Nisimazine Tallinn 15th Nov. - 1st Dec. 2013
Arabani Tangerines Zaza Urushade
4
picture of the day
Editorial
Emilie Toomela (Estonia)
The Black Nights Film Festival happens at a special time of the year. When the screenings start, it is bleak, dark and gloomy outside, the trees are dead and not much novelty happens on the streets of Tallinn. By the second half of the festival, the busy Christmas market will be opened on the Town Hall square, the city is full of new light, and people are meddling around the cinemas because everyone here knows that the film festival is happening. Black Nights Film Festival comes and whisks the city of Tallinn away as a whole – how many film festivals can say that? BNFF knows how to make the best of the perks of being a big festival in a small country. I think the festival programmers have made a wise choice setting the event and the screenings in the end of November – this way they can show the crème de la crème of the cinematic year. These films that would not have otherwise ever reached Estonia are brought straight to the local audience which is eager to watch them in the confinement of the warm and cosy screening rooms. Our little group of people at Nisimazine, with whom we dove into the programmes and selected the most fascinating films for you to read about, are on the verge of finishing our captivating film journey, and the last newsletter is now in front of you. The final stop will be an e-book with pristine shots, selected moments and thoughts from the festival.
NISIMAZINE TALLINN
15th Nov. - 1st Dec. 2013 # 4
A magazine published by NISI MASA in the framework of a film journalism workshop for young Europeans.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor in Chief Fernando Vasquez Assistant Editor Mirona Nicola Location Director Merli Antsmaa Location Manager Emilie Toomela Image Tutor Liis Mehine Layout Lucía Ros
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Matthias Van Hijfte, Saulius Kovalskas, Anastasia Kovalchuk, Andrei Kartashov, Laura Urbonavičiūtė
Picture of the day & Cover Laura
Urbonavičiūtė
NISI MASA
99, rue du Faubourg Saint-Dénis 75010, Paris, France Phone: +33 (0)1 48 01 65 31 europe@nisimasa.com www.nisimasa.com
Arabani
reviews
Adi Adwan (Israel) – Official Competition EurAsia
Shooting a feature film in eleven days is an impressive accomplishment, but was it worth the effort when neither the budget, nor the time allowed the director to shoot scenes with decent dialogue? Arabani feels like a motorcycle that is running out of gas after ten minutes, with the director hopelessly pushing his vehicle further down a bumpy road just to arrive at a long known conclusion. It’s not that the cinematography or the story are lacking the power to engage- there is just not enough content in the script to bind the audience to the tale of a Druze who tries to reestablish himself in the closed, traditional, religious community living in small villages of Israel. It is immediately manifest that Sami and his two children are not welcome in his place of birth, where they move in with his estranged mother. They cannot live in the village because the children are half Jewish, and clearly they have grown up with other values regarding sexuality and behavior. For instance, when the daughter of Sami leaves her shoulders uncovered that becomes quite disturbing news in the conservative community. Therefore, it is clear from a very early stage in the film that the point of view of the community regarding the household will not change. Although, the Druze people never act on the several threats against the family - “because that is the nature of the Druze” director Adi Adwan said after the screening. Nevertheless, the uncomfortable sphere for the family of Sami, especially his mother, grows simply unbearable.
This should have been excellent material for a shorter film, but for a feature of this length it just starts to drag on too long. Luckily, the beautiful extra diegetic music gives the film a comforting and unique sound. In addition, protagonist Mahmud Abu-Jazi is the only professional member of the cast, which is obviously noticeable when watching the performances of the other members of the cast . He fills the screen with his firm presence, although one to many times he has to gaze meaninglessly into the distance. Like his main character, Adi Adwan looks way too far in the distance, withdrawing more and more from the powerful core of his story.
by Matthias Van Hijfte (Belgium)
to repatriate. Only a few people stay behind and try to continue their unpretentious lives in the midst of war. The carpenter Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak), and Margus (starred by a famous theatre director Elmo Nüganen), the owner of tangerines orchard, are working hard to harvest the fruit in time. “Not because of the money”, as Margus puts it, “but because it’s such a beautiful crop”. A parallel can be drawn, as in war life becomes as cheap as tangerines. And these two characters are trying to save not only the crop but also the value of life, driven by the belief that people should remain humane to others, in spite of all the differences. This is brought to a test as a deadly shootout ensues right next to the orchard. Ivo and Margus manage to save two fighters from different sides of the conflict – Ahmed (Giorgi Nakashidze) and Nika (Misha Meskhi). Both of them are gravely wounded and both of them are bent on killing each other.
Tangerines
by by Zaza Urushadze (Estonia, Georgia) – Official Competition EurAsia, Heave(i)n Estonian Film Award It’s hard to create a film that makes audiences both cry and laugh. It’s even harder for the same film to be not only enjoyable, but also strike deeper chords while avoiding obvious moralization. Thankfully, Zaza Urushadze handled the task well, both writing and directing his fifth feature and the first co-production of Estonia and Georgia – a touching story of Tangerines. It’s 1992 and the Georgian – Abkhazian conflict has just broken out. Small Estonian villages in Abkhazia, where Estonians lived for more than a century, are abandoned as the exiled citizens take the offer
The director knows that there is a very thin line between laughter and tears and utilizes that knowledge well, making dramatic situations happen moments after funny ones, thus intensifying the effect and constantly keeping grip on the audience and its feelings. While the film has a small cast acting in the same location, it doesn’t feel claustrophobic at all. The director shows us the glimpses of an outside world by introducing new characters to play out their short roles. The absurdity and horror of war is portrayed by focusing on an individual tragedy. The director has his heart set on the right things and knows his craft well. Beautiful visuals, simple, yet so effective soundtrack (which alone is enough to bring tears to one’s eyes), and most importantly, a true and honest story. That is what makes Tangerines so great at transmitting the importance of human dignity from somewhere in-between captivating images.
by Saulius Kovalskas (Lithuania)
interview
repatriate them, which they did. Only a few people stayed behind. S: Did you find it difficult, both writing and directing? I wrote the script in two weeks, which is very fast. I don’t know how these things happen, but as soon as I received the offer the story appeared in my head. Then we raised some money from the Georgian and Estonian film funds and Ministries of Culture, and from Eurimages. A: How was the film received by international audiences? I was very surprised that the film was well received in Georgia. It topped the box office in there, and I know that in Estonia it is doing well in theatres, selling out. PÖFF is the third festival for the film, the first was Warsaw IFF, where I won the award for best directing, as well as the audience prize. Then there was Mannheim-Heidelberg IFF, a fine festival where we received three awards: Special Prize, Audience Prize and Distributors’ Award, with a recommendation for general release. So that makes five awards now in total, which I’m very pleased with, especially with the audience prizes.
Zaza Urushadze Director of Tangerines (Estonia/Georgia)
Tangerines is Zaza Urushadze´s fifth feature and one of the most touching films in Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Written and directed by the director and shot in only 34 days this marvellous work talks about humanity in a subtle, yet effective way. If art can indeed instil some of the values it portrays, then Tangerines is one of those creations. Saulius: How did you decide to become a filmmaker? I simply loved making films. I was sixteen when I enrolled into the theatre and film school in Tbilisi, and suddenly I realised that I couldn’t live without it, that my life must be in cinema. Anastasia: Did you ever make any mistakes, any wrong steps? It may sound a bit arrogant, but no, I didn’t. Some things were better, some were worse, but I don’t think that the term “mistake” applies. It just so happens that I work a lot and
it’s very important for a filmmaker to be at work all the time. S: How did you choose the topic for Tangerines? Three years ago I was here, in Tallinn, with my previous film Three Houses. There also was a retrospective of Georgian films in the festival. So, I received an offer to make a film on this subject, about Estonians who had been living in Georgia (in particular, Abkhazia) for more than a century. As soon as the war started in 1992, the Estonian government offered to
S: The main point I got from the film was human dignity, humanity. How important is it to you? Do you perhaps also share the viewpoint of the protagonist? It always happens like this. It’s an auteur film, and when the auteur searches for something, he looks into himself. That’s why the protagonist always has something from the writer. Maybe I’m not as kind and good as the character. But for me the human values are the most important. And the main message, if you ask me, is that one always must stay human in spite of all the difficulties. These people were born in a wrong time and place, but they try to be humans anyway. Humanity, forgiveness and tolerance are the most important things to me. S: Do you believe that cinema can change the world and the people? That’s quite overstated! I don’t think that art can change the world, but maybe it can help people look at some problems in another way, from another perspective.
by Anastasia Kovalchuk and Saulius Kovalskas Transcription and translation by Andrei Kartashov Photo by Laura Urbonavičiūtė