Grzybowski and actress Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza:
Normally the cost of a movie in Poland is about 3-5 million zlotys. This one, from a micro budget plan, cost 700 thousand zlotys. 1.5% profit from the cinema tickets returns to PISF. Michał Grzybowski wrote the script with a colleague within 2.5 months to obtain the funds. The director didn't make any money from it: "Głównie za złe rzeczy się płaci" ("Mainly bad things are paid for"), doing something good doesn't pay, as he remarks. 
The story took place in his neighbourhood. Biały Potok is the name of the osiedle (an estate comprising of a number of houses).
The actress who was to play the pregnant wife resigned so was replaced in the last minute. She left together with her cinematographer husband. 
The director says he wanted the film to take the form of a farce but a raw, realistic one so he treated it like a drama. The picture is dark "to break the comedy", to make it naturalistic. 
In the director and garrulous actress's opinion the opening scene expresses jealousy. The actress sounded as if she really had such dumb conversations at parties.
The kid with the gun had stood in the doorway aiming at them in real life so the director decided the boy had to act in it. 
Marcin Dorociński is said to be modest. He'd come to the set on bike. 
The Mazda car cost 1400 zlotys + 400 zl to get it running. 
My own impression from the Q%A is that with good movies the makers don't need to explain the film. 

The cinema in Ursynowskie Centrum Kultury "Alternatywy" had comfy seats. 

MOSQUITO STATE

Recommended. It's like nothing I've seen before. While Aronofsky's "Pi" reverberates in this film - here the maths genius already works in the finance - the rest is unique. Masterful cinematography, studious shots, sound effects, great music and, next - in the order of appearance - an unusual tale. However unsettling the events are, the film keeps you calm, it's so captivating with style.

Monday 15 November 2021

CEREMONIA

Watchable. The short film is partly a dysfunctional family drama, partly a realistic picture of the Polish society where people don't want to get involved when they witness violence. When family tensions are at breaking point, the puzzle is solved. Nothing special in the story or the way it was shot. Typically Polish.

Błażej Hrapkowicz, conducting the Q&A remarked the film transformed into a thriller with a riddle. The director explained it was inspired by how to build a family in case of contradict opinions, in particular the director's grandfather's cousin inspired the film character. 

PIEC DNI LEKU (FIVE DAYS OF FEAR)

Watchable. The short documentary shows a string of ordinary people confessing what they're afraid of. Rejection or death are the most common fears but also many people have their own anxieties incomprehensible to me. The division into days doesn't make any sense but the confessions give a fascinating insight into how vulnerable everyone is.

Each utterance took 2 minutes 30 seconds. There are 6 days because one woman said she feared nothing. The days serve as a division because the director needed to give a pause in between. The guy who feared he wouldn't set up a family is married and has 2 children now.

DROGA

Watchable. The short film gathers a few sorts of problems caused by men - realistic but no surprises. 

The director says the ending was inspired by "The Graduate". The film was shot before the October protests and "Wypierdalać" wasn't in the script but they left it in. A month later it was shouted by many women in the street. 

METY (FLOATERS)

Watchable. The short cartoon is on the artsy side but incomprehensible. To me anyway but I don't have floaters in my eyes.

Męty (floaters) are what some people, including the director herself, see in the eye. Someone from the audience remarked he had the same problem and had used to think he had been able to see bacteria so presenter Błażej Hrapkowicz joked: "Może zróbmy spotkanie terapeutyczne: nazywam się Maciej, widzę bakterie." ("Why don't we have a therapeutical meeting: my name is Maciej, I see bacteria.")

SYNTHOL

Watchable. The short film tells about a dim witted guy keen on bodybuilding and about how inspirational he is to people even though he's unsuccessful himself. Tongue-in-cheek, to the point and sad at the same time.

Piotr Trojan acted Eryk, wrote and directed the film himself.

Saturday 13 November 2021

WYSZYNSKI - ZEMSTA CZY PRZEBACZENIE (WYSZYNSKI - REVENGE OR FORGIVENESS)

Recommended. What struck me first was top-notch sound, surrounding at times, next evocative visual effects, e.g. when soldiers walking through a meadow dissipate into thin air or when ashes fall down. The action keeps you in suspense but provides touching moments too. Music keeps up. Wyszyński's final stride is hero-like but totally in line with the story. The note of events of 20 years later explains how the wartime experiences shaped the cardinal and is a perfect ending. 

WSZYSTKIE NASZE STRACHY (FEARS)

Watchable. Only the grandma character is fun. All other conversations are blabber, the story conveys moral preaching, the film is protracted and awfully spiritual. Much depends on Dawid Ogrodnik to keep us interested by successfully depicting the protagonist's growing inner turmoil. The actor fails miserably. The story's based on actual events and the original protagonists are pictured at the end. 


PLANETA SINGLI. 8 HISTORII

EP. 1: ZJAZD ABSOLWENTOW

Watchable. Too slow at first, the school reunion finally picks up the tempo but the ending is cheesy and predictable. Piotr Witkowski's part as the woman's date stands out. The party is frequented by a variety of characters, a memorable one is a guy who preys on every woman using the same chat-up line.

EP. 7: WLADEK I HALINA

Watchable. Less predictable, with less common in the genre elderly protagonists but with a sad subplot of a lethal disease - really, Polish people can ruin the best of fun.


HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

MULLAH'S DAUGHTER

Watchable. The documentary looks like a chaotic mixture of home videos portraying a happy family and good living in a modern, well-equipped house with a garden offering shadow on hot days. The mullah's family is not as strict as I expected. A wonderful, though very brief song is played over the end credits. 


BO WE MNIE JEST SEKS (AUTUMN GIRL)

Recommended. CGIs are easy to spot but they create fairy-tale Warsaw of the 60s: sleek, colourful, undistinguishable from Western capitals, bar occasional jokes, e.g. a large poster with ambiguous slogan: "Partia słucha obywateli" ("The party listens to citizens"). Maria Dębska excels in the provocative role of Kalina Jędrusik. But also Bartłomiej Kotschedoff as her director and all other actors perform their parts alluringly and convincingly. Astute dialogues, wonderful characters, professionally choreographed (by Jakub Lewandowski) dance scenes sell the fable smoothly. Some bits are hilarious, e.g.: "A co ty tu robisz o tej porze?" "Telefon mi się zepsuł, więc przyszedłem porozmawiać ze Stasiem." ("And what are you doing here at this hour?" "My phone broke down so I've come to talk to Staś.") Unusually for Polish films, there's a post-credit.


HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

LEKCJA MILOSCI (LESSONS OF LOVE)

Recommended. Jolanta Janus is always immaculately dressed, made up, with her hair done. Every scene with her is delightful. She believes women should be feminine to attract men. She surely does, easier than her daughters. Unbelievable she's a long-term victim od domestic abuse by her violent husband. The story's built out of the contrast between her abusive husband and her new, gentle and loving partner. 

The screenings were so smartly scheduled that there was always enough time to get to each film, regardless of the cinema. And the cinemas were within a short metro ride from one another. The lack of a printed schedule or catalogue was a hindrance. But at least the extremely nice and helpful staff would let me read the synopses and view trailers on their laptop. I noticed the synopses by some guy from Filmweb sometimes skipped the core topics of the films - gender bias again? Spending so much time at the cinema I was apprehensive in regards to the risk of Covid infection. Here the core team proved to follow the health safety guidelines religiously, everyone in the customer service wore a mask talking to people and during the screenings. Their collaborators, like a presenter or the interpreter ignored the rules though. As you approached the festival desk at Kinoteka you could smell a fragrant vaporizer - a fabulous accent and unique to this enterprise. Altogether, mostly owing to the awesome film selection, but also to the hospitality of the staff, it was a wonderful experience.

Friday 12 November 2021

HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

SILENCIO RADIO (RADIO SILENCE)

Watchable. Stunning cinematography renders Mexico City awe-inspiring. The pictures highlight immense modern buildings or glistening surfaces of the edifices or the road. The everyday reality is grimmer though, shocking even - with bodies of killed journalists or hanged drug dealers found in the streets. The Mexican documentary inadvertently reveals so much about the country authorities' wrongdoings, the drug cartels war manifested by dead bodies hanging in the streets, the army mutilating students, that I understood why the "Nuevo orden" ("New Order") director implicated the army in his feature film. It also brought to mind "Sicario" in regards to the drug crime and every day brutality. The actual story of the TV journalist was less comprehensible to me - an outsider. I loved the song over the end credits - the lyrics carry a meaning consistent with the topic and the melody is very enjoyable.

Thursday 11 November 2021

SPENCER

Recommended. British through and through and superbly acted. Kristen Stewart manages the task and so do Jack Farthing as Prince Charles, Emma Darwall-Smith as Camilla Parker Bowles, and Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall and John Keogh as servants. Add the celebration of each costume and each meal. The royals do live well. But Diana - it's based on actual events, only with certain dramatisations - feels like in a gilded cage. As much as she would love to spare the pheasants, she hopes to spare herself. When the royals feel circled by the press, she feels watched by them - the pearl necklace dinner stands out, the gazes are superbly shot. Her loneliness in the world of tradition and form couldn't manifest itself better. Even the cinematography reflects the 80s. The 1986 song "All I Need Is A Miracle" by Mike and the Mechanics says it all. 

Saturday 6 November 2021

HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

BODY AS BATTLEFIELD - set of 7 shorts:

BATTLEFIELD

Watchable. Vague black and white images. The music at the cinema sounds better than in the online trailer. No distinguishable topic or story. 

رقص الأجل عيوني (LET MY BODY SPEAK)

Watchable. The Syrian tale is unusual since it concerns a women's military school but to an outsider it's not clear if the woman is lesbian and if her schoolmates are. 

THE WEDDING CAKE

Watchable. The cake is evocative, the dolls less so. The story's shocking.

CERNOBILA (BLACK AND WHITE)

Recommended. A wonderful compilation of numerous movie excerpts.

ANKEBUT 

Watchable. Turkish. So vague it's the only thing I can say about this film.

NAPORNO (HARD)

Recommended. The film proves porn acting is the world's oldest profession. Or at least since the invention of the camera.

THERMOPLASTISCHE ELASTOMERE (THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERS)

Recommended. Very informative and eye-opening: the sex-doll brothel wins me over.

MORGANA

Watchable. This full-length feature film presented at the festival projects freedom. And joy. Morgana Muses, 53 years old at the time of shooting, is neither slim nor beautiful but she's creative and her films, whose excerpts we see, range from revolting - where she has cake smeared all over her body - to beautiful - most others, bonding was surprisingly the most awe-inspiring due to its artistry. When you hear her life story and how porn work saved her from suicide, it's even inspiring. The film is exciting but you also feel for her. It's also most body-positive which is wonderful once you drop your bias. And did you know the porn industry has its own film festivals? Those people seem so warm and joyful. Good for her. I personally don't always find it aesthetic. Still, personal liberty rules. 


TITANE

Recommended. Lots of violence and sex - by a woman. Directed by Julia Ducournau and superbly acted by Agathe Rousselle as Alexia and Vincent Lindon as Vincent - both in ultra difficult roles. Both the violent and erotic bits come as shocks, even when you can foresee them - they're so brutal and graphic. While some viewers claim the second part is more timid and even see love in it, I find that part to be even more shocking and the protagonists perfidious, e.g. smiling to each other in the dance which some see as loving and I view as false. In my perception Alexia goes with the flow of Vincent's delusions to take advantage of the situation. The story is ambiguous: blood is not black, is it? For the most part I wasn't sure if she was pregnant or imagined to be. Others discover the truth hence making it clear to viewers. What I find disturbing is crossing each others' personal boundaries in the second half: starts with opening the son's door without a knocking and grows in severity, e.g. at the injection request. What follows only increases in intensity and involves a kiss like in porn. The finale is on the verge of science fiction but also sheds new light on who the rape perpetrator could have been. Just like the opening, the ending refers you to mythical Titans. Some scenes mirror each other, e.g. twerking - even by Vincent - or Alexia's spread eagle. The pictures and the music captivate you. 

Friday 5 November 2021

HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

NINA MAMA (MOTHER-CHILD)

Recommended. It's soothing to see 21, if I counted correctly, pregnant teenagers getting help and lots of care in a health centre in Argentina. Underlying issues are sometimes severe: domestic violence, drug addiction or the lack of easy access to abortion but many are positive: even unwanted conceptions are welcome by the girls and their boyfriends. An intimate look, full of warmth. 

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS

Watchable. You learn lots of surprising facts about the origins of electronic music, e.g. its first sounds were inspired by air raid sirens from the Second World War. Still, just those sounds are annoying and a long way from modern techno. "Synthesize Me" accompanying end credits is about the best tune.


WEGIERSKA JESIEN FILMOWA ON MOJEEKINO.PL

SEVELED (NEITHER WITH YOU)

Watchable. Engaging like every romantic comedy but silly and forgettable.

Tuesday 2 November 2021

HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

CALL ME INTERN

Recommended. Shocks you with the extent of young workforce exploitation: the US, Europe, even the UN. But also explains market mechanisms which gives both the smaller and the bigger picture of the issue of unpaid internships. Masterfully cut. Expert commentary to the point. Most importantly: an unpaid internship does not advance your career. 

BRAZEN

Recommended. 10 short animations about brave women from all over the world and various epochs and cultures who revolutionised our world. A fantastic bold music theme emphasises their audacity. This cartoon series features such strong, independent women I found it even intimidating. You see how much effort or even deception is needed to matter in life. But it's also revelatory how much we owe to those few women. The animations are lucid, using the pictures to display their stories comprehensibly, limiting the verbal narratives to the women's reactions to what we see happening in their lives. The protagonists are all admirably strong, never letting others to put them off. It's also unsettling how many vital problems are overlooked by men. Luckily those women didn't give a damn what others would think of them. They were not afraid either of criticism or rejection and would just get their own way. 

The film set was followed by a workshop for children which was inspiring even to an adult woman like me. And I'm impressed how smart and self-confident the girls were. 

ZE NOEMEN ME BABOE (THEY CALL ME BABU)

Recommended. A compilation of many testimonies of Indonesian nannies in Dutch households during the colonial rule, with period footage collected and cut so cleverly the images become one story. It's touching, warm but also fills you in on the times of Dutch occupation of Indonesia, Nazi of the Netherlands and Japanese of Dutch Indonesia. Beautifully told from a nanny's point of view. The archive footage is black and white but wonderfully shot, you can even see water glistening in the sun. 

93QUEEN

Recommended. About Ezras Nashim, the first women-staffed ambulance service in the large Brooklyn Hasidic community, and its charismatic leader. You follow Rachel Freier strive to bake plenty of hallahs at home, run for the civil law judge and kickstart the much needed emergency service for women. It's astonishing how badly the male competitors are trying to put her down. All the more I admire her thinking: "I am hurt, I've been hurt before, I surely will be hurt. That's life." Watches almost like a thriller. 

Monday 1 November 2021

WEGIERSKA JESIEN FILMOWA ON MOJEEKINO.PL

DRAKULICS ELVTARS (COMRADE DRAKULICH)

Watchable. Another Hungarian flick set in communist times, again in the early years, this time shortly after the Cuban revolution. The plot where spies try to discover comrade Drakulics' (Drakulich's) secret is totally engaging, treated with a pinch of salt, but it's not a comedy. At least I was watching glued to the screen but without outbursts of laughter. 


HER DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

COMO EL CIELO DESPUES LA LLOVER (THE CALM AFTER THE STORM)

Watchable. Only for bits of Argentinian life, like a girl stung by a scorpio. But the film is a random assembly of home videos and footage of making a movie - always a mistake as a topic and here, what's worse, lacking any sign of editing. Junk.

LES PRIERES DE DELPHINE (DELPHINE'S PRAYERS)

Recommended. Beautiful, smart, yet illiterate Cameroonian recounts her life. The story's shocking and frustrating with the amount of abuse she's been through and inability to escape her predicament. She's a wonderful actress so it watches like a monodrama, with the difference it's real. 

I wish she would venture into acting, which probably hasn't crossed her mind but which she has a flair for, and finally break free. I'm definitely rooting for her.

THE CASE YOU

Recommended. Harrowing. I felt as if I was being sexually abused - it was so suggestive. The film details the spate of manipulative tactics - legal and psychological - hence letting you understand how the crime was so successfully committed on a string of innocent young women. 

What I learnt from the interesting Q&A with two of the protagonists: In Germany many such cases are dropped before they get into court, or if they get in, there are many myths around them in court. Such cases are silenced also in Switzerland. What's more you have to report a sexual assault within 3 months and that's too little time even to process it mentally by the victim.The producers made them sign consent that the footage from the audition could be used in the subsequent feature film - that is luckily legally invalid. What the vicious producers have tried for real was to show the documentary from the audition at a festival - unsuccessfully. What the victims legally achieved so far is that in the documentary from the audition obscures their bodies and voices. Now the court has halted the premiere of the abusive recording for the duration of the trial. They hope to have it removed from the internet and any public space entirely. I wholeheartedly hope they'll succeed.

Journalist Remigiusz Kadelski and interpreter Marta sadly lacked professionalism. Not only would they avoid wearing masks whenever not asked directly to wear them, he wasted time asking questions about nothing, insisted on using the interpreter even when everyone understood English and she would occasionally misinterpret which resulted mostly from her not having seen the films but also sometimes her insufficient English. As for him, why is any 'him' conducting interviews, instead of a 'her' at such a festival? Well, at least both were gentle to the victimised actresses.

STATELESS

Watchable. The film's chaotic but also all the depicted formal legal struggles are futile so it's all the more frustrating. 

The expert activists' panel after the screening was more interesting.