Östern vid GIFF
The White Sun of the Desert
Göteborg International Film Festival, January 28 to February 7, will highlight an exciting and less-known part of western film history: Red Western!
The concept of Soviet cowboys and East German Indians has a strange ring to it, but the fact is that the former Eastern Bloc produced lots of western films from the 1920s until the early 1980s.
"Red Westerns" were often shot in places like Yugoslavia, Mongolia and southern Soviet Union and became pawns in the Cold War propaganda game. Quite often the roles were reversed compared to their American models: good Indians and bad cowboys. Western themes and aesthetics were also used to depict Soviet history and the struggle between the Bolsheviks and anti-Bolsheviks.
Göteborg International Film Festival will show ten of the westerns produced in the Eastern Bloc, including 13 from 1936, which was made on the orders of Josef Stalin, who became so fond of John Ford's classic Lost Patrol that he demanded a Soviet version. Two other films are the Romanian The Actress, the Dollars and the Transylvanians about the hardships of Romanian and Hungarian settlers in the Wild West and Lemonade Joe, a Czech western satire and cult classic from 1964 about the Kolaloka-drinking gunfighter Joe who takes on an entire town of whiskey drunk cowboys.
Red Westerns at GIFF 2011:
13 (USSR, 1936)
The Elusive Avengers (USSR, 1967)
The White Sun of the Desert (USSR, 1969)
Seventh Bullet (USSR, 1972)
At Home Among Strangers (USSR, 1974)
The Actress, the Dollars and the Transylvanians (Romania, 1981)
Red Westerns screened in cooperation with Cinemateket during February and March:
The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (USSR, 1924)
Lemonade Joe (Czechoslovakia, 1964)
No One Wanted to Die (USSR, 1966)
The Eighth (Bulgaria, 1968)
Welcome to Göteborg International Film Festival January 28 to February 7, 2011!
Saturday Night Fever som kulturarv!
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Empire strikes back, Airplane! med Lesley Nielsen och Saturday night fever Foton Scanpix
källa: http://svt.se/2.27170/1.2282683/filmerna_som_valts_in_i_national_film_registry Kulturnyheterna |
Filmerna som valts in i National film registry
| Publicerad 29 december 2010 - 09:50 Uppdaterad 29 december 2010 - 13:23 |
En Star wars-uppföljare, en film där John Travolta dansar i underkläder och en om en rosa panter. Det är några av filmerna som platsar när Library of congress väljer filmer med kulturell, konstnärlig och historisk betydelse.
525 filmer med historisk betydelse |
National film registry är ett filmregister som funnits sedan 1988 och i år tillkom 25 filmer till den 525 filmtitlar långa listan.
Syftet är inte att välja ut filmhistoriens allra bästa filmer - utan att uppmärksamma och bevara filmer som gjort konstnärligt avtryck, har en kulturell betydelse eller är av filmhistorisk vikt.
I år valdes bland andra Star Wars episode V: The Emipire strikes back från 1980, den andra filmen som kom ut i Star wars-serien som nu gör den första Star Wars sällskap på listan.
Salig blandning av filmer
Listan över filmer är minst sagt ett brett spektrum av genre och ålder.
Discorullen Sathurday night fever från 1970 finns med såväl som en av filmhistoriens allra första filmer, Newark Athlete från 1891.
Katastrofkomedin Ariplane! från 1980 kvalar in tillsammans med dokumentären Grey Gardens om Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis excentriska släktingar.
Publiken nominerar
Publiken nominerar filmer till Library of congress och sedan är det James H Billington som ensam gör urvalet. I år kom 2 100 bidrag och Billington är noga med att inte bara välja in populära och kända filmer utan även uppmärksamma lite mer abstrakta och ovanliga verk.
Bevarandet av teckenspråk från 1913 är ett två minuter långt kraftfullt debattinlägg om dövas rätt till teckenspåk.
- Det var en uppenbarelse att se den, säger Billington själv enligt nyhetsbyrån AP.
Sofia Benholm
Listans 25 nykomlingar |
"Airplane!" (1980)
"All the President's Men" (1976)
"The Bargain" (1914)
"Cry of Jazz" (1959)
"Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB" (1967)
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)
"The Exorcist (1973)
"The Front Page" (1931)
"Grey Gardens" (1976)
"I Am Joaquin" (1969)
"It's a Gift" (1934)
"Let There Be Light" (1946)
"Lonesome" (1928)
"Make Way For Tomorrow" (1937)
"Malcolm X" (1992)
"McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971)
"Newark Athlete" (1891)
"Our Lady of the Sphere" (1969)
"The Pink Panther" (1964)
"Preservation of the Sign Language" (1913)
"Saturday Night Fever" (1977)
"Study of a River" (1966)
"Tarantella" (1940)
"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945)
"A Trip Down Market Street" (1906)
David Bordwell om Panahis situation
http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/?p=11408
“I don’t hate anybody, not even my interrogators”
Tuesday | December 21, 2010 open printable versionJafar Panahi, May 2010.
DB here:
From Tehran comes the shocking news that Jafar Panahi, one of the finest of Iranian filmmakers, has been sentenced to six years in prison. The sentence also bans him from filmmaking for twenty years, forbids him to leave the country, and forbids him from giving interviews to the press, foreign or domestic. Panahi’s collaborator Muhammad Rasoulof was also sentenced to six years in jail.
This is the next step in a series of confrontations between Panahi and the government. He was earlier arrested for attending the funeral of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman shot in the 2009 protests. His passport was later seized. Before his most recent arrest he was forbidden to leave the country to attend the Berlin and Cannes festivals. Between March and May of this year he was in prison, during which he undertook a hunger strike. In May he was released on bail.
Since the mid-1990s Panahi has directed several extraordinary films, all explicitly or tacitly critical of aspects of Iranian society. Like his mentor Abbas Kiarostami, he attracted attention with films centering on children, notably The White Balloon (1995) and The Mirror (1997). The latter is a fine example of how Iranian directors have merged social realism, unexpected character psychology, and experimental storytelling strategies. The first half shows a stubborn little girl trying to get home from school. On a bus, she gets tired of pretending to be in a film and goes off on her own, with her microphone still attached. The crew tries to track her down, and much of the rest of the action takes place on the soundtrack, as we hear her encounters with street life and the crew’s commentary on what they manage to shoot. Sometimes the sound drops out entirely.
The Circle (2000) shifts to the adult world, illuminating critical moments in the lives of several women as they traverse the streets. Crimson Gold (2003), from a script by Kiarostami, shifts from presenting a crime-thriller situation to providing an unusual view of Tehran’s prosperous upper class. Offside (2006) won attention for its exuberant portraitsof women who disguise themselves as men to watch a soccer match. Panahi remarked drily to the court: “The space given to Jafar Panahi’s festival awards in Tehran’s Museum of Cinema is much larger than his cell in prison.”
The charges and the replies
The Mirror.
The oppression of filmmakers isn’t new, of course. Authoritarian political regimes across film history have banned films and punished their creators. In recent times, the Turkish actor-director Yilmaz Güney was imprisoned several times; while incarcerated, he wrote scripts to be filmed by others. After Devils on the Doorstep (2000), Jiang Wen was banned by Chinese authorities from film activities for some years, as was actress Wei Tang for appearing in Lust, Caution (2007).
But Güney was convicted of civil crimes, although of a political nature; his films were not, as I understand it, explicitly part of the charges. And although Jiang and Wei were punished for their film work, that punishment didn’t include jail time.
Panahi is in an unusually vulnerable situation. He is set to be imprisoned for preparing a film.
The official charges are “assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” The authorities charge that he and his colleague Rasoulof were “preparing an anti-government film bearing on the post-electoral events” of June 2009, when thousands of Iranians protested the disputed reelection of President Ahmadinejad. “You are putting me on trial for making a film that at the time of our arrest was only thirty percent shot.” Panahi was shooting his film in his home, and government authorities seized the footage.
Other accusations sought to bolster the case. Panahi’s household, according to the prosecution, held “obscene films.” In his defense statement last month, he replied that these were film classics that have inspired him. He was charged with participating in demonstrations, but he replied that he was there to observe, and this was within his rights. He notes as well that he shot no footage of the demonstrations, acknowledging that filming was forbidden. As you know, on-the-spot reportage leaked out through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Panahi was accused of making his film without permission, but he responded that there is no legal requirement that a filmmaker obtain permission. He was accused of organizing protests at the opening of the Montreal Film Festival, but there he served simply as the head of the jury. He was charged with giving interviews to foreign media, but he pointed out that there are no laws forbidding someone from being interviewed. He was even accused of not giving scripts to his actors! He explained that he works with non-professional actors, and it’s common for Iranian filmmakers to simply explain what the actor must do and say.
The charges may be simply a pretext for silencing a prominent figure critical of current Iranian society. Panahi’s films do not circulate legally there, and he is widely believed to be in sympathy with liberal forces. The government has sought to eradicate the most visible of these factions, the Green Party. Even Islamic clerics have been swept up in the crackdown. A parallel case to Panahi’s is the attack on Mohammad Taqi Khalaji, a dissident cleric. Last January he was arrested and his computer and papers were seized. He too was incarcerated in Evin prison before being released on bail. Yet he was not formally charged with anything. His personal papers, including his passport, were not returned to him.
You can get some grim satisfaction for knowing that movies still matter in some parts of the world. Films have the power to shock bureaucrats and threaten authoritarian regimes. Instead of being simply “assets” or “content” to be extruded across platforms and shoved through release windows, cinema is in some places taken seriously as political critique.
Panahi’s case, his lawyer asserts, will be appealed.
Out of bounds
Offside.
Lest we Americans savor our superior virtue, consider this: Four months before 9/11, Panahi was traveling between Hong Kong and Argentina and stopped over in New York. He had been told he did not need a transit visa, but he was detained by American authorities at JFK Airport for lacking one. Here is Stephen Teo’s account in Senses of Cinema:
On his way to the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema on 15 April, 2001, after having attended the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Panahi was arrested in JFK Airport, New York City, for not possessing a transit visa. Refusing to submit to a fingerprinting process (apparently required under U.S. law), the director was handcuffed and leg-chained after much protestations to US immigration officers over his bona fides, and finally led to a plane that took him back to Hong Kong. As far as is known, this incident was not reported in any major US newspaper, even though The Circle was being shown in the United States at the time (another irony: for that film, Panahi was awarded the “Freedom of Expression Award” by the US National Board of Review of Motion Pictures).
We are in the season in which critics are likely to use the word courage casually, as in “Natalie Portman gives a courageous performance in Black Swan.” The ongoing struggle of Panahi and thousands of his fellow Iranians remind us what real courage, in the world outside the movie theatre, looks like.
A petition addressed to Iran’s leaders in regard to Panahi’s case can be signed here. For one proposal for how world film culture could respond, go here.
A fairly detailed chronology of events around Panahi’s imprisonment can be found on Wikipedia. Panahi’s counter to the official charges, as well as the source of this entry’s title quotation, can be found here.
I have so far found no U.S. coverage of Panahi’s treatment in America in spring 2001. A report here from Australia suggests that he was detained but not arrested. Senses of Cinema has published Panahi’s letter to the Board of Review protesting his treatment on that occasion.
The case of Mohammad Taqi Khalaji is discussed here and here.
Jafar Panahi and Jia Zhang-ke, Asian Film Awards 2007. Photo by DB.
regissör får 20 års-yrkesförbud!!!
Iran jails director Jafar Panahi and stops him making films for 20 years
Acclaimed film-maker who supported opposition green movement also banned from foreign travel or speaking to media
- Saeed Kamali Dehghan
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 December 2010 18.47 GMT
Jafar Panahi, pictured in Tehran this August, has been banned from writing scripts or making films for 20 years. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
The acclaimed Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison today, and banned from directing and producing films for the next 20 years, his lawyer said.
Panahi, an outspoken supporter of Iran's opposition green movement, was convicted of colluding in gathering and making propaganda against the regime, Farideh Gheyrat told the Iranian state news agency, ISNA.
"He is therefore sentenced to six years in prison and also he is banned for 20 years from making any films, writing any scripts, travelling abroad and also giving any interviews to the media including foreign and domestic news organisations," she said. Gheyrat said she would appeal against the conviction.
Panahi won the Camera d'Or at the Cannes film festival in 1995 for his debut feature, The White Balloon, and the Golden Lion at Venice for his 2000 drama, The Circle. His other films include Crimson Gold and Offside. He is highly regarded around the world but his films are banned at home.
Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian studies at Columbia University, told the Guardian the sentence showed Iran's leaders could not tolerate the arts. "This is a catastrophe for Iran's cinema," he said. "Panahi is now exactly in the most creative phase of his life and by silencing him at this sensitive time, they are killing his art and talent.
Dabashi said: "What Iran is doing with the artists, is exactly similar to what Taliban did in Afghanistan. This is exactly like bombing Buddha statues by the Taliban, Iran is doing the same with its artists."
Panahi, 49, was arrested in July 2009 after joining in mourning for protesters killed after the disputed presidential election. He was soon released but denied permission to leave the country. In February 2010, he was arrested with his family and colleagues and taken to Tehran's Evin prison.
Muhammad Rasoulof, one of the film-makers arrested at the same time, was also sentenced to six years in jail today.
Leading Hollywood figures including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Juliette Binoche condemned his arrest. Binoche held up Panahi's name in protest at Cannes.
In an interview in September, Panahi said: "When a film-maker does not make films it is as if he is jailed. Even when he is freed from the small jail, he finds himself wandering in a larger jail."
Julhistorien i sociala medier - snacka om convergence!
The Inception of Movie Editing
DocLounge nu även i Växjö
23 November -10
Äntligen slår Doc Lounge upp portarna i Växjö! En onsdagskväll i månaden (till att börja med) kommer vi att köra fantastiska dokumentärer, samtal och barhäng i glada filmvänners lag på Kafé De Luxe.
The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights (93 min, USA, Eng.språk)
Regissör: Emmett Malloy
Gäst: Växjös bästa Uffe Ekerot!
DJ:s: Per Dannefjord och Bo Ströberg
Live: Golden Kanine
Tid: Onsdagen den 15:e december på Kafé De Luxe! Insläpp kl 18.00, filmen börjar kl 19.00. Kom i tid, begränsat antal loungeplatser!
Entré: Bjuder vi på denna premiärkväll, så kom kom kom och ta med vännerna!
2007 turnerade den redan då kultförklarade Detroit-duon White Stripes i Kanada. Som kontrast till arenaspelningarna åkte de ut till storstädernas förorter för att spela på bussar, lokala kaféer och hos indianstammars äldste. De ville utmana sig själva- ibland till bristningsgränsen- av rädsla att stagnera i ett tillrättalagt, ongoing rockliv.
Musikvideogregissören Emmett Malloy följde bandet och lyckades fånga både den speciella turnén, extraordinära konsertversioner av bandets minimalistiska, råa, bluesinfluerade rocklåtar och den säregna relationen mellan den utåtriktade Jack White och den inåtvända Meg White. Regissören använder sig snyggt av bandets konceptfärger: rött, vitt och svart. Filmen bjuder så in till en udda ändå perfektionistiskt estetik som blir till en fröjd för både öga och öra."
WikiRebels-dokumentär SVT Play
WikiRebels – The Documentary
at SVT Play until January 16h, 2011Exclusive rough-cut of first in-depth documentary on WikiLeaks and the people behind it!
From summer 2010 until now, Swedish Television has been following the secretive media network WikiLeaks and its enigmatic Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange.
Reporters Jesper Huor and Bosse Lindquist have traveled to key countries where WikiLeaks operates, interviewing top members, such as Assange, new Spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, as well as people like Daniel Domscheit-Berg who now is starting his own version - Openleaks.org!
Where is the secretive organization heading? Stronger than ever, or broken by the US? Who is Assange: champion of freedom, spy or rapist? What are his objectives? What are the consequences for the internet?
Documentary on Luchino Visconti (01/12)
Scorcese - scen för scen
Scorcese om italiensk film
Scorcese om sina favoritfilmer
Filminstitutets VD Cissi Elwin slutar
VD lämnar Filminstitutet Idag på förmiddagen informerade Cissi Elwin Frenkel personalen på Svenska Filminstitutet att hon vid årsskiftet lämnar sin tjänst som verkställande direktör. (UPPDATERAD)
Cissi Elwin Frenkel har varit VD på Svenska Filminstitutet sedan i augusti 2006. Hon lämnar nu detta arbete för att den 1 mars tillträda tjänsten som VD och chefredaktör för tidningen Chef.
- Jag hade inte planerat att sluta på Filminstitutet men jag fick ett erbjudande som jag inte kunde tacka nej till, säger Ciss Elwin Frenkel.
- Jag är så glad att ha fått vara med dessa fyra år när så mycket har hänt inom svensk film. Allt från framgångar på hemmaplan till genomslaget på världsscenen, när svensk film regerade världen med Millenniumtrilogin, Hollywood plockade upp våra stora talanger och när de svenska dokumentärerna påverkade världspolitiken. Jag känner en enorm ödmjukhet för och kärlek till alla de filmskapare som jobbar under svåra villkor och ändå förverkligar alla dessa filmer.
- Jag är också enormt glad över att ha fått jobba i en organisation som Svenska Filminstitutet. ”Bunkern på Gärdet” är inte som en del tror full med byråkrater utan med passionerade filmälskare som gör allt för att svensk film ska bli så bra som möjligt.
Styrelseordförande Håkan Tidlund beklagar att Cissi Elwin Frenkelnu lämnar Filminstitutet.
- Jag beklagar verkligen att Cissi nu väljer att lämna oss. Under sina år som VD har hon genomfört ett stort och mycket framgångsrikt arbete med att modernisera Filminstitutet både när det gäller den interna organisationen och formerna för att stödja svensk film. Genom ett metodiskt och engagerat förändringsarbete har Filminstitutet bidragit till att kvaliteten på svensk film höjts och att den fått ett större genomslag både publikmässigt och på olika filmfestivaler runt om i världen. Cissi har också varit mycket uppskattad internt och externt och har varit en skicklig företrädare för svensk film.
Styrelsen kommer omedelbart att inleda arbetet med att hitta en ny verkställande direktör.
- Nu går filmpolitiken in i skarpt läge när ett nytt filmavtal ska förhandlas fram. Cissi har gjort ett fantastiskt förarbete genom att få en bred politisk förankring för idén om ett breddat filmavtal och för att svensk film behöver och är värd en stark satsning. Det arbetet kommer nu tf VD Bengt Toll att fortsätta med oförminskad takt, samtidigt som vi inleder rekryteringen av en ny VD för Filminstitutet, säger Håkan Tidlund.
RÖSTER FRÅN BRANSCHEN (här uppdaterar Filmnyheterna hela tiden så fort vi får in fler branschröster)
BJÖRN ROSENGREN (ordförande Film- & TV-producenterna)
Vad tänker du nu i och med att Cissi Elwin avgår som VD för Svenska Filminstitutet?
- Det var väldigt sorgligt att höra. Hon har ryckt upp och förnyat Filminstitutet. Hon har varit väldigt öppen och fört en bra debatt med hela branschen.
På vilket sätt tycker du att hon har påverkat filmsverige?
- Hon har fört fram den svenska filmen på ett avsevärt bättre sätt än sina föregångare både medialt och internationellt.
Hur hoppas du att styrelsen tänker när de nu ska rekrytera en ny VD?
- Jag hoppas att de väljer någon som har samma egenskaper som Cissi.
Vilka är de?
En bra chef. Någon som är engagerad, kan kommunicera och även hantera regering och riksdag.
HELEN AHLSSON (producent, Tre Vänner)
Vad var din första tanke när du fick beskedet att Cissi Elwin Frenkel slutar?
- Rackarnas att hon inte kom tillbaka och hann fortsätta att genomföra sitt förändringsarbete. Vi kommer att sakna henne.
Hur tycker du att SFl har förändrats under hennes VD-period?
- Det märks att hon har gjort bra chefsrekryteringar på alla plan, till exempel att SFI fått en produktionsstödschef, att SFI blivit öppnare och mera lyhört för branschen, satt fokus på publiken. Hon tog tag i organisationen och gjorde den mer förståelig för oss utanför. Det blev en lyckad mix mellan att ta vara på intern kompetens och blanda den med nytt friskt blod.
Vad har hon gjort för Film-Sverige?
- Som jag sa, en helt annan öppenhet där man har kunnat prata direkt med VD om man velat. När det gäller filmpolitik är ju det här inte de snabba förändringarnas bransch och allting tar väldigt lång tid, så hypotetiskt hade hon kanske satt avtryck i ett nytt filmavtal om hon hade fortsatt.
Vad tycker du att en ny VD ska ha för egenskaper?
- Det här blir spännande, vem som ska bli en värdig efterträdare. Jag tycker att Cissi varit väldigt bra som VD och nu krävs någon som är minst lika bra och kanske ännu bättre.
Har du något namn att föreslå?
- Nej, men jag hoppas att man vågar titta inte bara i Sverige utan även internationellt.
PER-ERIK SVENSSON (VD, Filmpool Nord)
- Först vill jag säga att jag tycker det är tråkigt att Cissi Elwin slutar.
Vad tycker du att det krävs av en VD för Filminstitutet?
- Det behövs ett starkt ledarskap, speciellt nu när det händer så mycket med den rörliga bilden, bland annat på distributionsområdet och nya affärsmodeller. Det krävs en väldigt energisk chef som kan leda och driva filmfrågorna i framtiden. Jag tror att man måste vända på varje sten för att hitta rätt person, inte bara trampa på i gamla banor, och också titta på hela Filminstitutets struktur, det bör omfatta alla former av rörliga bilder.
ANNA CARLSON (ordförande i Teaterförbundet)
Vad var din reaktion när du fick höra att Cissi Elwin Frenkel slutar som VD?
- Jag tycker att det är väldigt tråkigt och blev ledsen över beskedet. Hon har varit en enorm kämpe för filmen i Sverige. Och trots att röster höjdes om hennes brister i kunskap om film när hon tillträdde så visade hon väldigt snabbt att hon satt sig in i och lärt sig den svenska filmbranschen. Cissi har argumenterat för filmen som konstform och för att få den nödvändiga finansieringen. Hon har varit en stark röst för svensk film både nationellt och internationellt. Som jag ser det har hon genom att stå på filmarnas sida gett film-sverige kurage och mod.
Hur tycker du av Filminstitutet har utvecklats under hennes VD-period?
- Det har blivit en mycket öppnare organisation med en öppnare attityd mot omvärlden. Det är lättare att nå in och föra en dialog. Personligen har jag nu mycket mer relationer med SFI än tidigare. Teaterförbundet och Filminstitutet har nu två projekt gemensamt, tillsammans med Film- och tv producenterna – om arbetsmiljön och om jämställdheten. Det samarbetet har kommit till stånd tack vare den nuvarande ledningen. Och det tycker jag är märkvärdigt!
Vilka egenskaper ska en ny VD ha, tycker du?
- Jättesvårt – naturligtvis ett intresse för och helst kunnande om svensk film. Och det krävs som alltid goda ledaregenskaper för att driva en så stor organisation. Men – låt mig bli överraskad!
INGRID RUDEFORS (filmkommissionär, Filmregion Stockholm-Mälardalen)
Hur var din reaktion när du fick veta att Filminstitutets VD slutar?
- Vi på Filmregion Stockholm-Mälardalen tycker att det är jättetråkigt, vi har haft ett fantastiskt samarbete. För mig personligen har hon alltid varit en stark förebild som yrkeskvinna. Det är en stor förlust för svensk film och kvinnligt ledarskap. Hon är väldigt lättillgänglig, personlig, vänlig och påläst.
På vilket sätt har hon påverkat filmsverige?
- Det är intressant att se att beslutet om mer pengar till färre filmer verkligen har höjt kvaliteten på svensk film, vilket märks inte minst på de många filmer som tagit plats på internationella festivaler. Som filmkommissionär märker jag att det internationella intresset för svensk film har ökat – vi syns, hörs och finns på kartan. Och här har Cissi Elwin bidragit ordentligt.
Vilka egenskaper tycker du att en VD för Filminstitutet ska ha?
- Sunt storhetsvansinne! En person som har kraften att fortsätta att höja värdet på den svenska filmen och göra den fortsatt synlig på den internationella arenan. En person som förstår vikten av att vi i Sverige både värnar om den lilla filmen och samtidigt vågar satsa på stora internationella samproduktioner. Jag vill inte ha en fyrkantig byråkrat utan en person med stora visioner.
HÅKAN BJERKING (ordförande för Sveriges filmregissörer)
Din reaktion på att Cissi Elwin Frenkel lämnar Filminstitutet?
- Jag tycker att det är synd att hon går nu. Hon har varit en väldigt bra samtalspartner för oss filmregissörer, varit intresserad och nyfiken, och hon är en bra lyssnare som månar om det öppna samtalet. Vi har bjudits in till samtal om framtiden för svensk film och verkligen fått bli delaktiga. Hon har också förstått att Filminstitutet måste ta del av vad alla parter, inte bara producenterna, tycker.
Hur har Filminstitutet utvecklats under Cissi Elwin Frenkels VD-period?
- Större öppenhet, lyhördhet och direkthet. Man har kunnat ringa direkt till VD:s mobil och hon har alltid svarat eller ringt upp.
Hur vill du att en ny VD ska vara?
- Öppenhet, lyhördhet och förmåga att formulera en vision är viktiga egenskaper. Cissi Elwin har kanske varit en försiktig general när det gäller visionerna. Jag vill ha en person som kan värna om den konstnärliga filmen.
2010-12-07 Susanne Roger
Journal of Scandinavian Cinema
http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-issue,id=1888/
bl a min artikel om Roy Andersson!
:)
Iranian director Jafar Panahi's defense
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news3/newsitem/archive/2010/november/13/article/jafar-panahis-defense-presented-to-the-court.html
Jafar Panahi’s defense presented to the court
Your Honor, I would like to present my defense in two parts.
Part 1: What they say
In the past few days I have been watching my favorite films again, though I did not have access to some of them, which are among the greatest films of the history of cinema. My house was raided on the night of March 1st, 2010 while my colleague Mr. Rasoulof and I were in the process of shooting what we intended to be a socially conscious art house film. The people, who identified themselves as agents of the Ministry of Intelligence, arrested us along with other crew members without presenting any warrants. They confiscated my collection of films as well and never returned them to me. Subsequently, the only reference made to those films was by the prosecutor in charge of my case, who asked me: "What are these obscene films you’re collecting?"
I have learned how to make films inspired by those outstanding films that the prosecutor deemed obscene. Believe me I have just as much difficulty understanding how they could be called obscene as I do comprehending how the activity for which I was arrested could be seen as a crime? My case is a perfect example of being punished before committing a crime. You are putting me on trial for making a film that at the time of our arrest was only thirty per cent shot. You must have heard that the famous creed "There is no god, except Allah”, turns into blasphemy if you only say the first part and omit the second part. In the same vain, how can you establish that a crime has been committed by looking at 30% of rushes for a film that have not been edited yet?
I do not comprehend the charge of obscenity directed at the classics of the film history, nor do I understand the crime I am accused of. If these charges are true, you are putting not only us on trial but the socially conscious, humanistic, and artistic Iranian cinema as well, a cinema which tries to stay beyond good and evil, a cinema that does not judge nor surrender to power or money but tries to honestly reflect a realistic image of the society.
One of the charges against me is attempting to encourage demonstrations and incite protests with this film. All through my career I have emphasized that I am a socially committed filmmaker not a political one. My main concerns are social issues; therefore my films are social dramas not political statements. I never wanted to act as a judge or a prosecutor. I am not a film maker who judges but one that invites other to see. I don’t get to decide for others or to write any kind of manual for any body; please allow me to repeat my pretension to place my cinema beyond good and evil. This kind of belief has caused my colleagues and my self a lot of trouble; many of my films have been banned, along with the films of other filmmakers like me. But it is unprecedented in Iranian cinema to arrest and imprison a filmmaker for making a film, and harass his family while he is in prison. This is a new development in the history of Iranian cinema that will be remembered for a long time.
I have been accused of participating in demonstrations. No Iranian filmmaker was allowed to use his camera to capture the events but you can not forbid an artist to observe! As an artist it is my responsibility to observes in order to get inspired and create. I was an observer, and it was my right to observe.
I have been accused of making a film without permission. Is it really necessary to point out here that no law has been passed by the parliament regarding the need for a permit to make a film? There are only some internal memos which are going through changes each time the deputy minister is changed.
I have been accused of not giving a script to the actors.
In our film making genre where we work mostly with non professional actors this is a very routine way of film making practiced by myself and many of my colleagues; the cast mostly consists of non-actors. Therefore, the director does not find it necessary to give them a script. This accusation sounds more like a joke that has no place in the judiciary system.
I have been accused of having signed a declaration. I have singed one; an open letter signed by 37 prominent film makers, in order to express their concern about the turn of the actual events in the country. I was one of them. Unfortunately, instead of listening to the concerns we were accused of treachery. However, these filmmakers are the very same people who have expressed their concerns in the past about injustices around the world. How can you expect them to remain indifferent to the fate of their own country
I have been accused of organizing demonstrations at the opening of Montreal Film Festival. At least some truth and fairness should back up any accusations. I was the chair of the jury in Montreal and arrived only a few hours before the opening. How could I have organized a demonstration in a place where I hardly knew anyone? Let's not forget that in those days the Iranian Diaspora would gather at any relevant event around the world to voice their demands;
I have been accused of giving interviews to Persian speaking media abroad. I know for fact that there are no laws forbidding us from giving interviews?
Second part: What I say
History testifies that an artist's mind is the analytical mind of his society. By learning about the culture and history of his country, by observing the events that occur in his surroundings, he sees, analyzes and presents issues of the day through his art form to the society.
How can anyone be accused of any crime because of his mind and what passes through the mind?
The assassination of ideas and sterilizing artists of a society has only one result: killing the roots of art and creativity. Arresting my colleagues and I while shooting an unfinished film is nothing but an attack by those in power on all the artists of this land. It drives this crystal clear however sad message home: “You will repent if you don't think like us”
I would like to remind the court of yet an other ironic fact about my imprisonment: the space given to Jafar Panahi's festival awards in Tehran’s Museum of Cinema is much larger than his cell in prison?
All said, despite all the injustice done to me, I, Jafar Panahi, declare once again that I am an Iranian, I am staying in my country and I like to work in my own country. I love my country, I have paid a price for this love too, and I am willing to pay again if necessary. I have yet an other declaration to add to the first one. As shown in my films , I declare that I believe in the right of “the other” to be different, I believe in mutual understanding and respect, as well as in tolerance; the tolerance that forbid me from judgment and hatred. I don’t hate anybody, not even my interrogators.
I recognize my responsibilities towards the future generations that will inherit this country from us.
History is patient. Insignificant stories happen without even acknowledging their insignificance. I, myself I am worried about the future generations.
Our country is quite vulnerable; it is only through the instauration of the state of law for all, regardless of any ethnic, religious or politic consideration that we can avoid the very real danger of a chaotic and fatal future. I truly believe that tolerance represents the only realistic and honorable solution to this imminent danger.
Respectfully,
Jafar Panahi
An Iranian filmmaker
