Catologue 2016 by International Film Festival Rotterdam

Contents 2 Foreword 4 Sections & Programmes IFFR 2016

6 Juries & Awards 11 13 14 22 30 50 58 63

Bright Future Spaces Within: Fiona Tan Hivos Tiger Awards Competition Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Bright Future Main Programme ID: gender.net Bright Future Mid-Length Bright Future Short

71 Voices 73 Spaces Within: Apichatpong Weerasethakul 74 VPRO Big Screen Award Competition 78 Voices Main Programme 91 Limelight 105 IFFR Live 108 ID: The Generic Self 115 Voices Short 141 Deep Focus 143 Spaces Within: Peter Liechti 144 Signatures 152 Pere Portabella & La Escuela de Barcelona 168 Adachi Masao 175 Regained 190 ID: Community Cameras 199 Deep Focus Short

203 205 206 215 221 230 234 237 241 248

Perspectives Spaces Within: Kris Verdonck Episodic/Epidemic Critics’ Choice Genre DNA ID: Burma Rebound Letters from Ethiopia Scopitone Blind Spots Perspectives Short

253 257 258 262 264 266

And More… About the Festival The Supportive Festival Catalogue Crew & Festival Staff Thanks to Partners & Sponsors

269 271 274 277

Search Tools Film List by Country Index Directors Index Films & Compilation Programmes

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

FOREWORD

Foreword Bero Beyer

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) ventures with an open, adventurous spirit into the fascinating world of cinema, to allow films and filmmakers from all over the world to enrich us with their vision. For IFFR, this explicitly includes exploring the exciting periphery of cinema, using film to place current world developments and the media landscape in context. The result is a daring, distinctive and challenging programme. IFFR is a festival that knows its own mind. Once again this year – the 45th IFFR and my first as festival director – hundreds of films have been selected. Approximately half of these are premieres and, I feel I can say with justifiable pride, every one an example of magnificent, stimulating cinema that touches, confuses, seduces and moves us. IFFR always strives to deliver the best possible festival experience. Every film deserves the right context, the right attention and appreciation. In order to create greater transparency and increase cohesion, the festival programme has been restructured. From 2016, the entire festival programme is divided into four sections, each geared to the ultimate experience of film. Films are grouped on the basis of character and presented in sections, each with a distinctive feel, colour and ethos: Bright Future, Voices, Deep Focus and Perspectives. Bright Future shows films by makers whose innovative work enriches the

cinematic landscape. Directors who develop their own style and vision, taking risks to create original, often daring work. The Hivos Tiger Awards Competition is part of Bright Future. Each of the eight nominees for IFFR’s flagship competition has a day in the spotlight, allowing the film and the people who made it to shine. The eight films are judged by a five-strong jury of filmmakers and professionals, who will present the main prize (€40,000) as well as a Jury Award for exceptional achievement. The Bright Future section also devotes special attention to debut films by remarkable makers who we believe have a fantastic future ahead of them. The Voices section is for films characterised by their mature, contemporary viewpoint. Voices consists of new works, mainly by established filmmakers with a distinctive voice. Celebrated names such as Laurie Anderson, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Hany Abu-Assad and Whit Stillman. Voices also focuses attention on a number of films through the VPRO Big Screen Award Competition: an award presented by a jury of audience members. Also included in Voices is the second edition of the exciting IFFR Live programme – an event in which five films premiere simultaneously in Rotterdam and in a number of cinemas throughout Europe. The festival as a launch pad for appealing cinema. The Deep Focus section looks in depth at the work of film auteurs whose prestigious oeuvre forms a bridge between the old and the new. Masters, veterans and trailblazing film artists. This section is for the real cinephile, and includes the Signatures programme for new works by the most individual filmmakers. Deep Focus also comprises retrospectives by Japanese activist filmmaker Adachi Masao and an extensive overview of the work of Pere Portabella and the Escuela de Barcelona. A recurring element of Deep Focus is the Regained programme, in which we take a penetrating look at cinema itself. In the Perspectives section, IFFR examines film conventions from a different angle, exploring and pushing at the boundaries between film, music, art and television. For example in Episodic/Epidemic, which argues that we are in the grip of a ‘virus’ called high-quality television drama. IFFR will reveal how this has long been part of the creative DNA of filmmakers. Also in Perspectives: the

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

photo: Menno Bouma

second edition of Critics’ Choice, in which journalists provide context for films through video essays, this year based around the theme ‘Whose Cinema’. Special attention for genre films from all over the world is provided in the Genre DNA programme. Strict genre conventions – counterintuitively enough – often give filmmakers a huge amount of freedom, with certain genres having such a strong influence on our sense of cinema that they deserve continuing celebration. Films reflect on the world in which we live, raise questions and tackle social themes in a unique way. Every section of the festival also contains themed elements which we collectively describe as ID Check. In a society that is constantly in a state of flux, we have to look at ourselves, how we deal with others and what possibilities exist for building communally towards the future. ID Check approaches this situation from a filmic perspective. ID: gender.net, for example, examines our identity, which at the most basic level is much less strict than we perhaps believed. Gender is no longer bipolar (male/female), but fluid. In ID: The Generic Self, we look at the many ways in which we adapt to social open spaces, taking a number of films as examples – including the phenomenal Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman. We are becoming ‘generic’. And in ID: Community Cameras, we investigate how a micro community can be formed with the camera as combining element. This programme also includes The Event by Sergei Loznitsa, who will be giving an IFFR Masterclass as well. We will spend these twelve days floating on a sea of cinematic splendour. The festival programmes so many stunning films that even the most fanatical cinema lover can’t possibly see them all. Luckily, IFFR is working hard to allow these films to shine all year round, on the biggest possible platform: in Rotterdam and all over the world, in cinemas and online. Any film can only really come to life in front of an audience. The size and receptive nature of International Film Festival Rotterdam’s audiences ensure that beautiful, independent cinema by talented film auteurs is as relevant as ever. I wish you much wonder, amazement and enjoyment at IFFR 2016.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

M: Future M:0 0 Future

M: M:70 70 SECTIONS & PROGRAMMES IFFR 2016 Perspectives Y: 80 Y: 70 Y: 80 Y: 70 Focus e Voices Deep Perspectives ure Voices Deep Focus Perspectives Bright Future Voices Deep Focus Perspectives Deep Deep Perspectives Perspectives K: 00 K: 0 0 Focus K: K: e Voices Deep Voices Voices Deep Perspectives Deep Perspectives Bright Future Voices DeepPerspectives Focus Perspectives ure Voices Deep Focus Perspectives SECTIONS & PROGRAMMES IFFR 2016

Voices Deep Perspectives Focus Focus Voices Perspectives ght ght Voices Deep Voices Perspectives Perspectives Deep Deep Voices Perspectives Deep e Voices Deep Focus BrightVoices Future Deep Voices DeepPerspectives Focus Perspectives ure DeepFocus Focus Perspectives Focus Focus ht Voices Deep Deep Voices Voices e Voices Deep ture ure Focus Focus Focus Bright Future Focus Voices DeepPerspectives Focus Perspectives ure Voices DeepFocus Focus Perspectives Voices Voices Focus re Focus Focus

C: 0 M: 70 Perspectives Perspectives Y: 70 Focus Deep Perspectives Deep Focus Perspectives Deep Deep Perspectives Deep Perspectives BRIGHT FUTURE VOICES Perspectives 0 cesK: ces Deep Focus Deep Perspectives Perspectives Deep Perspectives

Deep Perspectives Deep Perspectives Deep Focus Perspectives Focus Focus Focus Perspectives Deep es Perspectives Deep Perspectives Deep Deep DeepFocus Focus Perspectives Focus Perspectives Focus Focus Focus Deep Deep Focus Focus Perspectives Deep Focus Focus Perspectives Deep Focus Focus Focus Mostly young, up-and-coming talents, developing styles and visions of their own in original and often daring works.

TG HIVOS TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION

IFFR’s flagship selection. Eight filmmakers are given the chance to shine on a global platform in this competition for young talent and innovative cinema.

Films that stand out for their mature quality and powerful, relevant viewpoints. Voices consists of works mainly from established filmmakers with a distinctive voice. VO VOICES

Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives ep p Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives p Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives cus usPerspectives Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives us TS TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR SHORT FILMS

Perspectives

The power of shorts. Twentythree films from the selection of shorts compete for one of three equal awards.

erspectives sspectives Names to note. Young, sspectives emerging talent with a s refreshing, individual take BF BRIGHT FUTURE

on film.

GD ID: GENDER.NET

The debate on gender also plays a role at IFFR in films, an interactive installation and performances, all of which deal with gender identity in their own way.

Familiar names and new faces present recent work: the future classics of arthouse cinema. Featuring the eight nominees for the VPRO Big Screen Award. LL LIMELIGHT

International award-winners, big names, festival favourites and other remarkable films that will be released in Dutch cinemas after IFFR. LV IFFR LIVE

A unique live cinema event: five films with simultaneous premieres and live Q&As in cinemas throughout Europe. GS ID: THE GENERIC SELF

Films on the importance of the individual. Ranging from futuristic science fiction to satires of contemporary capitalism.

ML MID-LENGTH

Not short, not long: just as long as it takes. IFFR puts the mid-length film in the spotlight.

SH SH SH SH SHORT

The many short films are shown in compilation programmes, ahead of features, as installations or as part of a performance. In the Bright Future, Voices, Deep Focus and Perspectives sections.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

DEEP FOCUS

PERSPECTIVES

Filmmakers with an independent oeuvre and film auteurs whose work, old and new, reflects on their medium.

Exploring the boundaries between visual art, music and installations, as well as other forms of media that influence cinema.

SI SIGNATURES

Old friends from the world of film: new work from established filmmakers, auteurs and festival veterans. EB PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Retrospective of the work of Catalan experimental filmmaker Pere Portabella and one of the most headstrong film movements of the past century. AM ADACHI MASAO

Retrospective of the work of revolutionary Japanese filmmaker and political activist Adachi Masao, whose work spans a career of more than fifty years. RG REGAINED

EE EPISODIC/EPIDEMIC

Series spread like viruses. This selection presents the best examples and investigates the episodic form in film and television. CC CRITICS’ CHOICE

Switching roles: selections by Dutch and international film critics, with an introductory video essay on the theme ‘Whose Cinema’ preceding each film. GE GENRE DNA

Modern Westerns, retro sci-fi and Japanese neo-noir: IFFR proves that the genre film is alive and well, if you know where to look.

Drawing upon cinematic memories: restored classics, films about film, experimental works, installations and an homage to Claudio Caligari.

BR ID: BURMA REBOUND

CA ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

LE LETTERS FROM ETHIOPIA

Documentaries that use the omnipresence of the camera. Not as a means of control, but as a liberating instrument to connect us.

A proper Burmese cafe, with low stools and high-quality video installations. Experience the rebirth of a forgotten country. It’s a modest start, but big news: and not about war or starvation, but the rise of a new, young cinema. SC SCOPITONE

From favela funk to grunting grunge musicians – every evening a documentary explores a different musical genre. No big egos, but often a surprise support act. BS BLIND SPOTS

The limits of human observation in the contemporary media landscape explored through short films, documentaries, discussions and an exhibition.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

JURIES & AWARDS

Jury Hivos Tiger Awards Competition The Tiger Awards Competition was established by IFFR in 1995 to discover, highlight and support emerging film talent throughout the world. Previously the jury of the Tiger Awards Competition awarded three equal winners. As of 2016 there will be one Hivos Tiger Award for the winning film, to be shared between the director and producer. A Special Jury Award will be presented for an exceptional artistic achievement within the competition.

Peter van Bueren was born in Amsterdam in 1942.

He has been writing about film since 1964, first in the Dutch newspaper De Tijd and, since 1973, in De Volkskrant, which became main sponsor of IFFR at his initiative. In 2002, he received a Lifetime Achievement Tiger Award “for building a bridge between IFFR films and directors and a big audience”. Co-founder and honorary member of the KNF (the Dutch circle of film journalists) and Godfather of the Golden Apricot Festival in Yerevan, he also works as viewer for IDFA, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. In 2013, he received the Louis Hartlooper Oeuvre Award for film journalism. He has been a jury member at film festivals all over the world – 55 times including this year at IFFR. Miguel Gomes was educated at the Escola Superior

de Teatro e Cinema in Lisbon. After graduating he went to work as a film critic and wrote numerous essays on film theory, before starting to make films himself. At first he made short films, a number of which screened in Rotterdam. In 2005, his feature film debut The Face You Deserve was screened in Rotterdam, and all his features have been shown at IFFR since then. His second feature Our Beloved Month of August screened in Cannes, while his third film Tabu won the FIPRESCI Prize in Berlin in 2012. Retrospectives of his work have been screened at the Viennale, among others. In 2015 he was the chairman of the jury of the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

H ans Hurch was born in Austria in 1952. He

studied Art History, Philosophy and Archaeology at the University of Vienna, after which he went to work for weekly paper Falter. Here, he wrote about music, photography and film and became head of the cultural department. After these years as a film critic and theorist, he became involved with filmmaking as an assistant director on several films by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, and as a writer. Besides this, he worked as programmer for the Vienna International Film Festival, of which he has been the director since 1997. Hurch is known for his outspoken preferences and under his directorship the festival has become “one of the world’s most smartly curated festivals”, according to Sight & Sound. Hend Sabry made her debut as an actress at the age

of fourteen in The Silences of the Palace, which has been screened at two editions of IFFR, after which it was less than ten years before she had become a star in the Arab world. Her part in the controversial film A Teenager’s Diary made her one of the most prominent Tunisian actresses. Internationally, she garnered praise for her depiction of a HIVpositive woman in Asmaa. Besides her film career she is a lawyer, ambassador for the UN World Food Programme and women’s rights activist. In 2013 she was included in the Top 100 Most Powerful Arab Women. A year later, she was granted the title of Knight in the Order of Art and Letters. Anocha Suwichakornpong was born in Thailand

in 1976, but was educated mostly abroad. After studying in England, she moved to the United States to study filmmaking at Columbia University. Here she made the short film Graceland. This was the first Thai film ever to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival. The film was produced by Electric Eel Films, co-founded by Suwichakornpong. Her feature film debut Mundane History won a Tiger Award at IFFR 2010. She is currently working on her second feature, By the Time It Gets Dark, supported by, among others, the Prince Claus Fund and the Hubert Bals Fund.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

JURIES & AWARDS

Jury Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films This year in IFFR’s Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films, 23 films of up to 60 minutes in length will be presented to an international jury. The winners of the three Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films, each of whom will receive a cash prize of €3,000 plus a video camera, will be announced on Sunday 31 January at 21:00 in LantarenVenster.

Mieke Bernink (1959, Netherlands) worked as a

journalist and chief editor of Skrien and as a writer and editor of several film books, including The Cinema Book (1999) and Fons Rademakers – Scènes uit leven en werk (2003). From 2001 until 2008, Bernink was secretary of the Film and Media Education commissions at the Dutch Council for Culture. Currently she works as a lector at the Netherlands Film Academy, where she is also the founder of the international Master’s Programme in Film. She is also active on various advisory committees, such as the Dutch Media Fund and the Go Short Film Festival, and is a regular jury member at international film festivals.

The Bright Future Award Competition From the 2016 edition onward, filmmakers presenting films in the main and thematic programmes of IFFR’s section Bright Future, will be celebrated with a new award: the Bright Future Award. Sixteen outstanding filmmakers have been nominated for this award consisting of €10,000, to be spent on the development of a next film project. A jury of three film industry and film festival professionals will decide who wins the award. The Bright Future Award Selection 2016

Alba (Ana Cristina Barragán); Animal politico (Tião); The Bear Tales (Samuele Sestieri, Olmo Amato); Bodkin Ras (Kaweh Modiri); Communication & Lies (Lee Seungwon); Fado (Jonas Rothlaender); Jacqueline (Argentine) (Bernardo Britto); Las lindas (Melisa Liebenthal); Of Shadows (Yi Cui); Out of Love (Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito); Outfitumentary (K8 Hardy); Pacífico (Fernanda Romandía); The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) (Metahaven); The Strange Case of Shiva (Arun Karthick); Strange Love (Natasha Mendonca); Tenemos la carne (Emiliano Rocha Minter) The Bright Future Jury 2016 consists of Helge Albers, Roman Gutek and Fiorella Moretti.

and works in New York and Dhaka. He writes essays, makes politically engaged films and art installations. Films in his series The Young Man Was have been installed at the Venice Biennale and screened at MoMA and in Oberhausen, at DocLisboa and IDFA. The last part of this trilogy, Last Man in Dhaka Central, has been selected for IFFR 2016. He is currently completing a PhD in Anthropology at Columbia University and is a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow.

The VPRO Big Screen Award Competition Since 2013, IFFR has a competition in support of theatrical distribution of feature films in the Netherlands and Belgium. Eight exciting titles from IFFR’s section Voices have been selected to take part in the competition. The winning film will be released in Dutch cinemas and broadcast on Dutch public television. Part of the award is an incentive towards Dutch distributors. The winner will be chosen by five enthusiastic film lovers from the Netherlands. The winning film of the VPRO Big Screen Award Competition will receive a prize consisting of a cash prize of €15,000 for the filmmaker, another €15,000 to be spent by the Dutch distributor towards the theatrical release of the film in the Netherlands and broadcasting of the winning film by Dutch public broadcaster NPO2.

Ben Rivers (1972, UK) is an artist and filmmaker.

The Big Screen Award Selection 2016

Naeem Mohaiemen (1969) was born in London

His body of work has been exhibited worldwide at numerous galleries and festivals. He was educated at the Falmouth School of Art and was co-founder and programmer of the Brighton Cinematheque (19952005). His first feature film, Two Years at Sea (2011), won the FIPRESCI Award in Venice. In Rotterdam, Rivers has won two Tiger Awards for Short Films: in 2008 with Ah Liberty! and in 2015 with Things. Rivers’ new feature film The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers screens at IFFR 2016. European Film Academy – European Short Film Award

At IFFR, the jury of the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films will nominate one European film to enter the competition for the European Short Film Award. The nominee will be announced on Sunday 31 January at 21:00 in LantarenVenster. The members of the European Film Academy will vote for the overall winner; the award will be presented at the European Film Awards Ceremony in December.

JURIES & AWARDS

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Les ogres (Léa Fehner); Bil Halal (Assad Fouladkar); Sayonara (Fukada Koji); Ce sentiment de l’été (Mikhaël Hers); Wild (Nicolette Krebitz); Suntan (Argyris Papadimitropoulos); Califórnia (Marina Person); Love & Friendship (Whit Stillman)

Other Juries and Awards IFFR continues to support filmmakers with many other prizes. The following jury members are responsible for our other awards in 2016. The KNF Award is given to the best feature film that is yet to find distribution within the Netherlands. The winner is selected by a jury of the ‘Circle of Dutch Film Journalists’. The KNF Jury for IFFR 2016 consists of Hugo Emmerzael, Luuk Imhann, Maricke Nieuwdorp, Joyce Roodnat, Jelle Schot. The NETPAC Award is awarded to the best Asian feature film by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. The NETPAC Jury for IFFR 2016 consists of Wood Lin, Chris Oosterom, Mark Schilling. The FIPRESCI Award is given to the filmmaker of the best film of all the world premieres in Bright Future by the jury of the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI). The FIPRESCI Jury for IFFR 2016 consists of Joost Broeren, Taylor Hess, Toni Junyent, Dragan Jurak, Martin Kudlac, Kevin B. Lee, Archana Nathan, Rowan El Shimi, Yael Shuv.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE

SEE NL Films from The Netherlands www.international.eyefilm.nl 10

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE

EXPO

Spaces Within: Fiona Tan Hivos Tiger Awards Competition Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Bright Future Main Programme ID: gender.net Bright Future Mid-length Bright Future Short

News from the Near Future Fiona Tan News from the Near Future investigates memory and the passing of time using tinted film material from the collection of EYE Film Institute. Water dominates every image: a mother and son by the sea, a man rowing into the waves, a waterfall, waves breaking on the coast and a major flood – reminding us of the ambivalent relation between man and nature. This installation comprises recurrent elements from the work of artist Fiona Tan and relates to her recent work for the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, in which the sea is a metaphor. The title refers to her feature in the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition, History’s Future. News from the Near Future is accompanied by her sound installation Brendan’s Isle, which tells of a wondrous journey described in an old Dutch poem about Saint Brendan, an Irish monk who lived in the sixth century on the west coast of Ireland. Listen on headphones to the tale of his journey to the mythical world he discovered, the ‘Isle of the Blessed’ where the sun never sets, no one goes hungry and time doesn’t exist. He travelled for seven years, braving bitter cold and treacherous conditions, looking for this island, later known as Brendan’s Isle, said to be paradise on earth. Columbus later went looking for it on his way to America. A quest for the invisible and the sublime. Spaces Within, Spaces (Gebouw De Hofpoort, Hofplein 20) www.fionatan.nl

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

HIVOS TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION

The Land of the Enlightened

Oscuro animal

Pieter-Jan De Pue

Felipe Guerrero

The Afghans have been waiting for their king since the day their mythical forefather Nasrullah – who received the land from God’s own hand – fled from Ghengis Khan. For Gholam Nasir, America’s announcement of the withdrawal of its troops is the sign he has been waiting for. Aged only about fourteen, Nasir has already become the leader of a gang controlling the smuggling routes over the Pamir Mountains, along which no caravan can pass without offering up part of its goods. These consist mainly of the country’s natural resources: valuable lapis lazuli, and even more fiercely desired raw opium. Nasir knows he can make good use of this opium to placate the father of his intended bride; but before any wedding can take place, he will have to travel to Kabul to ready their palace. During a quiet interlude at the army base, an American soldier also succumbs to lordly fantasies. His army will be made up of children, because “their innocence makes them terrifying”. From 2007, Pieter-Jan De Pue made several trips to Afghanistan as a photographer for organisations such as the United Nations and the International Red Cross. He visited the mines, the poppy fields, the smuggling routes and the minefields that supply the local population, including many war orphans, with a means of subsistence. His daring, poetic debut film gives a searing portrait of a tormented country in which the current generation is forced to dream themselves a future.

The protagonists don’t speak – which only makes the images all the more telling in this drama about three women who manage to escape a dangerous war situation in different places in the jungle. One day, La Mona stabs her sleeping boyfriend, a brutal paramilitary commander. She flees. A second woman, Rocío, also has to leave her place of residence, as it is surrounded by paramilitary troops. Nelsa is one of the paramilitaries, but she turns her back on them after being forced to bury the dismembered bodies of executed farmers. Rocío is attacked by soldiers in a bus deep in the rainforest, while La Mona struggles through a river. Meanwhile, Nelsa continues her journey in a pick-up truck with the man who helped her desert. On their way to Bogotá, all three women come across other displaced persons – the desplazados – as well as demonstrators carrying photos of their lost loved ones. Despite the dramatic events, Oscuro animal manages to preserve a sense of calm in its imagery, which is almost serene. Director Felipe Guerrero, who made the film with support from the Hubert Bals Fund, allows these persecuted women space. The absence of dialogue sharpens our attentiveness to ambient sound: the birds in the rainforest, the music on the radio and the fall of the raindrops that caress Nelsa’s face once her life has grown more peaceful again.

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

WORLD PREMIERE

Belgium/Netherlands/Ireland/Germany, 2015 | colour, DCP, 85 min, English/Farsi

Colombia/Argentina/Netherlands/Germany/Greece, 2016 | colour, DCP, 107 min, no dialogue

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

HIVOS TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION

Radio Dreams

La última tierra

Babak Jalali

Last Land

He left for a country where he hardly spoke the language. Yet he was a man who made a living from words: in Iran, he was a respected author. Now, Mister Royani (Mohsen Namjoo, a well-known musician in Iran) is head of programming at Pars Radio, a Persian radio station in San Francisco. In this role, he creates poetic, sometimes even meditative broadcasts for Afghans and Iranians living in the Bay Area. He reads stories, receives guests and discusses topics of interest, such as ‘the history of apes in space’. But on the day that Radio Dreams takes place, a very special event is planned: Kabul Dreams, the first rock band from Afghanistan, is to be in the studio. Later that day, they will jam with the world-famous rock band Metallica. Everyone is excited, except for Mister Royani, for whom everyday life seems to be one big disappointment. Iranian director Babak Jalali has been marked as a great talent since his feature debut Frontier Blues (2009). With the intimate Radio Dreams, he lives up to these expectations. This painstakingly designed, dryly comic drama is a melancholy reflection on immigrant life, as well as a loving ode to doomed losers (wherever they may hail from) and hopeful rockers who believe that music can change the world. And who believe that Metallica will drop by at this tiny little radio studio.

An island of tranquillity in a sea of sound: this is how death is introduced in The Last Land. Pablo Lamar’s background as a sound engineer makes itself felt in his feature debut. The composition of ambient sounds demands at least as much attention as the carefully framed images in the long, static shots. A man is sitting at his wife’s death bed. He feeds her, watches over her and reassures her. After she dies, in the early morning, he takes care of her body. Loving actions calmly carried out evoke a relationship between two people who have shared a whole life and are now separated forever. She is no longer part of time, while he has to continue, rudderless. He seeks solace in practical things – digging the grave, washing the body – while a sorrow wells up in him that traditional mourning rituals are powerless to overcome. His response is a gesture as radical as death itself. Corresponding to the pared-down form, the narrative has also been reduced to the essential: the world in which the couple live consists of nothing more than their simple house, the surrounding nature and each other. There are strong resonances of the films of Carlos Reygadas and the early work of Lisandro Alonso in Lamar’s impressionist approach, with a great deal of attention to the physical aspect of the relationship between the characters and their relationship to the environment.

WORLD PREMIERE

USA, 2016 | colour, DCP, 91 min, Farsi/Dari/English

Paraguay/Netherlands/Chile/Qatar, 2016 | colour, DCP, 77 min, no dialogue

Pablo Lamar

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

HIVOS TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION

A cidade onde envelheço

A Woman, a Part

Where I Grow Old

Elisabeth Subrin

Marília Rocha Francisca is a Portuguese woman who has been living in Belo Horizonte, Brazil for a year. Francisca is not best pleased when an old acquaintance, Teresa, turns up and moves in for a while. There was every reason for them losing touch – Teresa is a babbling ball of energy, whereas the solitary Francisca much prefers peace and quiet. Nevertheless, it turns out to be a good combination, and a close friendship is hesitantly formed. At the same time, Teresa awakens in Francisca a desire for her homeland; she misses Lisbon and, with her 30th birthday looming, needs to decide where she wants to grow old. As Teresa enthusiastically finds her way in a new country and city, Francisca already seems to be saying goodbye. Marília Rocha, known principally as a documentary maker until now, used non-professional actors for her feature debut, but this is never apparent. Elizabete Francisca and Francisca Manuel present the doubts, charm and idiosyncrasies of their characters with the assurance of established actresses – it is also no coincidence that their own lives share elements with those of Teresa and Francisca. The third major role in this sensitive drama is set aside for Belo Horizonte – with three million inhabitants one of the largest cities in Brazil, although still relatively obscure. Lacking tourist magnets, the city relies on the geniality of its inhabitants (Francisca says they are “too free”; her friend corrects her: “sociable”), and on its ever-relaxed vibe, which Rocha lovingly captures.

Anna Baskin, in her early forties, is at a crossroads. The Emmy Awardwinning actress from a popular TV series has reached an emotional and professional crisis. Burnt out, she depends on Ritalin and her overzealous assistant to get her through each day. She decides to move from Los Angeles to New York, where she hopes to rediscover herself with her old theatre company. The reception she receives after all these years is awkward, however. She has to start again at the bottom, sleeping on an air mattress and living out of cardboard boxes. Her crisis worsens when she finds out that a playwright friend has included a self-obsessed, suicidal character in his latest play, modelled on Anna. He has also used some personal information she shared with him long ago. A painful confrontation becomes inevitable. The naturalistic style of this debut serves the psychology of this woman in crisis, played by Maggie Siff (Mad Men). Her inner compass has gone haywire owing to her over-identification with her public image: a text-messaging workaholic with no real life of her own. Now the big questions can no longer be ignored: what do we want from life, how do we want others to see us, and how can we shake off a public role? Female emancipation plays a central role in all work by Elisabeth Subrin, who has previously investigated psychological disorder and the legacy of feminism through installations, videos and photographs.

WORLD PREMIERE

Brazil/Portugal, 2016 | colour, DCP, 99 min, Portuguese

USA, 2016 | colour, DCP, 98 min, English

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

HIVOS TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION

History’s Future

Rong ram tang dao

Fiona Tan

Motel Mist

While Europe rushes towards an uncertain future amidst loud protests, a man loses his memory after a robbery. Confused and with nothing to hang on to, he breaks out of his helpless state by taking a drastic decision. He leaves home and sets off on a curious odyssey. Guided by confrontational, tragicomic and hopeful meetings, he struggles to get to grips with himself and the future. This first feature by Fiona Tan, who wrote the script with film critic Jonathan Romney, unfolds as an epic film poem, with a strong European cast. The fiction, captured in powerful set pieces, is interspersed with raw news footage of riots in European cities and short interviews about hope and desire. This not only reveals Tan’s background in the visual arts but also her experience as a director of documentaries. The meanderings of a man with no memory form the common thread in an associative, complex whole in which reality and imagination, symbolism and dreamt possibilities come seamlessly together. A form of disorientation that invites us to philosophise on opportunities and choices, on identity, history and our place in the world. “The future is a tale told by an idiot”, as our wandering hero unexpectedly recalls at one point. Will he end up in rags, or a sharp suit? Can he start afresh? Leaving an airport, he steps into a waiting taxi that takes him to a deserted lot. “What now?” he asks. The driver says nothing. Also see the installation News from the Near Future.

One of the staff in an alien-looking love motel in Bangkok is wearing a ‘Mars Attacks’ T-shirt. Whether there really are actual aliens hanging around or not, the creepiest character for the time being is the cunning/ fatherly smiling Sopol – a sex maniac with a preference for horrible games. He tries these out on teenager Laila in Room 7, who is afraid her brave girlfriend Vicky will come too late. Debut director Prabda Yoon, who wrote the screenplay for the equally imaginative Last Life in the Universe, captures it all in clear, smartly composed images, perhaps betraying his experience as a graphic designer. The feeling of isolation, heightened by mirrors and walls with peepholes, is even more intense two rooms further along, where a former television celebrity thinks he is in contact with aliens and has prepared for their arrival by painting the room black. Unexpected twists and turns and bizarre events ensue, unanticipated by either Sopol or the audience, bringing the paths of all the main characters together. How strange the way to a comforting gesture can be. Whether the aliens are real or not is not so important to Yoon. He believes we are all alone in our own universes. The absurdity of existence and the sense that contact and confidence are rare underpin Motel Mist, which also takes a passing swipe at Thailand’s social climate.

WORLD PREMIERE

Netherlands, 2016 | colour, DCP, 95 min, English/German/French/Dutch

Thailand, 2016 | colour, DCP, 115 min, Thai

Prabda Yoon

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR SHORT FILMS

Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 1

Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 2

Nhung lá thu Panduranga

SEA STATE 6

Letters from Panduranga

Charles Yi Yong Lim

Nguyen Trinh Thi Vietnamese artist Thi Nguyen’s essay film is a quiet meditation on the omnipresence of history and the changing meanings of space. Drawing inspiration from Chris Marker’s Letters from Siberia, Nguyen’s film is a road movie structured by a letter exchange between a man and woman about various Vietnamese provinces, including Ninh Thuan: once the spiritual home of the Cham community, it is now the planned site for Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant.

Singaporean artist Charles Lim’s ‘sea states’ series investigates his country’s ongoing geographic expansion into the surrounding seas. Here, space is in constant flux but never infinite. SEA STATE 6 ventures 130 metres into deep sea to explore Southeast Asia’s first underground liquid hydrocarbon storage facility, the Jurong Rock Caverns. As a former Olympic sailor, Lim’s camera reveals an intimacy with water and a simultaneous awareness of its all-consuming enormity.

Vietnam, 2015 | colour/b&w, DCP, 35 min, Vietnamese

WORLD PREMIERE

Engram of Returning Daïchi Saïto

B-ROLL with Andre James N. Kienitz Wilkins

Accompanied by an extraordinary improvisational score by Jason Sharp, Engram of Returning is an epic 35mm CinemaScope metaphysical travelogue that reveals a supernal world which pulses and flickers with formal patterns and deep hues. Transforming anonymous found footage into powerful, expressive and painterly imagery, it is a film about memory and recollection, given form through interwoven backward glances at the real, the imagined and the remembered. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

A detective story styled as a documentary with its main source being the testimony of Andre’s two fellow inmates. The former proves to not only be a brilliant crook, but also a guru and philosopher. All recent film technologies are used, such as the latest HD cameras, GoPro, CCTV, Google Earth, Google Street View and iPhones. Black humour and clichés are used to scrutinise stereotypes, assumptions and new developments in contemporary society and the film world.

Canada, 2015 | colour, 35mm, 1:2.35, 19 min, no dialogue

WORLD PREMIERE

Solitary Acts (4, 5, 6)

The Double

Nazli Dincel These three films follow a young girl through her teenage years while she explores her sexuality and discovers her perversions. Hand-processed and altered images (16mm film) form a labour-intensive, formal questioning of the medium. Female and male masturbation, flowers being taken apart and being put back together, extreme close-up shots of fabric and the practice-kissing of a mirror create a visceral, humorous and tumultuous experience of these personal memories.

Roy Villevoye, Jan Dietvorst An exacting sculpture of a white, middleaged male is hammered out. Voiceovers breathe life into the man whilst his appearance is accurately reconstructed. The empty shell becomes a personality thanks to the voices from the Netherlands and Papua, but who is this man really? The impression created and substantiated is simultaneously mysterious and revealing.

USA/Turkey, 2015 | colour, 16mm, 25 min, English

WORLD PREMIERE

Prod: Nazli Dincel | Print/Sales: Nazli Dincel | www.nazlidincel.com

Netherlands, 2016 | colour, DCP, 21 min, Dutch/Indonesian Prod: Roy Villevoye, Jan Dietvorst | Sc: Roy Villevoye, Jan Dietvorst | Cam: Roy Villevoye, Jan Dietvorst | Ed: Roy Villevoye, Jan Dietvorst | Prod Des: Roy Villevoye, Jan Dietvorst | Sound Des: Roy Villevoye, Jan Dietvorst, Matthijs Tuijn | With: Remie Bakker, Vince Cole, Welem Pupís, Sabina Totiniáp, Adam Ndo | Print/ Sales: Roy Villevoye | www.royvillevoye.com / www.jandietvorst.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR SHORT FILMS

Dream English Kid 1964-1999 AD Mark Leckey

TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR SHORT FILMS

Tout le monde aime le bord de la mer

We All Love the Seashore Keina Espiñeira

This fragmentary film was based on an excerpt from a Joy Division gig Mark Leckey attended as a teen and the realisation that many of our memories and experiences can easily be found online. The highlights of Leckey’s life pass by in film excerpts, ads and pop music. Overlap and repetition reinforce the atmosphere. General historical and highly personal footage in this ode to the late 20th century.

A group of men are waiting at the fringes of a coastal woodland for the journey to Europe, in limbo between time and place. A film is shot there with the men playing themselves. Fiction and documentary constantly intertwine. Myths from the colonial past collide with dreams of a better future in the former oppressor’s country.

United Kingdom, 2015 | colour, DCP, 23 min, English

WORLD PREMIERE

Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 3

Cinéma concret Concrete Cinema

Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3 Korakrit Arunanondchai Like the paint splattered on the denim jacket he adorns, Bangkok-born artist Korakrit Arunanondchai’s film explodes with energy. Situated somewhere between a hip-hop music video and an evangelist ad, the film contemplates the possibility of divinity in the age of advanced technology and globalisation. As spirits are replaced with drones, Arunanondchai converses with his muse and fictional painter Chantri as he reaches out for spiritual enlightenment through collective expression. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

USA/Thailand/France, 2015 | colour, video, 24 min, Thai/English/French

Makino Takashi Japanese filmmaker Makino Takashi’s abstract cinema pushes the perimeters of screen depth through extremely layered superimposition from which shadow presences emerge. Building his juxtapositions on the principles of musique concrète, Makino’s latest film considers the limits of control in its exploration of memories and thoughts that slip in and out of our grasp. Accompanied by Machinefabriek’s blistering soundtrack, the film encourages us to bring our own dreamscape into the experience of the film. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Viva água Cynthia Madansky Cynthia Madansky’s Viva áqua is based on the philosophical book Áqua viva (1973) by Clarice Lispector. It is a meditation on the book, which itself is a stream of consciousness with a certain musicality thanks to certain passages repeating. The film echoes this with its alternations of text, processed film, abstract colour fields and scenes around a house. Viva áqua reveals itself as a narrative-less musical dream. WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR SHORT FILMS

Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 4

TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR SHORT FILMS

Nightlife Cyprien Gaillard

Night Soil – Economy of Love Melanie Bonajo Night Soil – Economy of Love portrays a Brooklyn-based movement of female sex workers who regard their work as a way for women to reclaim power in a male-dominated pleasure zone, their mission being to rearrange sexual conventions and ideas about intimacy itself. Vivid imagery is accompanied by a spoken score, revealing Bonajo’s vision of contemporary spirituality and expectations surrounding gender roles by playful, sensual, and feminist-driven means. Power to the female body!

A sensationally colourful nighttime drive. A sculpture is circled, treetops seem to dance and fireworks explode on high. Seductive, yet distant images. The relentless soundtrack reinforces the sense of nighttime wandering, sometimes very directly and inescapably, then dying away or muffled as if behind a nightclub door. Cinema and music become a sculpture rich in hidden political references. France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 15 min, English Prod: Sprueth Magers, Simone Manwarring | Prod Comp: Sprüth Magers | Sc: Cyprien Gaillard | Cam: Cyprien Gaillard | Ed: Cyprien Gaillard | Music: Alton N. Ellis | Print/Sales: Sprüth Magers

Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 5

WORLD PREMIERE

All Still Orbit Dane Komljen, James Lattimer

an is that isn’t always Richard T. Walker A man, a Dictaphone, the desert. Then standing on a stepladder in a landscape, a cut-out of a mountain on his back, strumming his guitar. The thing itself and its representation provide the ingredients for a game with cultural references. How do you get a grip on the point in time when actual experience and premeditation meet? And how does that relate to our sound and image-based sense of reality? USA, 2015 | colour, video, 9 min, English Prod: Richard T. Walker | Sc: Richard T Walker | Cam: Richard T Walker | Ed: Richard T Walker | Prod Des: Richard T Walker | Sound Des: Richard T Walker | Music: Richard T Walker | With: Richard T Walker | Print: Richard T. Walker | Sales: Carroll/Fletcher | www.richardtwalker.net

WORLD PREMIERE

Croatia/Serbia/Germany/Brazil, 2016 | colour/b&w, DCP, 23 min, Italian/Portuguese Prod: Oliver Sertic, Natasa Damnjanovic, Daniela Marinho | Prod Comp: Restart, Dart Film, Flvmina Creative Production | Sc: James Lattimer, Dane Komljen | Cam: Dane Komljen, James Lattimer | Ed: Dane Komljen, James Lattimer | Sound Des: Martin Semencic | Print/Sales: James Lattimer

Faux départ

Dag’aa Shadi Habib Allah A mysterious, dusty drive through the no man’s land of the Sinai Peninsula led by a group of Bedouins with rifles. The goal never really becomes clear. The area is isolated and everything seems to take place outside political, economic or historical frameworks. The men’s only rule seems to be: remain invisible and intangible. Brief anecdotes and conversations about daily struggles provide links to the outside world. WORLD PREMIERE

Everything about Brasilia was devised and designed, but not on the basis of some cold urban design concept: the plan proves to originate from 19th-century priest Don Bosco’s dream. The chaos and disorder of the adjacent construction workers’ village Vila Amouri long stood in stark contrast to the grandeur and majestic regularity of Brasilia. Now the village has disappeared beneath the reservoir’s surface, the necessary order has been restored. All Still Orbit examines both these histories.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

False Start Yto Barrada

The latest film by French-Moroccan artist Yto Barrada observes the elaborate fossil industry in Morocco. Paying homage to the ‘preparators’ in the arid region between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert, whose intrepid work is fuelling a thriving trade in artifacts real, faux and hybrid, False Start is a rebuke to the fetishistic thirst for foreign objects, a sly meditation on authenticity, and a paean to creativity. (Andréa Picard) Morocco, 2015 | colour, DCP, 23 min, Arabic Prod: Sean Gullette | Cam: Javier Ruiz Gomez | Ed: Kate Abernethy | Sound Des: Ruy Garcia | Print: Sean Gullette | Sales: Yto Barrada | www.ytobarrada.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

TIGER AWARDS COMPETITION FOR SHORT FILMS

Establishing Eden

One.Two.Three

Persijn Broersen, Margit Lukács

Vincent Meessen

In Establishing Eden, Broersen & Lukács focus on the establishing shot: the moment a landscape is identified and becomes one of the main protagonists. In blockbusters like Avatar and the Lord of the Rings films these shots have been used to capture and confiscate New Zealand to construct it as a new Eden. Broersen & Lukács recreate these shots and show this Eden as a series of flat images, creating an apparent reality, an illusion that just as easily falls together as apart.

This work explores the unknown participation of Congolese intellectuals in the Situationist International movement, especially a young student called Joseph M’Belolo, who wrote a protest song in May 1968. Meessen came across the lyrics and reworked the song with M’Belolo and female musicians from Kinshasa and recorded it in the now neglected building of the legendary nightclub Un, Deux, Trois. The film builds up to a finale which amplifies and salutes the political rumblings of 1968.

WORLD PREMIERE

Netherlands/New Zealand, 2016 | colour, DCP, 10 min, no dialogue

Belgium, 2016 | colour, DCP, 35 min, French

Elle pis son char

A Woman and Her Car Loïc Darses

Le Park The Park

Randa Maroufi

On 31 December 2003, Lucie Tremblay decided to write to the man who abused her between ages eight and twelve. She is determined to personally deliver the letter. She films her journey to gain closure for the trauma that has haunted her whole life. When her son finds the footage well over a decade later, he decides to turn it into a film: A Woman and her Car. An intimate homage to the courage of an exceptional woman who decided to stand up for herself and a savage condemnation of the bastards who abuse the innocence of others and think they can get away with it. Canada, 2015 | colour, DCP, 28 min, French Prod: Loïc Darses | Prod Comp: UQAM | Sc: Loïc Darses | Cam: Hubert Auger, Lucie Tremblay | Ed: Amélie Hardy | Sound Des: Amélie Hardy, Philippe Lefebvre | Music: Max Romain | With: Lucie Tremblay | Print/Sales: Travelling, les films qui voyagent

Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 6

Novaciéries Jonathan Debrouwer, Marine Brutti, Arthur Harel

The camera slowly meanders through an abandoned amusement park in Casablanca’s city centre. The Park portrays the youngsters who have made the site theirs in a number of tableaux that look like frozen snapshots. The sometimes violent poses betray the influence of social media which is so crucial to their sense of identity. France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 14 min, French/Arabic Prod: Eric Prigent | Prod Comp: Le Fresnoy | Sc: Randa Maroufi | Cam: Luca Coassin | Ed: Randa Maroufi | Print/Sales: Le Fresnoy | www.randamaroufi.com

not even nothing can be free of ghosts Rainer Kohlberger Rainer Kohlberger’s abstract film was created entirely without a camera. Through digital algorithms, he precisely arranged a rhythm of light and shadow that pulsates off the screen into our physical space with blinding intensity. The presence of light is almost felt as we are sucked into the image to become its ghostly accomplice. As we leave the theatre, the optical vibrations continue to haunt us. WORLD PREMIERE

A dancer practices his jumpstyle choreography in an empty steelworks. The rhythm resounds through the open spaces. Personal YouTube videos introduce other members of the group who are on their way. The mysterious, oppressive atmosphere of constant threat is reinforced by the soundtrack, the costumes and an opera singer’s voice. Novaciéries portrays the post-industrial world by reinterpreting postinternet dance.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

Out of Love

Alba

When from his kitchen the cook Nikolai sees Varya sitting at the bar, it’s love at first sight. The Greek woman with a Russian name and the Eastern-Bloc migrant find each other in Amsterdam. But the double entendre of the film title soon gets explained: the things we do out of love are not always loving. Where there is real love and passion, you can also hurt each other; and insecurity, exasperation and even violence await. In her feature debut (produced as part of De Oversteek project by broadcasters VPRO and NTR, the Film Fund and the Media Fund), Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito shows us harsh moments from this turbulent relationship. In the brilliantly acted leading roles, Daniil Vorobyov (seen at IFFR 2014 in Eastern Boys) and theatre actress Naomi Velissariou reveal what people can do to each other, precisely when they love each other. Safety and suffocation as two sides of the same coin.

Alba is eleven years old and terribly shy. She has great difficulty standing up for herself among the precocious girls in her class, who talk like little adults about relationships but keep making fun of Alba with the cruelty of children. The fact that she wears a plastic corset to straighten her crooked spine and gets nosebleeds at inconvenient moments doesn’t help. To make matters worse, when her ailing mother is hospitalised she is dumped with her eccentric father Igor, who she never knew and of whom she is very ashamed. Very slowly and cautiously, the father and daughter get to know each other. Alba is a coming-of-age film that is both heart-rending and unsentimental. It’s striking that such a mature and powerful debut comes from Ecuador, the country that until the beginning of this century had only made one film a year. Young leading actress Macarena Arias is one to keep an eye on. She manages to use a minimum of dialogue to devastating effect.

Paloma Aguilera Valdebenito

WORLD PREMIERE

Ana Cristina Barragán

WORLD PREMIERE

Ecuador/Mexico/Greece, 2016 | colour, DCP, 98 min, Spanish Prod: Isabella Parra, Ramiro Ruiz, Konstantina Stavrianou | Prod Comp: Caleidoscopio Cine, Leyenda TV, Graal Post Production House | Sc: Ana Cristina Barragán | Cam: Simon Brauer | Ed: José María Avilés, Ana Cristina Barragán | With: Macarena Arias, Pablo Aguirre, Amaia Merino, Isabel Borje, María Pareja, Mara Appel, Maisa Herrera | Sales: Caleidoscopio Cine | Distr NL: Hubert Bals Fund | www.alba-pelicula.com

Ma dar behesht

Lu bian ye can

The twenty-five-year-old teacher Hanieh teaches little girls the rules they have to comply with in the patriarchal society of Iran, while she herself seems to be having increasing difficulty with the strict customs. A well-fitted hijab is for one’s own safety, she tells her pupils, and yet it doesn’t stop men in the street harassing her or kidnapping young girls. Imprisoned in a world of contrasts – between the rebellious deeds of nursery school girls and the strict attitude of older managers – she feels her own open-mindedness slowly evaporating. With a limited palette of colours, cameraman Payam Sadeghi captures Hanieh’s situation in claustrophobic shots and compositions. It turns Paradise into both an intimate and suffocating character study. There are many pseudonyms on the credits, and apologies by the filmmaker to the people who unwittingly took part in this film by appearing on screen.

Chen Sheng is a doctor in Kaili, a village in the subtropical Chinese province of Guizhou. He sleepwalks through life until he decides to go looking for his nephew Weiwei. He promised the child’s mother on her deathbed to look after the boy, but the child has been abandoned somewhere by his criminal brother. Chen is encouraged in his travel plans by an older colleague. She gives Chen a photo, a shirt and a cassette tape: memories of an old love that she wants to return to him now he is severely ill. Director Bi Gan was himself born and bred in Kaili, an important place for the Miao, an ethnic minority in China. Bi captures Chen’s journey in his elliptical feature debut in a series of dreamlike moments. When the doctor finds himself in the mystical place Dangmai, present, past and future intermingle as if he is living his own memories in a daydream.

Paradise Sina Ataeian Dena

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Kaili Blues Bi Gan

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

Suite Armoricaine

Esa sensación

Armorican Suite Pascale Breton

Françoise (Valérie Dréville) is a teacher of art history who returns to her birthplace in Bretagne after having lived in Paris for years. She takes a teaching post at the University of Rennes, where she once had a wild time as a student. Memories of that time are shown in flashbacks and with archive footage. The green colour of the paintings, which she discusses in her lectures, returns in images of the heavily forested Breton landscape. In that same period, Ion (Kaou Langoët) is embarking on a study of geography in Rennes. By switching between the two protagonists, it slowly becomes clear how much they are linked together. Key moments are shown twice, from the perspective of the teacher and of the student. This results in a personal and nostalgic story with avant-garde elements. A dreamy constellation in which Pascale Breton muses and reflects on the time when mobile phones had not yet been invented.

WORLD PREMIERE

Jacqueline (Argentine)

The Waiting Room

From her self-imposed exile in Argentina, Jacqueline Dumont waits – as an unwilling, Edward-Snowden-like heroine – for publicity of her discovery that the CIA wants to kill a minister in the Middle East. A documentary maker follows her on her mission. Filmed in a cinéma-vérité style, Bernardo Britto has created an ironic melodramatic portrait, richly larded with comic timing and detailed observations in the voiceover, spoken by the documentary maker. Britto’s predilection for light-hearted narrative techniques was already visible in a short animation film, Yearbook and Places Where We Lived, but gets sharper in this live-action feature thanks to an impeding anticlimax. While paranoia and boredom start to torment Jacqueline when no news media take an interest in her revelations, the naive film crew starts to wonder whether she really has a story to tell or not.

Jasmin (Jasmin Geljo) fled in the 1990s from Bosnia to Toronto, Canada. He is enthusiastic about his past as a celebrated television actor in Sarajevo. Alongside his work on building sites, he gets an acting job in a low-budget film. With his fictional family, he takes his place in a car on the set. After the shooting has started, the projected roads, which seem endless, move on to shots of Jasmin alone, sitting thoughtfully at the wheel outside the studio. His icy gaze speaks volumes. Jasmin has never really felt at home in Canada. He is fooling himself. The long takes in the car are juxtaposed with scenes in which triviality predominates, with conversations about chocolate bananas and about the mediocre script of the next film in which he has got himself a role. In a tragicomic way, these conversations reveal just how uprooted Jasmin is; just like the actor Geljo, on whose life the film is partly based.

Igor Drljača

Bernardo Britto

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

That Feeling Juan Cavestany, Pablo Hernando, Julián Génisson In this original and humorous film, three Spanish directors tell three stories: about a woman who gets excited by inanimate objects (such as a parking meter, kitchen steps or a metal bridge); a man who follows his father in order to unravel his secret; and a couple of friends who suddenly, as if felled by a virus, display improper behaviour without wanting to. These three interwoven storylines seem at first sight to have little to do with each other, but a common feature is that the characters experience an unexpected and slightly addictive sensation. That enigmatic feeling drags them out of their daily routine and forces them to think about issues such as love, faith and human will. The collaboration between established director Juan Cavestany and his younger colleagues Julián Génisson and Pablo Hernando provides a film that feels lightfooted, yet is far from superficial.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Canada, 2015 | colour, DCP, 92 min, English/Bosnian/ Croatian/Serbian

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

Évolution

Ri yao ri shi san bu zhe

Nicolas (Max Brebant) lives with his mother in a remote spot. It’s an island where only mothers live with their little sons. White houses have been built on a volcanic landscape surrounded by the mysterious ocean. This sea is portrayed in a poetic way. Surging seaweed, sunlight on the water, unruly waves. The fluorescent red tints of the starfish on the bottom look like a warning; within this narrative world, nothing is what it seems. For instance, the little boys have strange operations in the hospital, a central part of the small community. At the same time, their mothers, with their dark hair and bleached eyebrows, become part of a shadowy spectacle. This evokes a contrast between the all-consuming ocean and the aloofness in the clinic. A timeless, esoteric fairytale about growth. With the sea beating on the rocks as metaphor for the irreversibility of growth and saying farewell to childhood.

Inspired by avant-garde artists from the West, especially surrealists like André Breton and Jean Cocteau, seven men founded a poets’ collective in 1933 in Taiwan, which had then already been occupied by Japan for 40 years. The name ‘Le Moulin’, also the title of a literary magazine that appeared just four times, not only refers to the French affiliation, but also to the fresh wind that the group wanted to blow through the poetry landscape of Taiwan. The seven of them primarily faced a lack of comprehension, however, and ‘Le Moulin’ was a failure. With a mixture of old film clips, reenacted scenes, literary passages, spoken lines of poetry and traditional songs, the young director Huang Ya-li brings the progressive poets back to life after they had been forgotten for decades in a film essay that is lyrical, uncompromising and unique in its form.

Le Moulin Huang Ya-li

Lucile Hadžihalilović

France/Belgium/Spain, 2015 | colour, DCP, 81 min, French Prod: Sylvie Pialat, Benoît Quainon, Julien Naveau, Genevieve Lemal, John Engel, Sebastián Álvarez | Prod Comp: Les Films du Worso, Noodles Productions, Scope Pictures, Left Field Ventures, Volcano Int. Prod | Sc: Lucile Had ihalilovic, Alanté Kavaïté, (in collaboration with) Geoff Cox | Cam: Manu Dacosse | Ed: Nassim Gordji-Tehrani | Prod Des: Laia Colet | Music: Jesús Díaz, Zacarías M. de la Riva | With: Max Brebant, Roxane Duran, Julie-Marie Parmentier | Sales: Wild Bunch | Distr NL: Periscoop Film

Efterskalv/Intruz

Operation Avalanche

The inhabitants of the rural Swedish community in which The Here After is set are not talkative. Yet their reticence cannot hide the fact that the arrival of John, a teenager returning from an institution to his parents’ farm, reawakens memories of an unpleasant time. What is not said finds an outlet in other ways: a furious woman attacks John in the supermarket and his classmates give him a far-from-hearty welcome. With one exception: John’s position as the black sheep of the class arouses the interest of Malin, a newcomer. The calm images, sopped in cool blue, by cameraman Lukasz Zal (Ida) reflect the unaffected way in which John faces all the animosity. But as the aggressive tension around him grows, the new start John was hoping for seems to get further away. Frustration grows and confrontation seems inevitable.

Secret agents Matt and Simon dream of a great future with the Central Intelligence Agency, but they haven’t got any further than shadowing the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (conclusion: he isn’t a spy). And so they take matters into their own hands. Disguised as documentary makers, they infiltrate NASA, where they conceive a brilliant solution to the problematic Apollo-11 mission. Director and co-writer Matt Johnson, who also plays the leading role, made a name for himself by posing as a high-school student for a year to do research for his debut film The Dirties (2013, Winner of the Slamdance Grand Jury Prize). For Operation Avalanche he managed to shoot part of the film in NASA headquarters on the sly by pretending – very aptly – to be a documentary maker. The result is an amusing and extremely exciting film that ingenuously mixes reality, fiction and conspiracy theories.

The Here After Magnus von Horn

Poland/Sweden/France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 101 min, Swedish Prod: Madeleine Ekman, Mariusz Wlodarski | Prod Comp: Zentropa International Sweden, Lava Films Sp. z o.o. | Sc: Magnus von Horn | Cam: Lukasz Zal | Ed: Agnieszka Glinska | Prod Des: Jagna Dobesz, Henrik Ryhlander | Sound Des: Michal Robaczewski, Jean-Guy Veran | With: Ulrik Munther, Mats Blomgren, Alexander Nordgren, Wieslaw Komasa, Loa Ek, Ellen Jelinek, Oliver Heilmann, Felix Göransson | Print: Swedish Film Institute | Sales: New Europe Film Sales | www. neweuropefilmsales.com/movies/96

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Matt Johnson

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

Sivapuranam

So-tong-gwa Geo-jit-mal

An esoteric take on young designer Shiva’s obsession with the photo of a girl snapped during a mysterious encounter. Within his daily routine, he focuses obsessively on this picture of her that keeps triggering his voyeuristic impulses. Caught in a web of his own delusions, Shiva awaits a possible resolution. Without words, but with a refined sound design and stirring music, the director builds up the tension and suggests the mood of the main character. The impressive camerawork insists on close-ups and striking details that give a metaphysical layer to this minimalist cinematic tale. This is the debut of the self-taught young South Indian director Arun Karthick, who makes films through his Cinema Obscura platform and is certainly an exciting new voice from the Tamil film scene.

Ignoring conventions and rules about formats or likeable characters, in his self-assured debut Lee Seungwon tells an uncomfortable story about a man and a woman who both find themselves in an extreme state of mind – a state that we cannot understand and which we would prefer to look away from. Shot in black-and-white, this story told partly in flashbacks with excellent acting focuses on a cleaning woman and a teacher. She displays selfdestructive behaviour as a result of a terrible tragedy. He is unhappy, has suppressed feelings and incessantly phones the council about all kinds of trifles. Where she seeks extremes, including excessive sex and lies, he is introverted. When these two damaged souls meet at work, a bond results and they go travelling together. But their inability to communicate breaks the vulnerable relationship and this again has tragic consequences.

The Strange Case of Shiva Arun Karthick

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Communication & Lies Lee Seungwon

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

NUTS!

Bella e perduta

In 1918, John Romulus Brinkley and his wife open a doctor’s practice in the linear settlement of Milford in Kansas. Goats pairing in the meadow gives a local farmer an idea. Can’t the brand-new surgeon transplant some of those testicles into him in order to heal his impotence? It is a great success and countless villagers choose surgery. The next step is publicising the intervention for a wider audience. When he gets his own radio mast, this leads to Brinkley’s second career as a radio personality. In his heyday, Brinkley even has political ambitions. The chapters in the wayward documentary NUTS! are based on Brinkley’s autobiography; they are staggering episodes, accompanied by moving images made by a variety of artists. Alongside archive material, animation plays a major role. This can wrong-foot the viewer, just as Brinkley did with his supporters. Everyone believes the stories that he wants them to believe; that much is demonstrated very clearly by director Penny Lane.

Carditello Palace, once owned by the Bourbon dynasty, has been empty for decades. It is in decay and has been stripped clean by plunderers. In recent years, the local farmer Tommaso earned his nickname ‘Angel of Carditello’ by guarding the estate and restoring it out of his own pocket. Documentary maker Pietro Marcello saw here the start of a journey through the provinces of Italy in which he would examine the state of his country: stunningly beautiful yet in decay. But when Tommaso suddenly dies, this true-life fairytale comes to an abrupt end. That pushes Marcello in a new direction. He introduces the crazy Pulcinella, a figure from 17thcentury commedia dell’arte, anglicised as Punch. He takes care of the buffalo calf Sarchiapone, which Tommaso had given shelter on the estate and sets off on a journey with the animal. A journey that is smaller in scale yet greater in effect than the journey Marcello first wanted to make.

Lost and Beautiful Pietro Marcello

Penny Lane

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda)

Bodkin Ras

The internet is not only for cat films and digestible morsels of digital democracy. In fact, these only distract us from more urgent matters. Here, Dutch digital design collective Metahaven poses pressing questions about the internet few dare pose. Who benefits from social media? Does Adobe software express an ideology? Is the internet facilitating aesthetic terrorism? The result is an unbroken digital scream, proclaiming that the internet has become a disruptive super weapon on the geopolitical stage. The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) is also a paranoid, digital trip in which form and content continually influence each other. With restless, futurist beats by Kuedo, far-reaching green-screen manipulations and other glitch-art elements, internet aesthetics are obviously a source of inspiration for the filmmakers. At the same time, everything related to the internet is a target in this documentary. So: propaganda about propaganda.

You can’t help missing an outsider in the small Scottish town of Forres. And that while the Iranian Dutchman Bodkin Ras wants to keep his head down, because he’s on the run. In this mixture of fiction and documentary, Sohrab Bayat, who plays the title role, is the only actor. The other characters are inhabitants of Forres, who play themselves and whose striking life stories are incorporated into the script. The boundaries between reality and fiction fade and this gives the film a special atmosphere. The hybrid form ensures that Bodkin Ras works on several levels. It helps you get to know a fascinating town and its inhabitants, all of whom have their own cares. But it’s also the universal story of a man looking for a place where he can start afresh. He notices that he can’t shake the past off just like that, however: he shall first have to come to terms with himself.

Kaweh Modiri

Metahaven

WORLD PREMIERE

WORLD PREMIERE

El placer es mío

Last Man in Dhaka Central

In her second feature, Elisa Miller pulls no punches and opens with a sex scene, which immediately explains the title of the film, The Pleasure is Mine. The young couple Rita and Mateo are obviously enjoying themselves, hidden away in their house in the middle of the Mexican countryside, playful and in love. But they haven’t taken account of life. In fragments of that modest life, Miller shows how, slowly but surely, the cracks arise. Because maybe the two started living together a little too early. Rita’s desire to have children conflicts with Mateo’s taciturn nature and fear of commitment. And then there are also the unexpected visits: Mateo’s attractive, flirting female cousin who sets his heart aflame or Rita’s conservative mother who would rather see her daughter come back to the city. In subtle scenes, Miller confirms the promise of her debut and reveals how lust controls our lives just under the surface.

This documentary is the third in a series of films that appear under the title The Young Man Was by visual artist Naeem Mohaiemen, who received a Guggenheim fellowship for the project. It relates the story of Peter Custers, a Dutchman who arrived in Bangladesh in 1973 to report on the left-wing revolutionary movement and was imprisoned in 1975 by the military government. Accused of planning a secret leftist uprising in Bangladesh, he was released from jail only after a long campaign by Dutch activists. Peter Custers, who was especially focused on bringing education to and raising awareness amongst poor farmers in Bangladesh, died unexpectedly last September in Leiden. Mohaiemen, who works in Dhaka and in New York, especially focuses in this trilogy on the events surrounding the birth of a nation in Bangladesh and radical leftist movements in the whole of South Asia.

The Pleasure Is Mine Elisa Miller

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Naeem Mohaiemen

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

The Dork, the Girl and the Douchebag

Toponimia

Roishin is an unpleasant sort. He chats up young women, puts something in their drinks and then sells them on to pimps. He’s a perverted little gangster, that Roishin, played by filmmaker Okuda Yosuke himself. One day he falls into the trap of a man who traffics women. He finds a woman in his home and trades her, but it turns out that the woman belonged to the Yakuza boss Hideo. Now he has to pay a huge debt to Hideo. Okuda is obviously a lover of old Yakuza films – as shown by his Tiger competition film Tokyo Playboy Club (IFFR 2012). But he also gives his films his own hallmark. The stylised violence of the genre films is more unpleasant and real here. Reports about how realistic that violence was spread from the set through Japan by Twitter. There’s one scene in which Roishi breaks a bottle on his forehead and what we see is not make-up or digital effect. Okuda is obviously a filmmaker who is willing to sacrifice a lot to make his films a success.

Toponymy is the study of the origins of place names. In this film, Jonathan Perel shows us a visual variation on this. He looks at four places in the west of the Argentine province of Tucuman. They were founded in the mid-1970s by the military regime, which wanted to eliminate the guerilla groups active in this region. The places are named after soldiers who died in fights with the guerillas. Aerial photographs and the official documents founding the villages are followed by shots of everyday life today. Perel uses static shots, each lasting 15 seconds. There are kids playing soccer, chickens grubbing around and street signs, some of them very worn. Each village has a bust of a soldier, a statue of a mother and child, and a well. But also derelict buildings and half completed streets that disappear into the wilderness. The utopia imposed by the military is slowly being worn away by nature and time.

Toponymy Jonathan Perel

Okuda Yosuke

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Honja

Tenemos la carne

Alone is oppressive from the very first moment and develops into a psychological thriller with horror elements. In the opening scene, the protagonist Sumin spies from his balcony on the house of neighbours over the road and happens to photograph a brutal murder – a reference to Hitchcock’s classic Rear Window. It marks the start for a series of muddy events. Until Sumin wakes up and it seems he has dreamt it all. But there is no avoiding of horrific events, while it becomes less and less clear whether they are real or inside his head. Memories, dream and reality become entangled. Victims and culprits continually swap roles. This nightmare is set in a labyrinthine residential area of Seoul. Houses are close together, but there’s no one on the street. Sumin can run as far as he likes, but always seems to return to the same spot. As if he’s giving us a guided tour of his disturbed brain.

In this poignant and provocative analysis of Mexico, the country finds itself in the aftermath of some apocalypse or other right from the start. To emphasise this vision, Emiliano Rocha Minter creates in his debut film an allegorical universe that breathes borderline surrender and demise, from its title, We Have the Flesh, and surreal art direction, to the surprising finale. Mariano has withdrawn to a house from which all existential meaning has been sucked out. Obsessed by the idea of transforming the rooms into a womb-like cave, he spends his days distilling – and consuming – alcohol from old bread. Until brother and sister Lucio and Fauna discover his hiding place. In exchange for food and shelter, they help him create the cave. As the work progresses, Mariano shares his strange rituals with them. A disquieting sexual relationship emerges, along with a dynamic in which darker instincts do their destructive work.

Alone Park Hongmin

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

We Have the Flesh Emiliano Rocha Minter

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

Pacífico

Montanha

On the beach of Puerto Escondido in Mexico, a sleepy community where very little seems to happen, people are working hard on constructing a house designed by the famous Japanese architect Ando Tadao. The tranquil coastline is a strange place for such a huge concrete construction, to put it mildly, and it’s not clear who commissioned the work, but the villagers and workmen don’t seem to mind. Through the construction work, we get to know three people, all with their own problems, dreams and fears. Seven-year-old Coral goes to the building site every day after school to visit her godfather Diego, a bricklayer addicted to his telephone. There she also meets the carpenter Oriente, a poet muttering profundities who she hopes will become her godfather, but who himself yearns to return to his family. A calm and serene fictional debut, intelligently disguised as a documentary.

David really doesn’t want to know anything about the fact that his grandpa is severely ill. He waits for the moment when grandpa is discharged from hospital so that he can get on with making dinner as usual. That is now done by his mother, who has arrived from London just for a while. She is not able to take care of more than the very simplest basic needs, too bound up with the her father’s illness and fuss with an ex. David fills his days hanging around in the empty flat or outside on the street; he hasn’t been seen at school for a while. He is silently hoping for help from Paulinha, the girl next door. Montanha is the long-awaited feature debut by João Salaviza, who had already won a Golden Palm and a Golden Bear with his short films. Symbolic for the new, uncertain phase approaching in David’s life, the film is largely set in semi-darkness, with which cameraman Vasco Viana achieves a dramatic clair-obscur.

Pacific Fernanda Romandía

WORLD PREMIERE

João Salaviza

Fado

Las vacas con gafas

Can you get a second chance in a relationship once it has gone wrong? Fabian thinks you can. He hopes you can. When a woman who looks strikingly like his former girlfriend Doro dies on his operating table, the young doctor decides to do everything he can to repair what had been broken. He travels after his ex-girlfriend to Lisbon, where she has accepted a job at an architect’s office. He finds a job, starts taking Portuguese lessons, sets himself up in an apartment and courts her. After some hesitation, Doro succumbs and love blossoms again. But Fabian soon reverts to his old pattern of suspicion, paranoia and accusation. Fado is a study in pathological jealousy, obsessive dependence and poisoned love. The urge to possess slowly but surely suffocates any form of affection and inevitably turns into blind aggression. The consequences are severe.

Marcelino ‘Marso’ Sariego – a brilliant artist and professor – functions perfectly as an eccentric loner until he’s told he’ll go blind. Marso (a subtle performance from Daniel Lugo) rapidly has to come to terms with what blindness will entail in his daily and emotional life. He decides to use the terrifying transition period to reinforce his ties with his adult daughter, who became estranged from him years ago. In this sometimes minimalist drama with understated comedic moments, the solitary protagonist discovers what blindness does to your identity. What remains of your former success if you cannot create anything new? Now that he only has a sliver of light left, Marso has to deal with basic problems, decline and the emotional minefield he so carelessly created when he was younger. Yellow Robin Award winner Curacao IFFR 2015.

Cows Wearing Glasses Alex Santiago Pérez

Jonas Rothlaender

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

I racconti dell’orso

Mama

Filmmakers Olmo Amato and Samuele Sestieri had one aim in mind: make a film together during a 14-day journey through Finland and Norway. They not only did the directing, sound and camerawork, they also played the leading roles. There was a script, but they adapted it to specific encounters and places. The Bear Tales is the morethan-intriguing result. The immeasurable, unspoilt nature of Scandinavia in summer is the backdrop for what is occasionally abstract and then a moving allegory about the meaning of life. A monk robot – a kind of bony C-3PO in a brown habit – chases a little red man through expanses of woods, deserted cities and barren plains. Birds tweet, mosquitoes buzz. It’s only at the top of a magic mountain that the two get closer, exhausted after the pursuit. They join forces to save a damaged teddy bear and hence fill the void surrounding them. Will Mother Nature hear their prayers and save the little bear?

A mother (Nata a Tic Ralijan) takes her daughter (Vida Rucli) over the Slovenian border to a remote village in northern Italy, where she shuts her up in a house. Even though the two don’t speak to each other, it’s clear that the daughter has selfdestructive tendencies and uses drugs. In a desperate attempt to bring her daughter ‘back to life’, the mother has decided to take her out of her familiar surroundings. According to Vlado Skafar, his Proustinspired Mother is more of “a poem of two human souls” than a study of the relationship between a mother and a daughter. The filmmaker realises that ambition in a style fairly unusual these days: unashamedly poetic and lyrical while being observant and realistic. The photography of the film makes the healing power of nature, silence and darkness tangible. At the same time, Skafar uses documentary elements, for instance in his filming of a community of recovering addicts.

The Bear Tales Samuele Sestieri, Olmo Amato

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Mother Vlado Skafar

WORLD PREMIERE

Tikkun

The Daughter

‘Tikkun’ is a concept from the Jewish kabbala that means something like ‘putting things right’. What exactly has to be put right is a question of perspective. The widely-respected Talmud student Haim-Aaron feels that God has given him a second chance after he has a heart attack – the result of a rigorous regime of fasting – which he miraculously survives. His studies no longer fascinate him; his interest in the world outside the Yeshiva has suddenly been awakened. His father watches the changes with great suspicion. Are his son’s aberrations a punishment for the fact that he himself defied God’s plan by reanimating him? Or has his son been sent off the straight and narrow path by God in order to have experiences that bring him closer to his faith? How do you obey the will of an unknowable God? Carl Theodor Dreyer’s influence on that theme is as unmistakable as it is on the poetic stylisation with long, static black-and-white shots and minimalist acting.

When Christian, after living for years in America, returns to his parental home in the countryside of Australia, the reunion is pretty rough. His father’s imminent marriage, which has motivated his arrival, reawakens a painful past: Christian’s mother committed suicide and he considers his father responsible for the tragedy. Not long after he bumps into his old school friend Oliver, Christian finds out that his own tainted family history is linked to the apparently happy family life of Oliver. His urge to banish all falsehood drives him to a deed, the consequences of which he cannot see. Theatre director Simon Stone made a universally-praised contemporary theatre adaptation of Hendrik Ibson’s The Wild Duck in 2011. In The Daughter, his first full-length feature, Stone successfully translates this tragedy of destiny to the seventh art.

Avishai Sivan

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Simon Stone

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

Animal político

Jajda

She has everything her heart desires. She’s popular, loves shopping, comes from a loving family. She plays volleyball and afterwards has a smoke with girlfriends. Sports club, barbecue, hairdresser: her life is perfect. There’s only one thing that makes her stand out: she is a cow. A real, black-andwhite cow in the human world. No one in the film thinks it’s strange. But, as she describes in a voiceover, she feels an existential void. And so she moves into the desert, her loneliness emphasised by the widescreen format, in order to withstand such temptations as TV and consumer goods and to pose serious questions about the meaning of life to herself (and us). This absurdist-spiritual feature debut by Brazilian director Tião then only gets weirder, with headless men, an intermezzo about a naked shipwrecked man, a stop-motion robot, the monolith from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and a crucial role for a handbook of technical standards.

The feature debut by actress/director Svetla Tsotsorkova is set in a poor area of Bulgaria hit by drought in a hot summer. The ‘thirst’ in the title refers to yearning for water, but also to something else: thirst for love. The film is about a family that lives on a hilltop. The mother does the washing for several hotels and needs water for that – more than she gets via the local water supply. She calls in the help of a man who, together with his young daughter, goes drilling for a source of water in the hill. The arrival of the two, who set up their tent in the yard, creates quite a stir in the family. The quiet, rather naive son is fascinated by the seductive girl, who also appeals to his father. The girl’s dad – none of the characters gets a name in the film – starts to play a role in the mother’s desire for a different and more exciting life. This subtle and subdued film evokes a sultry mood that leads to a dramatic end.

Political Animal Tião

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Thirst Svetla Tsotsorkova

Mahut samut lae susaan

The Shell Collector

A story like a realistic dream by a filmmaker genuinely involved with the problems of her politically divided country, a country that is a tourist paradise but also on the brink of civil war. The protagonist is Laila, a young woman who travels from Bangkok for family reasons to the deep south of the province of Pattani. She does not go on her own, but with her brother and a friend. On the way, they pick up a soldier. Pattani is torn by a rebellion that has been dragging on for years and has cost thousands of lives. The Island Funeral is certainly also a road movie, with the symbolism that belongs to the genre: the real journey represents an inner journey. The film is the opposite of a political pamphlet. It tries to provide insight into the memories-in-the-making of a generation that has to find its way in a country that hides great confusion behind a smile. The journey does not end in paradise, but it does end in a wondrous world.

Based on the short story by Anthony Doerr, with The Shell Collector Tsubota Yoshifumi sketches the life of a blind shell collector who can only survive in solitude. He doesn’t meet any people. Only one man visits occasionally to bring him shopping in exchange for money. Occasionally the shopping is also accompanied by letters from his son, but they remain unopened for now. Just like the shellfish he collects so obsessively, the man doesn’t want to know anything about the world outside his own surroundings. Tsubota, however, slowly introduces uninvited changes in the man’s life: a contagious disease, a woman washed ashore looking for another life, a new kind of shellfish with a poisonous sting that is sublimely hallucinogenic. All these changes not only put the survival techniques of the collector to the test, but also our own ideas about the relationship between man and nature.

The Island Funeral Pimpaka Towira

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Tsubota Yoshifumi

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MAIN PROGRAMME

Gesu no ai

Of Shadows

“You’re too naive.” Those words are used to silence more than one person in this corny and melancholy satire on the Japanese film industry. There, sex in exchange for a leading role and colleagues who steal your film plan are a matter of course: that’s how this world works, loser. Tetsuo is a drip of a filmmaker who, since he scored a modest indie hit in his youth, has never made anything of any significance. Yet he doesn’t give up his dream. And why should he? His ‘Cinema Club’, a murky production company for no-budget film projects, makes it possible for him to exploit a steady flow of ambitious boys and girls and get all of them into his bed. The arrival of two newcomers – a talented scriptwriter and an inexperienced yet promising actress – suddenly offers him a chance to reawaken his film career. But who is going to help him with that?

A touching portrait of a travelling theatre company in the northwest of China, where the age-old art of the shadow play is still kept alive in tiny improvised village theatres. However it isn’t easy: many young people are no longer interested in classic puppet theatre and prefer to go to the opera. The documentary maker Yi Cui, who lives in Canada, followed the musicians and puppeteers during their preparations for the most important theatre and folklore festival of the year. This is the ideal spot to get seen by important theatres from China and abroad, where the rewards are much higher. However not all the members of the company are interested in an invitation to go to the big city. Their home base is the countryside, where they trek from village to village, playing out their stories in cramped brick houses night after night. It may not pay much, but their love for the craft makes them fight on.

Lowlife Love Uchida Eiji

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Yi Cui

WORLD PREMIERE

Chuma v aule Karatas

Il solengo

When a young mayor arrives in Karatas, a remote village in Kazakhstan, he finds a large part of the population ill. He recognises the symptoms immediately as plaguerelated. The sufferers, however, insist they have the flu, and that is confirmed by the local authorities, who have for decades pocketed the money for vaccination programmes and let the deadly illness rage on. The newlyappointed mayor resists at first, but is slowly dragged down into a morass of corruption and abuse of power. Like the film The Owners shown at Cannes, Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s latest film is an indictment of the lawless practices in today’s Kazakhstan, which is understandably known as the ‘Wild East’. His approach is very theatrical. He presents his message in a Brechtian way. The sets are surrealist, the acting is alienating, the undertone mythical. The moral, however, is highly contemporary and crucial.

A group of ageing hunters talks about ‘Marcella’s Mario’, a man who lived in a cave in their hunting area sixty years ago, cut off from the world. Mario’s nickname ‘il solengo’ comes from the wild boar these men hunt every year: it’s the name that mature male wild boar are given if they isolate themselves from their group. The makers film each hunter separately; each speaker has his own idea of the hermit – from banished village idiot to tragic victim of a family feud. In meticulous compositions, the men tell the story, seated at the tables of their hunting hut. The interviews are juxtaposed with pictures of the wilds of the Tuscia region where the stories are set. The result is a documentary that explicitly tries to link to the oral narrative tradition of the region and that gradually raises doubts about how far it’s even possible to capture reality in a story.

The Plague at the Karatas Village Adilkhan Yerzhanov

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Matteo Zoppis, Alessio Rigo de Righi

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

ID: GENDER.NET

He/She/X Inge de Leeuw

Agender, Androgyne, Bigender, Cis, FTM, Gender Fluid, Gender Nonconforming, Genderqueer, Intersex, Neither, Non-binary, Trans, Transmasculine, Two-spirit: a small selection from Facebook’s extensive gender categorisation terminology. Towards a More Individual Experience In the short film Andrew a strong courageous warrior. young Andrew and Abigail slowly become one. Alternating between man and woman, and the space between those two, to them gender is not a fixed entity, but a role, a performance and above all a choice.

Although our society is still based on a gender binary dependent on our genitalia, increasing numbers of young people are open about the fact that the gender they were assigned at birth does not correspond to their self-image. Furthermore, there is increasing societal acceptance of the fact that gender identity is based more on our experience, representation and the world around us rather than on body parts. Facebook has capitalised on this and since 2014 has offered its American users over 50 new choices for indicating their gender. This is just one of many recent examples that illustrate the rapid shift in thinking about gender identity. Gender Fluidity In the mid 20th century, the realisation developed on the basis of philosophy, social sciences and history that specific gender roles and characteristics were not innate, but socially constructed. Our ideas about what is male or female are determined by our cultural background. This gender debate was accelerated after the second feminist wave between the 1960s and 1980s. Traditional gender roles for men and women were studied and the arts, cinema and science evinced renewed attention for questions concerning and criticism of prevailing concepts of gender. In the 1990s, the debate was broadened to a more non-binary approach. The contested fourth feminist wave mainly manifested itself through social media. Once again, this resulted in a revival of the debate, initially online, after which it was rapidly picked up by the mainstream media. Technology and social media have a huge influence on users’ representation options and simultaneously act as a catalyst in the debate. The fact that famous role models express themselves on social media concerning their gender and

Andrew a strong courageous warrior.

Transparent

sexual identity on a daily basis (Caitlyn Jenner) naturally helps popularise the subject. There have been recent examples in the cinema (The Danish Girl), on television (Transparent) and in contemporary art and fashion. It can no longer be denied that everywhere in popular culture boundaries between gender, sexuality and identity are being expanded or becoming more diffuse. These diffusing boundaries are what make the current debate so interesting. This not only concerns specific gender roles and transition within the binary (man to woman or woman to man); it is increasingly about fluidity in which a space is sought in between these two categories. Gender as Performance This space in between is central to the programme and the focus is on the confusion and the accompanying search for individual gender identity. Issues surrounding fluidity and its representation in the various media will be examined from a variety of perspectives. In 1990, Judith Butler stated in her groundbreaking work Gender Trouble: “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; ... identity is performatively constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results.” In other words, gender is a performance; it’s what you do at particular times, rather than a universal and fixed ‘who you are’. In the post-digital era, gender performativity extends to the virtual world. In the digital world, experimentation with gender representation is rife in online media and with the various roles users adopt on social media and in virtual worlds.

An example being the work of Ryan Trecartin, a pioneer in post-internet video art whose work examines issues relating to gender, postgender and identity in a digital world. An early work by Trecartin (What’s the Love Making Babies For, 2003) will be screened, combined with a number of recent online works that demonstrate the development of a decade of online representation. There are also many examples of this theory in the films that screen in the cinema. Whereas Andrew a strong courageous warrior. opts for an intimate documentary style, the director of Girls Lost uses a fantasy element to discuss changing gender roles. In the art film Outfitumentary the director plays with the outside world’s expectations by recording her daily clothing choices. A literal body swap can be experienced in the virtual reality installation Gender Swap Machine. Finally The discussion on gender-neutral toilet facilities and pronouns is still in full swing and these issues can count on increasingly widespread societal support. It may be concluded that a strict gender binary in current society and media, including online, is too limited for the experience of one’s own identity. This makes it a good point in time to examine in the programme gender.net how the new terminology and ideas offer more room for the individual’s self-expression.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

ID: GENDER.NET

Outfitumentary

Arianna

Starting in 2001, performance artist K8 Hardy, filmed her outfit with a miniDV camera, on a tripod or held by visitors, on an almost daily basis. For well over a decade (until her camera died in 2012) she created self-portraits while she developed into a young, lesbian feminist as she came of age. Using this, in principle simple, idea, a great deal of patience, perseverance and plenty of exhibitionism K8 Hardy provides something more than merely a record of her clothes. Because who is this wearer and what do the recordings tell us about her identity, gender and how she views herself? The soundtrack consists of ambient sounds or an eclectic musical mix that changes day by day just like her outfits and mood. She is both a hipster and a bag lady, and wears the granny look with as much flair as her birthday suit; men’s clothing just as easily as women’s. You won’t find a simple T-shirt in this exceptional dresser’s closet though.

In this sober, unsullied coming-ofage film, the 19-year-old protagonist Arianna (Ondina Quadri) struggles with her body, sexuality and identity. In the symbolic opening scene that marks the start of her quest, gorgeous Arianna with her bright green eyes floats in a cool lake, just like Hermaphrodite in Greek mythology. Arianna was, as she immediately explains in the voice-over, born three times: once as a boy, once as a girl and a third time during the decisive summer at her family’s old country home. Despite her age, her breasts still don’t seem fully developed, she has never had her period and sex is unknown territory. When she is confronted with her younger cousin who has blossomed into a woman, Arianna sets out to answer fundamental questions about life that she has had, subconsciously or otherwise, for years.

K8 Hardy

WORLD PREMIERE

Carlo Lavagna

Pojkarna

Las lindas

Secondary school is hell for friends Kim, Momo and Bella. They are commonly referred to as ‘lesbos’ and ‘ugly cunts’ and don’t seem capable of standing up for themselves or each other. However, the tide magically turns when they plant a mysterious seed that grows a special flower with nectar that allows them to turn into boys at night. What is it like to live as ‘the stronger sex’? Whereas Bella and Momo are mainly happy to have more balls during the day which reduces the bullying a bit, Kim definitively discovers that she is a girl in the wrong body. How does the change of perspective and their temporary metamorphosis affect their friendship’s dynamic and contact with other young people? Magical-realist fairy tale about gender identity based on the prize-winning young-adult novel Pojkarna by Jessica Schiefhauer.

When they were young, Melisa Liebenthal and her friends were really close. Now the filmmaker is an adult, she and her friends look back on their childhoods and teen years, and how they developed into women. To this end, she filmed them during dinner parties and talked to them individually with photo albums at the ready. Liebenthal and her friends reminisced using these. How did they feel as children? What was puberty like for them? How do they see themselves now? But also: why are women still expected to primarily be attractive? In the meantime, Liebenthal reflects on her uncomfortable relationship with the camera using her own childhood photos and videos. Why is she mistaken for a lesbian or even a man so often? Why does she seem to deviate from the norm and what is that actually? This playful, autobiographical reconstruction of her still-young life attempts to unravel the essential life questions facing this woman in her 20s.

Girls Lost Alexandra-Therese Keining

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

The Pretty Ones Melisa Liebenthal

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

ID: GENDER.NET

Ajeeb aashiq

Transparent

Innovative vocalist Suman and transgender rickshaw driver Khush, who was once a woman, keep crossing paths as he transports her to concerts. This hybrid fiction with documentary elements follows them around Mumbai where traditions, religion, Bollywood glamour and gesture politics compete for precedence. Both protagonists are looking for identity, happiness and love in a world in which the delineated concepts of gender and caste seem stuck. Khush feels betrayed by his girl and tries to come to terms with this; Suman sings about the difficult position of women in India using punk rock, jazz and even musical slam poetry. Video artist Natasha Mendonca uses an original form to sketch this artistic portrait of male-female relations and alternative lifestyles in contemporary India. She utilises multiple media and the distorted sound of a variety of songs overlaps. A groundbreaking insight into an Indian metropolis both in theme and form.

The second season of the award-winning drama series about the Jewish-American Pfefferman family starts as eventfully as the first with the wedding of eldest daughter Sarah, who left her family for a woman. The day gets chaotically out of control in typical Pfefferman fashion. During the first series, head of the family Mort Pfefferman transitioned into Maura: from ‘poppa’ to ‘moppa’. Ex-wife Shelly is surprisingly relaxed about it all, as are their three adult children; besides, they all have their own problems. The family, the brainchild of Jill Soloway, is known for being nonconformist and revealing other people’s most embarrassing secrets. Although homosexuality and transgender issues are dealt with sensitively, the series is characterised by black humour and fluid play with gender roles and societal expectations. Telling scenes from the family’s past give the characters more soul and layers. With episodes directed by Jill Soloway, Marielle Heller, Stacie Passon, Silas Howard, Jim Frohna and Andrea Arnold.

Strange Love Natasha Mendonca

WORLD PREMIERE

Celia Rowlson-Hall

A mysterious woman wanders a contemporary, American wild-west landscape. She proves to be crisscrossing the scorching hot desert taking in the typical diners and photo-opportunity motels inhabited by an alternating group of ‘birds of paradise’. But what is she looking for? Her surrealist experiential quest brings danger and fear, but also wonderment and love. Not a word is said in this sensitive art film that plays with the biblical story of the Virgin Mary and her journey to Bethlehem in search of somewhere to bear Jesus. With her background as a dancer, choreographer and maker of delightful short fashion films, Celia RowlsonHall has now created stylishly shot body dialogues, as eloquent as spoken words. The director plays the protagonist in her feature film debut. Although entirely unique, the film refers to classic Hollywood elements at various levels, from the characteristic locations to the film noir-like shadows.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Jill Soloway

USA, 2015 | colour, DCP, 300 min, English Prod Comp: Amazon Studios | Sc: Jill Soloway, Bridget Bedard, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster, Ali Liebegott, Ethan Kuperberg, Faith Soloway | Cam: Jim Frohna, John Guleserian | Ed: Catherine Haight, Sunny Hodge, Hilda Rasula | Prod Des: Catherine Smith | Sound Des: Wildfire Studios | Music: Dustin O’Halloran | With: Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light, Gaby Hoffman, Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, Kathryn Hahn, Alexandra Billings, Carrie Brownstein

Scratch Beneath the Surface Not everything is what it seems. This programme plays with concepts about manliness, femininity and everything in between.

Andrew a strong courageous warrior. A. Liparoto A. Liparoto studied the construction of identity and left her womanhood to subsequently transform into a male and androgynous person. Filmed over nine months in the maker’s apartment, real life gradually becomes a performance in which it seems almost impossible to escape fiction’s power. WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

ID: GENDER.NET

Gender Swap Machine

American Reflexxx Alli Coates, Signe Pierce

BeAnotherLab

A social experiment with performance artist Signe Pierce who walked the streets of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in a sexy tight dress and mask. Director Alli Coates and Pierce agreed not to communicate until the experiment was over, but never expected the terrible responses. A technicolour spectacle that elicits questions about gender stereotypes, mob mentality and violence in America.

The Gender Swap Machine uses the Machine to Be Another, a virtual embodiment system that allows people to experience the world through another person’s eyes and body. Two people wear an Oculus Rift that uses 3D video to let them see with the other’s eyes. Furthermore, the users’ movements are synchronised and physical touch and intimate performances are used to create a true optical illusion. The artists want to use this experiment to examine gender identity, queer theory, intimacy and mutual respect.

Future Ahead Amalia Ulman

www.themachinetobeanother.org

EXPO

ID: GENDER.NET

Expo gender.net, Het Nieuwe Instituut (Museumpark 25)

Artist Amalia Ulman studies issues concerning gender identity in a work based on the online commotion surrounding Justin Bieber’s supposed gender transition. A fascinating study about the internet’s influence on the perception of maleness in contemporary society. USA, 2015 | colour, video, 16 min, English Prod: Amalia Ulman | Cam: Amalia Ulman | Ed: Amalia Ulman | Print/ Sales: Arcadia_Missa | www.amaliaulman.eu

GenderTube

EXPO

Portrait of Man – Invasion of the Herbivores Endre Aalrust In this experimental documentary an intimate voice-over relates brief erotic encounters in Tokyo. An exceptional portrait of a city and the men that live there. The gay narrator reflects on his role as a white western outsider and shows how our perception of maleness is influenced by our origins. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

For some time now, artists, filmmakers and other image creators have been experimenting with the representation of gender in the virtual world. This programme screens a number of works from the past decade of online video. It includes Ryan Trecartin’s work What’s the Love Making Babies for (2003), in which surreal characters philosophise about the future of a post-gender world. Agatha (2014) by Dorota Gaweda and Egle Kulbokaite goes one step further featuring a post-gender character Agatha Valkyrie Ice brought to life through social media. Interesting developments can also be found in online episodic work (such as Trans-Q Television Episode 1 (2013) by Suzie Silver) and videos highlighted by online magazines, for example the Dutch video What’s a Gender (2015) by Sophie Dros. GenderTube can be viewed online at IFFR. com/gendernet and simultaneously on the Glamcult magazine website at glamcult. com. During the festival, GenderTube can be viewed in the lobby of Het Nieuwe Instituut (Museumpark 25).

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MID-LENGTH

Drakkar

Tiden går

Sensuous, searching and corporeal, Charly Kermorgant’s performance is central to Drakkar. There’s a luminosity and unflinching honesty to her every moment on screen. The tenderness and cruelty, the loneliness and joy of her grapple with living a principled life burn all the way through Drakkar. Unlike Venus (who makes a cameo appearance in the film via a reproduction of Velázquez’s famous painting), Drakkar’s goddess of love has a beauty that is not self-absorbed. Instead, Charly’s character blossoms through her relationship with her lover, Jonath, and their dogs, Tofu and Homer. With dreams of hibernation and tales of being struck by lightning, Drakkar is an ‘into the wild’ love story. Living as they wish in the French hinterlands, Charly and Jonath face their freedom and desires head on.

Political, ethical and existential questions arise when street life mixes up with art school projects. In the first few moments of Time Passes we find ourselves in a Norwegian library being introduced to Bianca, a woman who calmly informs us that she’s not come there to read but to keep warm. After hours spent begging on the pavement, she usually visits the library with a young art student called Damla. Inspired into action by artists such as Bas Jan Ader and Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Damla has decided to join Bianca on the streets for six months. Framed around preparations for Damla’s graduation show, Ane Hjort Guttu’s film provocatively asks whether art can play any role in meaningful rebellions against injustice. In doing so, Time Passes testifies to the extraordinary value of artists’ work, whilst laying bare the limits of their collaboration.

Time Passes Ane Hjort Guttu

Maud Alpi

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Junun

We Make Couples

Serious and respectful, sometimes dizzying and disorientating, there is an energy in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film that matches its music’s pace. A documentary of a recording session convened in Jodphur by Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and including the Rajasthan Express of Sufi, Qawwali and Rajasthani Gypsy musicians alongside Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and producer Nigel Godrich, one of Junun’s most tangible pleasures is that Anderson also allows the music to speak for itself. In long unbroken takes, we experience a fascinating mesh of melodies, rhythms and textures that attest to Junun’s cross-cultural meeting points. There are harmonium, two female vocalists (Afshana Khan and Razia Sultan), Greenwood’s Ondes Martenot (analogue synthesizer) and, amongst power outages, the jab of a marching band. As one of the musicians attests, “a very unusual coming together” indeed.

Featuring guest appearances from Suffragettes, Pussy Riot protesters, a runaway goat, two poodles, Mos Def, Frankenstein and cinema’s first kiss, We Make Couples draws fresh geometries of relationship. In a fittingly ravishing ‘gone and there’ montage of sound, stills, 16mm footage, and who knows what and from where, Mike Hoolboom relays notes on the art of projection and protest. The voices of Andréa de Keijzer and Erin Robinsong gently implore us not to not get stuck playing the same roles, but instead to take risks. Hoolboom wants us to make movies that are less about knowing where we are, and more about urgently searching together in the dark. With over 80 films and videos, 70 awards and 15 international retrospectives to his name, Mike Hoolboom returns to IFFR 2016 with two rousing new films. Make sure to see them both. Also see Scrapbook in the compilation programme I Am a Camera.

Paul Thomas Anderson

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Mike Hoolboom

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MID-LENGTH

Souvenirs de la Géhenne

Where the Chocolate Mountains

Memories from Gehenna Thomas Jenkoe

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

The ‘Gehenna’ in the film’s title alludes to the Biblical valley, analogous with hell or purgatory. It doesn’t feel too far out of place. We retrace the murderous 2002 journey of J.D. through Grande-Synthe, the outskirts of a port town destroyed in World War II and now a place of temporary refuge for thousands of people, themselves displaced by war. And whilst on paper this seems an incongruous proposition, the enigmatic serenity of ‘Triadic Memories’, one of Morton Feldman’s most beautiful piano pieces, works hand in glove with the film’s widescreen cinematography of GrandeSynthe’s hemmed-in urbanism and heavy metal(lurgical) industry. With an ambitious weave of testimony and conjecture, Souvenirs de la Gehenna becomes a prescient reflection on the disorientation of memory as J.D.’s voice is confronted with the present.

Pat O’Neill

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

5. október

The Host

An absolutely captivating silent journey across Europe shot with great verve, tenderness and humour. 5 October features the director’s 52-yearold brother Ján in centre frame with a moving narration comprised only of postcards, mementos and the relentless count-down that rises up unimpeded from his journal. With a “flip of the coin” probability of surviving a necessary but very complicated surgery, Ján embarks on his own Easy Rider momento mori odyssey as we slowly discover what he’s running away from. In addition to his work as a film director (Autoportrét, 2012), cinematographer and producer, Martin Kollár is devoted to documentary photography. His works have been exhibited in prestigious museums such as the Martin-Gropius-Bau (Berlin), Brooklyn Museum of Art (New York) and Zamek Ujazdowski (Warsaw). 5 October is Kollár’s feature film debut.

“The seven things I know about Iranian oil” that opens Miranda Pennell’s film cut a sharp swathe through our knowledge of British colonial history in Iran. The Host is much more than this, however. It’s a film that benefits from Pennell’s deep immersion in British Petroleum’s archives, where ancient geologies are mapped out amongst stunning photographs of midtwentieth-century oil fields. What these images leave out tells just as much as what they endeavour to represent. Family histories, Polaroids, table settings and science fiction begin bubbling to the surface as Pennell looks over the shoulders of her mother and father as they try to make sense of their own experiences in prerevolutionary Iran. The Host becomes ever more sticky a tale, animating a twentieth-century colonial encounter which resonates through to the present day.

5 October Martin Kollár

WORLD PREMIERE

Pat O’Neill has been a beacon of classic avant-garde film on the West Coast since the 1960s. He has developed into a master of analogue image manipulation. With the digital tour de force of Where the Chocolate Mountains he has reinvented himself whilst remaining loyal to his strategy of layering images to the extent that they can never be equivocal. The meditatively slow, surround soundtrack is a densely woven tapestry of samples from 78 RPM records and obscure films. O’Neill is also a sculptor, collagist and installation maker. This hallucinatory trip is every bit as dependent on the viewer’s associative capacity.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Miranda Pennell

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE MID-LENGTH

Minotauro Minotaur Nicolás Pereda

Although “Mexico is on fire”, as Nicolás Pereda writes, the central protagonists of Minotaur are gripped with bouts of an almost narcotic slumber for his film’s full 53 minutes. There’s a hint of opiates in the air, but the only kicks we get wind of are pizza deliveries and literature. Beautifully shot in actor Gabino Rodríguez’s apartment, the comfort bubble around our three thirtysomething heroes (Rodríguez, Luisa Pardo and Francisco Barreiro) is unfalteringly sustained by domestic workers who gently circumnavigate its sun-hazy, Last Year at Marienbadlike labyrinth. The triangulation of relations and bodies becomes comically sculptural as the trio communicates via sleeping positions, readings and short dialogues. Already being compared with the films of Philippe Garrel, Laida Lertxundi and Tsai Ming-liang, there’s an enchantment at work here that’s clearly Pereda’s own.

Minotaurus Minotaur Szabolcs Tolnai

WORLD PREMIERE

Based on a novel by Judita algo, Minotaur is set in late-1990s Novi Sad whilst war rages in Kosovo. The Hungarian family at the heart of Szabolcs Tolnai’s film is demonstrative of a once outwards-facing multicultural environment that the filmmaker suggests has since been degraded by fear and the harsh realities of living in Serbia. Ana, the family’s matriarch, is a former editor of the daily newspaper’s culture pages – which, she remarks, “ceased… and culture sometime later”. With a longmissing son and errant former pop star husband, meanwhile slowly stripping their apartment of its possessions, she can do much worse than join the town’s neo-avantgardists in an ‘invisible’ art project. The film’s absurd and autumnal hues finally burst into existential colour and performance, courtesy of Milance, an (eventually) Socrates-bearded poet. Resistance starts here!

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE SHORT

Beyond Sight Impossible events, invisible connections, the last images of a blind man, the oldest tree in the world – only insiders know where it stands – and the unlikely similarities between modern music and finance.

Entrelazado Entangled

Riccardo Giacconi Cali, Colombia. A tailor, a puppeteer, a parapsychologist and a physicist discuss events deemed impossible. Calm shots connect seemingly unrelated things: close-ups of a lion at rest, the puppets before they come to life, the tailor’s needle and thread. Colombia/Italy, 2014 | colour/b&w, video, 37 min, Spanish Prod: Carolina Valencia Caicedo | Cam: Riccardo Giacconi | Ed: Riccardo Giacconi | Music: Margarita Angel | With: Octavio Diaz, Camilo de la Espriella, Profesor Numar, Andrea Naranjo | Print/Sales: Riccardo Giacconi | www.riccardogiacconi.com

A Thing Among Things Giovanni Giaretta Giaretta’s work is a constant exchange between the things we know and the things we don’t know. This video combines a collection of a blind person’s visual memories with close-ups of transparent minerals. The images work almost as a set design, open to different interpretations: you see something posing as something else. WORLD PREMIERE

Hereditary Language Lisa Oppenheim Lisa Oppenheim creates videos that connect historical imagery and techniques with the present. This film is about language, heredity and imagination. It’s a search for, and 3D-reconstruction of, Methuselah, the oldest living tree on Earth at 5000 years of age. Its exact location has not been publicly disclosed. USA, 2015 | colour, video, 10 min, English Prod: Lisa Oppenheim | Prod Comp: FRAC Champagne-Ardenne | Sc: Les Levine, Lisa Oppenheim | Cam: Lia Lowenthal, Lisa Oppenheim | Ed: Lisa Oppenheim | With: Luba Drozd, Lia Lowenthal, Lisa Oppenheim | Print/Sales: Lisa Oppenheim | www.lisaopp.net

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE SHORT

Crippled Symmetries

Dear Lorde

Beatrice Gibson

Emily Vey Duke, Cooper Battersby

In Beatrice Gibson’s latest from a series of works inspired by William Gaddis’ novel JR, similarities between music and the abstraction of capitalist economy are explored through the eyes of a young boy, who joins his friends to perform some Fluxus compositions.

Fourteen-year-old Maxine Rose collects bones. In search of her artist’s identity, and unsure about whether to show her work to the public, she turns to her heroes – pop star Lorde, primatologist Jane Goodall, comedian Louis C.K. and Bishop Desmond Tutu – with the claim: “I deserve to be heard.” She dedicates a picture made of bones to Lorde.

Fountains of Youth Desire is where everything starts. An artist who doesn’t seek, yet finds, bones of evanescence versus eternal youth, hair extensions, solar peptides, fabulous new shapes, colours and sounds: everlasting youth!

Land of Desire – Happy Is the New Black Donna Verheijden It all starts with desire. Marketeers create behavioural profiles that reveal more about us than our DNA does – by tracking our desires using metadata retrieved from apps, social media and websites. Land of Desire questions our increasingly consumerist society and desiredriven media landscape. To what behaviour does desire lead us?

Canada, 2015 | colour, DCP, 27 min, English Prod: Emily Vey Duke, Cooper Battersby | Prod Comp: Argos Centre for Art and Media | Print/Sales: Video Data Bank (VDB) | www.vdb.org/titles/dear-lorde

You Could Sunbathe in This Storm Alice Dunseath An excerpt from a W.B. Yeats poem constitutes the basis for You Could Sunbathe in this Storm’s artificial world. Animator Alice Dunseath makes crystals and shapes into pliable materials that enter into an alliance with liquids and chemicals. A number of major existential questions are posed casually by these transitions. United Kingdom, 2014 | colour, DCP, 6 min, English Prod: Alice Dunseath | Sc: Alice Dunseath | Cam: Alice Dunseath | Ed: Alice Dunseath | Prod Des: Alice Dunseath | Sound Des: Dan Larkin | Music: Jake Chudnow, Lucy Railton | With: Tony Fish | Print/Sales: Alice Dunseath | www.alicedunseath.com

Os der valgte Mælkevejen We Chose the Milky Way Eva Marie Rødbro

WORLD PREMIERE

Picasso Jaakko Pallasvuo

An anthropological visit to a mysterious tribe of young girls on a planet called Earth. “Something between a bling hip-hop video, social-realist science fiction and a documentary version of Spring Breakers, whose surreal shock cuts place us as participants, more than spectators, in a world where everything is artificial – except friendships.” (CPH:DOX) INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Imaginary dialogue between the artist and Picasso about their similarities and differences in ego, working process, search for images, creating art. “I do not seek, I find,” Picasso says. And he means it. The rest of us are still looking. At the same time, an exploration of the idea of video art and the methods of an essay film.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE SHORT

Heart of the Matter

Poem and Stone

Almost tangible: the scorching heat of molten glass, the green smell of chopped parsley, the brushstrokes on a painting and the fragile walls of a paper film set.

Maryam Tafakory

Double-Take: Leader of the Syrian Revolution Commanding a Charge Lawrence Abu Hamdan Two similar paintings filmed in detail. The original depicts the French colonial overlord, the copy the Syrian resistance leader who fought the French. A fascinating story highlights the discrepancy concerning specific choices and questions about the colonial past and how we deal with it are brought sharply into focus. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Consider the Belvedere Tamara Henderson, Julia Feyrer Julia Feyrer and Tamara Henderson’s latest collaboration sees the camera and everyday objects alternate roles between criminal and investigator in this entangled detective story. Filmed at their exhibition in The Banff Centre and Vancouver’s Belvedere apartment complex, the neon-lit crime scenes breathe life into inanimate matter. Canada, 2015 | colour, 16mm, 10 min, no dialogue Prod: Julia Feyrer | Sc: Julia Feyrer, Tamara Henderson | Cam: Julia Feyrer, Tamara Henderson | Ed: Julia Feyrer, Tamara Henderson | Prod Des: Julia Feyrer, Tamara Henderson | Sound Des: Julia Feyrer | Music: Johan Björck | Print/Sales: Julia Feyrer

Analiza wzruszen i rozdraznien

Analysis of Emotions and Vexations Wojciech Bakowski In his new animation, Polish poet, musician and artist Wojciech Bakowski translates the various stages of his fluctuating moods into a series of sober, yet ingenious pencil drawings on transparent foil. From tape we hear his voiceover and music. Poland, 2015 | colour, DCP, 14 min, Polish Prod: Wojciech Bakowski | Sc: Wojciech Bakowski | Cam: Wojciech Bakowski | Ed: Wojciech Bakowski | Prod Des: Wojciech Bakowski | Sound Des: Wojciech Bakowski | Music: Wojciech Bakowski, Anita Baker | With: Wojciech Bakowski | Print/Sales: Wojciech Bakowski

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

“I was born in the land of motorcycles, dust, water fountains, soil, pomegranate, rust, poems and stones,” so says the director. Filmed close up, the colours, smells and flavours of Teheran are almost tangible. How can you capture the memory and desire to be somewhere in images? Performance and documentary alternate. Iran, 2015 | colour, DCP, 11 min, Farsi Prod: Maryam Tafakory | Ed: Maryam Tafakory | Print/ Sales: Maryam Tafakory | www.maryamtafakory.com

A trama e o círculo

The Mesh and the Circle Mariana Caló, Francisco Queimadela Complex, fragmentary film examining empirical thinking and the tactile. Footage of labour that threatens to become obsolete refers to the transformation of matter. How do you actually depict knowledge or an abstract idea? The Mesh and the Circle wanders the labyrinth of brilliant visualisations and analogies. Portugal/Italy, 2014 | colour, DCP, 35 min, Portuguese Prod: Mariana Caló, Francisco Queimadela | Sc: Mariana Caló, Francisco Queimadela | Cam: Mariana Caló, Francisco Queimadela | Ed: Mariana Caló, Francisco Queimadela | Sound Des: Jonathan Saldanha | Music: Jonathan Saldanha | Print/Sales: Portugal Film | www.portugalfilm.org/film.php

Original Language Language has the capacity to enlighten and deceive. Five short films consider the power and pitfalls of communication. With humour and subversion, the films reflect on verbal, written and cinematic language.

Subtítulos: saber sin estudiar

Subtitles: to Know Without Learning Manuel Saiz Subtitles: to Know Without Learning is an intimate film in which a sequence of handmade subtitles translates, confirms, or denies what the only character of the film says while he’s looking at the camera. Written and spoken language play along to express the difficulty of a comprehensive meaning. WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE SHORT

The Cusp of Your Credenza

Signals from Earth

Anita Delaney

Complex matters are not simplified, but viewed from another perspective. Grotesque megastructures that look like a land art project, a performance with a botched melody or a lengthy ritual with a monkey are hard enough to explain to outsiders as it is.

The body’s relationship with the material world is discussed in this ‘company instructional video’. Thanks to the absurdist language and humour, toenail clippings, large, soft muffins and licking a monument are assigned a place in this out-of-control categorisation of life. WORLD PREMIERE

UK/Ireland, 2016 | colour, DCP, 10 min, English Prod/Sc/Cam/Sound Des: Anita Delaney | With: Lola May | Print/Sales: Anita Delaney | www.anitadelaney.net

Chums from Across the Void Jim Finn ‘Past Leftist Life Regression’ therapy is based on three exceptional heroes. Accompanied by psychedelic, hypnotic music, Lois Severin – former Trotskyist, now housewife – takes you on a journey to a contemporary revolution of the mind. All wrapped in a warm blanket of colour and humour. USA, 2015 | colour, DCP, 18 min, English Prod: Jim Finn | Sc: Jim Finn | Cam: Butcher Walsh | Ed: Jim Finn | Prod Des: Craig Tompkins | Sound Des: Jesse Stiles, Kristian Tchetchko | Music: Colleen Burke, Munaf Rayani, Chris Skinner | With: Lois Severin, Isabella Pinheiro, James Mazza | Print/Sales: Video Data Bank (VDB) | www.jimfinn.org

Alter Senator Willehad Eilers The Alter Senator – a good gin from Bremen – has a chokehold on an ambitious alcoholic’s life. Together they have one adventure after another. Always engrossing, but ultimately also painfully desensitised. He is a true optimist, particularly when drunk. But before you know it he has groped the wrong barmaid. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Bending to Earth Rosa Barba In the current age of the Anthropocene, human actions have significantly altered the earth’s surface in the geological time scale. Shot from the cold distance of a helicopter, Rosa Barba’s 35mm film focuses on radioactive waste storage sites to reflect on the human imprint and its prolonged ramifications. USA/Germany, 2015 | colour, 35mm, 1:1.85, 15 min, English Prod: Rosa Barba | Prod Comp: Studio Rosa Barba | Print/ Sales: Studio Rosa Barba | www.rosabarba.com

Ka-tai-pee & Khon-kai-lung Ghost Rabbit & The Casket Sales Arnont Nongyao Video artist and instrument maker Arnont Nongyao juxtaposes quiet moments of contemporary life in Thailand with a performance remixing a tape recording of a particular song that may be all too familiar to native ears. The film is a testament that playful gestures can be a form of political critique. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Matkormano Fabien Rennet, Julien Louvet The insane tale of French magician and guru Matkormano, who in 1968 was accused of being responsible for his sons’ disappearance. He proclaimed his innocence. A reconstruction was created using interviews and archival material of the house. The guru’s magic gradually seeps into the film’s atmosphere. France, 2015 | colour/b&w, DCP, 32 min, French

Radio at Night James Richards Radio at Night is an assemblage of distorting and looping audiovisual material, including industrial documentation, medical imaging, news broadcasts, footage of birds and fish, and a specially composed soundtrack sung in C minor. It grapples with the anxiety and pleasure of seeing and sensing in an era saturated by technology. Germany/USA, 2015 | colour/b&w, DCP, 8 min, no dialogue Prod: James Richards | Prod Comp: Walker Arts Centre | Sc: James Richards | Cam: James Richards | Ed: James Richards | Prod Des: James Richards | Sound Des: James Richards | Music: James Richards | With: James Richards | Print/Sales: LUX | www.lux.org.uk

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BRIGHT FUTURE SHORT

The Masked Monkeys Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy Berlin-based duo OJOBOCA mix spiritualism and ethnographic filmmaking in their observation of Javanese masked monkey performances that originated as religious rites to invoke the dead. Together with the monkeys and their masters, we find ourselves in the area where shadows, dreams and death meet. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Germany/Indonesia, 2015 | b&w, 16mm, 30 min, English Prod: Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy | Prod Comp: OJOBOCA | Sc: Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy | Cam: Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy | Ed: Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy | Prod Des: Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy | Sound Des: Anja Dornieden, Juan David González Monroy, Christian Obermaier | Print/Sales: OJOBOCA | www.ojoboca.com

VOICES

The Mess Peter Burr In this game-like, Stalker-inspired, computer animation, we take a journey to the threshold of a utopian labyrinth. Following the perspective of a solitary female figure whose job is to clean up the mess it inadvertently spawned, we end up in a glitchy, post-apocalyptic, endlessly mutating wasteland. WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES

EXPO

Spaces Within: Apichatpong Weerasethakul VPRO Big Screen Award Competition Voices Main Programme Limelight IFFR Live ID: The Generic Self Voices Short

Fireworks (Archives) Apichatpong Weerasethakul Fireworks (Archives) is a kind of hallucinogenic memory machine that lights up nighttime animal sculptures in the Sal Keoku Temple in the northeast of Thailand, where Apichatpong Weerasethakul grew up. To him, the region’s aridness and the repression from Bangkok drove people to dream of other realities. The political oppression led to several rebellions, with strange animal sculptures as silent witnesses. As with his films and art projects, here Weerasethakul portrays memory and other volatile elements, such as light and apparitions. He also shows that history and stories can be malleable. In recent years, Weerasethakul has made many stories around his birthplace in which his memories and those of others mingle seamlessly. In his new ongoing project, Fireworks, he embroiders on that theme, combining dug-up political heritage of Thailand with an ingenious use of fireworks and rhythmically edited sounds. Weerasethakul’s regular actors enter into a wondrous alliance with these illuminated sculptures, which evoke the spirit behind the recent rebellions. Personal, political and cultural memories combine to commemorate the destruction and the liberation of the country with the explosive power of fireworks. Weerasethakul’s feverish cinematographic dreams come alive again. Spaces Within, Spaces (Gebouw De Hofpoort, Hofplein 20) www.kickthemachine.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VPRO BIG SCREEN AWARD COMPETITION

Les ogres

Sayonara

Family, work, love and friendship all get jumbled up for the slightly eccentric members of the French Checkov Cabaret. This travelling theatre company parks its caravans in harbour areas and other desolate spots where they share everything they have together. The drama moves with ease from the stage to the real world, sparked by the drunken orgies that regularly take place in the camp. Not holding anything back, the members tell each other the painful truth. The return of an old flame and the arrival of a baby open up old wounds. While the director of the theatre company dumps his wife, their daughter wrests herself free of her dominant parents. A rebellious actor with a sardonic sense of humour candidly points out to the director that he has an oversized ego, which in the past forced him to make an impossible choice between his work and his sick son. Everything for theatre.

Japan after a nuclear disaster. Tanya is terminally ill and awaiting the results of a government-organised evacuation lottery. But since she is a migrant, her chances to win are very low. Left all alone, she spends her last days in a desolate place together with Leona, a female android in a wheelchair who becomes her only true friend. Sayonara is perhaps the most subtle, poetic and intimate of takes on a postapocalyptic world and relations between humans and cyborgs. Tanya builds a deeply emotional bond with the robot, who not only looks like a human but also learns to understand things that only people can know – mortality and the fear of death. In Japanese, ‘sayonara’ means ‘the last goodbye’. This is a special moment full of deep melancholy and true beauty, and such is the film of Fukada Koji. The film features the most charming android ever, fantastically played by the real android Geminoid F, created in Osaka University. Also screens in the programme ID: The Generic Self.

Ogres Léa Fehner

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Fukada Koji

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Bil halal

Ce sentiment de l’été

Sex by the book, is that conceivable? And what if the book happens to be the Koran? With this mosaic film in contemporary Beirut, Assad Faloudkar gives us a glimpse behind the veil. In this morality sketch, modern devout Muslim couples wrestle with love and lust, without breaking religious rules. Awatef is looking for a second wife for her husband Salim, so she can have a break from his boundless libido. The young couple Mokhtar and Fatmeh have just married, but his hot-tempered jealousy means they’ve also divorced three times. Now Fatmeh first has to marry someone else before Mokhtar can be hers again. The recently divorced Loubna finally wins her childhood sweetheart, but only in a temporary ‘marriage of pleasure’. In recent years, Fouladkar made one of the most popular sitcoms in the Arab world with A Man and Six Women. For his second feature, he combines the farcical tone of the sitcom with these more tragicomic love stories.

The sudden death of the vivacious Sasha has a great impact on the life of her friend Laurence and her younger sister Zoé. Each in their own way – and also together – they try to cope with the void left by Sasha. During three summers in three cities – Berlin, Paris and New York – it becomes clear that they are slowly coming to terms with the loss. In this they are helped by their shared love for Sasha and for life. They meet each other in the sundrenched cities, step-by-step further on their way to recovery. Their encounters, filled with memories and nostalgia, are set in the biotopes of a new generation of world citizens who find a home and kindred spirits everywhere. In the familiar, hip districts people talk, party and fall in love. The film is also an attractive ode to three iconic, modern metropolises that owe their significance primarily to their special histories.

Halal Love (and Sex) Assad Fouladkar

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Lebanon/Germany, 2015 | colour, DCP, 94 min, Arabic Prod: Roman Paul, Gerhard Meixner, Sadek Sabbah | Prod Comp: Razor Film Produktion GmbH, Sabbah Media Corporation | Sc: Assad Fouladkar | Cam: Lutz Reitemeier | Ed: Nadia Ben Rachid | Prod Des: Tanja Arlt, Maia El Khoury | Sound Des: Sebastian Schmidt, Sebastian Heyser | Music: Amine Bouhafa | With: Darine Hamze, Rodrigue Sleiman, Zeinab Khadra, Hussein Mokaddem, Mirna Moukarzel, Ali Sammoury, Fadia Abi Chahine | Print/Sales: Films Distribution

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

This Summer Feeling Mikhaël Hers

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VPRO BIG SCREEN AWARD COMPETITION

Wild

Califórnia

The young woman Ania becomes obsessed by a wolf she sees in a city park one day. She is determined to catch the animal and lock it up in her apartment, an operation she approaches very systematically. The animal attraction felt by Ania takes over her whole life. She herself becomes increasingly wild; she doesn’t take much notice of social conventions any more, for instance at the office where she works. It’s striking how the balance of power with her boss shifts – to her advantage. This fascinating third feature by Krebitz is about the desire to be as uninhibited as a wild animal. For the rather shy Ania, this desire seems primarily related to her suppressed sexuality: in her imagination, the wolf is her lover. The film is dominated by the acting of Lilith Stangenberg, who takes the viewer along very naturally on the unnatural path of her character – and she doesn’t shy away from the wolf as co-star.

The year is 1984 and 17-year-old Estela (Clara Gallo) is looking forward to the journey she’s going to make to California. Her uncle Carlos lives there, a licentious music journalist. Before the summer vacation starts, the camera follows Estela in her hometown of São Paolo where, together with her girlfriends, she makes her first acquaintance with sex and drugs. In a voiceover, she confesses her secret desires, while the soundtrack with 1980s bands like The Cure and Joy Division shapes the tempo. In this way, countless cultural references from that time pass by, from the torn-off sleeves of T-shirts to the debut of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It strengthens Estela’s desires for America, the land of MTV. At the same time, in the background we see the changing political climate in Brazil. Rapid social progress goes by fits and starts. When her dream vacation is endangered, it turns out there’s a good reason for that.

Nicolette Krebitz

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Marina Person

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Suntan

Love & Friendship

Papadimitropoulos very aptly calls this a ‘coming-of-middle-age film’. His protagonist Kostis, an introvert, unhappy and sleepy forty-something, starts working on the Greek holiday island of Antiparos as a doctor. A group of young tourists drags him out of his shell with excursions to the nude beach and exuberant alcoholic evenings in clubs, while the frivolous Anna especially turns his head. Kostis joins in, but has trouble keeping up with the young people. The tragicomic film smoothly brings together two very different worlds: the carefree intoxication of the holidaymakers and the devastating loneliness of the man facing a midlife crisis, early but no less intense. En passant Papadimitropoulos provides a beautiful picture of the rather decadent and unreal atmosphere that reigns in the summer on islands like Antiparos, where the local inhabitants put up with a lot from the tourists because they are the largest source of income.

They say forewarned is forearmed. But however many bad stories Reginald De Courcy (Xavier Samuel) has heard about Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), as soon as she moves in as a guest with his sister and brotherin-law, he falls irredeemably for her charms. His sister Catherine has to look on resignedly as Reginald is taken in by the much older widow, who is well known for her manipulative and adulterous behaviour. Love & Friendship is the ironic title of this cheerfully venomous love satire based on Jane Austen’s neverpreviously-filmed novella in letters, Lady Susan. While Susan makes up clever plans with her American best friend, Alicia (Chloë Sevigny), the men in her life remain blind to her cunning behaviour. The American Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress, The Last Days of Disco) gives a sizzling impulse to this very British story set in the late 18th century. A villainous, up-tempo period piece full of pleasure.

Argyris Papadimitropoulos

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Whit Stillman

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Ireland/France/ Netherlands, 2016 | colour, DCP, 94 min, English Prod: Katie Holly, Louranne Bourrachot, Raymond van der Kaaij | Prod Comp: Blinder Films, Chic Films, Revolver Amsterdam | Sc: Whit Stillman, based on the novella by Jane Austen | Cam: Richard van Oosterhout | Ed: Sophie Corra | Prod Des: Anna Rackard | Music: Mark Suozzo | With: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel, Emma Greenwell, Tom Bennett, Stephen Fry, Jemma Redgrave | Print/Sales: Protagonist Pictures

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES MAIN PROGRAMME

Rüzgarin hatiralari

Brat Dejan

For left-wing dissidents in Turkey, the situation got increasingly dire in the course of World War II. The rightwing Turkish government persecuted minorities and intellectuals. For instance, Aram, an Armenian artist who works for a Communist newspaper. In 1942 he has to hurriedly flee Istanbul, ending up in a small village on the border with Georgia (then still part of the Soviet Union), where he is given shelter by a couple: the young Meryem and the rather older Mikahil. Aram experiences being in hiding as imprisonment, even though he gradually develops a strong bond with Meryem, who in turn is imprisoned in her marriage. An escape over the border looks like their only salvation. In this melancholy film, writer/ director Özcan Alper looks at part of Turkish history that has had little attention until now. He shows the drastic personal consequences of political oppression. A gripping story about survival.

With his woolly grey beard and slovenly appearance, no one recognises Dejan Stanic as the one-time war hero/ criminal. A simple excuse is enough for him to be able to move around an isolated mountain village in relative peace; he pretends to be an old friend of one of the inhabitants, Slavko, whom he supposedly met many years ago at a health resort. Slavko’s house is his last hiding place before Dejan finally leaves the country. The loneliness forces him to start thinking, for the very first time, about his own past. Bakur Bakuradze grew up in Georgia and studied in Russia. He bases his protagonist loosely on the BosnianSerbian General Ratko Mladic, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in politics or issues such as good and evil. Much more important in his sober and observing story is the question: Can a man like Stanic really start to understand in his last years of life?

Memories of the Wind Özcan Alper

Turkey/Germany/France/ Georgia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 126 min, Turkish/ Russian/Armenian Prod: Soner Alper, Mustafa Oguz, Ali Bayraktar, Michael Eckelt, Guillaume de Seille, Mamuka Chikhradze | Prod Comp: Nar Film Production, Most Productions, Istanbul Dijital, Riva Film, Arizona Productions, ABK Studio | Sc: Özcan Alper, Ahmet Büke | Cam: Andreas Sinanos | Ed: Baptiste Gacoin, Özcan Alper | Prod Des: Gamze Kus | Sound Des: Lars Kinzel | Music: Francois Couturier | With: Onur Saylak, Sofya Khandamirova, Mustafa Ugurlu, Ebru Özkan, Murat Daltaban, Tuba Büyüküstün, Menderes Samancilar | Print/Sales: Nar Film Production | www.narfilm.com

Brother Dejan Bakur Bakuradze

A Copy of My Mind

Montreal la blanche

A Copy of My Mind initially looks like a charming love story, but actually touches on the complex social-political situation in today’s Indonesia. Sari, who works in a small beauty salon, regularly buys a monster movie at an illegal DVD store and watches it in her room. She doesn’t have any money to go out. One day she complains to the salesman about the bad quality of the subtitling. She is then introduced to Alek, who makes the subtitles. They fall in love and celebrate their love. But then the story takes a very different turn. As a beauty specialist, Sari visits a prison to treat a rich, corrupt politician who is in a very luxurious cell. There, she steals a DVD. However what’s on the DVD is not what is suggested by the cover. Her problems soon get out of hand. The versatile Joko Anwar turned this love story into a nimble and realistic political thriller, with the requisite jokes on censorship.

It starts with Santa Claus, who on Christmas eve gets in a taxi driven by Amokrane, an Algerian who emigrated to Canada and is more involved with Ramadan than Christmas at that moment. This Santa also ensures that Amokrane later gets a compatriot in his taxi whom he recognises as the former pop star Kahina – an idol of his, but he had thought she was dead. That evening he decides to help her with her personal problems. The story that Bachir Bensaddek tells us unfolds bit by bit. In a relaxed way, he gradually gives more information about the protagonists, so that the viewer slowly finds out more about their backgrounds and realises how much the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s still affects their lives. In sharp, stinging dialogue, Bensaddek tackles personal and cultural issues, thus preventing this feel-good film from becoming syrupy or sentimental.

Montreal, White City Bachir Bensaddek

Joko Anwar

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES MAIN PROGRAMME

Oleg y las raras artes

Stop Acting Now

Several biographical facts: Oleg Nikolayevich Karavaychuk (1927) played the piano for Stalin as a child prodigy, attended the Leningrad Conservatory and in the course of his career primarily wrote music for theatre and film – for instance, for Paradjanov and Muratova. In Russia, he is admired for his music and his playing, but also for his unique and eccentric personality. At the age of 89, Karavaychuk is still a controversial and puzzling figure in Russian culture. Who is this man, who looks as if he stepped out of a story by Gogol? The beautiful film that the young Andrés Duque made about him is a gift to the viewer, a gift from an old artist who wants to be reconciled with the world and who transports us away from reality with words, gestures and piano playing, free of social conventions, to a world where clashing dissonants have a liberating beauty.

To conclude their socially committed project The New Forest, the Rotterdam theatre collective Wunderbaum made a film in which the group stops acting and starts really taking action. In this film, we follow the actors’ desperate attempts to change the world radically. For instance, Maartje starts a group called The Basic Optimists and tries to help a family that’s in debt, while Marleen opens a Crying Cafe after the Japanese example in the battle against our stressful positivity culture. Matijs develops an urban gardener app and goes feverishly looking for major investors, while Walter sees more benefit in radical actions. Wine has a child and thinks that total dedication is the best investment in the future. Stop Acting Now was directed by Mijke de Jong, whose previous film, Frailer (2014), sought out the boundary between fact and fiction, an approach that also appeals to the theatre-makers here.

Oleg and the Rare Arts Andrés Duque

WORLD PREMIERE

Mijke de Jong

WORLD PREMIERE

Koibitotachi

Wakaku shite shinu

Atsushi has a special talent. He works maintaining bridges and can hear whether a bridge is in order – he taps the bridge and listens. In everyday life, this talent is useless to him. He’s lonely and has been mourning the loss of his murdered wife for years. The story of Atsushi is one of three about love or the lack thereof. Then there is the story of Toko, a mildmannered housewife who is neglected by her husband and tested by her mother-in-law and one day falls for a beta transporter. And finally the tale, a gay love story, of the successful lawyer Takashi, who is less skilled and successful in love than in his work. This first feature in a long while by the experienced filmmaker Hashiguchi Ryosuke (Tiger Awards Competition 1996) was made possible by the Shochiku television station, which encouraged him to write his own material and work with unknown actors.

Even before the bus in which he was sitting falls into the ravine, 17-yearold Daisuke has already put in an appearance in hell. There, the singer of a local rock band made up of three demons with black-lined eyes and horns on their heads, lists all the sins he has committed. For instance he once borrowed a cable and gave it back all knotted up. And he committed suicide: a deadly sin. Kankuro Kudo, who also made a name for himself with several bizarre scenarios for his compatriot Miike Takashi (Zebraman), portrays the Buddhist underworld in this frenzied and absurdist comedy as a theatrical mud bath in which rock musicians battle to be allowed back to their earthly existence. So it’s a demonic musical, but then one in which eventually all comes down to love. Because above all else, Daisuke wants to kiss his great love, if need be reincarnated as a sea lion.

Three Stories of Love Hashiguchi Ryosuke

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Too Young to Die! Kankuro Kudo

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES MAIN PROGRAMME

Les chevaliers blancs

Toilet no Pieta

Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse has made a name for himself in recent years with impressive and intimate drama such as Private Property with Isabelle Huppert and Our Children with Emilie Dequenne. In The White Knights he finds himself in the area of world politics and actuality, but then with the sharp and oppressive questions so typical of Lafosse about uneasy reality. He bases the film on the L’Arche de Zoé affair, in which a French humanitarian organisation abused its status in 2007 to take children out of Chad for French adoptive parents. Vincent Lindon, France’s favourite actor right now, plays Jacques Arnault, head of the NGO ‘Move for Kids’ who, with his team, tries to get 300 orphaned children out of war-torn Chad. What can be wrong with that? Surely nothing. The members of the team – and the viewer – are soon confronted with a minefield of moral dilemmas.

Yokota Hiroshi is a young artist who works as a (window) cleaner to make ends meet. He has stomach cancer, but when the story starts he does not know that and when he finds out, at first he doesn’t want to do anything about it. The role of Hiroshi is played by Noda Yojiro, the Japanese pop star and vocalist/guitarist/composer for the popular band Radwips. This is Noda’s first acting experience, but he obviously brings his rockstar charisma with him. The story about the dying young artist is based on the diary kept by the famous comic strip/manga artist Tezuka Osamu in the last weeks of his life. Tezuka also died of stomach cancer, but not at a very young age (61). The filmmaker calls Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy, among other things, the ‘God of Manga’. Tezuka fought for his life, but Hiroshi would prefer to give up on life straight away. However, the schoolgirl Mai believes in him and his art and won’t give up on him.

The White Knights Joachim Lafosse

Belgium/France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 112 min, French/English/Arabic Prod: Jacques-Henri Bronckart, Sylvie Pialat | Prod Comp: Versus Production, Les Films du Worso | Sc: Joachim Lafosse, Bulle Decarpentries, Thomas Van Zuylen, based on the book by François-Xavier Pinte and Geoffroy d’Ursel | Cam: JeanFrançois Hensgens | Ed: Sophie Vercruysse | Prod Des: Olivier Radot | Sound Des: Christophe Giovannoni | With: Vincent Lindon, Louise Bourgoin, Valérie Donzelli, Reda Kateb, Stéphane Bissot, Raphaëlle Lubansu, Jean-Henri Compère | Print: O’Brother Distribution | Sales: Indie Sales | www.obrother.be

Pieta in the Toilet Matsunaga Daishi

21 nuits avec Pattie

After the death of her libertine mother, Caroline has returned to a remote corner of the South of France. The local population knows more about this colourful ‘Zaza’ than she has ever been told. The sensual housekeeper Pattie also grasps the opportunity to tell Caroline all the juicy details about her own sexual conquests. After the mysterious disappearance of her mother’s corpse, this summer comedy turns into a playful whodunnit, certainly after the arrival of the charming sixty-something Jean, whom Caroline suspects is the Nobel prizewinning writer J.M.G. Le Clézio, while the gendarmerie thinks they are on the track of a necrophile. In the midsummer heat, the villagers also celebrate three nights of Dionysian feasting, with magic realism wafting through the forests and the local handyman André (Denis Lavant) as a contemporary satyr with a legendary libido. That makes the reticent Caroline sigh that everyone’s gone mad here – until she herself also dares to succumb.

Yo is a child in a huge and strong man’s body. He has grown normally physically, but mentally he lags behind. He lives with his mother, who runs a roadside restaurant. Others say that Yo has special powers: he supposedly has visions of the future and could help someone who sits in a wheelchair to walk again. This loose adaptation of a short story by the French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has an unusual narrative structure. In an unemphatic way, Meyer juxtaposes scenes from present, past and future. He also makes sparing use of a voice-over in which Yo tells his story. We see for instance how he befriends 11-year-old Elena, who releases new feelings in him with an innocent kiss. And how he gradually starts doing more adult things, such as getting drunk in a karaoke bar. It all leads to a drastic event which gives the film an oppressive mood. Raúl Silva Gómez, a student in everyday life, provides an impressive portrayal of the leading character.

21 Nights with Pattie Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu

France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 110 min, French Prod: Bruno Pésery, Francis Boespflug, Claire Trinquet | Prod Comp: Pyramide International, Arena Films Paris | Sc: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu | Cam: Yannick Ressigeac | Ed: Annette Dutertre | Prod Des: Stéphane Lévy | Music: Nicolas Repac | With: Isabelle Carré, Karin Viard, André Dussollier, Sergi López, Denis Lavant, Laurent Poitrenaux, Philippe Rebbot | Print/ Sales: Pathé International

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Matías Meyer

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES MAIN PROGRAMME

Notes on Blindness

Chaotic Love Poems

At the age of 13, John Hull develops cataracts. Operations follow, but don’t have any effect. Thirty years later – Hull is now Professor of Theology, happily married to Claire and father of two small children – the last ray of light disappears and he is completely blind. Even though he had seen it coming for a long time, it hits him hard. To keep his head above water, Hull starts an audio diary. The 16 hours of spoken text he dictates over a period of three years is later adapted to a book and forms the basis for Notes on Blindness. This film meanders in the terrain vague between documentary and fiction. We hear the voices of Hull and his wife, but we see actors. It’s a kind of visual dubbing. That ambiguity meshes well with Hull’s reflections on the role of sight in memories and the forming of identity. That is intellectually interesting, but also offers a glimpse inside Hull’s mind. He starts out desperate, wrestling, but finally embraces his fate.

Rumi and Yulia, doesn’t that sound a little like...? Indeed, the Indonesian grandmaster Garin Nugroho casually allowed himself to be inspired by Shakespeare for this love epic spanning three decades. As neighbouring kids in the 1970s, Rumi and Yulia share good times and bad, but the difficult relationship between their parents keeps them apart. When they grow up, this factor is joined by the chaos in their own lives. Nugroho also exploits this story of a relationship to reveal the background to the social chaos in Indonesia in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Whereas the proud, independent nation is at first able to export its natural wealth, this is later superseded by Western products, despite fierce protests in the 1980s. Stylistically, Nugroho refers playfully to the film styles of the relevant periods: from the brightly coloured pop musicals of the 70s to the grubbier indie films of the 1990s.

Peter Middleton, James Spinney

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Garin Nugroho

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

The Other Side

Actor Martinez

For his fourth film The Other Side, the Italian-American director Roberto Minervini again follows the technique he developed for his previous Texas trilogy, of which Low Tide (2012) and Stop the Pounding Heart (2013) could be seen at IFFR. With the smallest possible crew and in close co-operation with his protagonists, he sets up long takes that are shot in one go. The first protagonists here are Mark and Lisa, a couple of drug addicts from the backwoods of Louisiana, where over sixty percent of the population is unemployed. At first sight, you would write them off as white trash, but the intimacy with which they allow the camera to share their lives in the social trash can soon changes that preconception. Just as the reactionary militia members who appear in the second part of the film also gradually acquire a profile thanks to Minervini’s lyrical and painfully real approach.

Arthur Martinez may well be a fulltime computer doctor, but really he’s a second-rate actor. That’s why he hires the directors Mike Ott and Nathan Silver and commissions them to make a film about Arthur Martinez. However they soon decide to intervene and try to make the diffuse personality and the far-from-exciting existence of their protagonist a little more interesting. For instance by introducing a girlfriend. And by persuading him to reveal his inner self with intimate questions. But the more the makers try to get a grip on the actor, the more desperately he tries to wrestle himself free. The result is plenty of discomfort and absurdist scenes. The film has a very documentary character, thanks to the camera work and the conversations between filmmakers and actors (who all play themselves) and continuously hovers on the boundary between fiction and reality.

Roberto Minervini

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Mike Ott, Nathan Silver

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES MAIN PROGRAMME

La luz incidente

Chauthi koot

After the sudden death of her husband, Luisa (Erica Luis) has to go looking for a partner. Someone who can help care for her two daughters, primarily in a financial sense. With her hair done up, she goes for a night out. She soon finds a potential candidate, the gallant Ernesto (Marcelo Subiotto). But has she got over the death of her lover? Does she really want a new relationship? These doubts are amplified by observational compositions – small glimpses into the life of a family in mourning in 1960s Buenos Aires. The sultry and occasionally static camera work and the choice of filming in blackand-white seem to be a direct homage to the golden era of Hollywood. Likewise, the play with lighting is occasionally reminiscent of film noir. These style techniques are used to get to the core of the matter: Will Luisa re-find happiness?

Set during the conflict between Sikh separatists and the Indian army in the early 1980s, fear, distrust and paranoia form the main emotional frame of the narrative. Jugal and Raj, two Hindi friends, miss their last train to Amritsar, the holiest city in Punjab. They end up in a cargo wagon among illegal passengers. In flashbacks we follow Jugal’s family lost at night on the outskirts of a Punjabi village. Full of fear, they hesitantly knock at the door of an isolated house and ask for directions. Later that night, Sikh terrorists visit the same Punjabi family and give orders to kill their dog for barking and drawing attention. The next morning, paramilitary men burst into the house looking for the terrorists. Sophisticated direction and impressive photography that creates claustrophobia and suspense evoke the time of the Punjab insurgency, which culminated in the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Incident Light Ariel Rotter

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

The Fourth Direction Gurvinder Singh

Strana Oz

11 minut

On the morning of the first day of the year, when Lenka Shabadinova visits an apartment along with her sister to beat up a Greek man there – a badly conceived undertaking with unpleasant consequences – she can’t suspect that this is far from the strangest thing that will happen to her this day. Roaming through Yekaterinburg, she goes looking for the kiosk where she is supposed to have her first day at work. The city and its eccentric inhabitants, including a drunk who challenges her to wrestle in the snow and a musician who is very eager to show her his new music video, have different plans for the passive young woman, however. Former Tiger candidate Vasiliy Sigarev (Living) shows the tragedy of everyday life in the Ural in an eccentric and radical absurdist style that is reminiscent of his compatriot Aleksey Balabanov, who died in 2013.

A novice actress prepares for an audition. A hotdog seller has a chat with his customers. (“How long was the longest hot dog in the world?”) Ambulance staff try to come to the aid of a woman giving birth, but the staircase to her home is blocked. For those familiar with the work of Jerzy Skolimowski – which certainly applies to many visitors to IFFR, as the festival shows virtually all his films -11 Minutes takes some getting used to. The hectic opening montage, made up of shots from telephones, laptops or security cameras, sets the tone for a mosaic narrative that does not slow down for a second. Despite doing their best to wrestle themselves free of difficult situations, the characters are pursued by a sense of doom. What is that black spot doing in the sky, like a dead pixel? Who is the man who says it’s too late to make amends for something? In a refined sample of stirring filmmaking, the master cinematographer Skolimowski lets the stress build. Mercilessly.

The Land of Oz Vasiliy Sigarev

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

11 Minutes Jerzy Skolimowski

Poland/Ireland/United Kingdom, 2015 | colour, DCP, 81 min, English/Polish Prod: Ewa Piaskowska, Jerzy Skolimowski, Andrew Lowe, Jeremy Thomas | Prod Comp: Skopia Film, Element Pictures, Recorded Picture Company | Sc: Jerzy Skolimowski | Cam: Mikolaj Lebkowski | Ed: Agnieszka Glinska | Prod Des: Joanna Kaczynska, Wojciech Zogala | Sound Des: Radoslaw Ochnio | Music: Pawel Mykietin | With: Richard Dormer, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Paulina Chapko, Andrzej Chyra, Dawid Ogrodnik, Agata Buzek, Piotr Glowacki | Print: The Festival Agency | Sales: HanWay Films | www.11minut.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES MAIN PROGRAMME

Chevalier

El apóstata

A typical men’s trip. Six guys, a luxury yacht, the Aegean. Fishing, good food, playing tough on a jet ski. Middleaged men, apart from one elderly gentleman, all comfortably well off. Six men together, what do you get? Right: competition, always proving yourself to be right, looking who’s got the longest. Especially when one of them suggests playing a game: Best at Everything. The winner gets the old man’s signet ring, as knights used to wear: the ‘chevalier’. Alongside heavyweight Yorgos Lanthimos, whose Dogtooth (2009) she once produced, Athina Rachel Tsangari again reveals herself in her third feature (a second, Attenberg, was screened in 2011 at IFFR) to be one of the new masters of the Greek Weird Wave. She takes a familiar situation and carries it to absurdist extremes in unemotional images filled with deadpan acting. It’s that amplification that both hilariously and confrontationally exposes human nature. Also see The Slow Business of Going (2000) in the programme ID: The Generic Self.

Gonzalo Tamayo, raised like so many Spaniards as a Catholic, wants to turn his back on that faith. But it turns out not to be easy to get an official apostasy – to get struck off their list by the church and his baptism declared void. Gonzalo, the eternal student type, finally gets his teeth into it. He feels he has reached a turning point: if he doesn’t make a new start now, maybe he never will. But the past continues to force itself on him, in increasingly realistic fantasies. Federico Veiroj (A Useful Life, 2010) based the clever screenplay for The Apostate on the experiences of his friend Álvaro Ogalla, who also plays the leading role. Despite Gonzalo’s problems, the film has a light-hearted and optimistic note. And despite the recurring and undoubtedly justified accusations from his surroundings that he is a selfish drip, you can only wish Gonzalo all the best when push comes to shove. A self-assured, funny and dark fairytale about the will to change.

The Apostate Federico Veiroj

Athina Rachel Tsangari

Greece, 2015 | colour, DCP, 99 min, Greek Prod: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Maria Hatzakou | Prod Comp: Haos Film, Faliro House | Sc: Efthimis Filippou, Athina Rachel Tsangari | Cam: Christos Karamanis | Ed: Matt Johnson, Yorgos Mavropsaridis | Prod Des: Anna Georgiadou | Sound Des: Leandros Ntounis | With: Yorgos Kentros, Panos Koronis, Vangelis Mourikis, Makis Papadimitriou, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Sakis Rouvas, Yiannis Drakopoulos | Print/Sales: The Match Factory | www.haosfilm.com

Spain/France/Uruguay, 2015 | colour, DCP, 80 min, Spanish Prod: Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles, Fernando Franco, Nicolas Brevière, Federico Veiroj | Prod Comp: Ferdydurke Films, Local Films, Cinekdoque | Sc: Álvaro Olgalla, Gonzalo Delgado, Nicolás Saad, Federico Veiroj | Cam: Arauco Hernández Holz | Ed: Fernando Franco | Prod Des: Gonzalo Delgado | Sound Des: Alvaro Silva Wuth, Daniel Yafalián | With: Álvaro Ogalla, Marta Larralde, Bárbara Lennie, Vicky Peña, Juan Calot, Kaiet Rodríguez, Jaime Chávarri | Print/Sales: FiGa Films | www.figafilms.com

Endorphine

He Hated Pigeons

Simone (12) is a witness to the gruesome murder of her mother, a trauma that causes her increasingly to shut herself off from reality. Together with her cousin, she plays a game in which they suffocate each other until they faint. At the age of twenty, Simone works in a parking garage, where panic attacks and visions make her life unbearable. And in her sixties, as a professor of physics, Simone gives a lecture about how the senses deceive our view of reality. André Turpin, well-known for his work as cinematographer for films such as Xavier Dolan’s Mommy and Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, grippingly interwove his three storylines with the cinema of David Lynch, the photography of Robert Frank and brain-breaking theories about time and the subconscious. All that without losing sight of the suffering of his characters.

Elias is tormented by memories of his deceased partner Sebastian. In an attempt to find peace of mind, he undertakes alone the journey they had planned to take together – to the south of Chile, the ‘end of the world’. On the way, he relives the last moments he spent with Sebastian. The people he meets on the way help him on a journey that takes him physically but above all mentally to a new starting point in his life. Elias, played by Pedro Fontaine, who is making his acting debut, travels through stunning landscapes in Patagonia, where time seems to have stood still. The original music for the film was recorded during a live performance by the composers and performers Justin Small and Ohad Benchetrit. Ingrid Veninger intends to have every screening of the film accompanied by live music, in order to underline the continual changeability of life.

André Turpin

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Ingrid Veninger

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES MAIN PROGRAMME

LIMELIGHT

Kang rinpoche

Room

When two inhabitants of a Tibetan mountain village decide to undertake a pilgrimage to the holy city of Lhasa, others join them. A group of eleven people (including a pregnant woman and a girl) eventually sets off on their pilgrimage on foot – a journey lasting months through all kinds of weather over a distance of about 2000 kilometres, partly intended as penance and partly for the peace of mind of others. The Buddhist ritual which forms part of the pilgrimage will surprise Western viewers: every few yards, the travellers throw themselves to the ground, wearing a large apron of animal skin and wooden blocks on their hands for protection. Zhang worked without a script and with non-professional actors, so the boundary between feature and documentary fades. This soberly made road movie juxtaposes beautiful shots of impressive landscapes with more intimate moments, for instance when praying together and when a child is born, for which the journey has to be interrupted briefly.

Room opens with close-ups of details which are slowly revealed to belong to a small room, lovingly maintained by Ma (Brie Larson). The young mother shares the simple but fancifully decorated place with her five-year-old son Jack, a sensitive boy. The two live like any devoted mother and son, with one noteworthy difference: their world is limited to just a few square feet. Ma does everything she can to give her son as normal a life as possible. For Jack, the surroundings are a given, but he grows curious about the world outside – their only windows on it are formed by a skylight and a peculiar visitor. With extraordinary precision and originality, director Lenny Abrahamson, also responsible for the unorthodox tragicomedy Frank (IFFR 2015), unravels the bizarre truth behind the situation of mother and son. Emma Donoghue adapted her novel Room, finalist for the Man Booker Prize 2010, to a film scenario with a blood-curdling twist. The film is nominated for four Oscars, including Best Film.

Paths of the Soul Zhang Yang

Lenny Abrahamson

Ya tayr el tayer The Idol Hany Abu-Assad

United Kingdom/Palestine/ Qatar/Netherlands/United Arab Emirates, 2015 | colour, DCP, 100 min, Arabic Prod: Ali Jaafar, Amira Diab | Prod Comp: Idol Film Production LTD, 03 FZ LLC, Cactus World Film | Sc: Hany Abu-Assad, Sameh Zoabi | Cam: Ehab Assal | Ed: Eyas Salman | Prod Des: Nael Kanj | With: Tawfeek Barhom, Kais Atallah, Hiba Atallah, Ahmad Qassim, Abdel Kareem Barakeh, Nadine Labaki, Saber Shreim | Sales: Seville International | Distr NL: September Film

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Biopic of Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf, whose winning of the pan-Arab version of TV talent show Pop Idol in 2013 led to a moment of national pride and unity in Palestine, which finally had something to celebrate on the international stage. Palestinian-Dutch director Hany Abu-Assad (who received Oscar nominations for Paradise Now, 2005, and Omar, 2013) shows the tough circumstances in which Assaf, first as a little boy in Gaza, and later in his twenties, grows up to be a singer. The Israeli occupation continuously plays a role in the background, such as when Assaf and his friends – as well as his feisty sister who suffers from kidney failure – cycle along the separation barrier. From the wedding parties at which he makes his singing debut as a boy to the enormous pressure he feels during the final of Arab Idol, with all of Palestine glued to the tube, Assaf always embodies his country, yearning for freedom.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

LIMELIGHT

Heart of a Dog

Much Loved

The year 2011 marks a watershed in the life of artist and musician Laurie Anderson. Her beloved dog Lolabelle, who had been at her side for many years, passed away. Not long after that she also lost her mother, to be followed less than two years later by Lou Reed, the front man of The Velvet Underground, with whom she’d been together for 21 years. Anderson transformed the mourning process into a film. Like her multimedia performances, Heart of a Dog is a patchwork of disparate elements, interspersing animations and 8mm home movies with found footage. A constant is Anderson’s voice, which meanders past personal recollections and major topics such as love, life and death. Without sentimentality or woolliness, she relates rituals from The Tibetan Book of the Dead or Wittgenstein’s linguistic philosophy to autobiographical stories and observations on the controlled society that has developed since 9/11. A kaleidoscopic film essay, held together by Anderson’s violin compositions and soundscapes.

Prostitutes Noha, Soukaina and Randa help and protect each other. Not just because they are friends, but also out of pure necessity – no one else will. In Marrakesh, prostitution is covertly accepted. Everybody knows it exists, yet prostitutes live marginalised lives. Nabil Ayouch, whose first film, Mektoub (1997), was also shown in Rotterdam, never chooses comfortable subjects. His previous work, Les chevaux de Dieu (2012), was about boys from the slums of Casablanca who grow into suicide terrorists. Much Loved, praised after premiering in Cannes, again touches a sore spot. In Morocco the film was prohibited. Based on a few excerpts, both the director and leading actress received threats. Ayouch captures the lives of the three friends in lively and occasionally also dreamlike scenes. The comradery contrasts sharply with their social marginalisation. The film is a cry of encouragement for these strong women.

Laurie Anderson

Nabil Ayouch

Ik wil gelukkig zijn

Tanna

Fien de la Mar, born in 1898 into a famous Amsterdam theatre family, was the greatest pre-war actress of the Netherlands. At 18, she was already performing at the Carré Theatre, where wildly enthusiastic reactions ushered in a golden career. De la Mar could do anything, from cabaret and revue to operetta and film. But what set her apart was her overwhelming presence. She moved with animal sensuality, let words roll off her tongue with a natural languor and was able to make a complete auditorium swoon with one sultry glance. It’s all amply illustrated by the film fragments and theatre registrations Annette Apon dug up from EYE’s archives. Actress Johanna ter Steege, admirer of De la Mar, provides commentary on the footage. Excerpts from interviews with people around De la Mar complete this unique portrait of the Dutch diva. She was the greatest, the most volatile – and in the end, unable to cope with it all.

“By holding on to our traditions we’ve been able to withstand colonialism, Christianity and money”, reflects a worldly-wise chieftain on the tropical island Tanna. But suddenly traditions don’t seem to suffice any more. To defuse a violent conflict, the young girl Wawa is married off to a neighbouring tribe, as a result of which she can’t marry the boy she loves. The enamoured couple refuses to comply with this custom and elopes, with drastic consequences. Impressive images of a paradisiacal jungle and the infernal crater of an active volcano form the background of this drama about a forbidden love. This is the first feature film by documentary makers Butler and Dean. They spent seven months among one of the tribes on Tanna that actively upholds the traditional way of life. Together with them they developed the scenario, which is based on an event that took place in 1987 and includes an unexpected role for the British royal family.

One Life Is Not Enough Annette Apon

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Martin Butler, Bentley Dean

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

LIMELIGHT

As mil e uma noites: Volume 2 – O desolado

Mammal

Rebecca Daly

Arabian Nights: Volume 2 – The Desolate One

Miguel Gomes

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Divorcée Margaret (Rachel Griffiths) leads a quiet, withdrawn life. She divides her time between her store and the swimming pool, where she tries to stay under water as long as she can. Shortly after learning that her son – with whom she never had real contact – has died, she takes in a homeless boy of about the same age. Between Margaret and this criminal but charming Joe (Barry Keoghan) an unorthodox relationship develops. Their mutual dependence grows, but the fragile bond comes under threat when Margaret’s ex-husband Matt shows up ever more frequently. Matt’s anger at the tragic death of their son puts an increasing strain on things, just like Joe’s involvement with a gang. Rebecca Daly’s second feature – after The Other Side of Sleep, shown in Cannes – is a powerful yet restrained relationship drama, in which the outstanding actors are given all the room they need to evoke a world of raw emotions without speaking many lines.

Portugal/France/Germany/ Switzerland, 2015 | colour, DCP, 131 min, Portuguese Prod: Luís Urbano, Sandro Aguilar, Thomas Ordonneau, Janine Jackowski, Elena Tatti, Elodie Brunner | Prod Comp: O Som e a Fúria, Shellac Sud, Komplizen Film GmbH, Box Productions | Sc: Miguel Gomes, Mariana Ricardo, Telmo Churro | Cam: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom | Ed: Telmo Churro, Pedro Filipe Marques, Miguel Gomes | Prod Des: Bruno Duarte, Artur Pinheiro | Sound Des: Vasco Pimentel | With: Crista Alfaiate, Adriano Luz, Américo Silva, Rogério Samora, Carloto Cotta, Fernanda Loureiro, Luísa Cruz | Sales: The Match Factory | Distr NL: September Film | www.as1001noites.com

As mil e uma noites: Volume 1 – O inquieto

As mil e uma noites: Volume 3 – O encantado

Arabian Nights: Volume 1 – The Restless One

Portugal/France/Germany/ Switzerland, 2015 | colour, DCP, 125 min, Portuguese Prod: Luís Urbano, Sandro Aguilar, Thomas Ordonneau, Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Elena Tatti, Elodie Brunner | Prod Comp: O Som e a Fúria, Shellac Sud, Komplizen Film GmbH, Box Productions | Sc: Miguel Gomes, Mariana Ricardo, Telmo Churro | Cam: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Mário Castanheira | Ed: Telmo Churro, Pedro Filipe Marques, Miguel Gomes | Prod Des: Bruno Duarte, Artur Pinheiro | Sound Des: Vasco Pimentel | With: Crista Alfaiate, Adriano Luz, Américo Silva, Rogério Samora, Carloto Cotta, Fernanda Loureiro | Sales: The Match Factory | Distr NL: September Film | www.as1001noites.com

In Volume 2 of Gomes’ palette of stories based on events in Portugal in 2013 and 2014, Scheherazade also features as the narrator. The tone is more sober now. Panoramic images of rough hill country form the setting of a grim expedition of an old man with a rifle – a murderer on the run from the police. At the end, this almost incidentally tells something about the atmosphere in the country. In the second tale, a judge wants to issue a verdict in an apparently straightforward robbery case. But when new witnesses open their mouths, a picture gradually emerges of setbacks and acts of desperation. It’s as if the Portuguese people had ended up in a bizarre tragicomedy. The melancholy final episode reveals most clearly that Gomes aims to make or a sketch of society. Between a sprightly little dog and the suicide pact of an elderly couple, there is ample room for miniature portraits of the residents of an apartment building.

Arabian Nights: Volume 3 – The Enchanted One

Miguel Gomes

The first part of a trilogy in which Miguel Gomes reflects on the miserable situation in Portugal, which suffers heavily under the economic crisis and the demands of the troika – represented here as merchants on camels. The playful form is borrowed from the fairy tale of Scheherazade, but the copiously metaphoric content is based on recent events in Portugal. In this first part, after a documentary opening about the closure of a shipyard, things momentarily threaten to go wrong when the director (Gomes himself) is struck by fear of failure. Scheherazade takes his place and continues the narration. Impotent Portuguese rulers and their foreign masters get permanent erections thanks to an African miracle healer, a crowing rooster is brought to trial, a broken heart leads to arson and a beached whale and the traditional New Year’s Day swim give occasion for tragic personal stories. Gomes’s unabashed shifting between reality and fantasy drew a lot of attention at the Cannes Film Festival.

Before Scheherazade continues to tell about the present-day ordeals of the Portuguese people, she first chooses for herself in this conclusion of the Arabian Nights trilogy. Longing to get to know the world, she encounters bandits and genies and, defying space and time, has a serious talk with her father in a modern-day Ferris wheel. She then takes up the Portuguese thread again and leads us around, by way of counterpoint, in the tight community of finch trappers in the suburbs of Lisbon. Loosely interlaced with scenes of police demonstrations and the adventures of a female Chinese student as voice-over. Many of the actors in Arabian Nights play multiple roles. Some of them, including several bird trappers, play themselves. These bird fanciers provide the trilogy’s most realistic portrayal of contemporary life in Portugal, with the love of birdsong as poetic touch. Yet even here an Oriental genie can suddenly pop up. Imagination is thicker than water.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Portugal/France/Germany/ Switzerland, 2015 | colour, DCP, 125 min, Portuguese Prod: Luís Urbano, Sandro Aguilar, Thomas Ordonneau, Janine Jackowski, Elena Tatti, Elodie Brunner | Prod Comp: O Som e a Fúria, Shellac Sud, Komplizen Film GmbH, Box Productions | Sc: Crista Alfaiate, Adriano Luz, Américo Silva, Rogério Samora, Carloto Cotta, Fernanda Loureiro | Cam: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Lisa Persson | Ed: Telmo Churro, Pedro Filipe Marques, Miguel Gomes | Prod Des: Bruno Duarte, Artur Pinheiro | Sound Des: Vasco Pimentel | With: Crista Alfaiate, Américo Silva, Carloto Cotta, Jing Jing Guo, Chico Chapas, Bernardo Alves, Quitério | Sales: The Match Factory | Distr NL: September Film | www.as1001noites.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

LIMELIGHT

El abrazo de la serpiente

Nie yin niang

In the Amazonian jungle in the early 1900s, the German explorer Theo and his guide Manduca meet the shaman Karamakate. Theo has been in Amazonia for a long time already, but is very ill and in search of a rare medicinal plant. The shaman, whose people were murdered and displaced by white men, accompanies the two in the hope of finding surviving members of his tribe. What follows is a physically and mentally enervating and exhausting journey across the river, shot in breathtaking black-and-white images. The journey reveals the influence of Western greed and missionary zeal in this previously unspoilt territory. The scenes are intercut with images of an expedition that takes place decades later, when a young American is confronted with an aged Karamakate. The film exudes grief over a lost civilization, whose unique insights and relationship to nature have so much to teach the Western world, especially now. The film is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film in a Foreign Language.

Hou Hsiao-hsien’s widely praised first film in the wuxia genre is based on a 9th-century short story from the Tang dynasty about a princess from an imperial family who is kidnapped and then trained to kill corrupt politicians. When one of her assignments fails, she receives the impossible task of killing the cousin she used to love, who by now is a feared military commander. Contemplative scenes alternate with intense, tightly choreographed sword fights, sublimely shot by cameraman Mark Lee Ping Bin. His meticulous compositions capture both the majestic natural surroundings and the elaborately decorated palatial rooms with a seldom displayed abundance of colour. Plot and drama are – contrary to wuxia custom but fitting with Hou’s own narrative tradition – but a reflection, a shimmer of the events on screen. Yet Shakespeare is never far off. The tensions between task and family, death and love, ineluctably lead to a climax.

Embrace of the Serpent Ciro Guerra

The Assassin Hou Hsiao-hsien

Taiwan/China/Hong Kong/ France, 2015 | colour/b&w, DCP, 105 min, Mandarin Prod: Hou Hsiao-hsien, Yiqi Chen, Lam Peter, Gou Tai-Chiang, Lin Kufn, Tung Tzu-Hsien | Prod Comp: SpotFilms, Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd., Media Asia Films, Central Motion Picture Corp. | Sc: Hou Hsiao-hsien, Chu Tienwen, Hsieh Hai-meng, Zhong Acheng | Cam: Mark Lee Ping Bing | Ed: Liao Ching-sung | Prod Des: Hwarng Wern-ying | Sound Des: Tu Duu-chih | Music: Lim Giong | With: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Zhou Yun, Tsumabuki Satoshi, Juan Ching-tian, Hsieh Hsin-ying, Sheu Fang-yi | Sales: Wild Bunch | Distr NL: Lumière

Bang Gang (Une histoire d’amour moderne)

The Endless River Oliver Hermanus

Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)

Eva Husson

Who is perpetrator, who is victim in this sweltering tragic drama set in the South-African town of Riviersonderend (Endless River)? Percy is released from prison after serving a four-year sentence and has the best intentions. Yet it is difficult to start with a clean slate. His wife Tiny has faithfully waited for him, but renewed happiness fails to materialise. At the diner Tiny works at, she enjoys an innocent flirt with French expat Gilles. It might have remained at that, if Gilles’s family hadn’t been massacred by burglars and a desperate policeman hadn’t marked Percy as a possible suspect. A soberly staged, charged tragedy develops, with a metaphoric undertone and classic touch. With more emphasis on actors than on plot we see how the timid Tiny and the egocentric Gilles, torn by grief and anger, are driven toward each other. Two opposite natures who form an unlikely alliance and try to overcome their pain.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Pretty girl George falls in love with Alex, a boy who lives in a villa by himself. It quickly becomes the school’s hangout. Alcohol, drugs and porn are consumed copiously there. When Alex begins to lose interest in George and even starts an affair with her best friend Laetitia, George decides to lift the familiar game Spin the Bottle to a more interesting level. Licentious teenagers have been the subject of films before, with Larry Clark’s Kids as benchmark. USAtrained French filmmaker Eva Husson opted for a less raw but no less realistic approach. Her kids are well-to-do YouTubing and chatting French adolescents in sunny Biarritz. The partly inexperienced cast (Marilyn Lima, who plays George, was found on Tumblr) interprets intimate moments naturally and with confidence. The careful lighting and the apposite electronic soundtrack by White Sea make Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) a sensitive portrait of teenagers, their first loves and the pitfalls this involves.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

LIMELIGHT

Mænd & høns

Nooit meer slapen

Never before was the cream of the Danish actors’ guild this ugly. Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Søren Malling, David Dencik, Nicolas Bro – each a familiar face from many films and series. Here, however, as members of a rather eccentric family, they’re almost unrecognisable. In search of their biological father, Gabriel (Dencik) and Elias (Mikkelsen) end up in what at first looks like a madhouse – the dwelling of three wild men on a small island cut off from the rest of humanity. The men turn out to be related to them, but exactly how much genetic material all of them share is the pivotal question: the house harbours a tragic family secret. After his widely acclaimed black comedy Adam’s Apples (2005), a new film by Anders Thomas Jensen was long in the making. Men & Chicken is a supremely idiosyncratic mixture of horror movie and comedy, full of fist fights, bad haircuts, questionable progressive optimism and moving personal revelations.

It takes guts to adapt one of the most popular Dutch post-war novels to the screen. Boudewijn Koole took up the challenge in a film that confirms his visual talent while doing justice to the book. Beyond Sleep largely follows the 1966 classic. Geology student Alfred, as insecure as he is ambitious, hopes to find evidence of meteorite impacts on an expedition to Lapland. Hiking across the tundra for days on end with his Norse acquaintance Arne and two other Norwegians is tough for the untrained Alfred. He has to go to his limits. Alfred’s inferiority complex, his struggle with himself and the merciless natural environment, the expectations that weigh on him, the paranoia that overcomes him, the friendship that surprises him – Koole manages to present it all miraculously well without the use of words, aided by the sensitive camera work of Melle van Essen and the outstanding performance of Reinout Scholten van Asschat. Opening film IFFR 2016.

Men & Chicken Anders Thomas Jensen

Beyond Sleep Boudewijn Koole

WORLD PREMIERE

Free in Deed

Japanese director Kawase Naomi (The Mourning Forest, 2007) makes films in which ordinary folk come to face existential pressure in their lives and have to find a way to cope and come to terms with loss. Aided by the contemplation of nature, with its beauty and cyclical pattern of death and resurrection. In An, a food stall selling dorayaki (pancakes filled with the sweet red-bean paste an) is surrounded by cherry trees. The grumpy stallholder Sentaro doesn’t pay them any mind, until the older Tokue (Kiki Kirin), whom he hesitatingly takes on as assistant, draws his attention to their foliage, which transforms according to the seasons during the film, from blossom to falling leaves. Tokue (who just like Sentaro harbours a secret), with her cooking skills shown in closeup, and regular Wakana (Uchida Kyara, Kiki’s granddaughter) bring new life into the eatery. A quiet story, told in a naturalistic style, around a fundamental question: what is worthwhile in life as it is lived from day to day?

“God never gives us more than we can carry.” This mantra is often urged upon Melva, the single mother in this intense and stylish drama, by her fellow believers. Well-meant advice that is of precious little use to her, because she’s looking desperately and in vain for a cure for her son, who seems possessed by the devil. After a failing health care system has left her stranded and her son is no longer welcome at school on account of his behavioural problems, she finds solace with a church religious community where speaking in tongues and the laying on of hands are everyday practices. Minister Abe, a lonely man with a complex past, is determined to help his underprivileged fellow humans. But is fervently believing in salvation really the solution? In this drama based on a true story, all elements point to disaster: from the distorted, ominous sounds to the leaden grey skies. A powerful, complex and extremely human story about the effects of blind faith.

Naomi Kawase

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Jake Mahaffy

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

LIMELIGHT

Boi neon

D’Ardennen

Iremar is part of a rodeo troupe that tours the Brazilian northeast. His task is to send bulls into the arena. Intensely exciting physical scenes alternate with contemplative episodes that sketch a painterly portrait of the members of the troupe. Cameraman Diego Garcia maintains a documentary-like aesthetic to render the dynamics inside the arena. It is a somewhat loose style, combined with symmetrical tableaux reminiscent of the paintings of Johannes Vermeer. The camera is an observer that picks up everyday conversations, such as the whimpering of youngster Cáca. It is also an instrument of wonder, such as during the remarkably lit dance performances of mother Galega. Seen in this way, the film can be compared to a meandering river. During its quieter stretches the viewer gets to marvel, while its sharp bends expose the changing society of Brazil. It all adds up to a harmonious account of how tradition gradually gives way to industry.

Kenneth is serving a long-term prison sentence for a violent robbery he committed together with his younger brother Dave and his girlfriend at the time, Sylvie. When he comes out, he doesn’t realise how much life outside of prison has changed. Dave and Sylvie are trying to get their lives back on track together, with an honest job and a family life and without drugs or crime. As soon as he comes home, Kenneth tries to make a pass at Sylvie, but nobody dares tell him that he has lost Sylvie for good. The pentup tension between the once close brothers mounts to a climax. This tragic drama with thriller elements, written by Robin Pront and actor Jeroen Perceval, is reminiscent of the early, rough work of Nicolas Winding Refn. The grim atmosphere of the drab working-class districts around Antwerp is almost palpable, not in the least thanks to the soundtrack full of nervous hardcore music, the perfectly fitting styling and the consistently grey skies.

Neon Bull Gabriel Mascaro

Brazil/Uruguay/Netherlands, 2015 | colour, DCP, 101 min, Portuguese Prod: Rachel Ellis, Sandino Saravia Vinay, Marleen Slot | Prod Comp: Desvia, Malbicho Cine, Viking Film | Sc: Gabriel Mascaro | Cam: Diego Garcia | Ed: Fernando Epstein, Eduardo Serrano | Prod Des: Maíra Mesquita | Sound Des: Mauricio d’Orey | Music: Otávio Santos, Cláudio N, Carlos Montenegro | With: Juliano Cazarré, Aline Santana, Carlos Pessoa, Maeve Jinkings, Vinicius de Oliveira, Josinaldo Alves, Samya de Lavor | Sales: Memento Films International | Distr NL: ABC – Cinemien | www.gabrielmascaro.com

The Ardennes Robin Pront

Zvizdan

Problemski Hotel

Boy and girl are in love, but can’t be together because of their different origins. The story of Romeo and Juliet is universal, but especially poignant when set in 1990s Yugoslavia. Against the background of the Balkan Wars, this film tells of not one, but three doomed love affairs. In 1991, at the start of the conflict, Jelena and Ivan want to escape their oppressive village life, but her brother stands in the way. Ten years later, Ante and Natasa don’t succeed in celebrating the peace. And yet another decade later, the national trauma still reverberates in the lives of Luka and Marija. At the Cannes Film Festival, where the film won the jury prize in the section Un Certain regard, critics unanimously judged this to be Dalibor Matanic’s best film so far. Part of that praise is definitely to the merit of Tihana Lazovic and Goran Markovic, who play all three couples. Who is Croatian and who is Serbian isn’t always clear. But who gets emotionally hurt is.

Bipul (Tarek Halaby) suffers from memory loss and has forgotten where he’s from. This happens to be quite convenient because he cannot be deported. He lives among refugees in an asylum seeker centre in Brussels, where he sets himself up as the great conciliator. With his extensive knowledge of languages, he manages to stifle quarrels in the bud. He helps the residents, who come from all corners of the world, with their asylum applications. That is, those who don’t leave in sea containers in the middle of the night for the promised land – England. For the majority of the residents, the asylum application is followed by a waiting period: an episode that is presented in a tragicomic manner in this adaptation of Dimitri Verhulst’s eponymous novel. The difference in cultural views – for example, how to approach women – acquires another meaning when seen through the eyes of the refugees. This poetical insight, and the theatrical acting, lead to a better understanding of the goings-on in the reception of European refugees.

The High Sun Dalibor Matanic

100

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Manu Riche

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Belgium/Netherlands, 2016 | colour, DCP, 110 min, English/Russian/Dutch/ French/Arabic/Kurdish Prod: Emmy Oost, Denis Vaslin, Geneviève De Bauw | Prod Comp: Cassette for Timescapes, Volya Films, Thank You & Good Night Productions | Sc: Steve Hawes, Manu Riche, based on the novel by Dimitri Verhulst | Cam: Renaat Lambeets | Ed: Michèle Hubinon | Prod Des: Igor Gabriel | Sound Des: Ranko Paukovic | Music: Harry De Wit, Guy Cabay | With: Tarek Halaby, Gökhan Girginol, Evgenia Brendes, Lydia Indjova, Marijke Pinoy, Kristien De Proost, Pieter Verelst | Sales: Cassette for Timescapes | Distr NL: Lumière | www.problemskihotel.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

101

LIMELIGHT

Keeper

Demolition

15-year-old Maxime is a promising goalkeeper who is just starting to attract serious attention from football scouts when he hears that his girlfriend Mélanie is pregnant. Mélanie’s mother orders her daughter to get an abortion, because as a teenage mother she personally experienced how tough young parenthood can be. Maxime, on the contrary, tries to persuade Mélanie to keep their child. Keeper primarily follows the perspective of Maxime, who doesn’t have any rights whatsoever and feels totally powerless about what is happening. The realistic style of cameraman Denis Jutzeler, who has worked extensively with Alain Tanner, dovetails perfectly with Senez’s authenticity-driven style of directing; during rehearsals he didn’t give his actors a script, but let them do a lot of improvising instead. In his feature film debut Senez doesn’t only show the adult worries, but also the fragility and light-footedness of adolescence. The result is a refreshingly honest impression that doesn’t force any position onto the viewer.

New York banker Davis Mitchell (Jake Gyllenhaal) loses his wife and sees the house of cards of his self-indulgent life collapse. Flashbacks, jump cuts and casual remarks suggest repressed emotions and memories that are trying to come to the surface. His letters of complaint about a defective candy dispenser contain ever more personal confessions, to the fascination of customer service employee and single mother Karen Moreno (Naomi Watts). In the meanwhile, Mitchell looks for footing in the physicality of demolition work, because “if you want to fix something, you have to take everything apart”, in the words of his father-in-law (Chris Cooper). The actor’s director Jean-Marc Vallée (two acting Oscars for Dallas Buyers Club, two acting Oscar nominations for Wild) easily switches between psychological (melo)drama and (romantic) comedy, and does not shy away from stylistic gimmicks such as a bit of film played backwards.

Guillaume Senez

Jean-Marc Vallée

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

El clan

Full Contact

This filming of the true, shocking story of the Puccio clan by director Pablo Trapero (Tiger Award winner with Crane World, 1999), with Guillermo Francella in the main role as psychopathic family head (and former junta collaborator), was a hit in Argentina and good for a Silver Lion in Venice for Best Director. In the early 1980s the Puccios kidnap fellow neighbourhood residents in Buenos Aires to ask ransom, then kill them anyway. On the surface the members of the family are all decent shopkeepers, who dutifully sweep their own doorstep. Meanwhile they sway the sceptre in a horror-like shadow world, with terrified, gagged victims in the cellar. The state of mind and methods of the family – whose distorted relationships the film incisively shows with lively pop songs as wry counterpoint – are intimately related to the dictatorship, the power structures of which have persisted underground since the introduction of democracy in 1983.

A bleak container in the middle of nowhere in the Nevada desert. Inside: the drone pilot, tightly framed, finger on the button, staring at screens, instructions via headset. Selecting target, countdown, fire – and thousands of miles away a terrorist camp gets blasted to bits. Or a school, accidentally, after which pilot Ivan (Grégoire Colin) goes into an existential crisis. Nightclub, sex, love; remorse and denial; vague, coarsegrained drone images – Ivan enters the disorienting border zone of his mental capacities, where his subconscious is respectively portrayed as an unreachable island and as a boxing school where he has to free himself of his deepest fears as he looks for genuine contact. David Verbeek (known for Asian-oriented films such as Shangai Trance, 2008) once again analyses the psychological effects of fast cultural and technological developments, this time supported by a minimalist soundtrack by Tindersticks keyboardist David Boulter.

The Clan Pablo Trapero

Argentina/Spain, 2015 | colour, DCP, 108 min, Spanish Prod: Matiás Mosteirín, Pablo Trapero, Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar, Esther García | Prod Comp: Kramer & Sigman Films, Matanza Cine Srl., El Deseo SA | Sc: Pablo Trapero, Esteban Student, Julian Loyola | Cam: Julián Apezteguia | Ed: Alejandro Carrillo Penovi, Pablo Trapero | Prod Des: Sebastián Orgambide | Sound Des: Vicente D’Elia, Leandro de Loredo | Music: Sebastián Escofet | With: Guillermo Francella, Peter Lanzani, Gastón Cocchiarale, Lili Popovich, Giselle Motta, Franco Masini, Antonia Bengoechea | Sales: Film Factory Entertainment | Distr NL: ABC – Cinemien | www.elclanlapelicula.com

102

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

David Verbeek

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

103

LIMELIGHT

IFFR LIVE

Rak ti Khon Kaen

À peine j’ouvre les yeux

Beyond the hypnotizing hum of fans in the sultry Thai heat and the calming appearance of dreamy apparitions and ghosts, Weerasethakul’s films have always had a political dimension. After the military coup of 2014, here it inevitably pushes more to the foreground. The setting is an old school in Weerasethakul’s hometown, where an improvised hospital has been set up for soldiers suffering from a mysterious sleeping disorder. The elderly volunteer Jen cherishes one of these young men as the son she never had and a medium reads their dreams. Two goddesses appear in the guise of young women and tell that underneath the hospital lies an age-old cemetery, where rulers of old fight out a pre-historic battle and rob the sleeping young men of their life force. Told in Weerasathakul’s gentle and calmly subversive style, these notes from the underground, besides attesting to his deep love of the culture he grew up in, also represent a fierce indictment of the authoritarian regime. Also see the installation Fireworks (Archives).

Leyla Bouzid’s impressive debut film is set in the summer of 2010 on the eve of the Tunisian Jasmine Revolution. Farah is a rebellious 18-year-old teenager. Her overly concerned mother would like her to study medicine, but the undaunted Farah prefers to sing in an underground band. She is in love with the oud player and likes to sing politically provocative songs, such as the film’s title song, As I Open My Eyes. She also drinks beer in public for the first time and shows an interest in sex – developments her mother follows with dismay. When Farah disappears one day, it looks as if she’s off on one of her usual escapades. But is she really? The narrative, studded with songs, works on several levels. The story of the rebellious Farah refers to the Arab Spring, but the film is also a subtly sketched portrait of a mother-daughter relationship that goes from inflexibility to recognition and acknowledgement.

Cemetery of Splendour Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Thailand/United Kingdom/ France/Germany/Malaysia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 122 min, Thai Prod: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Keith Griffiths, Simon Field, Charles de Meaux, Michael Weber, Hans Geissendörfer | Prod Comp: Kick the Machine, Illuminations Films, Anna Sanders Films, Match Factory Productions, Film- und Fernsehproduktion Geissendörfer | Sc: Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Cam: Diego Garcia | Ed: Lee Chatametikool | Prod Des: Akekarat Homlaor | Sound Des: Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr | With: Jenjira Pongpas Widner, Banlop Lomnoi, Jarinpattra Rueangram, Petcharat Chaiburi, Tawatchai Buawat, Sujittraporn Wongsrikeaw, Bhattaratorn Senkraigul | Sales: The Match Factory | Distr NL: Lumière | www.kickthemachine.com

As I Open My Eyes Leyla Bouzid

France/Tunisia/Belgium/ United Arab Emirates, 2015 | colour, DCP, 102 min, Arabic Prod: Sandra da Fonseca, Imed Marzouk, Anthony Rey | Prod Comp: Blue Monday Productions, Propaganda Production, Hélicotronc | Sc: Leyla Bouzid, Marie-Sophie Chambon | Cam: Sébastien Goepfert | Ed: Lilian Corbeille | Prod Des: Raouf Héloui | Sound Des: Ludovic Van Pachterbeke | Music: Khyam Allami | With: Baya Medhaffar, Ghalia Benali, Montassar Ayari, Aymen Omrani, Lassaad Jamoussi, Deena Abdelwahed, Youssef Soltana | Sales: Doc & Film International | Distr NL: MOOOV Film Distribution The Netherlands

Under sandet

Préjudice

Filmmaker Martin Zandvliet incisively brings to life a willfully forgotten and shameful part of Danish history. It is the end of World War II and the occupation has left its marks, both on the Danish coast and in the minds of the people. Under the leadership of the callous sergeant Rasmussen (Roland Møller), a group of German boys – counter to the agreements of the Geneva Convention – are forced to risk their lives to make the beaches safe again. The serene Danish coastal landscapes, caught in crispy clear images, are regularly shaken up by explosions when another trembling, underfed hand has detonated a landmine. In a subtle manner, Zandvliet transforms the German teenagers from anonymous enemies to full-blooded characters. The bloodier the post-war battle ground becomes, the greater Rasmussen’s inner conflict. Owing to the outstanding performances of the entire cast, every scene of this factbased drama vibrates with urgency.

Are the members of this well-to-do family closely united, or actually condemned to being with one another? This and other thorny questions arise when a festive home dinner takes an unexpected turn. In his first feature film, Antoine Cuypers gives his own take on this familiar theme. Thirty-two-year-old Cédric still lives with his parents and struggles with mental problems. When his sister announces she is pregnant, he is the only one who doesn’t respond to the news with joy. On the contrary, he provokes, rakes up old sores and thereby causes the first cracks in the hitherto carefully cherished harmonious façade – the beginning of a confrontation full of frustration, suspicion and shattered illusions. Cuypers, who says he feels an affinity with the early Michael Haneke, aims at a balance between the strong ensemble of actors and his self-assured visual and artistic choices, which sometimes give the overall realism a mysterious touch and reinforce the sense of discomfort. A tragedy in which it is not easy to determine who deserves our sympathy.

Land of Mine Martin Zandvliet

104

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Prejudice Antoine Cuypers

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Belgium/Luxembourg/ Netherlands, 2015 | colour, DCP, 105 min, French Prod: Benoit Roland, Bernard Michaux, Sander Verdonk, Denis Wigman, Guy van Baelen | Prod Comp: Wrong Men, Samsa Film, CTM Films, Mollywood | Sc: Antoine Cuypers, Antoine Wauters | Cam: Frédéric Noirhomme | Ed: Elif Uluengin | Prod Des: Patrick Dechesne, Alain-Pascal Housiaux | Music: Ernst Reijseger, Francesco Pastacaldi | With: Nathalie Baye, Ariane Labed, Thomas Blanchard, Arno Hintjens, Éric Caravaca, Julien Baumgartner, Cathy Min Jung | Sales: Les Films du Losange | Distr NL: Cinéart Netherlands

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

105

IFFR LIVE

The Model

Sophelikoptern

“Are you ready for it?” asks her father as they drive to the airport. Emma, still an adolescent, nods timidly in affirmation. Her illusion that the camera will only capture her slim figure gets mercilessly shattered during her very first shoot, when top photographer Shane White asks her to look into the camera more lustfully, like a practiced nymphomaniac. Director Mads Matthiesen employs slow-paced camerawork to show how Emma finds her way around the elusive etiquette of the fashion world under Shane’s guidance. She quickly acquires the necessary egocentric skills to maintain herself and be noticed. The Model paints a tender portrait of Emma’s budding sensuality, which the model agency always coldly uses as a bargaining chip during contract negotiations. Gradually Emma realises that lust functions as currency. In the end, her innocence falls prey to the tension between the ultimate dream job and her common sense.

Dry humour and crystal-clear, short, carefully composed, static black-andwhite shots – is it any wonder that Jonas Selberg Augustsén’s feature film debut is being compared with the early work of Jim Jarmusch? Even so, the Swedish director adds plenty of his own touches, such as poetry and subtle engagement. One day Grandma Sirpa wakes up and thinks: I want my clock back. It’s already been a year since she gave it to be repaired; enough is enough. Two days later, her three bored grandchildren get into an old Saab 900 Turbo – with the clock – on their way to Grandma. The 1000-km-long and slightly absurd journey leads past abandoned highways, objects of interest such as the world’s biggest cheese slicer and a lot of speed traps. The corny running gags gain in significance as the film progresses, especially when you know that the main characters are Roma. And thus it can happen that a dryly comical road movie about crossword puzzles, bubble wrap and a garbage helicopter also has something to say about cultural heritage and racism.

The Garbage Helicopter Jonas Selberg Augustsén

Mads Matthiesen

WORLD PREMIERE

La novia The Bride Paula Ortiz

Spain/Germany, 2015 | colour, DCP, 95 min, Spanish Prod: Alex LaFuente, Rosana Tomás, Ufuk Genc, Janosch Benz | Prod Comp: Get In The Picture Productions, Cine Chromatix KG | Sc: Paula Ortiz, Javier García | Cam: Miguel Ángel Amoedo | Ed: Javier García | Prod Des: Jesús Bosqued, Pilar Quintana | Music: Shigeru Umebayashi | With: Inma Cuesta, Leticia Dolera, Álex García, Asier Etxeandía, Luisa Gavasa, María Alfonsa Rosso, Carlos Álvarez-Nóvoa | Print/Sales: Fortissimo Films

106

The countryside of Southern Spain, somewhere in the 1930s. The earth is scorched, the houses are dilapidated. The Bride (La novia) is preparing for her impending marriage to the Bridegroom. In childhood they formed an inseparable trinity with Leonardo, until a bloody family feud brought the idyll to an end. Years later their marriage is intended as the best way to lay the persistent feud to rest. But the bond between the Bride and Leonardo is stronger than anything and the Bride is torn between passion and duty. That this doesn’t end well is made clear by Paula Ortiz early on in her visually brilliant adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s play Blood Wedding. Even so, the path to the fateful ending remains just as engrossing as the forbidden love between the Bride and Leonardo. Ortiz has incorporated a good deal of García Lorca’s poetic language and songs. The film won no fewer than 12 nominations for the Goyas, the Spanish film awards.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

107

ID: THE GENERIC SELF

Neither Here nor There Evgeny Gusyatinskiy “The most beautiful thing in Tokyo is McDonald’s. The most beautiful thing in Stockholm is McDonald’s. The most beautiful thing in Florence is McDonald’s. Peking and Moscow don’t have anything beautiful yet.” This famous Andy Warhol thought was also prophetic. However, having observed that in the 1970s everything and everyone in the world was becoming identical, Warhol probably could not have imagined the scale such globalisation and homogenisation would reach in the decades to come. Back then there was still a line between highbrow and lowbrow. Today everything is ‘nobrow’, and adepts of haute cuisine and haute culture are as globalised as lovers of fast food. Even their outfits are not so different anymore, as the mass market rapidly borrows and reproduces the style of the elite, making everyone look, and perhaps even think, the same. ID Store Of course, our identity is still based on origins and DNA. However the economic aspects of living, such as commerce, consumption, connection to global markets and corporations, define our lifestyle as much as natural biological codes do, if not more so. Internet and social media also play a pivotal role: selfies and Instagram provide the chance to create a better version of ourselves – a version no longer based on actual reality, but no less real. The fact that travelling and tourism are getting more and more affordable changes us as well, redefining the notion of home and altering our sense of belonging.

Warhol also noted that skyscrapers – symbols of the future – should not be built as permanent. They need to have a short expiry date and should be easily replaced by other buildings, perhaps more advanced than previous ones. Can this idea be applied to a contemporary man – an inhabitant of a skyscraper? This man is almost never at home. He basically lives in an office, working hard so as not to become redundant and be replaced by someone else; or he finds himself in transit, somewhere in between cities, in a hotel room that is designed in the same way as his flat.

Anomalisa

“I’m not a tourist, a traveller, a nomad. Not an immigrant, an emigrant, a migrant. Neither a native, a foreigner, an exile. Not a national, nor an international. Not ethnic, centric, eccentric. Not an expat, neither a repat. Not an extra-terrestrial either. Neither here, nor there”, writes Petra, the protagonist of The Slow Business of Going (2000). A cyborg and a human being at the same time, she travels non-stop without a final destination, living everywhere and nowhere. There is no home she can come back to. Does she remember all the places and people she has seen? Would she be able to distinguish between them? Lost, Found, Erased Petra collects memories for other people who can download them from a hard drive. Indeed, when the external world becomes a huge memory stick, you don’t need to remember or experience things yourself. You can always be ‘blank’. The Slow Business of Going is partly sci-fi, but the future it depicts is already here. Contemporary design, modern architecture and new technologies have already surpassed the most imaginative ideas of science fiction, and have elevated our nature, basic instincts and national specifics to the level where they become unimportant or secondary.

“Is the contemporary city like the contemporary airport – ‘all the same’?” Rem Koolhaas asks in his article ‘The Generic City’. “Is it possible to theorize the convergence? And if so, to what ultimate configuration is it aspiring? Convergence is possible only at the price of shedding identity. That is usually seen as a loss. But at the scale at which it occurs, it must mean something. What are the disadvantages of identity, and conversely, what are the advantages of blankness? What is left after identity is stripped? The Generic?” ID: The Generic Self takes this idea as a starting point to explore the basics of contemporary identity and its dependence on post-global space defined by neoliberalism, new technologies, global markets, new nomadism and different ‘non-places’, including airports, offices, hotels, shopping malls and fast-food restaurants.

The Slow Business of Going

108

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

What happens to identity in the space of a generic city or non-place? Does it become blurred? Do we feel alienated, non-existent and anonymous there? What are the benefits of this anonymity and facelessness? Can it give us a feeling of escape or unprecedented freedom? These are some of the issues we would like to tackle. Surprisingly enough, they are not just existential and political but also very cinematographic, as only cinema can identify something that escapes identification. 45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

109

ID: THE GENERIC SELF

Chain

Greater Things

A young Japanese scout is sent by some corporation to research the amusement park industry in the USA. Meanwhile another woman, a working-class cleaner, survives on the fringes of corporate society – she eats, sleeps and basically lives in a motel or shopping mall. Both women find themselves in the middle of American or rather global nowhere and both feel desolated there. Chain shows a contemporary world as a deserted corporate landscape that consists of different non-places – hotels, motels, malls, fast-food restaurants, gas stations, airports, theme parks – which are the same everywhere. These global chains are impersonal and reduce an individual to an anonymous worker or consumer who becomes just a function of this machine. Focusing on the existential side of the process, Jem Cohen makes a disturbing and absolutely hypnotic study of contemporary alienation, solitude and non-existence.

Several people of different nationalities, backgrounds and aspirations come across each other in contemporary Japan. An Iranian architect in search of something that only he knows, a Lithuanian martial arts fighter who feels like an outsider in Tokyo, a Japanese man and his wife who live in a design house made of glass. Is there something that can truly connect them? Are they really different from each other or do they rather represent the same type of contemporary nomad who lives everywhere and nowhere? And is there still a need for connections in the world where isolation is no longer considered to be a negative experience? Greater Things magically recreates and explores these special yet very familiar conditions and states of being. An exquisite piece of cinema dealing with the issue of fluid identity and living somewhere in between, when you step out of yourself and do not know who and where you are.

Jem Cohen

Vahid Hakimzadeh

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Sayonara

Safe

Japan after a nuclear disaster. Tanya is terminally ill and awaiting the results of a government-organised evacuation lottery. But since she is a migrant, her chances to win are very low. Left all alone, she spends her last days in a desolate place together with Leona, a female android in a wheelchair who becomes her only true friend. Sayonara is perhaps the most subtle, poetic and intimate of takes on a post-apocalyptic world and relations between humans and cyborgs. Tanya builds a deeply emotional bond with the robot, who not only looks like a human but also learns to understand things that only people can know – mortality and the fear of death. In Japanese, ‘sayonara’ means ‘the last goodbye’. This is a special moment full of deep melancholy and true beauty, and such is the film of Fukada Koji. The film features the most charming android ever, fantastically played by the real android Geminoid F, created in Osaka University. Also screens in the programme VPRO Big Screen Award Competition.

Carol White (Julianne Moore), a Californian housewife in the prime of her life, is suddenly hit by a mysterious illness. Is she really sick, or just imagining her symptoms? Her life, which used to be focused on the routine running of a luxurious household, now becomes dominated by her illness. Director Todd Haynes has always been interested in analysing the complex structure of identity and desire. Safe (1995), his enigmatic and multilayered masterpiece, explores them as pure constructs smoothly determined by social conditions rather than a personal will, which in the case of Carol White is almost absent. In that sense her strange undiagnosed sickness is not just a symptom of disintegration but also a personal protest, a desperate attempt to ward off the invisible blankness that gradually devours her. But is there a real chance to escape it, and at what price?

Fukada Koji

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

110

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Todd Haynes

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

111

ID: THE GENERIC SELF

WINWIN

Anomalisa

Four ‘investors’, looking very professional and always impeccably dressed – two men and two women – travel the globe in a private jet in search of companies to buy out for almost nothing. Surprisingly, many businessmen are willing to sell them something serious, even for one euro. But what is that all about? Are these wolves in sheep’s clothing just having fun and mocking as well as faking everything? And – mostly importantly – do they still have a sense of reality? Daniel Hoesl’s second feature (Tiger winner for Soldier Jane, 2013) is a sharp and rigorous satire on the irrational exuberance of global markets. The film is set in sterile, super-polished and ridiculously perfect interiors which have hardly anything to do with a human habitat, as real humans are not really welcome there. Unless they are ready to become a part of this inflated money bubble and are willing – literally – to die for it.

In Anomalisa’s stop-motion world all men and women have the same face and voice and behave like marionettes. One woman is an anomaly (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh) and attracts the attention of famous customer service guru Michael Stone (David Thewlis) who is schlepping himself around yet another business hotel, depressed. The fabulously detailed Anomalisa is a great example of animation’s potential. In Venice the film won the Grand Jury Prize and the film is nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. Co-director and scriptwriter Charlie Kaufman based the scenario for the partially Kickstarter-crowdfunded film on his own, eponymous play. The constructed appearance of the stopmotion animation is neatly aligned with Kaufman’s always fantastic, comedic and sometimes deeply sad quests for his worlds’ hidden mechanisms as evinced by Synecdoche, New York (2008) and his scripts for Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004).

Daniel Hoesl

WORLD PREMIERE

Austria, 2016 | colour, DCP, 84 min, German/English/Italian Prod: Georg Aschauer, Gerald Kerkletz | Prod Comp: A European Film Conspiracy | Cam: Gerald Kerkletz | Ed: Natalie Schwager | Prod Des: Laura Weiss | Sound Des: Gerhard Daurer, Andi Pils | Music: Op:l Bastards, Hanns Eisler, Moderat | With: Christoph Dostal, Stephanie Cumming, Jeff Ricketts, Nahoko Fort-Nishigami, Johanna OrsiniRosenberg, Alexander Tschernek, Jürgen Weishäupl | Print: Austrian Film Commission | Sales: A European Film Conspiracy | www.winwin.party

Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson

Shan he gu ren

Le bois dont les rêves sont faits

Mountains May Depart Jia Zhangke

112

Every new Jia Zhangke film since Platform (2000) has asked: what does China’s rapid economic expansion mean for Chinese people’s relationships? His answers have never been optimistic, but the psychopathology in A Touch of Sin (2013) suggested the country is teetering on the brink. Mountains May Depart (2015) can also be viewed as a diagnosis of China’s state of mind, yet in spite of the epic scope that depicts the characters in changing aspect ratios in their past, present and future, it is a remarkably intimate film. Starting in 1999, to the sound of Pet Shop Boys’ Go West, we gain insight into the life and loves of Shen Toa, a dance instructor who attempts to secure her future by marrying a rich businessman. The tepid relationship with their son Dollar, who – in 2025 – lives in Australia and hardly speaks Chinese anymore, illustrates the disappearance of close mutual ties. “View it as a warning,” says the maker.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

The Woods Dreams Are Made Of

Claire Simon Le Bois de Vincennes, a huge, mostly wild forest just outside Paris, is a secret shelter for many Parisians. A genius loci and even a contemporary Noah’s Ark, if not a lost paradise where all kinds of people escape the dangers and chaos of the city. Migrants, natives, prostitutes and their anonymous clients, stalkers, loners, philosophers, romantics, artists and dreamers come here to find solace and discover themselves. Some even live amidst this wilderness as outcasts and hermits, believing that only by communing with nature can they really be free and understand the meaning of life as well as return to their childhood, the true home of every human being. Claire Simon interviews and follows them with great delicacy, opening a door to a totally different life hidden just beyond the urban landscape of Paris. A truly humane view on contemporary man.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

113

ID: THE GENERIC SELF

The Slow Business of Going Athina Rachel Tsangari

Petra Going is a migrant cyborg working for Global Nomad Project. With a rocking chair on her back she travels the world to collect the experiences of other people while being deprived of memories herself. Shot in different cities around the globe, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s debut is an off-beat combination of fiction, theatre, documentary, poetry and experimental cinema. Petra constantly changes cities and hotels, and her exuberant non-stop trip turns into an original reflection on rootlessness, amnesia and longing which define the postmodern identity and new tabula rasa. As her ex-colleague Micah says reproachfully: Petra is a ‘professional tourist’. Micah stopped travelling because she couldn’t cope with living a ‘borrowed life’. She wanted a home. For Petra, home is ‘the capacity to keep going on without looking back nostalgically’. Also see Chevalier in Voices Main Programme.

Ni wang he chu qu Where Are You Going Yang Zhengfan

WORLD PREMIERE

114

Contemporary Hong Kong seen through a windscreen. This dream city exists in perpetual motion, it is tempting and seducing, it imposes unreal dreams on us and then steals them away because they hardly ever come true. Filmmaker Yang Zhengfan spent five years there and always felt like an outsider, as if there was unbreakable glass between him and the city. Glass that at once protects and detaches. He recorded the personal experiences of different inhabitants of Hong Kong who are trying not to fall off the highest step of this ‘evolutionary ladder’, as they see it. The urge to be there is almost irresistible, but while pursuing this goal you lose something you have by default – a sense of belonging, family or just yourself. Where Are You Going is a spectacular and brilliantly composed road movie covering the topography of Hong Kong, as well as an anthropological study of ‘economic man’ in a time of crisis.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

VOICES SHORT

Avant-premières A collection of short supporting films, all together just once.

Riot Nathan Silver Filmmaker Silver directed his first film during his ninth birthday party in 1992. Together with friends, he re-enacted the riots that were underway in Los Angeles at the time. Images from both events were retained and edited together by Silver. The party and the riots share a characteristic element – chaos. Screens before Actor Martinez. USA, 2015 | colour, video, 4 min, English Prod: Nathan Silver, Harvey Silver, Josh Mandel | Prod Comp: Replacement Party Pictures, Industry Standard Films | Cam: Harvey L. Silver | Ed: Nathan Silver | Sound Des: Gene Park | Music: Paul Grimstad | Print/Sales: Replacement Party Pictures | www.cargocollective.com/konecfilms

Raksa dindaen Fat Boy Never Slim Sorayos Prapapan Two fat Thai schoolboys don’t want to serve in the military when they turn 21. They’d prefer to take the territorial defence course instead. But if they want to get in, they will have to pass a physical test. This proves to be quite difficult, so the big boys discuss alternative options over a meal. Screens before Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) (second screening). WORLD PREMIERE

Edmond Nina Gantz Edmond’s impulse to love and be close is strong. Maybe too strong. As he stands alone by a lake, contemplating his options, he goes on a journey back in time and revisits all the defining moments in his search for the origin of his desires. A black comedy and touching animation about a man with cannibalistic tendencies Screens before Beyond Sleep. United Kingdom/Netherlands, 2015 | colour, DCP, 9 min, English Prod: Emilie Jouffroy | Prod Comp: National Film & Television School (NFTS) | Sc: Nina Gantz | Cam: Ian Forbes | Ed: Nina Rac | Prod Des: Laura Mickiewicz, Aoife Coigley, Paulina Rzeszowska | Sound Des: Rob Turner | Music: Terence Dunn | Print/Sales: National Film & Television School (NFTS) | www.ninagantz.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

115

VOICES SHORT

Vore fædres sønner Our Fathers’ Sons

Peace in the Absence of War

Ulaa Salim

Theo Anthony

A young man relates how he was raised in a country with a culture different to that of his father. During a performance in a packed theatre he discovers that all he really cares about is his father’s approval and recognition. Screens before The Waiting Room. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

In April 2015, the police were involved in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Protests and – remarkably – free classical concerts tore the city apart. Filmmaker Theo Anthony depicts the contrast between the various responses to Gray’s death. Portrait of a confused city in pain. Screens before The Other Side.

Denmark, 2015 | colour, DCP, 8 min, Danish/Arabic

USA, 2015 | colour, DCP, 5 min, English

Ali’s Boat

Sali

Sadik Alfraji

Tuesday

When Sadik left Baghdad, his nephew Ali handed him an envelope, asking him not to open it until he reached his home in the Netherlands. In it, a drawing of a little boat with the sentence: “I wish my letter takes me to you.” The work is built around the letter and impressions of the world of childhood where Sadik grew up and Ali is now. Screens before Heart of a Dog. Netherlands, 2015 | b&w, DCP, 7 min, no dialogue Prod: Sadik Alfraji | Print/Sales: Sadik Alfraji | www.sadik.nl

Atardecer

Ziya Demirel A girl goes to school, plays basketball and takes the bus home. An ordinary day, were it not for an incident that will change her mood entirely. A short story from Turkey about what it is like to be young and female in a metropolis. Screens before Montanha. Turkey/France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 12 min, Turkish Prod: Anna Maria Aslanoglu, Olivier Berlemont, Emilie Dubois | Prod Comp: Istos film, Origine Films | Cam: Meryem Yavuz | Ed: Henrique Cartaxo | With: Melis Balaban | Print/Sales: Origine Films

Sunset

Ego

Violeta Uman Tamara’s husband died recently and this is her first holiday without him. She meets other older ladies at the resort. They discuss matters during a walk in the woods. They effortlessly switch between light-hearted subjects and the important things in life. Screens before The Apostate. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Falling Frames Johannes Langkamp

Nicolas Provost After a dizzying trip through the cosmos we see how an astronaut is flung into space. Rudderless, irrevocably heading for the eternal black hole. The images originate from existing films such as Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the soundtrack offers no redemption. A dystopian vision of the future? Screens before Endorphine. WORLD PREMIERE

How do we experience space? Falling Frames explores the framing and visualisation of three-dimensional perspective through the two-dimensional medium of video, both technically and conceptually. Langkamp used a slow-motion camera and built a special device containing a stack of wooden picture frames that can be released from a height of 15 metres. Screens before Pacific. WORLD PREMIERE

116

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

117

VOICES SHORT

Borderless

Trespass

IFFR invited 16 independent distributors of video art and experimental film from the DINAMO network to each submit a film title on the theme ‘borderless’.

Paul Wenninger

We Are Become Death Jean-Gabriel Périot Churning rivers. Roaring bears. Powerful violence alternates with tenderness in nature, animals and humans. Périot presents a triptych that reveals life on earth in all its gruesomeness and beauty. Destruction due to natural deterioration or human intervention plays a major role. France, 2014 | colour, video, 4 min, English Prod: Nicolas Brevière | Prod Comp: Local Films | Ed: Jean-Gabriel Périot | Sound Des: JeanGabriel Périot | Print/Sales: Heure Exquise! | www.heure-exquise.org

Panels for the Walls of the World Stan Vanderbeek A 20th-century collage: ranging from Marilyn Monroe, the moon missions and dancing twirlers to military parades. An experiment with the options available for mixing and overlapping videos at the close of the 1960s. Vanderbeek was a visionary in the field of collage animation. USA, 1967 | b&w, 16mm, 8 min, no dialogue

A market in Eritrea, a bar, a boat, streets in Brussels and Helsinki. The avatar in this realistic animation is in many places simultaneously. He explores the earth with stops and starts, stepping from one world into the next. His home is the stable factor that he keeps returning to after entering the outside world. Austria, 2012 | colour, video, 11 min, no dialogue Prod: Gabriele Kranzelbinder | Prod Comp: KGP – Kranzelbinder Gabriele Productions | Sc: Paul Wenninger | Cam: Nik Hummer, Paul Wenninger | Ed: Nik Hummer, Martin Music, Peter Koger | Prod Des: Nik Hummer, Peter Koger | Sound Des: Christof Amann | Music: Catherine Diverrés, Michael Moser | With: Paul Wenninger | Print/Sales: sixpackfilm | www.sixpackfilm.com

From Our Own Correspondent Lucy Clout A woman reflects on the past day’s events in a hotel room. She tells us about a scandal concerning a politician. Journalists are asked about the art of interviewing, interlarded with animation. Bloggers and authors discuss the boundaries of the personal and professional using various interview techniques. United Kingdom, 2015 | colour, DCP, 11 min, English Prod: Lucy Clout | Print/Sales: LUX | www.lux.org.uk

Prod: Stan Vanderbeek | Print/Sales: Re:Voir | www.re-voir.com

Bunte Kuh

Les contagions barbares

Faraz Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko, Parastoo Anoushahpour

Marie Dauverné

The Barbarian Contagions

A personal story told by voice-over. Memories of a holiday flash past. The images flicker, the sense of doom increases. An experimental work that combines a photo album, found postcards and original material. A collaboration between Iranian and Canadian makers.

A young girl’s voiceover explains her take on gender, violence and other dangerous issues. Colourful, flashing images capture the eye in this layered work by the filmmaker from Quebec. From archival footage to historic documents, all accompanied by Alpine yodelling.

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Canada/Germany, 2015 | colour, DCP, 6 min, English Prod: Faraz Anoushahpour | Print/Sales: Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC) | www.cfmdc.org

Extended Horizon Lukas Marxt

The Song of Rio Jim Maurice Lemaître

Lukas Marxt walks across an arid plain. He controls a drone, exploring the inhospitable, rugged environment. There are a number of fancy villas that protect the inhabitants and their property like fortresses. The boundaries the walls enforce are obviated by the drone, revealing areas in all their vastness.

A musical film experience. The sound, not the images, tells the story in this experimental film. Swinging strings and a brutal wind section. An homage to Ince and Hart, two crucial founders of the Western genre.

WORLD PREMIERE

Prod Comp: Light Cone Distribution | Print/Sales: Light Cone Distribution | www.lightcone.org

France, 1978 | b&w, 16mm, 6 min, no dialogue

Austria/Germany, 2016 | colour, DCP, 10 min, no dialogue Prod/Sc/Cam/Ed/Prod Des/Sound Des/Music: Lukas Marxt | Print/Sales: Argos Centre for Art and Media | www.argosarts.org

118

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

119

VOICES SHORT

Two Thousand Walls (a Song for Jayyous)

VOICES SHORT

Weapons Conference Mike Heynes

Peter Snowdon Faint sounds. Children playing. The sound of a family. A prayer, a poem. An impression of an average evening in Palestine’s conflict zone. In this experimental documentary, Peter Snowdon depicts a Palestinian family’s life in a critical, uncertain situation.

“Warmongers unite!”, screams the mechanical voice. Weapons industry advertising is serious. An aircraft and tank from a toy chest supported by childish illustrations and vocalised gunshot sounds make the film playful. The airy tone hides the serious content on the power and role of the arms industry. WORLD PREMIERE

United Kingdom/Belgium, 2006 | colour, DCP, 6 min, Arabic/English

New Zealand, 2016 | b&w, DCP, 1 min, English

Prod/Sc/Cam/Ed/Prod Des/Sound Des/Music/With: Mike Heynes | Print/Sales: CIRCUIT Artist Film and Video Aotearoa New Zealand | www.circuit.org.nz

Final Exit

Burka Boogie Woogie Sietske Tjallingii

Joe Gibbons An ageing dog is confronted with his choices in blunt terms. Does he want to drag out his existence, increasingly infirm and a burden to his owner, or go quietly, before resentment replaces the love his master feels? USA, 2001 | b&w, DCP, 5 min, English

The burka is not only an item of clothing, but has also become a symbol for the reprehensible nature of the orthodox Islamic faith: anonymity, submission and oppression of women. In this short graphic dance film, however, the burka has a life of its own and plays with fear of Islam. Netherlands, 2005 | colour, DCP, 5 min, no dialogue

There Are No Limits to What I Can Do

Verwisseling van de namen van de steden Rotterdam en Den Haag

Richard Dinter, Magdalena Dziurlikowska Richard Dinter is a kleptomaniac. He has stolen his way through life since he was young. First with his father, then on his own. His apartment is stuffed with stolen goods ranging from DVDs to file folders. He speaks to the camera about his frustrations and working out responsibility and boundaries. Sweden, 2007 | colour, DCP, 9 min, Swedish Prod: Anna-Karin Larsson | Prod Comp: Filmform | Print/Sales: Filmform | www.filmform.com

23 Barbiepuppen kippen um

23 Barbie Dolls Collapse

Exchange of the Names of the Cities Rotterdam and The Hague Wim Gijzen On the banks of the River Meuse, Wim Gijzen puts up a town sign. ‘The Hague’ in no way corresponds to the surroundings as the Euromast (observation tower in Rotterdam) can be seen in the distance. What happens when you swap two cities’ names? Gijzen studies spaces and their names in this black-and-white film. Netherlands, 1971 | b&w, DCP, 2 min, no dialogue Prod: Sanneke Huisman | Prod Comp: LIMA | Sc: Wim Gijzen | Cam: Wim Gijzen | Ed: Wim Gijzen | Prod Des: Wim Gijzen | Print/Sales: LIMA | www.li-ma.nl

Karakia – The Resetting Ceremony Sasha Huber

Dagie Brundert, Gesine Jochems 23 Barbies in a row. Snatched from a sale table in Woolworth’s and lined up against a wall in their bathing suits. One by one they fall accompanied by a cacophony of humming. Dramatic. Dryly funny. Made in West Germany at the time of the DDR.

Travelling across New Zealand, Sasha Huber witnesses a ceremony on a glacier. It is symbolically blessed by Maori Jeff Mahuika as, for decades, it bore the names of white Europeans. The history of colonialism and racism ends and the glacier is returned to the original inhabitants.

West Germany, 1988 | colour, DCP, 3 min, no dialogue

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Prod: Dagie Brundert | Cam: Dagie Brundert, Gesine Jochems | Print/ Sales: Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. | www.arsenal-berlin.de

120

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

121

VOICES SHORT

Breaking Walls Stone walls, digital walls, mental walls, symbolic walls. Walls that protect, that obstruct, that have collapsed or been demolished, that should be torn down or, on the contrary, rebuilt.

Al Haffar The Digger

VOICES SHORT

Ani’nin Sessizligi The Silence of Ani Francis Alÿs Between Armenia and Turkey lie the ruins of once bustling Ani. Now all that can be heard is the wind and the rustling, flowerheavy grass. Birdsong breaks the silence. Sometimes, someone hurries through the grass. The inhabitants of this desolate place? Has everything been staged? EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Ali Cherri

Turkey, 2015 | b&w, video, 13 min, no dialogue

In the Sharjah desert, Sultan Zeib Khan makes the rounds of the ruins of a Neolithic necropolis where the foundations of the nation are kept. Amid the tombs, the vastness of the desert is palpable. Time plays no role in the ritual that Zeib Khan has performed daily for the past 20 years. Lebanon/United Arab Emirates/France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 24 min, Arabic/Pushto Prod: Sharjah Art | Prod Comp: Sharjah Art Foundation | Sc: Ali CHERRI | Cam: Bassem FAYAD | Ed: Suzana PEDRO | Prod Des: Ginger Production | Sound Des: Mikaël BARRE | Music: Pierre AVIAT | Print/Sales: Galerie Imane Fares | www.acherri.com

Metropolitan Triangle Garden Rui Hu Metropolitan Triangle Garden is a 3D animation in which a number of classical sculptures participate in a destructive performance full of disruptions and glitches at a famous gallery. The digital museum can house static objects of a certain beauty, however it is much more a place for movement, transformation and decay. USA/China, 2014 | colour, DCP, 4 min, no dialogue Prod: Rui Hu | Music: Jon Thor Birgisson, Agust Aevar Gunnarsson, Georg Holm | Print/Sales: Rui Hu | www.hurui.org

Couleur locale Here, there and an escape from both. Five short films reflect on the distance between home and elsewhere and search for a language to bring the spaces and memories together.

Here There Alexander Stewart Here There gives graphic form to memory’s malleable, straying lines. It begins as a traveller’s sketchbook, drawn in Croatia in the summer of 2014, but details soon fade away into abstract impressions on the edges of memory. This film is a reduction to the essence, a condensed feeling of one place and time. Croatia/USA, 2015 | colour/b&w, DCP, 5 min, no dialogue Prod: Vanja Andrijevic | Prod Comp: Bonobostudio | Sc: Alexander Stewart | Ed: Alexander Stewart | Sound Des: Alexander Stewart | Print/Sales: Bonobostudio | www.alexanderstewart.org

An Inaccurate Distance

E42

Giovanni Giaretta

Cynthia Madansky E42 is a cinematic exploration of EUR, the neighbourhood in southern Rome intended as the location for the 1942 World’s Fair which continues, as a modernist landscape, to celebrate fascism. Madansky visualises the collective memory of this location using dance, narrative, interviews and cinema verité. WORLD PREMIERE

122

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

An attempt to grasp the relationship the translator Bertani has with distance. He worked as a farmer all his life, understands more than 100 languages, but never visited the countries of which he wrote. He speaks about the world and the frontiers of knowledge, we observe his home in detail: language as a true gateway to other worlds. Italy/Netherlands, 2014 | colour, video, 15 min, Italian Prod: Giovanni Giaretta | Sc: Giovanni Giaretta | Cam: Giovanni Giaretta | Ed: Giovanni Giaretta | Prod Des: Giovanni Giaretta | Sound Des: Giovanni Giaretta | Print/Sales: LIMA | www.giovannigiaretta.com

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

123

VOICES SHORT

Electrical Gaza

Homeland Syria

Rosalind Nashashibi

After more than three years of war a large proportion of the Syrian population has fled. Three personal stories from Syrians who, each in their own way, are trying to escape the violence.

Filmmaker Nashashibi presents Gaza as a place from myth: isolated, suspended in time, difficult to access and highly charged. The accompanying animation and a distinctive soundtrack add a fictive layer that reflects everyday harshness. As outsiders we remain conscious of our exotic perspective. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Escape Scenes Julia Feyrer Julia Feyrer’s fragile sculptures accompany her in the back of the car while she drives across the city in this poetic 16mm silent film. As the wind gradually knocks the pieces over, we realise that their physical collapse is itself part of Feyrer’s sculpting process. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Canada, 2014 | colour, 16mm, 5 min, no dialogue Prod: Julia Feyrer | Print/Sales: Julia Feyrer

Dastan-e sadeye man, to va mim

A Simple Story, Mine, Yours and M’s Atefeh Yarmohammadi Atefeh Yarmohammadi works out her personal history in a palimpsest of historical and contemporary film footage accompanied by a distinctive soundtrack. She was born in Tehran in 1984 during the Iran-Iraq war that drove her parents apart. Impressive, non-linear autobiography; painful, yet not sentimental. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo Floor van der Meulen, Thomas Vroege, Issa Touma One morning in August 2012, Syrian photographer Issa Touma saw students dragging sandbags down his street. It proved to be the start of the Syrian revolt in Aleppo. He grabbed his camera and recorded the first nine days from his window. An exceptional angle on a war that has already lasted well over three years. Netherlands/Syria, 2015 | colour, DCP, 13 min, Arabic Prod: Jos de Putter | Prod Comp: DeepFocus WebDocs | Sc: Issa Touma | Cam: Issa Touma | Ed: Floor van der Meulen, Thomas Vroege | Sound Des: Tom Jansen | Print/Sales: Some Shorts | www.someshorts.com

Mazraaet al abkaar The Cow Farm

Ali Sheikh Khudr In 2010, this film started out as an ordinary documentary about the maker’s family and the city of Salamya where they live. However, it immediately fixates on its first subject: Hassan, the maker’s farmer cousin with a shed full of cows he is very fond of. When Ali Sheikh Khudr returned two years later, the war proved to have inflicted deep wounds. WORLD PREMIERE

No One Gets Out Of Here Alive Ramzi Bashour The story of Walid, a crane driver from Syria trying to survive in Beirut. The hours are long and the work dangerous. The hopeless situation has everyone and everything in its grasp. Please let there be some hope somewhere. WORLD PREMIERE

124

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

125

VOICES SHORT

I Am a Camera

With All Our Cameras

Lenses concentrate light. A series of cameras provides amazing insight into the lives of various groups of people.

Miguel López Beraza

Scrapbook Mike Hoolboom Lensed in Ohio’s Broadview Developmental Center in 1967 by secret camera genius and audiovisual healer Jeffrey Paull, Scrapbook tells the story of audacious autistic Donna Washington in her own words, as she encounters pictures of one of her former selves fifty years later.

Warm portrait of Sandor: an ordinary, really friendly guy, avid collector of stamps and old-fashioned cameras. The filmmaker uses the latter to shoot the man. A selfidentified ‘homo ludens’ he enthusiastically cooperates and we get to know him as a very consistent, popular person. WORLD PREMIERE

Navigator Björn Kämmerer In monumental close-ups Navigator shows the constant stream of light refractions and reflections in a rotating lens system. The tight editing of the turning and tilting glass planes are like a choreography and on 35mm film translate into a magnificent, disorientating watching machine. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Austria, 2015 | colour, 35mm, 1:1.37, 7 min, no dialogue Prod/Cam/Ed: Björn Kämmerer | Print/Sales: sixpackfilm | www.bjoernkaemmerer.com

Eylül – Ekim 2015, Cizre Sept. – Oct. 2015, Cizre belit sağ

Reality Is Negotiable Not everything is as cut and dried as it seems. Reality needs a helping hand here and there.

Erysichthon Jonathan Rafman Named for the mythological Greek king cursed with insatiable hunger, Erysichthon takes as its base an exploration of subcultures through internet-usergenerated content. Rafman’s skill is taking the bizarre and normalising it, meanwhile forcing the mundane to become mystical. On the internet, any culture we mass consume becomes our own. Canada, 2015 | colour, DCP, 8 min, English Prod: Jonathan Rafman | Print: Jon Rafman Studios | Sales: Jonathan Rafman | www.jonrafman.com

War in Cizre, on the Turkish-Syrian border. Life goes on. The inhabitants film and photograph the consequences of the attacks with their phones. Artist belit sağ gives women and children a voice with this documentary shown in their familiar environment, the home. What do they decide to keep and what not? INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

In a Perfect Fever Kera MacKenzie, Andrew Mausert-Mooney

Silbersee

Empathy is generally a positive emotion, though we shouldn’t underestimate the consequences of the stress it can cause. In the meantime, we experience the common cinematic dramatic effect of a light switch being toggled on and off. A stimulating essay.

Alexandra Navratil

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Turkey/Netherlands, 2015 | colour, DCP, 15 min, Turkish

Prod: belit sağ | Ed: belit sağ | With: Nurcan, Emine, Tahir Amca, Ozlem, People of Nur District of Cizre | Print/Sales: belit sağ | www.bit.contrast.org

USA/Spain, 2014 | colour, DCP, 9 min, English

A series of black-and-white and infrared photographs by scientist Fred Walkow tells a story of the chemical contamination of Silbersee (Silverlake), located in former East Germany. The photo-essay film addresses the perpetuation of human abuse of the Earth from the viewpoint of the lake.

Prod: Kera MacKenzie | Sc: Kera MacKenzie, Andrew Mausert-Mooney | Cam: Kera MacKenzie, Andrew Mausert-Mooney, Tony Balko, Kate Bowen, CJ Brazelton, Jesse Malmed | Ed: Kera MacKenzie, Andrew Mausert-Mooney | Prod Des: Kera MacKenzie, Andrew Mausert-Mooney | Sound Des: Kera MacKenzie, Andrew Mausert-Mooney, Paul Dickinson | Music: Samuel Hertz | With: Sebastian Aguirre, Teresa Silva, Andrew Mausert-Mooney, Kera MacKenzie, Janine Biunno | Print/Sales: Kera MacKenzie | www.keramackenzie.com

Netherlands, 2015 | b&w, video, 11 min, English Prod: Alexandra Navratil | Music: Natalia Dominguez Rangel | Print/ Sales: Alexandra Navratil | www.alexandranavratil.com

126

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

127

VOICES SHORT

Ears, Nose and Throat

Rotterd@m Shorts

Kevin Jerome Everson

Two films about tragedy. A documentary about cycling legend Willem Koopman from Rotterdam who went from the podium to being homeless, and the short comedy Vonk in which a cake delivery man and a welder are unexpectedly comforted by one another.

During an extensive ear, nose and throat examination, Shadeena Brooks relates what she saw on 9 March 2010 in Mansfield, Ohio. A chilling eye-witness report of an argument that led to the cold-blooded murder of DeCarrio Antwan Couley. WORLD PREMIERE

The Everyday Ritual of Solitude Hatching Monkeys Basim Magdy Based on a short story by his father Magdy El-Gohary, Basim Magdy’s latest sees him shift his usual fascination for the collective to the individual. A man calls a random number and has a tender conversation about loneliness as lush images drift across the screen in an entrancing haze. Egypt, 2014 | colour, video, 13 min, no dialogue Prod: Basim Magdy | Sc: Basim Magdy | Cam: Basim Magdy | Ed: Basim Magdy | Sound Des: Basim Magdy | Print/Sales: Basim Magdy | www.basimmagdy.com

Vonk Spark

Edgar Kapp, Kuba Szutkowski A thin cake delivery man and a lonely welder united by misfortune. Beneath the comedy lies a tender film supported by the performances of Jack Wouterse and Wart Kamps, which complement each other well. The film won a 48 Hour Film Project Rotterdam 2015 Audience Award. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

De pedaalridder The Cycle King Ari Deelder

A Man Returned Mahdi Fleifel To escape the poor conditions in Palestinian refugee camp Ain El-Helweh, Reda wandered Greece for three years. He is now an addict and back at the camp that is suffering the effects of the war in Syria. His parents have arranged a bride in the hope of getting his life back on track. A reason to party. WORLD PREMIERE

Partly dramatised documentary about Rotterdam’s tragic cycling legend Willem Koopman. His promising career nosedived after he was suspended for doping, “Lance Armstrong’s precursor”, as it were. With well-known fellow Rotterdammers Jules Deelder and Wilfried de Jong, archival material and re-enacted key moments from Koopman’s eventful life. WORLD PREMIERE

128

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

129

VOICES SHORT

Short Stories: Day & Night

Short Stories: New Romantic

Three of Malaysia’s best independent filmmakers found a sponsor for three short films. The makers say there is no connection between the three. The sponsor is a mattress company and intentionally or unintentionally cohesion develops. The world, viewed from bed.

A total of four break-ups and three beginnings of a love affair in this stylistically diverse programme of unsentimental modern romances.

Melon Rainbow Trespassed Ho Yuhang There are short narrative films that function as proficiency tests for those aspiring to create feature-length, narrative films. In this case, the maker has also passed the test for long narrative. An author of novels may yet write some poetry. That’s what it’s like here. Atmospheric descent into a girl’s sadness. WORLD PREMIERE

Laurits Flensted-Jensen A pink neon lamp and a laptop screen illuminate the semi-naked blonde girl on the bed. Her name is Melon Rainbow and she’s working. During the day she has a different job, cleaning for people she has next to no contact with. A blind boy changes that. Melon Rainbow tries to help him and herself. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Univitellin Bedside Manners Yeo Joon-han Malaysia has produced a number of serious arthouse filmmakers, but this brazen satirist is not among them. He prefers to make horror films and preferably original comedies. He makes fun of his country and government who lost an entire aircraft. Political opponents are also treated like aeroplanes to an extent. WORLD PREMIERE

Mian bao nv nai Bite

Charlotte Lim Lay Kuen From the maker of a small, yet careful and sensitive oeuvre. Alongside the confident filming of Ho Yuhang and Yeo Yoon-han’s uplifting satire, she adds a delicate tone to the triptych. Why can’t you say: a feminine tone? About a schoolgirl’s cautious introduction into the world of sex. WORLD PREMIERE

130

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Terence Nance A modern Romeo and Juliet meet on a city bus. Of course they fall head over heels in love. Life is great when you’re in love however, unfortunately, your fate has already been sealed. A classic story in a far-from-classic, fresh, colourful and exceptionally effective reworking. WORLD PREMIERE

Flots gris

Beyond Blue Waves Joëlle Desjardins Paquette After a complex break-up, Livia literally ends up in the gutter. Her friends’ hospitality proves to have its limits and so she has to find another place to sleep. She wanders the industrial east of Montreal tailed by a beautiful peacock. Pretty damn annoying if it reminds you of your ex. WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

131

VOICES SHORT

Ton coeur au hasard

O som da casa

Aude Lea Rapin

Maxime Kathari

Freddy is on his way to love, but how he’s going to get there isn’t clear. Driving his camper he meets three women who all fall for his awkward openness. A road movie with excellent acting by lead Couzinié, who wrote the script with Rapin.

A young Brazilian student is getting ready to leave for Europe. While she prepares, her mother watches her silently. A family at a turning point – attentively observed in a few spontaneous and tender fleeting moments. A beautifully shot film by the Swiss Maxime Kathari.

France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 37 min, French

France/Brazil, 2015 | colour, DCP, 14 min, Portuguese

Your Heart at Random

Short Stories: On Their Way Arrival or departure is exciting. The four leads are looking forward to their destination, but aren’t all received with open arms.

Los barcos Dominga Sotomayor A Chilean actress attends a film festival in Lisbon. After the screening of the film she’s in, she is interviewed in the cinema. It’s tough going. The day after, she takes a boat to a desolate part of the city, far from everything. On the opposite side awaits a stranger. They have an attraction. Commissioned by film festival IndieLisboa. WORLD PREMIERE

The Return of Erkin Maria Guskova After years spent in prison, Erkin returns to his village. He might be a free man now, but his fate depends on the people around him, who still have to come to terms with what he has done. A compelling and beautifully paced study of a broken man. Russia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 29 min, Uzbek Prod: Denis Guskov, Maria Guskova | Prod Comp: Big Fish Production | Sc: Maria Guskova | Cam: Dennis Guskov | Ed: Maria Guskova, Anna Arlanova | Prod Des: Maria Guskova | Sound Des: Vyacheslav Nesmeyanov | With: Kahramonjon Mamasaliyev | Print: Rinat Muslimov | Sales: Maria Guskova | www.facebook.com/TheReturnOfErkin

132

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Home’s Sound

Mama Father

Davit Pirtskhalava A visit from his long absent dad leaves Lado and his younger brother frustrated, with many unanswered questions. But an encounter with a total stranger later that night offers unexpected insight into the father-son relationship. Subtle, hard-to-explain emotions are shown boldly in this outstanding short film by Georgia’s new directing talent. Georgia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 25 min, Georgian Prod: Suliko Tsulukidze | Prod Comp: Millimeter Film | Sc: Davit Pirtskhalava | Cam: Shalva Sokurashvili | Ed: Nodar Nozadze | Prod Des: Guram Navrozashvili | Sound Des: Nika Paniashvili, Paata Godziashvili | With: Sandro Kalandadze, Mamuka Kiladze, Vakho Chachanidze, Zviad Pirtskhalava, Mariam Maglaperidze | Print/Sales: Millimeter Film

Short Stories: Without Warning Confrontations with the unexpected elicit pure emotions in these four narratives. Once the dust has settled, some people retract their initial response.

Ogasavara Vakhtang (Tato) Kotetishvili Murad and Masha are planning a life together. But before they build a house, they go on a date dynamite fishing. This will bring some unexpected turns to their uncomplicated love story. A spirited tale of love and death, told with irresistible charm and a bit of stop-motion. Georgia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 8 min, Russian Prod: Anna Dziapshipa | Prod Comp: Sakdoc Film | Sc: Nikoloz Mdvivani, Vakhtang (Tato) Kotetishvili | Cam: Vakhtang (Tato) Kotetishvili | Ed: Vakhtang (Tato) Kotetishvili | Prod Des: Papuna Papaskiri | Sound Des: Nika Paniashvili | Music: Nodar Nozadze, Nika Paniashvili | With: Murad Ispirian, Anuka Zedginidze | Print/Sales: Sakdoc Film | sakdoc.ge

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

133

VOICES SHORT

Belladonna

Short Stories: Words of Wisdom, Words of Strife

Dubravka Turić

Four powerful stories about people painfully aware of the things beyond their reach. Be it through daydreaming, action or contemplation, political or otherwise, they all try to deal with the flawed reality around them.

Three women take seats at opposite ends of an eye doctor’s waiting room. They could not be more different from each other and yet a detail from an overheard conversation creates a sudden connection between them. A new directing voice from Croatia – meticulous in execution, but warm at heart. Croatia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 18 min, Croatian

Nothing Stranger Pedro Collantes Ling’s childhood friend Mei has died. Together with Mei’s sister, Ling visits the scene of Mei’s death – in an imposing landscape of lakes, mountains and forests – for the first time. On the way there they discuss their love lives, the traditional fishing methods on a lake and Ling’s life-like, mysterious dream about Mei. Netherlands/Spain/China, 2015 | colour, DCP, 23 min, Mandarin Prod: Pedro Collantes | Prod Comp: Mizunonaka | Sc: Pedro Collantes | Cam: Diego Cabezas | Ed: Pedro Collantes, Alberto Froufe | Prod Des: Zhang Yucheng | Sound Des: Samuel Cabezas | Music: Cer | With: Mai Zi, Yin Yaning | Print/Sales: Mizunonaka | www.mizunonaka.com

São Paulo com Daniel Daniel in the Lions’ Den Deborah Viegas, Nicolas Thomé Zetune

Nuestro mar Our Sea

Eileen Hofer Emilio is a dreamer. He has a soft spot for his neighbour, a prima ballerina, but he is too shy to reach out. Instead, he takes care of his mother and spends time with an old singer and dancer, Omara Portuondo. Together they share a longing for the unattainable. And for the sea, which is getting rougher as a storm approaches Havana. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Kisah cinta yang asu Love Story Not

Yosep Anggi Noen Martha and Ning are two young prostitutes from different class backgrounds. They would never have met were it not for Erik, a man who charms them both for his own financial advantage. A compassionate double portrait of strong women from the director of Genre Sub Genre and A Lady Caddy Who Never Saw a Hole in One. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Indonesia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 30 min, Indonesian

Obstinate Daniel’s grumpiness is evident. He really doesn’t want to accompany his mother to an oncology conference. However, an unexpected meeting makes it an interesting weekend after all. Shot on grainy film stock, with camera work as uncompromising as Daniel is. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Meda Emanuel Pârvu Meda’s deceased foster mother has hardly been buried when the girl and her foster father prove to have the law against them. For administrative, irrelevant reasons, Meda is immediately removed from home. The foster father attempts to show the bureaucrats that no one benefits from this decision, but is it worth it? WORLD PREMIERE

134

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

135

VOICES SHORT

Kwassa Kwassa Tuan Andrew Nguyen

VOICES SHORT

The New Man and My Father Adrian Melis

The island of Mayotte, far away in the Indian Ocean, became the European Union’s new outermost border in 2014. Only 70 km further, on the poor neighbouring island of Anjouan, craftsmen are building a kwassa kwassa – ‘an unstable boat’. This startling filmwork by SUPERFLEX is as political as it is cinematic and provides a fresh perspective on the refugee and migration issue.

As Cuba faces significant changes, artist Adrian Melis asks his father, a former revolutionary, a series of questions on the current state of his native country. The respondent’s face shows a range of emotions from humour to anxiety but always with avuncular intimacy towards his son. Cuba/Spain/Netherlands, 2015 | colour, DCP, 6 min, no dialogue

Denmark/Vietnam, 2015 | colour, DCP, 19 min, Comorian

Prod: Adrian Melis | Print/Sales: Adrian Melis | www.adrianmelisobras.blogspot.nl

Il quarto giorno di scuola The Fourth Day of School Martina Melilli

State of the Nation A radio presenter, a theatre maker, a revolutionary, an immigrant, a school kid and a neighbour of a terrorist share their views on situations that permanently influenced their country.

Martina Melilli’s father made the crossing from Tripoli to Italy as a child. His story aligns seamlessly with that of current migrants and their experiences. Historical and contemporary footage merge subtly while the place that her father landed is recorded in water colour. WORLD PREMIERE

Italy, 2016 | colour, DCP, 5 min, Italian

Dok-rak

Prod: Martina Melilli | Print/Sales: Martina Melilli | www.martinamelilli.com

The Asylum Prapat Jiwarangsan

Franzosensand Bettina Nürnberg, Dirk Peuker

Thai artist Prapat Jiwarangsan’s tender film is about belonging. A pond becomes a sanctuary from the struggles of life for a refugee boy from Myanmar and a genial radio DJ who lost her job when all Red Shirt radio stations were closed after the 2014 coup d’etat. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Like a PhD research project, this film enters a hamlet on the German Wadden Sea and links images of an unimportant, tidy-looking landscape to archival material, thereby exposing a painful, hidden history. The film elicits questions about commemorative places and guilty landscapes. WORLD PREMIERE

Galindez Diego Bruno

Nos champs

Based on the play El señor Galindez by psychoanalyst, dramaturge and actor Eduardo Pavlovsky, which centres on repression and torture in Argentina in 1972. The camera meticulously explores the now empty theatre where the play premiered. It feels just as oppressive as it must have done then. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Our Fields

Baptiste Ribrault The film begins with the Charlie Hebdo shooting. Then there is Maxime, a young Frenchman you know, who has gone to fight in Syria. There is wandering and helplessness. Above all, there are lots of unanswered questions about violence, evil and childhood. WORLD PREMIERE

France, 2016 | colour, DCP, 21 min, French Prod: Quentin Brayer | Prod Comp: La Fémis | Print/Sales: La Fémis

136

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

137

VOICES SHORT

True Desires

Poem

About secret, impossible and taboo desires, hope that springs eternal, then and now, on this and the other side of the ocean, and about a beginning, always a new beginning.

Dan Browne

Undisclosed Recipients Sandro Aguilar This film started at the Paredes de Coura Festival in Portugal. Aguilar observed the physical and mental condition of attendees and added a big pinch of alienation with a suggestive perspective. His cinematic experiment is mainly atmospheric with little story, the synopsis is brief: before and after the second kiss.

“An ode to my daily environment, and the presences of two beings – one newly arrived, the other recently departed. Images cycle and combine into dream-like passages that reveal the infinite potentials of sight within the finitude of everyday objects.” – Dan Browne. Created as part of a series of commissions, all reworking a 1957 text piece by Michael Snow entitled “Poem”. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Canada, 2015 | colour, DCP, 4 min, no dialogue Prod: Dan Browne | Print/Sales: Dan Browne | www.danbrowne.ca

Spermahoran

Portugal, 2015 | colour, DCP, 25 min, no dialogue

Spermwhore

Anna Linder

Tosse not my soule Sebastian Buerkner The latest abstract animation by Londonbased Sebastian Buerkner examines the fluid state between standing and falling, between waking life and spiritual ascendance. Borrowing its title from a song by 16th-century composer John Dowland, the film contemplates the place of spiritual transcendence in modern life.

Experimental film about unwanted childlessness in a world where heterosexual relationships dictate. When it comes to reproduction, our merciless bodies reduce us to merely a set sex or given gender. The longing for children is not limited to our bodies and the possibility of pregnancy can be gifted, shared and undertaken together. WORLD PREMIERE

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

UK, 2015 | colour, DCP, 5 min, English Prod: Sebastian Buerkner | With: Voices: Tom Woolner, Manuela Barczewski | Print/Sales: LUX | www.sebastianbuerkner.com

Deseos Desires

Carlos Motta The fictional correspondence between Columbian Martina and Lebanese Nour demonstrates how medicines, laws, religion and cultural tradition determine the dominant discourse on gender and sexuality. The images from both countries subtly pull you into their world and their letters make the personal struggle of every woman palpable. France/Argentina/Norway/Sweden, 2015 | colour, video, 33 min, Arabic/Spanish Prod: Carlos Motta, Sandra Terdjman | Sc: Maya Mikdashi, Carlos Motta | Cam: Mateo Guzmán, Mark Khalife | Ed: Carlos Motta | Sound Des: Zachary Dunham, Geoffrey Wilson | Music: Zachary Dunham, Geoffrey Wilson | With: Maya Mikdashi, Jennifer Lorena Jimenez, Voices: Maya Mikdashi, Laura Riveros Sefair | Print/Sales: Carlos Motta | www.carlosmotta.com

138

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

139

GENIET VAN DE PRACHTIGSTE VOORSTELLINGEN! Genieten van de mooiste opera- en balletvoorstellingen, rondkijken in de mooiste musea ter wereld via het witte doek of dat geweldige popconcert beleven alsof u er zelf bij bent? Pathé Specials biedt het allemaal! Gun uzelf een unieke ervaring en koop nu uw tickets voor deze en andere bijzondere voorstellingen op www.pathe.nl/specials!

DEEP FOCUS vanaf 30 januari

vanaf 9 februari

TURANDOT

FLORENCE / UFFIZI

2 maart

13 maart

IMAGINE DRAGONS

SPARTACUS (LIVE)

Puccini op zijn best: prins Calàf verovert het hart van prinses Turandot met het fameuze Nessun Dorma.

Beleef al hun hits tijdens het unieke concert Smoke + Mirrors alsof je er zelf bij bent!

Ontdek de indrukwekkende schatten van Florence en The Uffizi Gallery nu in een spectaculaire 3D-voorstelling!

Beleef live vanuit het Bolshoi Theatre in Moskou deze spectaculaire balletvoorstelling van Grigorovich.

KOOP NU TICKETS OP WWW.PATHE.NL/SPECIALS OF AAN DE KASSA 140

www.pathe.nl/specials

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

DEEP FOCUS

EXPO

Spaces Within: Peter Liechti Signatures Pere Portabella & La Escuela de Barcelona Adachi Masao Regained ID: Community Cameras Deep Focus Short

Dedications Peter Liechti During his last illness, Peter Liechti (The Sound of Insects – Record of a Mummy, 2009) wanted to realise a long-cherished desire. At first he wanted to make three separate films about the writer Robert Walser, Vincent van Gogh and an anonymous Dinka chieftain from South Sudan. As his illness progressed, Liechti (Filmmaker in Focus at IFFR 2009) adapted his original idea. He brought the three worlds together in a personal film project in which present and past intertwine. The final (incomplete) film installation is a synthesis of dedication and delirium, a stream of thoughts set in motion by found footage and unused material from his earlier films. These raw images enter into a dialogue with impressions from hospital and shots from his studio, in which Liechti shortly before his death read from his hospital diary. Liechti’s wife, Jolanda Gsponer, compiled a three-part survey of this unfinished work, comprising a film installation, a book and a DVD. The film installation, designed by artist Yves Netzhammer, comprises four screens with different approaches: ‘Walks and dreams’, ‘Hospital’, ‘Archive/Journeys Through Time’ and a film of Liechti reciting from his hospital diary. The associative visual and audio notations together form an intense stream of images and thoughts left to us by Liechti. Spaces Within, Spaces (Gebouw De Hofpoort, Hofplein 20).

www.peterliechti.ch

142

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

143

SIGNATURES

L’ombre des femmes

Innocence of Memories

“No man is worth sacrificing your career for,” her mother warns. But Manon (Clotilde Coureau) loves Pierre (Stanislas Merhar) so much that she doesn’t mind playing second fiddle to him. She helps him make his documentaries. The couple turns out not to be quite as stable as it looks, however. Affairs, jealousy and fierce quarrels in an unkempt apartment; a film by Philippe Garrel is of course not complete without these ingredients. Yet In the Shadow of Women is primarily about romance. Garrel explicitly takes sides with the women in the story. Just as his previous film, Jealousy, started with the death of his father, this time his deceased mother was the source of inspiration. Garrel wrote the script with two women and a man (Oscar winner Jean-Claude Carrière), and each introduced different elements. Of course the city of Paris plays an important role again, captured in glorious black-and-white.

Grant Gee’s latest documentary closes as it opens: a shot of Nobel prizewinner Orhan Pamuk looking out of his flat at the nighttime skyline of Istanbul – an indication that this story can never be told entirely. In 2008, Pamuk published The Museum of Innocence, in which he described the tragic love story of the affluent Kemal and his obsession, the pretty shop assistant Fusus. Four years later, Pamuk opened the doors of a real museum in Istanbul with the same name, in which he exhibited everyday effects that were in that story: socks, dresses, jewels, even hundreds of cigarette butts. Walking through that museum is like walking through the memories of someone’s life, a feeling that Innocence of Memories also evokes. In cooperation with Pamuk, Gee approaches the story of Kemal and Fusus from a new perspective, providing an intimate documentary about tragic love, faded memories and a city that refuses to stand still.

In the Shadow of Women Philippe Garrel

France/Switzerland, 2015 | b&w, DCP, 73 min, French Prod: Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt | Prod Comp: SBS Productions | Sc: Jean-Claude Carrière, Caroline Deruas-Garrel, Philippe Garrel, Arlette Langmann | Cam: Renato Berta | Ed: François Gédigier | Prod Des: Emmanuel de Chauvigny | Music: Jean-Louis Aubert | With: Stanislas Merhar, Clotilde Courau, Lena Paugam, Vimala Pons, Mounir Margoum, voice of Louis Garrel | Print/Sales: Wild Bunch

Grant Gee

Per amor vostro

Wake (Subic)

For his first feature since 1997 – after a large number of documentaries – one of Gaudino’s inspirations was Dante’s Divine Comedy. Especially Canto III, in which Dante describes the Gates of Hell, where the weaklings and cowards are, who didn’t take sides during their life and did not choose either good or evil. Anna is one such weakling, who for a long time closed her eyes to, for instance, the bad side of her husband and the suffering he caused. She doesn’t want to see the evil, nor does she know happiness – her world is grey, which is why the film is largely shot in low contrast black-and-white. Anna, acted phenomenally by Valeria Golino, who won the prize for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, is beset by demons and fears. It takes an unexpected romance to put her life on a different track. The narrative music by the rock group Epsilon Indi plays an important role in this imaginative film.

Gianvito travelled in 2006 to the Philippines for the first time to undertake initial research for a narrative feature. Soon after he arrived, however, he started on the documentary essay project For Example, The Philippines that is now ready ten years later with the completion of Wake (Subic) (the first part was Vapor Trail (Clark), IFFR, 2010). The background to this gripping mix of cinéma vérité, landscape photography and interviews larded with historic texts and resistance songs is the horrific environmental pollution and its consequences for the inhabitants around Subic, the enormous former base of the American fleet. As an antidote to historic amnesia, Gianvito follows the trail back to the forgotten horrors of the Philippine-American war (1899-1913), the start of the Yankees’ military presence, which ended in 1991 when the Philippine Senate decided to close the bases.

Anna Giuseppe M. Gaudino

144

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

John Gianvito

Philippines/USA, 2015 | colour, DCP, 277 min, Tagalog/English Prod: John Gianvito | Prod Comp: Traveling Light Productions | Sc: John Gianvito | Cam: John Gianvito | Ed: John Gianvito, Eric Gulliver | Music: Bradford Krieger, Lav Diaz, Teofilo “Boojie” Juatco | With: Teofilo “Boojie” Juatco, Nick Merino, Samuel David Merino, Amethya Dela Llana, Myrla Baldonado, Susan and Samuel Elemparo, Jocelyn and Kathreen Jhoy Fernandez, Magdalena Mayo | Print/ Sales: Traveling Light Productions

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

145

SIGNATURES

Malgré la nuit

Simulacrum Tremendum

As we can expect from Philippe Grandrieux, Malgré la nuit does not allow itself to be classified easily. His latest film feels more Lynchian than ever, but it is much more than that. It may well be a sensual exploration of the dark side of love or an intimate portrait of jealousy and regret. It may be a romantic drama about people who don’t know how to be romantic. Whatever, it’s a film about Lenz, a young Frenchman who returns from England to Paris in order to look for his beloved Madeleine. And about Helena and Lena, the women he finds instead of Madeleine. Above all, it’s a story about the destructive consequences of all these encounters, which takes the form of a macabre sexual underworld. Of course all of this is portrayed as only Grandrieux can: physical, stylised and hyper-sexual.

The filmmaker is fairly young, otherwise you could say this extremely long film is Khavn’s life work. Because it is so long and the maker is Filipino, you might think he is following in the footsteps of Lav Diaz, but this is very different, more experimental, documentary-surrealistic cinema. A collection of images like Jonas Mekas also makes, although Manila is not New York. Khavn started shooting this diary 22 years ago, and in the course of time he has made recordings with all sorts of cameras, from analogue video8 via mini-DV to iPhone. He does not present the recordings in chronological order, however. Khavn is also a prize-winning poet: 36 poems have been incorporated in this flowing river of film, with at times wildly splashing words and rhythms. The soundtrack mainly consists of piano music played by the filmmaker himself. This thirteen-hour cinematographic and musical event marks programmer Gertjan Zuilhof’s farewell to the festival.

Philippe Grandrieux

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Khavn

WORLD PREMIERE

L’Accademia delle Muse

Sixty Six

“Teaching is seduction”, says Professor Raffaele Pinto, who teaches philology in Barcelona. In this mix of documentary and fiction, we see him give a course about muses to a group of female students. Not just muses in old texts, but also how women can be muses today. This is followed by intellectual discussions about love, desire, poetry and death. As the semester goes on, it is clear that both the professor and the students are applying the theories discussed in class in their private lives. When his wife attacks him for flirting with students, Pinto defends himself with dialectics from classical literature. The students enthusiastically investigate their role as muse, which provides both comic and melodramatic scenes. Guerin made his fascinating and thought-provoking film with minimal means. Stylistically he keeps it as pure as possible: no music, no visual extras. He has nothing to hide.

In Sixty Six, clippings of characters from Portuguese photo novels and all kinds of comic strips from the 1960s slide past advertising photographs of modernist architecture in Los Angeles from the same period. Occasionally the images are accompanied by love songs played back to front, or by anxious dialogues from the television series Route 66 – also from the 60s. In twelve stories on which collage artist Lewis Klahr worked between 2002 and 2015, a variety of worlds are brought together. In this experimental film, Klahr juggles poetically with old advertising shots, Greek mythology, elements from pulp detectives and film noirs. The collages form utopian or otherwise dark worlds, all accompanied by a soundtrack in which even silence is an important element. Structure is also a linking thread: 2D images of cut-out comic strip figures stand out extra, lying on 3D photos of once-so-futuristic retro interiors.

The Academy of Muses José Luis Guerín

146

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Lewis Klahr

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

147

SIGNATURES

Milyy Khans, dorogoy Pjotr

Bienvenue à Madagascar

In the spring of 1941, just before Germany and the Soviet Union go to war, Hitler and Stalin sign an economic pact to exchange specialist scientists and raw materials. In this period, the German scientist Hans is working with three compatriots in a Russian glass factory making lenses. Frustration about the stagnating process of development, homesickness and mutual tensions affect the Germans. In the meantime, Hans makes friends with a Russian colleague, despite their initial mutual distrust. When the German causes an explosion on the factory floor in which Russian workers die, Hans’ fate is in the hands of his new friend. Just as in Mindadze’s Innocent Saturday (2011, about the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl), here too the disaster only happens after the film is in full swing. However pent-up emotions appear on the surface right from the start in this historic drama based on true events.

When you return to a spot you have been in the past, it always looks smaller or larger, freer or more boring than it did before. Time distorts memory. But according to Franssou Prenant, everything in Algiers is still the same, apart from possibly the colour of the fence, which has changed from blue to grey from lack of paint. It soon becomes clear that her picture of the city where she lived for a few years as an ambassador’s wife is far from unambiguous. Her memories, told in a voiceover, become intertwined with those of others. Twenty voices – different accents, pitches, ages – talk about the struggle for independence, the relations between peoples, and the advance of Islam. Welcome to Madagascar is a polyphonic diary that sketches a picture of past life in Algeria’s capital. The use of Super-8 film emphasises that feeling. The coarse grain and the warm colours are both intimate and intense, as if annotations.

My Good Hans Alexander Mindadze

Welcome to Madagascar Franssou Prenant

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

O espectador espantado

La calle de la amargura

The investigative film artist Pêra has embraced 3-D film in recent years. In The Amazed Spectator, the cinematographic part of his graduation research on spectatorship, he also films in this unusual format for a film essay. He mixes action scenes in the cinema with projected interviews with filmmakers, scientists and critics such as Guy Maddin, F.J. Ossang, Laura Mulvey, Augusto M. Seabra, Olaf Möller and Wanda Strauven. The result is a film somewhere between a manifesto and an essay, between expressionism and trans-realism. In the dialogue between different kinds of spectators, the film tries to answer a variety of questions: which is more real cinema: Citizen Kane on a smart phone or a soccer match on the silver screen? How many different kinds of surprise can be distinguished? Do Fear and Faith proceed surprise? What are the rights and responsibilities of the spectator? Should the spectator be paid? And what is left to surprise us in these times?

In this subdued black-and-white film, the world of Mexican wrestlers comes together with that of prostitution. In Mexico City, a continually masked pair of twins work as mascots for professional wrestlers. The two beat their wives, but are in turn exploited by their bosses, who have nicknames like Death and AK-47. This chain of exploitation that can’t be broken also affects two ageing prostitutes who have less and less work. One of them exploits her mentally feeble mother, who has to beg in the street. The other has to cope with her husband, who likes to dress up in her clothes and has clandestine homosexual encounters. Mexican veteran Arturo Ripstein (1943), whose wife Paz Alicia Garcíadiego wrote the screenplay, based the film on a true incident. Like his mentor Luis Buñuel (Los olvidados, 1950), he sketches with great compassion and without sentiment how poverty has a pernicious effect on people’s behaviour.

The Amazed Spectator Edgar Pêra

WORLD PREMIERE

148

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Bleak Street Arturo Ripstein

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

149

SIGNATURES

The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers

Lampedusa Peter Schreiner

Ben Rivers

“Can all people who aren’t acting leave?” The hardships of being a director are tangible in the latest Ben Rivers film, which is just as mysterious as its title (a reference to a work by Paul Bowles). Rivers was present in Morocco’s Atlas mountains on the sets of Oliver Laxe’s Herzog-inspired production Las Mimomas, and there he primarily documented frustration, hiatus and inertia. It is only when Laxe doesn’t see the point of filming any more (beware: we are slowly moving into fictional territory) that The Sky Trembles... becomes more than a film in a film and a film about film. Rivers then puts Laxe through a new agony, based on Bowles’ short story A Distant Episode. The Spanish director is kidnapped by a group of nomads who sell him to a different tribe as a gleaming, dancing object. It is an unthinkable action that reflects as much on the difficult relationship between man, nature and film as on the previous difficult scenes behind the scenes.

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

De waarneming

And When I Die I Won’t Stay Dead

The Perception Frank Scheffer

WORLD PREMIERE

150

Painter Robert Zandvliet is one of the world’s best of his generation. At the age of 45, as a mid-career artist, he has reached a point for reflection. He has held up art history to the light and is trying to redefine himself. His depictions are becoming increasingly bare, so that only archetypical forms remain. As he says himself, he wants to “break through my own deftness... in order to reach the core of the image”. He says it on the soundtrack while Frank Scheffer’s camera follows him in his studio. Perception is set in two internal spaces: the head of the artist and the place where he realises his ideas. Scheffer follows his subject closely in order to show what cannot be said. Occasionally he zooms out to briefly show Zandvliet’s large canvases. They are often close-ups, of hands, a mouth, the artist’s eyes, radiating an obsessive concentration. Because that is what painting is about, above all: looking.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

As the most southern island off the coast of Italy, Lampedusa is relatively close to Africa. This is where Zakaria got stranded – a Somali journalist who fled his country because of the war. He escaped that, but on Lampedusa he wrestles with fears and existential questions. Here he meets Giulia, an ageing woman facing a personal crisis on the same island. Together and separately, they try to get a grip on life. Just as in his earlier, experimental documentaries, Schreiner films in high-contrast black-and-white. His powerful shots implicitly have a lot to say about Lampedusa, from the wide sea and deserted rocky coastline to fences against refugees and the harbour, where many lives come together. Alongside familiar themes, Schreiner’s hybrid documentary also contains dreamy, associative scenes in which time gets played with regularly and supplely. The interior monologue of the protagonists is, despite being abstract, surprisingly often universal.

Billy Woodberry

“Most of what was known about Kaufman’s life and biography was shrouded in myth and legend”, according to one speaker in this documentary about Beat-Generation poet Bob Kaufman who died in 1986. It’s the myths and legends about Kaufman that make this film’s title (based of course on one of his texts) so apt. Passing on stories keeps people alive long after their last breath. So evoking these tales about Kaufman is almost as if Kaufman were being evoked himself. Yet L.A. Rebellion director Billy Woodberry, who is making a comeback with this film, is not only interested in the tall stories. With detailed, personal anecdotes, rare archive material and poems that appeal to the imagination, he creates a complex portrait of Kaufman, a Beat Poet like Ginsberg, but also a black street poet. His is the story of a developing American counterculture: of jazz, folk and poetry, but also of drugs, arrests and institutionalised racism.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

151

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Pere Portabella: The Auteur Is a Gentleman Agitator Olaf Möller

Like few others in the history of film, Pere Portabella was able to create a cinema that is total in the noblest sense. There is no other way to describe Cuadecuc vampir (1970), his caustically ironic meditation on Francoism as Vampirism, or Umbracle (1972), a thrilleresque essay on paranoia and its conditions. Questions such as “Is it fiction or documentary?” don’t seem to concern him, neither here nor in any of his other works; films always speak for themselves whenever the audience is properly engaged, eager and interested in learning something from the experience. Which also means that cinema is fundamentally connected to the idea of the community. Watching films is something we do as a group, an animated yet silent discussion, regardless of whether it’s occasioned by an urgent allegory of glacial beauty like Pont de Varsòvia (1989) or by an essay in ‘prepared reality’ as in the case of El sopar (1974). For the latter, he arranged a clandestine dinner during which five political activists could discuss their experiences: of prison, living underground, seeing comrades die. The dinner is something dear to Portabella; once a year, he invites dignitaries from the spheres of politics, arts and culture to his residence for a friendly exchange of ideas and thoughts over a fish stew. Transition This might suggest that Pere Portabella i Ràfols (1929) is not exactly your ordinary citizen but a man of social distinction, and indeed, Portabella was born into Catalonia’s upper bourgeoisie. He did not spend the Franco decades rubbing shoulders with the Fascist regime – in fact, his filmmaking was born from the desire to support a spirit of resistance and foster democratic change, initially as producer of films including Luis Buñuel’s Viridiana (1961) and Jacinto Esteva Grewe’s Lejos de los árboles (1963), and later as a director in his own right. Consequently, one is tempted to say, his main period of filmmaking ended with Informe general sobre unas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública (1977), a monumental exercise in cinema-vérité about the first years of the transición, the run-up to Spain’s first democratic elections after the death of Franco, during which Portabella was elected into the upper house of the Cortes. Since then, his feature-length films seem to coincide with a national or international political crisis, as witnessed by his latest: Informe general II: El nuevo rapto de Europa. This film is a meditation on neo-liberalism as a threat to democracy, and which forms of political praxis would be appropriate and helpful at this point in history. But also which voices, sounds, images, shapes, harmonies and dissonances, and melodies.

152

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Informe general II. El nuevo rapto de Europa General Report II. The New Abduction of Europe

Pere Portabella It’s almost forty years since Portabella made Informe general sobre unas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública. Spain was slowly coming out of three and a half decades of Fascist dictatorship, and Portabella was there with his camera observing, but not merely as an observer. It’s also an essay on the idiom(s) of politics and cinema, as he deemed some of the politics desirable. Today in Spain, neoliberalist capitalism has laid waste to the middle class, unemployment is skyrocketing, the Left is a factious mess that the Right plays with ease, trust in democracy is at a new low. Is it necessary to look for other forms of participatory processes? General Report II: The New Abduction of Europe doesn’t try to offer an answer. Portabella weaves a tapestry of options through which ideas can get discussed, arranging them so that their strengths and weaknesses can be considered. In short, he creates a cinematic symposium in which the audience is the essential final participant.

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

153

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Informe general sobre unas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública

Vampir – Cuadecuc Pere Portabella

Pere Portabella

One way to look at Vampir – Cuadecuc is as an artful making of Jess Franco’s El conde Dracula (1970) – one of the Meister’s Harry Alan Towers productions. But that would mean being content with merely the first layer of the film. Portabella was after something more complex, as witnessed by the fabulously idiosyncratic soundscape mainly made up of weird noises, or his choice of shots which tend to stress the element of artifice – one of the Escuela de Barcelona’s main pre-occupations. Some see Vampir – Cuadecuc as a witty allegory on Francisco Franco, with Dracula as the dictator whose demise is certain (Christopher Lee reads that part on-screen, which makes the scene a standout moment of the film). Could very well be. But what does ‘Cuadecuc’ mean? Does this word exist? Or is it a poetic creation that mirrors Carles Santos’ composition?

Umbracle

Pont de Varsòvia

Something like a companion piece to Vampir – Cuadecuc (1970): shot at the same time and also featuring the desperately missed Christopher Lee, but unveiled only later. And otherwise quite different, even if the atmosphere of dread is somewhat similar. ‘Umbracle’ stems from the Latin ‘umbra’: shadow – its darkest part, to be precise. Sun-drenched is the Barcelona Christopher Lee explores here, and eerily empty (shades of Fata morgana (1965) perhaps?). What is he looking for – if he isn’t a somnambulant, following the course of his dreams? Later, he recites Poe’s poem The Raven and sings. Also, film critics discuss censorship, a long excerpt from Pedro Lazaga’s Frente infinito (1956) offers a good look at Francoist cinema at its most uninhibited, while comedians of yore provide some relief that isn’t necessarily funny. Lots of Brecht, masses of Vertov. Astonishing, to say the least.

Portabella’s political instincts (or insights, information?) are certainly remarkable. Few and far apart are those who in 1989 would have been able to make a film about the fragile state of Europe, the anxieties of a subcontinent on the brink of political turmoil – and name it after an architectural site found close to the Berlin Wall, whose ‘fall’ would commence a new era in world politics (the fall-out of which gets discussed in General Report II. The New Abduction of Europe (2016)). Not that the film talked about that too directly. It’s all in the form: a narrative that resembles a puzzle whose parts don’t necessarily (have to) add up, an aesthetic that’s at the same time artsy and artful, glacially beautiful and enigmatically forbidding, seductive and repulsive. The starting point? A party – or is it maybe the urban legend of the diver found in a tree-top?

Warsaw Bridge Pere Portabella

Pere Portabella

154

On 20 November 1975, Francisco Franco finally dies – now, finally, Spain can slowly turn itself into a democracy. Thus begins the period called transición, which ends for some on 6 December 1978 with the ratification of the Spanish Constitution; for others with the election victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party in 1982, after an attempted Fascist coup the year before. Informe general sobre unas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública covers the run-up to the nation’s first post-Franco free elections, on 15 June 1977 – an event at once very real, if also somewhat theatrical, which made Portabella tackle the project as if it were a piece of fiction. He certainly wasn’t a disinterested third party: Portabella himself was up for election, and would take part in drawing up the ’78 Constitution.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

155

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

El sopar

The Dinner Pere Portabella On the evening of the garrotting of Salvador Puig Antich, five former political prisoners from different parties/alliances meet for this clandestine film production to discuss their experiences. A devastating, historically invaluable document of Spain’s late Fascist period. Screens together with Maria Aurèlia capmany parla d’un lloc entre els morts. Spain, 1974 | colour, DCP, 50 min, Spanish Prod Comp: Films 59 | Sc: Pere Portabella | Cam: Manel Esteban | Ed: Teresa Alcocer | Sound Des: Anne Settimó | Print/Sales: Films 59 | www.pereportabella.com

TALK

Supporting Films Pere Portabella

Masterclass Pere Portabella

Miró l’altre Pere Portabella For the Miró l’altre (an event organised in 1969 to give the artist back the edge that the Fascist regime had tried to trivialize in ‘its’ 1968 Miro exhibition), a large mural was created on the façade of the Collegi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya – and then destroyed. Portabella observed the masterpiece’s birth and demise. Screens before Umbracle. Spain, 1969 | colour/b&w, DCP, 18 min, Spanish/Catalan Prod Comp: Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Barcelona | Sc: Pere Portabella | Cam: Manel Esteban | Ed: Teresa Alcocer | Music: Carles Santos | Print/Sales: Films 59 | www.pereportabella.com

La tempesta Pere Portabella La tempesta is part of a gesamtkunstwerk that works splendidly on its own. It was done as an interlude for Carles Santos’ scenic musical homage to Gioachino Rossini: an ode to water and iron as well as to the human body in all its frailness; Portabella made it into a study in rhythm and beauty, a cinematographic symphony slightly in minor. Screens before Warsaw Bridge.

Many aspects of Portabella’s long career in the service of film, art and politics are tackled in this masterclass, which is moderated by Esteve Riambau, director of the Filmoteca de Catalunya and also, for instance, (co-)writer of the standard work on la Escuela de Barcelona. It looks at how Portabella came into contact with artists and the art world (Antonio Saura, Antoni Tàpies, Joan Brossa) and the world of film. He comes from a family of Catalan industrialists and studied physics in Madrid in the 1950s. He played an essential role from the early 1960s as producer for Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura and Marco Ferreri, and as scriptwriter for e.g. Francesco Rosi – in the era of Franco-Catholic censorship. As a filmmaker, he is interested in the development of the language of film. Portabella will talk about the balance between his formal experiments and his political commitment, and in this sense of course also about both Informe general films: the first, from 1977, that investigates the transition from dictatorship to democracy, and then Informe general II, which looks for a way out of today’s political/cultural maze. What does citizenship mean after the crisis, certainly now the old parties in Spain (and elsewhere in Europe) have become embroiled in corruption and power games? And how do art and culture relate to this?

156

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

157

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Detours, Serpentines and Other Roads to Change and Enlightenment Olaf Möller

La Escuela de Barcelona (in Catalonian, La Escola de Barcelona) is one of the artistically richest groups to emerge during that long decade of cinematic change that started somewhere in the 1950s and ended somewhere in the early 70s – a time when movements declaring themselves to be ‘new’ or ‘young’, and therefore radically different from what was before seemed to be popping up in every major film culture, as well as many minor ones, across the globe. And yet, the Escuela is in many ways different from the rest; if one were to look for comparisons, few would fit, certainly none of them snuggly – the Boca do Lixo complex of São Paulo might come to mind, also the Japanese underground of the mid to late 60s (think Adachi Masao). What they all have in common is a staggering artistic breadth and variety. Connected As far as the Escuela is concerned, this means anything from (seemingly) straightforward, usually cinéma-vérité-influenced documentaries (Notes sur l’émigration. Espagne 1960, 1960, Jacinto Esteva Grewe & Paolo Brunatto) to experimental, formally often highly challenging feature films that owe as much to pop art as to the nouveau roman, all within a strong Surrealist framework (Dante no es únicamente severo, 1966, Joaquim Jordá & Jacinto Esteva Grewe); to decidedly off-beat-iconoclastic genre works that casually fuse science fiction and giallo with the occasional musical element (Fata Morgana, 1965, Vicente Aranda); and further on to utterly unclassifiable creations that fit into no pigeonhole at all, films so idiosyncratic in style and original in their aesthetic they’re still considered avant-garde almost half a century after they were created (Vampir – Cuadecuc, 1970, Pere Portabella). Everything seemed possible in the Escuela, and everything was aesthetically connected, for it was all part of a multi-facetted politico-cultural whole – making it difficult, for instance, to say whether Gonzalo Suárez’s Aoom (1970) is more a weird avant-garde yarn or a philosophical horror movie.

The concentric circles of that wave reached far, very far: not only did the Escuela have some overlap with its nominal opposition (if not outright enemy), the Nuevo Cine Español (Pere Portabella, in fact, produced the

Dante no es únicamente severo

158

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

debut of its soon-to-be figurehead, Carlos Saura); its influence can even be felt in such seemingly unlikely places as the oeuvre of genre pro Léon Klimovsky (his eerie political allegory Ultimo deseo, 1975, was written by Joaquim Jordá & Vicente Aranda). The Other Arts Quite in the spirit of the times (think Giánnīs Xenákīs, John Cage, Terayama Shūji), the Escuela also kept strong ties to the other arts – it was not merely a film movement, but an essential element in a much greater cultural development which included music (for example, Carles Santos, who wrote the soundtracks for many Escuela films), literature (Joan Brossa, who had a very close working relationship with Pere Portabella), architecture (Ricardo Bofill and his Taller de Arquitectura, which also worked in cinema), fashion (the models Teresa Gimpera and Carmen Romero aka Romy, who light up many Escuela films), and more. Also, some of the Escuela’s key members expanded their practices, which usually meant leaving cinema behind for at least some time: Jacinto Esteva Grewe, for example, turned his interest toward architecture and safaris, while Pere Portabella went into politics.

That said, there are two rather distinctive features that separate the Escuela from whatever else was around the time. One is the disjointed nature of the filmographies of its key figures – neither Portabella nor Jordá nor Esteva Grewe had careers in the ordinary sense of the word; they made some films, then stopped for some time for a variety of reasons, then went back to cinema, if not necessarily in the same fashion. These are the kind of auteurs who easily get lost in the fracas for attention. Then again, other major figures of the Escuela like Vicente Aranda, Gonzalo Suárez or Jorge Grau fundamentally changed their style of filmmaking – for them, those years were merely an episode. People often are surprised to find out, for instance, that Grau’s origins are in experimental cinema – which seems to have little in common with the genre fare he’s famous for now. Much more important is the position of the Escuela inside Spain as part of a Catalan opposition against Francoism at the time; here, anti-fascism and regionalism went hand in hand. Not that the Escuela made a secessionist argument – in fact, even Portabella’s most recent masterpiece, General Report II. The New Abduction of Europe, shows a deep concern for the fate of Spain as such, and not solely for that of Catalonia, just like its 1977 predecessor, Informe general sobre algunas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública. Solidarity is the solution in both cases, not the quest for individual advantage – which in the later work is shown as the true problem.

Fata Morgana

???

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

159

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Acteón

Noche de vino tinto

A fisherman meets a stranger and follows her to the city. He’s enchanted, she’s flirtatious. He’s a pure soul of sorts, she’s looking for nothing more than distraction. Actaeon (in Spanish: Acteón) is a character from Greek mythology. One day, it is told, he saw the goddess Diana in the nude, by chance. Enraged, she turned him into a stag, to be torn apart by a pack of dogs. In whichever version of the tale, Actaeon is the archetypal sacrificial victim – but what God needs to be appeased in the late 60s? Those who’ve seen Jorge Grau’s most famous works, The Legend of Blood Castle (1972) and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974), both masterpieces of 70s horror, will appreciate the same sense of atmosphere and mystery here, albeit in a minor, moodier key; and those who haven’t will want to discover more of this uneven if always intriguing auteur after seeing this film, in many ways his most ambitious undertaking.

Misery loves company. A disappointed man meets a disappointed woman, they start to talk, go to a different bar, talk more, different bar again, talk more, different bar, talk… The Barrio Chino slowly turns into a maze. The shadows on their faces seem disquietingly deep from time to time – as if some lurker in the dark wanted to gobble up their heads. The night holds a thousand stories, the wine and the fierce intimacy between strangers call some of them out into the dim light. By Escuela de Barcelona standards, this is (for all its drinking) a rather sober, broodingly realist piece of cinema – no formal(ist) experiments, no shocks to the system, no outward provocations. Maybe because the unrest of the protagonists, their quiet anger, sense of being trapped and desire for change is subversive enough in a society that was all about keeping people in check and in place.

Jorge Grau

Spain, 1965 | b&w, 35mm, 75 min, Spanish Prod Comp: X Film | Sc: Jorge Grau, based on the story by Ovid | Cam: Aurelio G. Larraya | Ed: Rosa G. Salgado | Prod Des: Miguel Narros | Music: Antonio Pérez Olea | With: Martin LaSalle, Pilar Clemens, Juan Luis Galiardo, Claudia Gravy, Iván Tubau, Nieves Salcedo, Virginia Quintana | Print: Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA)

José María Nunes

Fata morgana

Cada vez que...

Barcelona looks eerily empty – take a glance at the Camp Nou like you’ve never seen it before: deserted, with a guy all bandaged up but dressed in a suit, giving advice in riddles. What are those choppers doing, hovering over the city? And whose tanks are prowling the streets? There’s a killer on the loose, but that’s no reason for an evacuation. There’s a professor who’s convinced that victims are a particular type of human being but wouldn’t know whether he himself is one of them. There’s a cop who might have more of an anarchistic bent than he would ever admit to himself. There’s a model who understands that murders are there to be faced... Fata Morgana is a moving-image comic book, an avant-garde giallo, a surrealist experiment in terror, a pop thriller, maybe a dystopian science fiction film, certainly a scathingly sinister political allegory in often flashy colours.

The film’s complete title actually reads Each Time That... I’m in Love I Believe That It Is Forever. Sounds like a pop song, which only befits a film that features a host of models (with their agency credited for good measure), as well as several songs presented by Adam in colourful video-clip-like interludes. Yes, this is a film from/about the world of surfaces, ephemeral beauty – and the surprising depths, even abysses to be found behind seemingly shallow surfaces; a world of expensive goods and price tags, fashions and fads, of a cosmopolitan sameness where London or Paris are everywhere, as long as chic people know how to move their hips coolly and smile at each other noncommittally. And yet, there’s nothing frivolous to Each Time That.... Instead, there’s a playful earnestness that suggests how different this all is.

Each Time That... Carlos Durán

Vicente Aranda

160

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

161

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Dante no es únicamente severo

Ditirambo

If Far From the Trees (1972) is the Barcelona School of Film’s documentary manifesto, Dante no es únicamente severo is its fiction complement. And fiction is what this film is all about: a fashionable Scheherazade straight from the pages of an unfinished pop-nouveau-roman epic relates stories that don’t necessarily have an end or a point, stories of evervarying fabric and temper, stories that detour serpentinely into somewhere fascinating, stories that end on an utterly nonsensical but charming note – the way every good story has a goddamn right to end, suggesting how the world should be and not how it is (yes, there’s a Stone-Eater!). Sounds weirder than it is. And it does add up. Think Miguel de Cervantes and Jan Count Potocki, maybe Lewis Carroll, definitely Roberto Bolaño. As a title card toward the end puts it: “Except for trains, anything, including births, can be ahead of time.” Even films, like this baby.

Gonzalo Suárez is Ditirambo, which doesn’t mean that Ditirambo is also Gonzalo Suárez, even if he plays him – his doppelganger looks different, most of the time. ‘Ditirambo’ is actually an awkward name for a person, as dithyrambs were sung by choirs – Whitman anybody? Why not? Which could be the motto for Ditirambo: Anything goes. Judging by Ditizalo’s impenetrable, vaguely Buster Keatonish deadpan look, he certainly seems to agree – and Suárambo always speaks the truth. Enter the widow of a writer, and with her a mission: “Find the former lover of my damn dead hubby so that I can exact my revenge on that hussy!” What follows in this proto-postmodern play with literary as well as cinematic tropes soon has little to do with this, even if we might come back to the story. A wild and mellow goose chase, zig-zag.

Gonzalo Suarez

Joaquim Jordà, Jacinto Esteva Grewe

Después del diluvio

Cabezas cortadas

One way of summarizing this film would be: The eternal (non-)problems of two men and one woman, revisited. But that still sounds too dramatic for a work considered by its auteur to be expressly anti-dramatic. Maybe it would suffice on the level of narrative (and what more indeed is to be said about one woman and two men?), but certainly not on the level of aesthetics. Just marvel at the green from which everything here seems to originate and into which it all tends to evaporate in the end. And let’s not get into the red! The red in a lampshade, a car, an overcoat. And the weird yellow of the woman’s car. Then there’s that dress of hers, yellowish at the bottom and turning ever greener towards the neck, while another dress has a white bottom and a light red top. It’s here that the tensions and passions of Después del diluvio are to be found.

Spain was the first station of Glauber Rocha’s voluntary exile from Brazil, which ended a few futile days before his too-early demise at the age of 42, caused by a life devoted to the gods of deliria. Away from his native soil and inspiration, Glauber’s cinema turned even more allegorical, metaphorical and metaphysical, as witnessed by Cutting Heads. While the social condition in this film’s Erewhon – a world of evil kings, worse underlings, subjugated indigenous masses and messianic hopes – is still rooted in the Brazilian experience, the way he presents it is far more abstract: an aesthetic of naked absolutes, explosive and sublime, cruel and garish, that owes as much to the ephemeral pleasures of Pop as it does to the ancient rules and wisdom of Greek theatre. As a vision of Fascism at its most basic and barbaric, Cutting Heads has lost none of its angry force, its ability to annoy and disturb and maybe even enrage, its beauty of sheer excess, its urgency.

Cutting Heads Glauber Rocha

Jacinto Esteva Grewe

162

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

163

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Aoom

Lejos de los árboles

Aging movie icon Ristol is sick of his looks, his job – life as such. To escape this predicament, he puts his soul into a doll and lets his mortal body die. And that’s not the last earthly residence his spirit moves to. A completely bizarre fantasy tale that can also be looked at as a meta-movie about its star, Lex Barker, who by then was old, bored with the business, and living in semiretirement. ‘Bizarre’ is also the best word to describe Aoom’s adventurous, excessively expressive, utterly outré style that indulges in fish-eye shots of interiors, a moody and at times very liberal use of slow motion, an in-yourface-attitude to colour, and an actor with an exceptionally weird nose. Back then, the film was deemed a fiasco and vanished almost immediately after its premiere. Today, one can rediscover it as an odd gem from a time in cinema when any mix of attitudes and genres was seemingly fair game.

The Barcelona School of Film never made a secret of its debt to Surrealism in general and Luis Buñuel in particular. So it’s not too surprising that one of its earliest feature-length masterpieces pays hand-on homage to the master with a modern, cinemavérité-rooted version of his greatest non-fiction piece: Land Without Bread (1933). Spain is still essentially poorcum-backwards, and still likes to define itself through rural rituals of sometimes tremendous cruelty (WARNING: Asinophiles might run out of this film in utter horror!) And yet, in its own particular way, Far From the Trees is a melancholic monument to a vanishing world – whose terrors and horrors stem from a sociopolitical condition that the then-current government did as little to change as any earlier one (save the Republic, maybe), and none has since.

Far from the Trees Jacinto Esteva Grewe

Gonzalo Suarez

Prod: Ricardo Bofill | Prod Comp: Taller d’Arquitectura de Ricardo Bofill | Cam: Juan Amorós, Hans Burmann | With: Serena Vergano, José Luis Argüello, Modesto Fernández, Jesús Sastre | Print/ Sales: Filmoteca de Catalunya

164

Esquizo

Maria Aurèlia capmany parla d’un lloc entre els morts

As the sub-title has it: “Fiction reportage about the architecture of a brain.” Which is quite a perfect summary of Ricardo Bofill’s activities cum ambitions during the early period of his Taller d’Arquitectura, a multidisciplinary project that involved not only urbanists and architects but also writers, filmmakers and graphic designers. The bulk of Schizo, with its tres 60s-70s topos of society as an asylum, consists of situations in which a group of performers act out scenes of collective anxieties and desires (to put it as broadly as possible), sometimes illustrating the many-timbre’d voiceover, sometimes contradicting it. More elements and cinematic textures will find their place; finally, a work about communication and patterns that feels intellectually as well as emotionally all-encompassing will have emerged.

Joaquim Jordà

Schizo Ricardo Bofill

Spain, 1970 | colour, 35mm, 80 min, Spanish

Spain, 1972 | b&w, 35mm, 100 min, Spanish

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

One of 20th-century Catalan literature’s leading writers talks about a recent award-winning novel and its protagonist, the poet Jaume Campdepadrós i Jansana. Sounds simple, is done in befittingly self-effacing fashion. On closer inspection, things turn more complicated, and politically more radical… Screens together with El sopar. Spain, 1969 | b&w, video, 50 min, Catalan Prod Comp: Los Films de Formentera | Print/Sales: Filmoteca de Catalunya

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

165

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Supporting Films La Escuela de Barcelona

PERE PORTABELLA & LA ESCUELA DE BARCELONA

Ditirambo vela por nosotros Gonzalo Suarez

Notes sur l’émigration. Espagne 1960 Jacinto Esteva Grewe, Paolo Brunatto An investigation into the motives of Spanish workers who migrated to Switzerland in the late 50s, early 60s turns into a sometimes caustic, sometimes melancholic rumination on the land they left behind. A work in between cultures and cinematic modes, a starting point, an opening statement – a clarion call. Screens before Far from the Trees. Spain, 1960 | b&w, video, 12 min, French Prod: Jacinto Esteva Grewe | Sc: Jacinto Esteva Grewe, Paolo Brunatto | Cam: Jacinto Esteva Grewe, Paolo Brunatto | Print: Filmoteca de Catalunya

Autour des salines Jacinto Esteva Grewe A visually expressive documentary about salt mining and its perils – done in a style that most subversively evokes a certain then-current official Spanish cinema, made to sell the Fascist nation as a holiday paradise. The final image of some boys with a fighting cock is more devastating than hopeful. Screens before Dante no es únicamente severo.

A crypto-structuralistic spoof on the detective flick, itself a subgenre of crime literature and cinema that can be seen as a spoof of the police procedural. One could also say: An inspired amateur movie with a sleuth at its centre, which is always enough to justify anything, story-wise. Healthy fun. Screens before Ditirambo. Spain, 1967 | b&w, video, 26 min, Spanish Prod Comp: Filmagen | Sc: Gonzalo Suárez | Cam: Carlos Suárez | Ed: Ramon Quadreny | Sound Des: Juan Aguilar | With: Marianne Bennett, Bill Dyckes, Sylvie Porchez, Gonzalo Suárez, Silvia Suárez | Print: Filmoteca Española

BiBiCi Story Carlos Durán While waiting to get started on the production of his feature Liberxina 90 (1970), Carlos Duran shot this short (with very expressive support by several Escuela de Barcelona professors), a grimly colourful satire on modern society as such, and on its Fascist Spanish variety in particular. Pop! goes the anarchist’s bomb. Screens before Después del diluvio. Spain, 1969 | colour, DCP, 15 min, English Print/Sales: Filmoteca de Catalunya

Spain, 1962 | colour, 35mm, 22 min, French Prod: Gustavo Quintana | Prod Comp: Films 59 | Print/Sales: Filmoteca de Catalunya

Circles Ricardo Bofill What opens as a playful evocation of natural shapes and hues quickly turns into an allegorical psycho drama set in a white cube and driven initially by Bach. The performers’ gestures, sudden intrusions of colour(s) as well as the chosen fabrics tell it all. Screens before Noche de vino tinto. Spain, 1966 | colour, 35mm, 23 min, Spanish Prod Comp: Tibidabo Films | Sc: Ricardo Bofill | Cam: Juan Amorós | Ed: Juan Luis Oliver | Sound Des: Jordi Sangenís | With: Serena Vergano, Romy, Salvador Clotas | Print: Filmoteca de Catalunya

166

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

167

ADACHI MASAO

Adachi Masao: Film/Revolution Julian Ross

Adachi Masao

No other filmmaker in the history of Japanese cinema has traversed as many different ways of participating in film culture as Adachi Masao. He has taken on a range of genres from soft-core porn (‘pink’) film to experimental documentaries in his directorial efforts, and also made contributions to independent cinema as a scriptwriter, producer, actor, film critic and occasional organiser of film screenings. Adachi’s prolific output was only halted for his pursuit of radical politics as he flew to Lebanon in 1974 to participate in the struggles of Japan’s Red Army faction in the Palestinian resistance. Film and activism have always been intertwined in the hands of Adachi, who considers them two forms of collective action. The idea of collaborative expression was at the forefront of the Nichidai Eiken (Nihon University New Film Club), a group of student filmmakers who went on to play a leading role in the dawn of Japanese experimental filmmaking in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As part of this group, Adachi took part in at least two productions as a student: Bowl (1961) and Closed Vagina (1963), the latter of which went on to receive a nationwide run of screenings, often accompanied by performance artists and musicians who turned them into events. Around this time, Adachi co-founded the VAN Film Science Research Centre in his own shared apartment, a makeshift film lab and a space where filmmakers, artists and activists gathered. Film/Collective Action Adachi became a prolific screenwriter by the mid-1960s through his encounter with Wakamatsu Koji, the enfant terrible of pink film. Pink film, the subject of a retrospective programme at IFFR in 1995, is softcore pornographic cinema popularised in the 1960s and 1970s outside mainstream distribution networks, which meant that it often had more flexibility for radical experimentation. Under various pseudonyms, Adachi began writing for Wakamatsu in a collaboration that continued until Wakamatsu’s recent death in 2012. Their work together is widely considered to be the most radical and political output within the pink genre: Secrets Behind the Wall (1965) was considered a ‘national disgrace’ by the Japanese press and Ecstasy of Angels (1972) was deemed dangerous for apparently predicting the bomb attacks that happened in central Tokyo. Although pornographic and male-orientated, their films were some of the only pink films also seen by female audiences at the time. ???

168

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

They received recognition outside pink circles and played at art theatres, such as the Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka and its underground space Theatre Scorpio, which opened its doors with Adachi’s surrealist independent feature Galaxy (1967). Adachi himself directed a number of pink films with Wakamatsu Productions, including Sex Game (1968) and Female Student Guerrilla (1969), which are notable for their inclination towards absurdist comedy and their engagement with the nationwide student protests in 1960s Japan. Film/Revolution Considering film criticism as a form of activism, Adachi joined writer Matsuda Masao and others in relaunching the influential film journal Eiga Hihyo in 1970 as members of its new editorial board. In the pages of the journal, they discussed their ‘landscape theory,’ which considered the ethics of filmmaking and the role of film in exposing the hegemony of capitalism. The theoretical output was largely inspired by their co-directorial project, the experimental documentary AKA Serial Killer (1969). To find an alternative to the sensationalised reporting on teenage serial killer Nagayama Norio, the filmmakers made a work of slow cinema that followed his footsteps on his journey across Japan simply featuring the landscapes he may have come across. The contemplative approach to filmmaking was uniquely incorporated into the propaganda newsreel film Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War (1972), made on Adachi and Wakamatsu’s visit to Lebanon on their way back from the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, where they were invited to participate in Directors’ Fortnight. Two years later, Adachi responded to his own call to arms in support of the Palestine resistance and left Japan for Lebanon where he would stay for 28 years – only to return when deported in 2000.

After his return to filmmaking with Prisoner/Terrorist (IFFR 2008), his latest feature Artist of Fasting (2015) marks his second comeback and brings together the various facets of his career: the surrealist dreamscapes of his early experimental films, the sex-tinted absurdity of his pink period, and the depiction of state oppression found in his ‘landscape’ films. The connecting theme that remains crucial to this day is Adachi’s belief in cinema’s revolutionary potential to provoke for the sake of questions that need to be asked. With thanks to Hirasawa Go.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

169

ADACHI MASAO

Gingakei Galaxy Adachi Masao

Danjiki geinin Artist of Fasting

Adachi Masao’s first feature-length film is a milestone for being the first experimental feature film to come out of post-war Japan. A car crash sparks a sepia-tinted cinematic journey into the turbulent mind of the nameless protagonist who summons and distorts figures from his past, present and imagination. Featuring a swirling soundtrack by noise artist and Fluxus member Yasunao Tone, the film functions like a surrealist trip and showcases Adachi’s wry humour, inventive cinematic style and penchant for non-linear storytelling. Described as having a structure like a Möbius strip by the filmmaker himself, Galaxy was the film that launched Tokyo’s unique underground cinematheque and theatre space Theatre Scorpio that played an important role in Japanese experimental film in the years to come.

Adachi Masao Adachi Masao returns with his latest feature that demonstrates he has lost none of his political edge. Inspired by Franz Kafka’s short story A Hunger Artist, the satirical comedy follows a silent nameless man who stages what appears to be a hunger strike in an outdoor shopping district in Utsunomiya city, Tochigi prefecture. The unexplained act of individual non-action as action creates confusion and deliberation in the community, and soon the lip-sealed protagonist finds himself becoming a media sensation and surrounded by an entourage of eccentrics – ranging from yakuzas to the Doctors for Borders – who claim to speak on his behalf. As noise musician Otomo Yoshihide’s unusually upbeat soundtrack skips along, the sex-tinted comedy finds Adachi taking a bite into a range of controversial topics from ISIS to the historical discrimination of the aboriginal Ainu people from northern Japan. Harking back to performance art of the 1960s in which he took part, the shooting of the film was in itself a performative intervention as Adachi and his team shot primarily on one inner city location over a period of a month. A cutting indictment of contemporary Japan, the absurdist theatre staged by Adachi questions the callous abuse of the individual by the state as well as the inability of onlookers to lend a hand to the defenceless.

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

170

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Sei yugi

Sex Game Adachi Masao

Having participated in student activism himself, Adachi Masao revisited his own university a few years later to film this fiction feature from behind the barricades of a real-life student occupation. A female student activist is raped on campus by three youths. However, when one of the boys falls in love with her, she decides to invite him to join her on an ‘experiment’ to pursue the true meaning of radicalism. Incorporating documentary shots of student protests and on-street performances, the film taps into the zeitgeist of 1960s Japan and features actors from the Situation Theatre and Ankoku Butoh, leading Japanese avant-garde theatre and dance troupes. Adachi’s controversial fourth ‘pink’ film with Wakamatsu Productions brings together sex and radical politics as two forms of expression that can intertwine in unexpected ways.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

171

ADACHI MASAO

Sekigun-PFLP: Sekai sensô sengen

Jogakusei gerira

Female Student Guerrilla Adachi Masao

Five high-school students decide to embark on a guerrilla-style revolution in the mountains for their fight against their school’s graduation ceremony. Shot in CinemaScope in the midst of the student protests of late 1960s Japan, Adachi Masao’s fifth ‘pink film’ with Wakamatsu Productions is a comedic oddity and a candid portrait of collective struggle. It shows how the joint pursuit of what you believe in brings pleasure, but also critiques the inner group frictions (uchi-geba) that occurred in many revolutionary factions during the nationwide protests. The film foreshadows the Asama Sanso Incident of 1972 where such conflicts culminated in a shoot-out between police and student activists in the mountains that is widely considered to have marked the failure of their revolution.

Ryakushô renzoku shasatsuma

Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War

Adachi Masao, Wakamatsu Koji

Japan, 1971 | colour, video, 71 min, Japanese Prod: Wakamatsu Koji | Prod Comp: Wakamatsu Production | Print/Sales: Adachi Masao Screening Committee

Supporting Film Adachi Masao

AKA Serial Killer

Japan, 1969 | colour, video, 86 min, Japanese Prod: Adachi Masao, Wakamatsu Koji | Music: Aikura Hisato | Print/Sales: Adachi Masao Screening Committee

172

e.g. Adachi Masao Between 11 October and 5 November 1968, teenager Nagayama Norio murdered four people in a killing spree across Japan with a shotgun stolen from a U.S. Army base. Adachi Masao, together with cultural theorist Matsuda Masao, scriptwriter Sasaki Mamoru and other collaborators, set out to trace the young man’s footsteps with a camera in hand. The result is an experimental documentary comprised purely of landscape shots, each of which shows scenery that Nagayama may or may not have seen during his upbringing and journey. Seeking an alternative to the sensationalism found in the media’s depiction of serial killers (which continues to this day), Adachi’s sparse voice-over provides only the hard facts while the increasing number of billboards in the landscapes slowly reveal the hegemony of capitalism in contemporary Japan. Launching the influential ‘landscape theory’ in Japanese film theory and practice, AKA Serial Killer is a landmark in political filmmaking.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

On their way back from Cannes Film Festival in 1971, filmmakers Wakamatsu Koji and Adachi Masao visited Lebanon to meet the Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to shoot a propaganda newsreel film promoting the Palestinian resistance. Conceived as a ‘declaration of world war’ that implicates us all, the co-directors capture the everyday banality of military training and preparation exercises for imminent battle. The juxtaposition of the slow-paced ‘landscape theory’-infused style with the militant language of the declaration expresses the charged tension that revolutionary struggle brings about. Before leaving Japan to participate full-time in the Palestinian resistance, Adachi and his collaborators independently distributed the film across Japan on a Red Bus, bringing together cinema and revolution.

Wan

Bowl Nihon University New Film Club

Japan, 1961 | b&w, 16mm, 25 min, no dialogue Prod: Adachi Masao | Print/ Sales: Filmmakers’ Cooperative

Made in the aftermath of the failed protests against the Anpo Japan-US Security Treaty, the student film Adachi was involved in, collectively made by Nihon University New Film Club, depicts a young man attempting to break out of a ritual as it increasingly becomes uncertain whether his actions are autonomous or part of the ceremony. Screens before Galaxy.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

173

REGAINED

Stichting Dioraphte steunt projecten op het gebied van kunst en cultuur met een landelijk of internationaal bereik. Ook het Hubert Bals Fonds van International Film Festival Rotterdam mag rekenen op onze steun om films van filmmakers uit ontwikkelingslanden bereikbaar te maken voor een breed publiek. Niet straks maar nu. Omdat cultuur een rijkdom is die je met elkaar deelt.

Steun ook International Film Festival Rotterdam Word Tiger Friend of donateur.

Los hongos. Winnaar van de 2015 Hubert Bals Fonds Diorapthe Award.

True Blood: The Anger and the Irony of Claudio Caligari Paolo Bertolin “This is a real painting, made of life, made of death, made of blood. Of our blood”. The words of Cesare, the lead character of Claudio Caligari’s first feature Amore tossico, stand as a declaration of intent within a groundbreaking debut, but they also encapsulate the poetic and human spirit inhabiting Caligari’s cinema. Cesare was enthusing in front of a wall where a junkie artist had just sprayed spatters of her own blood, straight from the syringe she had used to shoot up heroin. That bare wall is the canvas of Caligari’s cinema: minimal, essential resources that he always had to fight for, within a system that ignored and ostracised his work. And those blood spatters are his stubborn independence and determination, the body and soul that he pledged to his passion for cinema. Lonely Rebel At the time of his death in May 2015, Caligari was completing Non essere cattivo, his third and final film. In 32 years, he only managed to shoot three features: Amore tossico (1983), a landmark fresco of the life of drug-addicted youths at the dawn of the 1980s; L’odore della notte (1998), a cult nocturnal vista on the swaggering exploits of a real-life gang of robbers; and Non essere cattivo (2015), a painful portrait of a friendship pushed to the limits by drugs, crime and existential despair. All ‘bad’ films, rough and unpolished, which Caligari made with anger and irony, and with compassion, as he mirrored himself in the margins he depicted. He was the true disciple and heir to a great lineage of iconoclastic Italian cinema, the one that spawned sublime ‘rebels’ such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Marco Bellocchio and Marco Ferreri (who helped raise the money to finish Amore tossico). A breed of cinema that was not welcome in the Italy of Berlusconi and televisual daze.

In L’odore della note, Valerio Mastrandrea (an Italian star who befriended Caligari and helped him in his most difficult days) aims his revolver at a TV set that shows Heather Parisi singing Cicale, an iconic happy-go-lucky ditty reversing Aesop’s fable: “we care about cicadas, we don’t care about the ant!” There, Caligari was standing his ground against the shallow hedonism that had ruled Italian collective consciousness in the previous decades, as well as the parallel, saddening sell-out of Italian cinema to the needs and dictates of television. Because his are real films, made of life, made of death, and made of blood – his blood.

DCP ✶ video ✶ 70 mm ✶ 35 mm ✶ 16 mm ✶ Super 8 ✶ 8 mm 45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

175

REGAINED

Amore tossico Toxic Love Claudio Caligari

Non essere cattivo Don’t Be Bad

Claudio Caligari Claudio Caligari had just completed editing Non Essere Cattivo, when he died of cancer in May 2015. He sadly could not witness the film’s premiere at Venice Film Festival, its appointment as Italy’s official entry for the Academy Awards, and its respectable theatrical run. Just like the protagonists of his films, he missed his chance to leave the margins and attain recognition. He left staying the ‘baD’filmmaker of unpolished portrayals of rebel youths who emerged from the troubled decade of political violence of the Seventies, and failed to integrate in the empty dream (or nightmare?) of consumerist achievement dominating Italian collective conscience of the eighties and nineties. Yet, Caligari left a legacy of hope and independence, as his films speak of unconditional love for cinema and of undefeatable determination to stay different. In Non Essere Cattivo, Caligari injected his Pasolinian characters and locations in a paradigm of lowlife buddy movie cum crime à la Scorsese. It is 1995, and childhood friends Cesare and Vittorio are spiraling down a track of irreversible self-destruction. When Vittorio decides to set himself straight, Cesare further sinks into his addiction to drugs and petty crime. But Vittorio decides not to desert Cesare. With sound and fury, and with compassion, Caligari brings his characters to the verge of desperation, but then saves a brim of hope for the very end, in a moving farewell to cinema and life.

Italy, 2015 | colour, DCP, 102 min, Italian Prod: Valerio Mastandrea, Simone Isola, Paolo Bogna, Laura Tosti | Prod Comp: Kimera Film | Sc: Claudio Caligari, Francesca Serafini, Giordano Meacci | Cam: Maurizio Calvesi | Ed: Mauro Bonnani | Prod Des: Giada Calabria | Music: Paolo Vivaldi | With: Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, Silvia D’Amico, Roberta Mattei, Alessandro Bernardini, Manuel Rulli, Valerio Campitelli | Print/Sales: Rai Com

176

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Toxic Love is one of the seminal masterpieces of Italian cinema of the 1980s. At a time when most Italian directors succumbed to comfortable flirtations with TV drama, Claudio Caligari instead summoned the ghost of Pier Paolo Pasolini and delivered a cinematic manifesto of uncompromising independence and fearless truth. Embracing a rigorous documentary approach and casting a group of real-life junkies and former junkies (who lent their colourful jargon to the dialogues), Caligari painted in Toxic Love a vivid and painful fresco of marginal life that is equally infused with irony and compassion, plus a touch of uncanny romanticism. In a heartfelt tribute from a disciple to his master, Caligari allowed himself to stage his most inescapably dramatic and heartbreaking scene right in front of the monument erected on the site where Pasolini was murdered. An unforgettable debut.

L’odore della notte The Scent of the Night Claudio Caligari

Inspired by real events in the Rome of the late 1970s, early 1980s which are chronicled in the evocatively-titled book The Clockwork Orange Gang, Scent of the Night marked Caligari’s comeback with a bang. His belated and much-awaited follow-up to Toxic Love polarized and baffled critics and audiences alike, who seemingly couldn’t cope with his reboot of the poliziottesco (Italo-crime) from the 1970s. A real shame, because Caligari elevates a fast-moving thriller about the violent street-and-home-robbery career of a former policeman and his gang-mates to a poignant socialpolitical metaphor. Featuring an iconic performance by Valerio Mastrandrea and interspersed with cinéphile homages ranging from Melville to Bresson, Scent of the Night is the ultimate Italian cult movie of the 90s. A politically incorrect indictment of a time when the seeds of the vapid hedonism of the Berlusconi age were sown.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

177

EXPO

REGAINED

Smithsoniana

Nuytten/Film

In addition to being a filmmaker, musicologist, anthropologist and bohemian, Harry Everett Smith was also a specialist in string figures and a dedicated collector of paper aeroplanes. He finally donated his collection to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Both passions were extensively documented in two books. PrintRoom pays homage to this fanatical collector and, to mark the two books, organises workshops and a lecture about string figures, flip books and paper aeroplanes. The photos which Jason Fulford made of the collections for the books can also be seen. For the workshops, see www.printroom.org.

For twenty years, Bruno Nuytten (1945) was a popular and highly regarded cameraman. He worked with directors including Marguerite Duras, André Téchiné and Claude Berri and won three Césars, for instance for Barocco (1976) and his own film, Camille Claudel (1988), in which his ex-wife, actress Isabelle Adjani, played the leading role. At the end of the 1980s, he suddenly turned his back on the film world. In Nuytten/Film, camerawoman Caroline Champetier (Holy Motors, Des hommes et des dieux) questions him about this decision and the craft which Nuytten regards as “thankless” because it does not get much recognition. Yet Champetier’s film is not a portrait of a bitter man. He consciously decided to stop, primarily because he felt encapsulated, too much part of a machine. As a result he no longer felt free and there was no space to experiment, which he liked doing. Nuytten is a real craftsman, as is emphasised by Champetier as she films him laying a parquet floor.

Caroline Champetier

PrintRoom (Schietbaanstraat 17)

Sipo phantasma

Heated Gloves

This experimental essay reminds us that all copies of the vampire classic Nosferatu (1922) should have been destroyed because of a legal difference of opinion about copyright. Even more suggestive than the literary and film-historic anecdotes are the broader associations that emerge. Almandoz takes us on a journey through time with shipping as recurrent motif. From fashionable cruise tourism back to the underworld and its mythological rivers, documentary observations are juxtaposed with naive figure theatre or abstract digital animations. The end of the film is situated around and in the tomb of F.W. Murnau, which was desecrated in July 2015. Since then, all traces of Murnau’s skull have disappeared.

Radiomaker and debutant director William English was a good friend of Captain Maurice Seddon. That is apparent from the images shot on 16mm at the beginning of the film and from the smartphone recordings at the end, when English is sitting beside Seddon’s deathbed. Seddon, who was of noble birth, never recovered from the break between his parents. His chaotic housekeeping looks like a neglected museum of audiovisual media. As an inventor, collector and herbalist, this dapper bachelor developed a completely unique and autonomous way of life. This documentary is equally wayward and bizarre, both an homage and an experimental essay.

Ghost Ship Koldo Almandoz

WORLD PREMIERE

178

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

William English

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

179

REGAINED

Khesht va ayeneh

Notfilm

Driving through the neon-lit streets of pre-revolutionary Teheran, a taxi driver picks up a veiled woman (played by controversial feminist poet Forough Farrokhzad), who leaves her baby on the back seat. He spends all night trying to get rid of the child, driving back and forth between smoky nightclubs and unwilling government organisations, but no one can or wants to help him. Director and scriptwriter Ebrahim Golestan, one of the most influential filmmakers in Iran before the Islamic Revolution, conceived the film as an allegory for the countless problems and corruption in his country. But also without the political message, this recently restored classic is fascinating because of the humanist point of view Golestan takes when looking at all his characters, the poetic and expressionist camerawork, and the beautiful performance by Tajolmolouk Ahmadi as the taxi driver’s girlfriend, who later in the film emerges as the true hero of the story.

In 1964, five years before receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature, playwright Samuel Beckett wrote his only film script. The avant-garde project, FILM, is still regarded as a striking undertaking. Both panned and praised by critics, the film was regarded by Beckett himself as an enormous failure, and leading actor Buster Keaton entirely lost the plot: “I was confused when we shot it… and I’m still confused.” Enough material for a poetic, experimental kino essay about Beckett’s cinematographic adventure, thought director Ross Lipman. Notfilm, an ambitious, widely-ranging two-hour making-of, examines the personal, literary and cinematographic background of FILM and its philosophical implications. Archive material, out-takes feared lost, audio tapes of conversations between Beckett and director Alan Schneider and interviews with connoisseurs and crew offer a wealth of rare material, which will leave film lovers rubbing their hands with delight.

The Brick and the Mirror Ebrahim Golestan

Ross Lipman

Original Copy

The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin

Florian Heinzen-Ziob, Georg Heinzen

Yves Montmayeur

180

Alfred Talkies is a cinema in the Mumbai Central neighbourhood. Its owner, Najma, inherited the film theatre from her grandfather, who founded it in 1932. Anno 2015, the building is as flaking as the discoloured and scratchy film prints that are screened there. “You’re on a sinking ship”, she suggests to her manager, when he again reports a boxoffice deficit. Original Copy is both the melancholy story about this old cinema, where ice cream is still sold in the interval, and a portrait of Sheikh Rehman. This colourful painter – he smokes, shouts and curses – and his team make sure that there is a new billboard on the façade every week. Unlike his father, Rehman does not consider himself an artist, but a craftsman: “I draw what the audience wants to see”: six-foot tall posters with heroes, villains, a sweet heroine, plenty of action and a little romance. In other words, Bollywood at its best.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

This informative documentary provides a glimpse of the wondrous oeuvre of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin, often delirious pastiches of silent films. Well-chosen clips from Maddin’s work and that of his filmmaker heroes, including Fritz Lang, Méliès and Buñuel, illustrate his recurring preoccupations. He is inspired by silent cinema, especially from Europe, has a predilection for dark fairytales and the supernatural, and prefers to mix stylised melodrama with irony and humour. Something can be absurdist, surreal or mysterious, as long as there is an emotional logic in it. The man himself, who loves bathing in melancholy, says he is striving for ‘psychic realism’. He compares his nonnarrative films with music: something touches you without your knowing exactly how that happens. Yves Montmayeur also speaks to several of his like-minded sources of inspiration, such as Kenneth Anger, the Quay Brothers, John Waters, Isabella Rossellini and Udo Kier.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

181

REGAINED

Visita ou memórias e confissões

Cheon-dang-ui Bamgua-ahn-gae

Manoel de Oliveira The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira died last year at the age of 106. In 1982, he shot a film in his house in Porto, where he lived for many decades. He ordered that the film could only be shown after his death. It’s a very personal film “by me, about me”, as Oliveira’s voiceover states at the beginning. He shows family films and photos and talks about a visit by the famous film critic Andre Bazin to the family house designed by architect José Porto. He muses on film and architecture and talks about his arrest in 1963 by the secret police, who interrogated him for days. Until the Carnation Revolution in 1974, Portugal suffered under a repressive dictatorship. The left-wing takeover also had disadvantages for De Oliveira: his father’s factory was taken over by the workers, after which it was sold and his family lived for a time in relative poverty. A difficult period which, however, “didn’t affect my soul”.

Jung Sungil After the South Korean film critic Jung Sungil saw Wang Bing’s monumental, nine-hour documentary Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks at IFFR 2003, he wanted to make a film about him. Years later, Wang invited the critic to come to the Chinese province of Yunnan, where he was working a whole winter long on two documentaries: the sequel to Three Sisters (2012) and the film ’Til Madness Do Us Part (2013), situated in a mental hospital. In Night and Fog in Zona, Jung talks to Wang about his ideas on cinema, in which the concept of time is crucial and for both of them Tarkovsky is a hero. Jung’s style mirrors that of Wang, not only in length (his ‘cine essay’ lasts almost 4 hours) but also in his predilection for observational long takes, the absence of a voiceover, abstract landscapes and minimalist music. One of the most beautiful shots shows a sleeping Wang in slow motion: time has congealed even more.

Memories and Confessions

Portugal, 1982 | colour, DCP, 68 min, Portuguese Prod Comp: Instituto Português de Cinema | Print/ Sales: Cinemateca Portuguesa

Night and Fog in Zona

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story

Herberg van het geheugen

Documentary with fascinating archive material about Harold and Lillian Michelson, whose sixty years of marriage coincided with their lengthy Hollywood career. Harold was a storyboard artist. His precise sketches made prior to a production served for many directors as a visual reference during shooting. Mel Brooks, who worked with him often, says: “Harold could make you look like a great filmmaker.” Lillian was a film researcher until retiring in 2010. If a director wanted to know what cars or clothes looked like in 1930, they could consult her. Harold and Lillian also worked together at times, for instance on The Birds and Marnie, Hitchcock productions they recall with great pride and pleasure. “I learned a hell of a lot from Hitchcock, to me he is cinema,” says Harold. Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story is both about their private life and working lives and contains beautiful cartoons of them, made especially for this film.

Kees Hin (1936) made his first documentary fifty years ago. Since then he has emerged as one of the Netherlands’ most productive filmmakers, with a large and above all characteristic oeuvre in which the boundaries between documentary and fiction, poetry and theatre often fade. His films are always about people and the strange capriciousness of life. He simply calls them encounters. This time he is himself the subject of such an encounter. Barbara den Uyl learnt a lot from a workshop she once took under Hin. Now she looks him up in his study and accompanies him to the depot of the Netherlands Film Museum EYE in Vijfhuizen, where Hin’s film reels are stored. Using striking excerpts – some playful, some gripping – Hin explains how he works. How he captured the smile of his friends, how the war formed his conscience and how film is magic for him in some way. If you remain true to your imagination, you can go far, he says.

Tavern of Memories Barbara den Uyl

Daniel Raim

182

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

183

REGAINED

Supporting Film Regained

Colour Corrections

A glória de fazer cinema em Portugal

Natural colours don’t exist in film. Every one is artificial and the result of choice. From lily white models for test shots to films entirely populated by Afro-Americans: these films hide nothing.

The Glory of Filmmaking in Portugal Manuel Mozos Having been shrouded in mystery for ninety years, this short documentary unravels what happened to an initiative by Portuguese writer Jose Regio to make a film with a borrowed camera. Only when a collector donated some cans of film was it clear what the initiative had led to: four minutes of Portuguese film history. Screens before Memories and Confessions. Portugal, 2015 | colour, DCP, 17 min, Portuguese Prod: Miguel Dias | Prod Comp: Curtas Metragens CRL | Sc: Eduardo Brito, Miguel Dias | Cam: Miguel Ângelo | Ed: Tiago Ramiro, Ricardo Freitas | Sound Des: Thiago Perry de Sampaio | Music: Joana Gama, Luís Fernandes | With: João Pontes, Pedro Cardoso, Samuel Mira, Sérgio Costa, Ricardo Leite | Print/Sales: Agencia – Portuguese Short Film Agency | www.curtas.pt/agencia/filmes/397/

Lili An van. Dienderen Since the 1920s, Chinese women with a perfect Caucasian skin have been filmed alongside a colour chart to set the colour balance of the camera. Is that exoticism or really racism? The phenomenon is called ‘China Girls’ because skin should be as white as porcelain. The narrator in the film is a Kodak director who describes his meeting with the ‘real’ Lili. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Tuschinski – Ode aan de stad

EXPO

Mediawall Rotterdamse Schouwburg

Anne Mercedes Langhorst

EXPO

Paolo Simoni

Who does the camera love most? In a series of vintage screentests, we see young, anonymous girls posing and hoping for a role in a film. A couple of typical poses, a battle with the strangeness of the situation, the clumsiness of the cameraman – the compilers from the Archivio Nazionale del Film di Famiglia preserved all imperfections with love.

Fenno Werkman

EXPO

www.homemovies.it

Hollywood My Hometown

In Hollywood, a hobbyist can sometimes get a film star in front of his lens. Comic and actor Ken Murray assembled an impressive cast. Fenno Werkman, known for his famous collection of music films, is also an enthusiastic collector of home movies. Every day he shows a sampling of his archive, including this unique montage film. 184

Two Marxists in Hollywood Zoe Beloff

With her abstract, graphic drawing, Rotterdam artist Anne Mercedes Langhorst refers to Art Deco, while its changing light patterns refer to cinema. This design is a study for a 130-metre-long light sculpture intended to remind Rotterdammers that Abraham Tuschinski, the founder of unique film theatres, started his career here.

Miss Cinema

Belgium, 2015 | colour, DCP, 10 min, English

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Independently of each other, both Sergei Eisenstein and Bertold Brecht tried their luck in Hollywood – in vain. Beloff has them reincarnated in the form of two lanky youths. By placing the idealistic ideas of these two left-wing thinkers in the mouths of children, Beloff underlines their naivete while reanimating their hopes for the future. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

The Man from Hong Kong Karen Yasinsky In an atmospheric collage, the soundtrack of a Bruce Lee vehicle from 1975 is combined with French fashion photography and amateur films from the American middle classes. Yasinsky excels in combining techniques and unlikely elements to evoke emotions. In this case, a surrealist evocation of sensual desires. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

185

REGAINED

Juke--Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams

Scales in the Spectrum of Space

Thom Andersen

Fern Silva

Film essayist Andersen snatches the AfroAmerican actor, director and scriptwriter Spencer Williams from obscurity with a striking, plotless montage film. In the 1940s, Williams made nine melodramas in the heart of Texas which document the era, showing how the average black citizen lived between the church and the bar, between gospel and blues.

A glimpse into the collective memory of the city of Chicago at the invitation of the Chicago Film Archive. In a very associative way, the experimental anthropologist and cineast Silva sampled a mini city symphony from 35 films, limiting himself purely to existing visual material. The soundtrack comes from Phil Cohran, known among other things for his work with Sun Ra.

USA, 2015 | b&w, DCP, 29 min, English

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Prod: Thom Andersen | Sc: Thom Andersen | Ed: Thom Andersen, Andrew Kim | With: Spencer Williams | Print/Sales: Thom Andersen

On Target

The Miniaturist

While life goes its own way, humans create all sorts of tools, machines and weapons that obey mathematically determined courses. The impact of this hubris is fascinating and scathing.

Paribartana Mohanty

I’ll Be Late for Dinner Elias Heuninck

A contemporary variation on Hiroshima, mon amour by Alain Resnais, but then with great emphasis on the use of colour and narrated by the nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Visual artist Mohanty again calls for us to reflect on the blinding power of the atom, starting with the first descriptions of nuclear explosions in Los Alamos and the Bhagavad Gita. India, 2015 | colour, video, 13 min, English

A rhythmic montage of images photographed by the Cassini satellite In orbit around Saturn, including ‘imperfect’ images that never made the press. A disorienting trip between space trash and electronic noise, subjecting the viewer to a mental split between the banal title and astronomically ‘far-fetched’ film shots. Also see Lightkeeping in the compilation programme Out of Sight. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

They Were Just People: an Excerpt Leslie Thornton Two circles, twice the same image: a restless pool of simmering tar. The soundtrack also evokes hellish associations with an eyewitness report of atom bombs dropping on Japan. The abstract image and resigned voice of a nurse lift the factual information to a different level, as if we are looking at an MRI scan of someone’s thoughts. WORLD PREMIERE

USA, 2016 | , DCP, 10 min, no dialogue Prod: Leslie Thornton | Print/Sales: Leslie Thornton

Prod: Paribartana Mohanty | Sc: Paribartana Mohanty | Ed: Raj Mohanty | Print/ Sales: Paribartana Mohanty | www.paribartanamohanty.wordpress.com

The Exquisite Corpus Peter Tscherkassky After a treacherously calm prelude, Tscherkassky tears the integrity of naked bodies to shreds and focuses our voyeuristic look entirely on the medium itself. The ironic reference to the cadavre exquis, a surrealist poetic technique, also implies a statement about the death of analogue film, with its typical trucages in positive and negative. Austria, 2015 | b&w, 35mm, 1:1.37, 18 min, no dialogue Prod: Peter Tscherkassky | Sc: Peter Tscherkassky | Ed: Peter Tscherkassky | Sound Des: Dirk Schäfer | Print/Sales: sixpackfilm | www.tscherkassky.at

Between the Bullet and the Hole Aura Satz During World War II, it was mostly women who – as ‘living machines’ – did calculations for ballistic tests and early computers. Satz poses questions about visual aesthetics based on research into forensic tests, scientific test images and punch cards full of numerical data. Every projectile is an extension of the eye. United Kingdom, 2015 | , DCP, 11 min, English Prod: Aura Satz | Sc: Aura Satz | Ed: Aura Satz | Music: Scanner | Print/Sales: Aura Satz | www.iamanagram.com

186

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

187

REGAINED

Do svidanija, maltsjiki Goodbye, Boys! Mikhail Kalik

USSR, 1964 | b&w, 35mm, 1:1.37, 97 min, Russian

TALK

Prod Comp: Mosfilm Cinema Concern | Print: EYE Film Institute Netherlands | Sales: Mosfilm Cinema Concern

Masterclass Sergei Loznitsa

Goodbye, Boys! is set on the eve of World War II. We see idyllic shots of three friends who spend happy times in the bright sun of the Black Sea: bare chests of lively boys playing around with girlfriends on the beaches and brimming with plans for the future. Pictures of everyday events, filmed en passant, without wanting to tell a story. If there is any kind of story, it is the threatening disruption of the boys’ happiness, as history has already told. In the foreseeable future, they will wear the uniforms of the Soviet army in the struggle against fascism. In this film, Kalik used authentic newsreel footage, helping to create a striking contrast between the joie de vivre of the youths and the threat of war.

VERTIGO. How to stay in control of your material and conquer its dual nature? We know a lot about the ways in which filmmakers use their material, image in particular, in order to manipulate spectators’ perception and provoke specific response. However, it is crucial to remember that filmmakers themselves are also affected by film image, and can be seduced, misled and ‘fooled’ by it. Sergei Loznitsa looks at the nature of the relationship between a filmmaker and his material and reflects upon the ‘pitfalls’, which are not easy to avoid.Also in the masterclass, these short films by Sergei Loznitsa: Portrait – A portrait of Russian countryside dwellers. Not only we, as spectators, look into their faces, but they also look back at us. The film refers to the primary function of cinema, documenting ephemeral moments of human existence. Factory – Stunningly photographed in rich sacral tones, Factory takes the viewer on a visually mesmerising tour through the belly of an old Soviet industrial plant. A cinematic meditation on Man and Machine. The Train Stop – A remote train station deep in the Russian woods. Inside, everyone is asleep. Without narration, and bathed in a ghostly light, the film is described by Loznitsa as a metaphor for what people in Russia are feeling today, a sense of ‘falling out of time.’

188

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Lubyit... To Love... Mikhail Kalik

USSR, 1968 | b&w, 35mm, 105 min, Russian Prod Comp: Moldova Film | Print: Gosfilmofond | Sales: Moldava Film

After the problems with Goodbye, Boys!, Kalik moved to Moldova, where the artistic climate after the fall of Khrushchev was not as suffocating as in Moscow. Kalik made To Love… for the Moldova Film Studios. Although they kept a close eye on the production of the film, it was approved by the Moldovan authorities. It was only when the film had to be approved by the authorities in Moscow that the problems started. The film was not approved and a ‘corrected version’ was screened in the cinemas. To Love... is a mysterious treatise on love, consisting of fragments in counterpoint. The fragments differ stylistically: some are clearly fiction, others documentary in character, such as the interviews with people of widely diverse plumage, from youths in a disco to the priest-philosopher Alexander Men. Texts from the Song of Songs are also chanted. Kalik employs a film style which he calls ‘musicaldocumentarist film poetry’.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

189

ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

Camera at the Ready Edwin Carels

Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera (1929) is undoubtedly one of the most highly regarded classics of early documentary films and one of the most adventurous in terms of form. Fast motion, slow motion, animation, double exposure, jump cuts, split screens, tracking shots – Vertov pulled out all the stops for his optimistic view of life in a metropolis. In this silent film with no intertitles, Vertov uses emphatically manipulated images in order to capture the essence of real life on film. However unusual his approach, his motivation was extremely familiar: Vertov wanted to reflect the pulse of modernity, the rhythm of everyday life, the experience of the man in the street. That was of course also an ideological stance: the glorification of man as a productive link in the grand machine, the city. Because he presented his message flamboyantly rather than as an explicit pamphlet, Man with a Movie Camera remains one of the most spirited films from the Soviet avant-garde. Rather than a polemical, us-against-them film, it is rather an inspired quest for an organic unity between man and machine, citizen and city, cameraman and subject. A Binding Factor Rarely has the process of creating a film so emphatically become a metaphor for the ambition to achieve social cohesion. Traditionally, the camera draws a dividing line, automatically creating a distance between the world in front of the lens and the invisible observer behind it. But the camera can also, as in the case of Vertov, be present in an honest and constructive way, and become a factor for cohesion within the context within which it operates.

Today, more than eighty years after Vertov took to examining the urban life of Muscovites, the world looks very different: urban life has grown explosively, the rhythm of life is much faster, and in the meantime, every smart-phone user has become ‘a man with a movie camera’, able to communicate with his or her own photos and films. To a much greater extent than Vertov could ever have suspected, we now compose our own audio-visual diaries and interpret daily life in a personal way. Compulsive On the other hand, our everyday activities are continuously watched by anonymous and ubiquitous cameras – not only those of the police in public places, but also the ‘community cameras’ increasingly being installed by private individuals. Distrust and fear can of course never produce a dynamic and engaging cinema.

190

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

Chips built into equipment and algorithms in our computers are turning our whole world into a single closed network in which the public and the private become entangled. Social media bring people together but at the same time impose a monopoly and encourage compulsive patterns of behaviour. Profiling one’s own identity is achieved through the polarising process of ‘liking’ and ‘disliking’. The same platforms which hope to bring about a Twitter revolution in the Middle East also function as forums for propaganda of the cruellest sort that is only aimed at increasing the contrast between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Micro Communities On the other hand, more and more people and groups do not wish to polarize or amplify their own personal opinions. The title of the Community Cameras programme refers to the many security-system cameras that observe us every day and especially serve to confirm negative behaviour. IFFR’s Community Cameras prefers to turn that principal around. It shows how the camera can be used as a binding factor in society, an interface bridging the gap between people, between us and them, by generating an understanding for their particular context in a constructive and above all nuanced way.

This phenomenon is no longer restricted to film theatres; images that provide people with a collective identity also circulate in video arcades or on YouTube. From television pirates to VHS smugglers, from Hollywood rebels to porn activists – the binding factor is always the film camera. It doesn’t just record, it also brings together people with a certain worldview, serving as an anchor for micro communities in the midst of a constantly transforming society. The diversity of the documentaries in this programme shows how vital the need is to form communities. Catalyst A striking example, and the source of inspiration for this programme, is Sergei Loznitsa’s film The Event (2015). In terms of visual language, this montage film is quite the opposite of Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera. And yet it is also a film about how a community forms itself at a crucial moment during a possible coup. Loznitsa found the footage of eight cameramen who went out on the streets in 1991 in what was then called Leningrad and immortalised the unrest and uncertainty, but also the euphoria and high hopes. How does the man in the street keep his bearings when the whole social structure is caught off balance?

We know now that the coup failed and that the Communist regime imploded even more rapidly as a result, but also that Russia is once again in the grip of a very authoritarian, centralist regime. With his deliberately anachronistic film, Loznitsa reminds us that a community does not have to succumb to an unequivocal, homogeneous ideology. It can also take over the controls itself – above all with camera at the ready, as a catalyst for the process of emancipation.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

191

ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

Bla cinima

Chuck Norris vs Communism

Straight from the Street Lamine Ammar-Khodja

The square in front of the Sierra Meatra Cinema is Algeria on a small scale. Old and young, rich and poor all go there. They hang around, stroll, trade, but above all, they debate. An ideal workshop for documentary maker Lamine Ammar-Khodja, who in Straight from the Street is looking for the significance of film in Algeria. He only needs to turn on his camera to evoke a flood of memories, arguments and reflections. There are plenty of contradictions: film is tantamount to education for one person, moral turpitude for another. Gradually, the focus is more on politics, generational conflicts, unemployment and the relationship between men and women. Film proves to be the perfect motivation to talk about everything that occupies Algerians these days. And those improvised situations and spontaneous debates become film of their own accord. More than can be seen in the renovated theatre in the background, in any case.

Ilinca Calugareanu

Porno e libertà

of the North

Between 1960 and 1980, Italian pornographers were not purely interested in money. In this review containing many uncensored excerpts, they link their films – often illegal at the time – with the battle for political, cultural and personal freedoms. They include the pioneer Lasse Braun, who inspired the Danish parliament to decriminalise pornography; Giuliana Gamba, the first female porno director in Italy; and Riccardo Schicchi, who helped porn star Cicciolina (later the muse of Jeff Koons) to become a member of the Italian parliament. Film critic Marco Giusti points out that arthouse films like Last Tango in Paris (1972) transgress the same sexual boundaries. Bertolucci declares on archive footage: “Pornography should be entirely liberated!” There’s no mention of abuse in porn productions. There are feminist objections and writer Helena Velena regrets the fact that “show business managed to remove the subversive and vibrant power that porn had”.

There are few places on Earth where industrialisation, cultural globalisation and climate change have had such a sweeping effect as in the North Pole. Over ninety years later, Robert Flaherty’s idealised portrait of “the kindly, brave, simple Eskimo”, is further from reality than ever. That is why Dominic Gagnon’s answer to Nanook of the North (1922) is called simply of the North, a title that also refers to the origins of the images shown. Instead of travelling to the North Pole, the Canadian mash-up artist mined the Internet: his film is a montage of videos posted by inhabitants, drilling platform workers and tourists. Their self depictions are sometimes shameless: Gagnon juxtaposes household scenes and shots of expeditions in the snow with images of morbid drunkenness, messing around with children, abusing animals and coarse exhibitionism. Traditional throat singers, local hip-hop and a Inuktitut version of Let It Be fill the soundtrack.

Porn to Be Free Carmine Amoroso

WORLD PREMIERE

192

In 1985, Romanian dictator Nikolai Ceausescu began his twentieth year as leader. There was a ban on travel, there were major food shortages and everyone was afraid of the Securitate, the dreaded secret service. As a form of resistance against this oppressive regime, people started organising evenings where invited guests could watch video tapes smuggled from abroad for a small fee. It was exciting, because watching ‘imperialist films’ was illegal. Even though a VCR was pricey – as expensive as a car – this was an attractive alternative to the propaganda broadcast on state TV. By watching American action films with Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme, among others, a generation of Romanians gawked at the free West with its beautiful houses, full shops and latest fashions. In Chuck Norris vs Communism, several people look back on that exciting era, including translator Irina Nistor and smuggler Teodor Zamfir.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Dominic Gagnon

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

193

ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

Sobytie

La ballade des exiles Yilmaz Güney

The Event Sergei Loznitsa

After his documentary Maidan, about the Ukrainian Maidan Revolution of 2014, Sergei Loznitsa now presents the foundfootage documentary The Event, looking back at a previous rebellion. This was the August Putsch in 1991, which is mainly shown indirectly. The State Committee on the State of Emergency, made up of communist hardliners, attempted a coup on 19 August 1991 and wanted to depose Soviet President Gorbachev and Russian President Yeltsin. In the end, the coup failed, but it did contribute to the demise of the Soviet Union at the end of December 1991. We also catch a glimpse of a young Putin, who was assistant to the Mayor of Saint Petersburg at the time. Loznitsa allows the images to speak, showing the confusion (“Is Gorbachev still alive?”) and the slogans (“A free country is a happy country”) up to the conclusion of the coup. On the soundtrack, we occasionally hear Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake: the rebels broadcasted not the news on TV but the Bolshoi Ballet.

Ballad of Exiles Yilmaz Güney

WORLD PREMIERE

Ilker Savaskurt The Zaza-Kurdish filmmaker, writer and actor Yilmaz Güney directed his greatest films, including The Enemy (1979) and The Road (1982), from within Turkish prisons. In order to avoid spending the rest of his life behind bars, he fled his homeland in 1981 in the hope of someday being able to return in freedom. The documentary Ballad of Exiles Yilmaz Güney (2016) looks at Güney’s last years, spent as an exile in Paris. There, he incorporated the things he had experienced when incarcerated – especially a revolt in the children’s ward of the Ulucanlar prison in Ankara – in the film The Wall (1983). The penitentiary, which he compared with a social laboratory, was recreated in a former monastery not just in the material sense, but also in spirit. Members of that cast and crew, most of whom themselves have fled from Turkey, talk about the intensive period shooting the film, their memories of Yilmaz Güney, their life in exile and art as a refuge.

El viento sabe que vuelvo a casa

Here Come The Videofreex Jenny Raskin, Jon Nealon

The Winds Know That I’m Coming Back Home

José Luis Torres Leiva

194

In 1968, Sony introduced the first portable video camera, the PortaPak. A few took advantage of the new medium to tell their own stories and offer an alternative to broadcasters like CBS. They wanted to show the ‘real world’, not manipulated TV reality. They set up the collective Videofreex, because “we were different, we were freaks”. Between 1969 and 1974, they hit the streets every day to record the blossoming American counterculture: they were present at Woodstock, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, women’s lib meetings and student sit-ins. The ‘radicals’ worked briefly for the influential CBS, but it backed out of a report about the Black Panthers. To earn some money, they pioneered video projects at concerts. They also started a local pirate broadcasting station with news for and by the inhabitants of the village where the collective was staying. These days their do-it-yourself ethic is ubiquitous: we are all videofreex.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

WORLD PREMIERE

Ignacio Agüero is a good interviewer and a patient listener. The film doyen travels to Chiloé, the second largest island off the coast of Chile, to seek actors and locations for a new feature film. He wants to use a local story as the basis for this project, a variation on Romeo and Juliet. It turns out that no one knows the story. The islanders do tell him about the difficult relationship between the local population and mestizos, the racism still present under the surface and the few people who manage to avoid the prejudices. José Luis Torres Leiva follows Agüero with his camera. His The Winds Know That I’m Coming Back Home is a film about romantic love and affection for one’s place of birth. This feeling unfolds slowly, to the rhythm of the island, which is often hidden in mist. Agüero uses his perseverance and clever manoeuvring to persuade the inhabitants to open up. The result is an intimate and almost fragile portrait of an isolated society.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

195

ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

The Lost Arcade Kurt Vincent

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

New York in the 1970s and 80s was a dingy place characterised by unemployment, vacant houses and violence. Amusement arcades were among the few places where young people could go. For hours, teenagers – almost all boys – threw quarters in the machine to play Pacman or Street Fighter. Until the Xbox and Playstation came out and everyone stayed at home. Chinatown Fair, one of the oldest arcades in New York, was forced to close in 2011. The Lost Arcade is a nostalgic look at the long lost days when Chinatown Fair was a meeting place for young people. Within their own microcosm, they acquired self-esteem from competitive gaming and formed friendships across all racial boundaries. Kurt Vincent shows how they try to maintain this spirit: regular customer Henry Cen starts a modernised arcade in Brooklyn, while a relative outsider tries to breathe new life into Chinatown Fair.

ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

This Is Where Reconstruction Starts To mark the events surrounding 75 years of the reconstruction of Rotterdam, a city that now has inhabitants who come from 175 different countries, IFFR asked six filmmakers from all corners of the world to make a cinematographic reflection on the theme of ‘reconstruction’. Four of them took the old life that was left behind as a point of departure, to then see how a character copes building a new existence; two makers were asked to focus on the moment of arrival.

Gardeners Mira Fornay Gardeners is about the trials and tribulations of an African asylum seeker in Europe. The silent film conjures up an extremely dark impression of his life with its exceptional use of colour and unorthodox soundtrack. A story of compassion for those who left hearth and home in search of a new homeland. WORLD PREMIERE

Where Is Kurdistan?

Rebel Citizen Pamela Yates

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

196

Haskell Wexler died in December 2015 at the age of 93. In 2003, he was crowned by colleagues as one of the ten most influential cameramen in film history. In this portrait by his friend and colleague Pamela Yates, Wexler’s contribution to cinematography is not the main issue; referring to his first Oscar for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), he cites the visibility it gave him. That recognition helped him realise his own feature and documentary projects, which provide evidence of his affinity with the civil-rights struggle and anti-war movement. Wexler is still just as inspired and committed in this last lengthy interview larded with film excerpts, in which he looks back on a broad oeuvre firmly rooted in critical protest: from ‘road documentary’ The Bus (1965), about the famous march to Washington in 1963, via his pioneering feature Medium Cool (1969) up to a report on the recent Occupy protests in his birthplace Chicago.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Aboozar Amini Where Kurdistan is, is one of the important questions of this century. Dawood came to Rotterdam from Afghanistan. He compensates for his loss of identity by listening to Damboora music. The Kurdish Berxwedane plays the music of his lost country in the streets. Although music usually brings people together, here it leads to misunderstandings between the uprooted. WORLD PREMIERE

Netherlands/Afghanistan, 2016 | colour, DCP, 22 min, Dutch/English/Farsi Prod Comp: Smarthouse Films, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Silk Road Film Salon | Sc: Aboozar Amini | Cam: Benito Strangio | Print/Sales: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Honey and Old Cheese Yassine El Idrissi Hassan has got himself a visa. He is preparing to leave the mountain village Tizi N’oucheg behind and join his father in the Netherlands. Everyone in the village knows he’ll soon be a foreigner. In a moving and occasionally comic portrait, Hassan says farewell to his friends, the country and its traditions. WORLD PREMIERE

Morocco/Netherlands, 2016 | colour, DCP, 20 min, Arabic Prod Comp: Smarthouse Films, International Film Festival Rotterdam | Print/Sales: International Film Festival Rotterdam

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

197

ID: COMMUNITY CAMERAS

DEEP FOCUS SHORT

This Is Not a Song of Hope

Notes on Film

Daniel Aragão

Stories and memories become associations, and – in turn – they become films. Images can breathe in contrast to full notebooks or walls of Post-its.

Tropical Recife. A tragic love triangle of three romantic people. A Dutch architect who came to study the colonial past – or is she seeking erotic freedom? An ambitious actress who is looking for more professional challenges than Recife can offer. And a musician wallows in melancholy self-castigation and hatred for the city he cannot live without. WORLD PREMIERE

Brazil/Netherlands, 2016 | colour/b&w, DCP, 21 min, Portuguese Prod Comp: Smarthouse Films, International Film Festival Rotterdam | Sc: Daniel Aragão | Print/Sales: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Mosaic

A Distant Episode Ben Rivers A meditation on the illusion of filmmaking, shot behind the scenes of a film being made on the other-worldly beaches of Morocco in silvery black-andwhite 16mm CinemaScope. The film depicts strange activities, with no commentary or dialogue; it appears as a fragment of film, dug up in a distant future – a hazy, black-and-white, hallucinogenic world. United Kingdom, 2015 | b&w, 16mm, 18 min, no dialogue Prod: Ben Rivers | Prod Comp: LUX | Print/Sales: LUX

Guido van Driel A building in need of renovation brings together three different communities: a demanding married couple has employed skilled tiler Farid and two workers from Mali. They don’t have much respect for each other. In the haste to get the job done in time, Farid injures himself. The accident makes it possible to take a second look. WORLD PREMIERE

A Sunny Day Ying Liang Hong Kong, at the height of the protests. A young woman visits her father, whom she has not seen for a while. Her plan is to have lunch with him before the Umbrella Movement reaches a critical juncture. Celebrated, committed filmmaker Ying Liang contributed with a beautiful moving short with an special angle asking: Where do we live, and what is citizenship? WORLD PREMIERE

An Old Dog’s Diary Shumona Goel, Shai Heredia Beautiful, introspective portrait of the Indian avant-garde painter Francis Newton Souza discusses the value of life and of art in particular. Personal journal entries and contemplative drawings from the 1950s are a marked contrast with the high prices his work commands today. India, 2015 | b&w, DCP, 11 min, no dialogue Prod: Shumona Goel, Shai Heredia | Cam: Avijit Mukul Kishore | Ed: Shai Heredia, Shumona Goel | Sound Des: Shumona Goel, Shai Heredia | Print/Sales: Shumona Goel

Still Light Nova Paul Still Light is an homage to New Zealand poet, filmmaker and photographer Joanna Margaret Paul. Her own cinematic poems could be viewed as homely portraits: calm, meditative studies of the intimate human environment. Still Light has the same radical simplicity. Fresh, sweet film poem with a beautiful lemon. New Zealand, 2015 | colour, video, 7 min, no dialogue Prod: Nova Paul | Cam: Ian Powell | Ed: Nova Paul | Sound Des: Bic Runga | Music: Bic Runga | Print/Sales: Nova Paul

Half Human, Half Vapor Mike Stoltz Lewis Vandercar, an outsider artist who sculpted in his garden, lived in a house on the Florida coast. It’s rumoured that he was also adept at magic spells and telepathy. The deceased artist’s home is empty, the garden overgrown, but the spirits still seem present. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

USA, 2015 | colour, 16mm, 12 min, English Prod/Cam/Ed/Sound Des/Music: Mike Stoltz | Print/Sales: Mike Stoltz | www.mikestoltz.org

198

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

199

DEEP FOCUS SHORT

Remembering the Pentagons

DEEP FOCUS SHORT

Elli Esther Urlus

Azadeh Navai The lyrical Remembering the Pentagons depicts filmmaker Azadeh Navai’s earliest memories. Places, smells and emotions are unearthed and the overwhelming world of her youth delineated using sensitive 16mm and pinhole footage. Her personal thoughts meet the words of classic Persian poet Hafez. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Elli consists of a seascape shot from the spot that marks the start of World War II in Greece. However, it is mainly a follow-up to filmmaker Esther Urlus’s inquisitive interest in colour mixing in film. In this case, the optical mixing created by various flicker effects. WORLD PREMIERE

Netherlands, 2016 | colour, 16mm, 8 min, no dialogue Prod: Esther Urlus | Print/Sales: Esther Urlus | www.estherurlus.nl

Chorus Josh Lewis

Vivir para vivir Live to Live

Laida Lertxundi “If I want to remember what happened on this trip, what should I do?” This quote from Bioy Casares opens Live to Live. From the Californian desert via the filmmaker’s ECG to Tashi Wada’s sine waves: Laida Lertxundi uses bodily processes ranging from heartbeats to orgasms to structure images, sound and colour. USA/Spain, 2015 | colour, 16mm, 11 min, no dialogue

Dry developer and fixer granules applied to 16mm film emulsion struggle with their pre-programmed functions as soon as water is added. This struggle between the basic elements of photochemical film manifests itself in projection as fluid, abstract lights in a three-dimensional space with many accelerating particles. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

USA, 2015 | colour, 16mm, 17 min, no dialogue Prod: Josh Lewis | Print/Sales: Josh Lewis | www.joshlewisfilm.com

Something Between Us

Processing (in Progress)

Something Between Us is a choreographed motion study for twinkling trinkets, beaming baubles, and glaring glimmers. A bow ballet ablaze (for bedazzled buoyant bijoux brought up to boil). Choreographed costume jewelry and natural wonders join forces to perform plastic pirouettes, dancing a luminous lament until the tide comes in. (JM)

An exploration of photochemical film with complete and incomplete developing methods, optical colour mixes, overlaps, doubling, flicker and other celebrations of this tactile art. All as 16mm projections.

Jodie Mack

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

On the Invention of the Wheel Richard Tuohy

USA, 2015 | colour, 16mm, 10 min, no dialogue Prod: Jodie Mack | Print/Sales: Jodie Mack | www.jodiemack.com

Font màgica Magic Fountain

Ultra-short, 16mm sequence of a bicycle wheel turning becomes a repeating machine thanks to the power of the loop. The much-lauded, experimental filmmaker Richard Tuohy provides a glimpse of the world defined by the mechanical art of film. On the Invention of the Wheel becomes a metaphor for the ‘Homo mechanicus’. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof’s work is inspired by the proto-cinema performances and artistic light technologies from around the turn of the 20th century. The enchanting Magic Fountain, a truly pointillistic spectacle, was created by subjecting footage of a light fountain in Barcelona to intense photochemical and digital processing. WORLD PREMIERE

200

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

201

DEEP FOCUS SHORT

Harbour City Simon Liu Harbour City portrays modern metropolis Hong Kong’s hyperactivity. The footage, primarily shot at a fish market, was doubled multiple times by the filmmaker creating an intensified experience that culminates in an overwhelmingly colourful, abstract image. Every screening is unique as projection requires two 16mm projectors. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Supporting Film Deep Focus

Tribute to Art #2 Frank Scheffer, Frans Zwartjes A melody, a shape, a movement, a succession. Everything can be art as long as the view is angled to create a different perspective. Frank Scheffer’s homage to art, that hard-to-define phenomenon that dances, collides, rubs and floats ahead of us is an associative mosaic of images and sounds. Screens before The Perception in the programme Signatures. WORLD PREMIERE

202

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

PERSPECTIVES

Spaces Within: Kris Verdonck Episodic/Epidemic Critics’ Choice Genre DNA ID: Burma Rebound Letters from Ethiopia Scopitone Blind Spots Perspectives Short

EXPO

PERSPECTIVES

ISOS Kris Verdonck ISOS is inspired by J.G. Ballard’s novel The Atrocity Exhibition and his visionary tale of a future world that increasingly looks like our contemporary neoliberal society. This installation consists of 3D videos in nine white boxes with ominous stories from suburbia – separate building blocks that combine to form a short film in the viewer’s mind. One of the most important elements of Ballard’s oeuvre is masked aggression in safe suburbia. In the videos we meet a bored middle-class couple whose relationship is determined by mutual abuse of power. The boxes have viewing holes on the top, so you can scrutinise the people at the bottom as if they were insects under a microscope – film as laboratory. In ISOS, which means ‘equal’ in Greek, the whole world is standardised. In one claustrophobic setting, we see a man laugh because he can’t do otherwise: the psychosis of the endless laugh, a permanent delirium of satisfaction. But behind the cheerfulness awaits a void. In another setup, we see a family man who keeps reliving the last few moments and gets stuck in time and in himself. In another box, eroticism and catastrophe change into each other and pornography and science are reconciled, just as naked men and women were once filmed under the pretence of science. Voyeurism turns into observation. Spaces Within, Spaces (Gebouw De Hofpoort, Hofplein 20).

www.atwodogscompany.org

204

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

205

EPISODIC/EPIDEMIC

Episodic/Epidemic Léo Soesanto Episodic/Epidemic, the Cronenbergian title of this programme, comes from the idea that TV series have become such a cultural force that they spread like a virus – affecting our conversations (“No, don’t tell me, I haven’t seen the last episode yet”), the minds of filmmakers working for television and the programmes of film festivals (Toronto, Berlin, Sundance) which now screen TV series. And of course, Episodic/Epidemic is a followup to IFFR 2013’s Changing Channels programme, which explored the intersection between TV and independent filmmaking. Consider this a ‘Season 2’. Episodes are so epidemic at IFFR this year that one title in the Critics’ Choice programme is The Thaw, a TV series which has been dubbed ‘the Russian Mad Men’. Experiment with Time When we talk about films and series, it is mostly about taking a side. Films versus series. Is cinema better than TV? Is TV the new cinema? If watching a TV series feels like reading a novel, then is cinema poetry? Even the meaning of the word ‘TV’, in its traditional sense of a collectively shared experience in front of a small screen at a fixed time, is being challenged by the internet (technically, what is House of Cards, if not a web series?), the possibility of replay, and new, individualistic ways of consuming culture à la carte.

Episodic/Epidemic does not pick a side. Instead, we have chosen the word ‘episodic’ to identify the core of telling stories in episodes. Apart from the characters, episodic storytelling is an experiment with time and rhythm. Michael Robinson’s short film The Dark, Krystle radicalizes that idea by mixing clips from the classic soap opera Dynasty into a never-ending, repetitive and hypnotic loop. Cliffhangers, bumps, pauses. The result? Binge-watching, time-consuming, frustrating. The viewer can have all of these words in mind when watching a single episode out of the whole. Episodic/Epidemic will therefore screen pilots (“Oh, that’s a good start”), selected episodes (“Why only two? I want to see more!”) and marathons (“I saw all of it, that was great”). But even films can feel episodic in an era of superhero franchises, or when one of the most successful arthouse titles at a festival is Miguel Gomes’ trilogy Arabian Nights.

Altes Geld

Stick enough characters and twists for an entire TV season into one film and you get the Italian thriller Suburra by Stefano Sollima, which will be adapted into a series. Take your time (five hours, in fact) watching the four women of Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s Happy Hour and you will know them better than the characters of Sex and the City after six seasons and two films. Parallel Views The rest of the programme covers ongoing trends in the episodic landscape across the world. The trials of two couples in Togetherness, the humorous portrayal of one community in The Natives, and the paranoid cyber-thriller Mr. Robot (Golden Globe 2016 winner for Best TV Drama) illustrate how independent filmmakers find solace, freedom and inspiration in series where they can expand a story. Norskov with its Danish crime-ridden city, Baron noir with its high-stakes French political intrigues, and La casa with its portrayal of Argentina respectively show on the local, national and century levels how a series can reflect its country of origin. The various genres are represented by different styles, from the rawness of Togetherness to the madly decadent stylishness of the soap opera Altes Geld.

At the same time, Episodic/Epidemic takes a sidelong glance at series that break the format of the 30-minute or 42-minute episode. The programme starts with non-fiction. There currently is an interest in episodic documentaries, but it is mostly for American true crime (The Jinx, Making a Murderer), as if facts needed to be as thrilling as fiction. Therefore, the Field of Vision project, co-initiated by Laura Poitras (director of the 2014 Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour about Edward Snowden) is a bold move to mix serial storytelling and visual journalism in short online films. Web series and short-format programmes are definitely an American trend. Episodic/Epidemic will thus show two pilots supported by the Independent Film Project, two very different variations by indie filmmakers about ‘the you and the I’. 195 Lewis follows a gay couple in New York, and Bob Dylan Hates Me tells about a very funny moment with Bob Dylan by way of animation. Finally, the programme will shift towards virtual reality with a preliminary version of John Michael Boling’s CULTURESPORT, a virtual sci-fi narrative set in an alternate Rotterdam in 1995. The audience will be able to look at this work-in-progress and how it is being made. Because every series needs a beginning. Many thanks to Inge de Leeuw, Mercedes Martínez-Abarca and Gerwin Tamsma for their help.

Suburra

206

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

207

EPISODIC/EPIDEMIC

Bevergem

Togetherness

After directing short films which were successful in many festivals (Mont Blanc was selected for the short films competition in Cannes in 2013), Gilles Coulier started working on his first long feature (Cargo, scheduled for shooting this year), but chose to do a TV series in the meantime. The Natives (2015) sees Freddy De Vadder, a famous stand-up comedian, fleeing to a (fictional) Flemish village called Bevergem for mysterious reasons (one explanation may lie in the trunk of his car). Freddy is the quiet and rough type; the residents are softly extravagant, from the shopkeeper who lost his mother to the posh fan who just won the lottery. Absurd things ensue. Coulier co-wrote the series with several stand-up comedians, who shaped the characters and fill the series with a very specific mix of deadpan and warm humour.

How does a seemingly simple plot get richer and emotional? By having enough time – like eight episodes. And with time, you get freedom. The first season of Togetherness follows two couples: husband and wife Brett (Mark Duplass) and Michelle (Melanie Lynskey), going through a mid-life crisis; and Brett’s jobless-actor friend Alex (Steve Zissis) and Michelle’s sister Tina (Amanda Peet), unexpectedly bonding. Through laughter and melancholy, Togetherness deals with relationships with great honesty: Jay Duplass confessed to Variety (June 2015) that he and his brother challenged themselves to “get very specific and very real. There is literally not anything that has happened in the show that hasn’t happened to someone we know.” That comes across, and in season two we’ll see where our characters may feel better but not that much: “good but not great”, as Brett points out.

The Natives Gilles Coulier

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Steve Zissis

WORLD PREMIERE

Baron noir

Mr. Robot

Despite years of successful TV series, the French channel Canal Plus never had a major political series. Writers Eric Benzekri and Jean-Baptiste Delafon and director Ziad Doueiri finally gave them this appetizer for the 2017 French presidential elections. The protagonist is the ambitious politician Philippe Rickwaert, whose career is threatened when his close friend, socialist presidential candidate Francis Laugier (Niels Arestrup), has to sacrifice him to save his campaign. Rickwaert will have to rebuild everything with the help of his many connections – some dangerous. Black Baron is a realistic, thrilling depiction of French politics, from the higher level to the local scene, putting presidents and activists on the same level of dramatic importance. Known for his comic roles, Kad Merad plays a fascinating Rickwaert, a seemingly ordinary guy with the heart of a political killer, who will do bad things because he thinks it’s a just cause.

In most films and TV series, hacking looks like an easy task: put on a hoodie, sit, type fast and press enter. Mr. Robot (2015) dares to add some artistic and political weight to that cliché. Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) is a cybersecurity engineer by day and a hacktivist by night, recruited by the mysterious Mr Robot to insert some chaos into the capitalist order: bringing down major corporations, cancelling debts. The twist is that, thanks to his paranoia and depression, the world according to Elliot becomes an oddly stylish place for him and the viewer. Originally thought as a film by its creator and director Sam Esmail (Comet), Mr. Robot became an episodic web of deception and thrills, which update the anarchistic and neurotic pleasures of Taxi Driver and Fight Club for the cyber age. With episodes directed by Niels Arden Oplev and Sam Esmail.

Black Baron Ziad Doueiri

208

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Sam Esmail

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

209

EPISODIC/EPIDEMIC

Happy Hour

La casa

From Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, the mundane can become epic given the proper length. The 317 minutes of Happy Hour (2015) are more than enough to connect with Jun, Akari, Sakurako and Fumi, four housewives living in Kobe, Japan. The divorce of one of them will test their friendship and expectations from life. With this film, director Hamaguchi Ryusuke wanted to make a female version of John Cassavetes’ Husbands but the whole experience is more like a series. Not the screaming, Desperate Housewives/Sex & The City type, but an intimate, warm, bittersweet exploration of womanhood, with much attention for detail, psychology and conversations. The film owes a great deal to the chemistry between its four non-professional actresses – Tanaka Sachie, Mihara Maiko, Kikuchi Hazuki, Kawamura Rira – and their emotional honesty.

A TV series, by its length, can explore the past and history of a country – think of Heimat or Mad Men. Diego Lerman (known for his films Tan de Repente, The Invisible Eye and Refugiado) uses the episodic format for an original experiment: telling the story of Argentina through a single house and its many inhabitants on the Delta del Tigre, from the beginning of the 20th century to… 2026. Each of the thirteen episodes is a single plot, set in a different period and rooted in the politics and social context of its time. This also allows Lerman to experiment on different styles and genres: melodrama, film noir, blackand-white, etc. Think of a house with thirteen rooms, where each one is a mini-film with its own mood and mise en scène. Argentinian TV being pretty traditional in terms of series, La casa (2015) is a bold oddity.

Hamaguchi Ryusuke

Diego Lerman

Norskov

Altes Geld

Norskov (2015) is the latest entry in Nordic Noir – the dark Scandinavian take on the crime and thriller genres, with such successes as the Millenium trilogy or The Bridge. Norskov is a tough harbour town in northern Denmark and the birthplace of policeman Tom Noack (Borgen), who goes back to put some order on the streets. He has to face drug trafficking and, above all, his former lover and her son who is about to become a hockey star, his brother-in-law, the mayor of the town, and many secrets. With the usual top-notch technical quality for Danish productions, the series is a complex portrayal of one small town – and the fact that its creator/writer Dunja Gry Jensen has a background in documentary makes it all the stronger. Think of Friday Night Lights for how sports can be rooted in one community and The Wire for the social impact of crime. With episodes directed by Louise Friedberg.

Let’s face it: soap opera is the most epidemic genre in TV series because it unfolds well disguised. From The Sopranos to Downton Abbey, you can’t avoid being ‘soapy’ after five or six episodes. Old Money (2014) turns that genre upside down: first because it comes from Austria, a country not that well known for series (please don’t say anything about Kommissar Rex). Here, the rich businessman Rolf Rauchensteiner desperately needs a new liver and his only hope is his children. The ‘good samaritan’ who will provide it will inherit everything. Saying that Rolf is played by the flamboyant Udo Kier will only hint of 30% of the madness which engulfs this operatic saga about twisted family ties and corruption. Writer and director David Schalko was previously successful in his country with his satire comedy Braunschlag (2012) and strikes twice with this soap opera which seems to have been made by a funny Visconti.

Old Money David Schalko

Dunja Gry Jensen

210

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

211

Suburra

CULTURESPORT

After Romanzo Criminale and Gomorra (which were adapted into TV series by Stefano Sollima), Suburra (2015) shows again that crime on screen is the main export from Italy – after all, the Italians invented the Mafia genre. This time, Sollima uses Rome and one of its suburbs (Ostia) as the ‘Eternal City’ for greed and violence: a dangerous battleground where politicians, different generations of Mafiosi (the old guard who want some kind of order versus the restless young ones) and even the Vatican want their share. Suburra is a fizzing, energetic, Scorsesian depiction of a corrupted system, which at the same time feels like a series squeezed into a film with its many characters, twists and ‘chapters’ (the film takes place one week before the ‘apocalypse’). The logical next step: Suburra is being adapted as a series for Netflix in 2017, the first original Italian content shot for that provider.

Episodic storytelling is of course expanding to the virtual reality world – another way of involving viewers, by using goggles and images fed straight to the eyes. It’s still a new phenomenon for most people, so Episodic/Epidemic will allow visitors to begin at square one by investigating a work-in-progress that is being presented in collaboration with showroom MAMA in Rotterdam. Visitors will see and experience how a virtual reality narrative is developed. CULTURESPORT, a creation by John Michael Boling in anime style, explores an alternate 1995 Rotterdam, threatened by floods, where a technology based on dreams may save the city. To get access to a new world of narrative possibilities, all that is required is an Android smartphone.

Stefano Sollima

EPISODIC/EPIDEMIC

EXPO

EPISODIC/EPIDEMIC

MAMA (Witte de Withstraat 29-31)

Field of Vision various directors

USA, 2016 | colour, video, 60 min, English Prod: Charlotte Cook, Laura Poitras, AJ Schnack | Prod Comp: The Intercept | Print/Sales: The Intercept | www. theintercept.com/fieldofvision/

212

Laura Poitras, director of the Academy Award-winning Citizen Four (2014) about Edward Snowden, launched with producer Charlotte Cook and filmmaker AJ Schnack the Field of Vision project: a visual journalism unit which commissions indie filmmakers to shoot episodic documentaries or short nonfiction films. The first season premiered online in November 2015, covering very different topics around the globe including refugees, the Greek crisis, poverty and the US military presence in Afghanistan. All of them reveal political awareness, approach journalistic assignments cinematically and have various and intriguing forms of artistic merit, showing that episodic documentary doesn’t only stick to American true crime (think of The Jinx, Making a Murderer) but can also be wise and short, informative and fragmented. This special showcase will include works that have yet to premiere as well as some of their highlights so far.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

213

EPISODIC/EPIDEMIC

Supporting Films Episodic/Epidemic

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Whose Cinema Jan Pieter Ekker & Dana Linssen

195 Lewis Chanelle Aponte Pearson In Brooklyn, a queer couple opens up their relationship. 195 Lewis honestly explores gender dynamics and identity when “a lot of shows out there right now rely on lies and deception as their source of drama”, according to writer/director Chanelle Aponte Pearson. Screens before Happy Hour. INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

USA, 2015 | colour, DCP, 17 min, English Prod: Yaani Supreme, Terence Nance, Rae Leone Allen | Prod Comp: Supreme Film House Works, MVMT, 195 Lewis LLC | Sc: Rae Leone Allen, Terence Nance, Chanelle Aponte Pearson, Yaani Supreme | Cam: Jomo Fray | Ed: Niq Lewis, Jon Proctor | Prod Des: Soull & Dynasty Ogun | With: Rae Leone Allen, Sirita Wright, Roxie Johnson, D. Ajane Carlton | Print/Sales: Supreme Film House Works | www.195lewis.vhx.tv

The Dark, Krystle Michael Robinson The Dark, Krystle (2013) re-models the legendary 1980s series Dynasty by focusing on his leading ladies: the gentle Krystle and the evil Alexis. Soap opera is an eternal returning. By compiling the same gestures and close-ups, Michael Robinson creates a surreal and fascinating prison for the two archenemies. Screens before Old Money. USA, 2013 | colour, DCP, 10 min, English Prod: Michael Robinson | Ed: Michael Robinson | Print/ Sales: Video Data Bank (VDB) | www.poisonberries.net

Bob Dylan Hates Me Caveh Zahedi Director Caveh Zahedi (I Am a Sex Addict) originally planned to relate 52 of his awkward celebrity encounters in a podcast but decided to adapt them for animation. This pilot for a web series starts with a blast: Bob Dylan in a plane, cringing, and Zahedi’s detached, funny voiceover. Screens before The Natives.

Xavier Dolan? Really. I mean, in early January he got himself in the news again about social media, this time because Netflix was supposedly offering his film Mommy in the wrong format. It turned out to be a storm in a teacup. A minor technical hitch. Fixed. However, in an open letter to the streaming corporate giant, Dolan asked ‘whose film’ Mommy really was, and he did have a point. Because who does a film belong to? ‘Whose Cinema’ is the umbrella theme of the second edition of Critics’ Choice. It’s a question that – with a tip of the head to André Bazin’s Qu’est-ce que le cinéma? – emerges directly from last year’s (The Return of the) Critics’ Choice, in which we introduced to a larger festival audience the video essay as a new form of film criticism. Why is it that you can continue to make written descriptions of scenes or footage from a film without a problem, but are increasingly often limited by copyright questions and regulations when you also use visual material? And is it permissible to recut a scene and use it for your own argument? Does using this kind of ‘material thinking’ really bring you closer to the meaning and intentions of a film? Library of Alexandria for Cinema Audio-visual film critics are not usually allowed access to films, however, because copyright and other interests determine which images can be used – not only by journalists, but also by film lovers in general. Once the distribution rights have lapsed, most films disappear from the public domain. Where is the Library of Alexandria for cinema? Did it collapse before it was built?

In our quest for an answer to the question of ‘Whose Cinema’, we found an amalgam of answers. Does a film belong to the director, the producer, the financiers? To the powers that be, the holders of copyrights, the distribution middlemen? Does a film really belong to the audience, to film history, to other artists who want to remix or reuse it, or can a work of art possess an integrity of its own? While the mainstream film world worries about pirates and data sharing, digitalisation has led to the blossoming of all kinds of creative forms of remixing and fan cultures, and audio-visual film criticism is getting a foothold in the academic world. The critics we invited to introduce our selection of films with a video essay found many answers, some complex and some conflicting. For us, the question ‘Whose Cinema’ is essential to a vital and free exchange of thoughts, ideas and dreams that keeps every film culture alive.

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made

214

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

215

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made

A Crackup at the Race Riots

Jeremy Coon, Tim Skousen

“It’s amazing that Steven Spielberg needed $20 million to make Raiders of the Lost Ark, and my dad only had his allowance”, says the son of one of three Mississippi teenagers who created in the 1980s a shot-for-shot remake of Spielberg’s film. It all started as a fan project, but became a Spielberg-plot itself: about coming-of-age, friendship and family, and above all that old American Dream: anything is possible. The almost-finished project became cult fare after Eli Roth got his hands on a VHS copy in 2002 and brought it to Rotten Tomatoes founder Harry Knowles, who showed it on Butt-NumbA-Thon, his 24-hour ‘geekstravaganza’. In 2014, the now-adult fans rekindled the dream to complete their remake. Apparently director Jeremy Coon and producer Scott Rudin are considering a fiction remake of this real life story, which proves that truth is always stranger than fiction. Film introduced by a video essay by Juan Daniel F. Molero.

Leo Gabin

Ji-geum-eun-mat-go-geuddae-neun-teul-li-da

The Dying of the Light Peter Flynn

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

216

The projectionist is the last link in the long chain of filmmaking – the operator in the booth was also involved with such everyday things as sticky tape and a toothbrush to clean the sprockets. The hand that not long ago turned the focus wheel is now as invisible as the Wizard of Oz: “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” The craft of projectionist, which remained virtually the same for a hundred years, actually no longer exists since the recent digitalisation. The projectionists who speak up in this affectionate documentary think back on rewinding the miles of film as it slid through their fingers in the projection booth – a place that was for many of them home. Many protectionists were also surreptitious collectors; every film was very briefly in the possession of the projectionist until he passed it on to us. Film introduced by a video essay by Mariska Graveland.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

A Crackup at the Race Riots by Belgian artist trio Leo Gabin is inspired by Harmony Korine’s book of the same name. Taking Florida as their location of choice, the directors have put together a collage of images found on YouTube, consisting mainly of home movies that depict the internalisation of MTV culture, for instance, or drug abuse and natural disasters. By appropriating such material, Leo Gabin offer us imagery associated with negative yet realistic depictions of the so-called American Dream, an interpretation of a social and political reality built along the lines of Korine’s novel, which in turn seemingly at random collects story snippets with alleged documentary value. When asked about the implications of using footage produced by others, Leo Gabin reply: “That’s the beauty of appropriation art, using elements normally not considered art or having a non-art function to create a new work.” In other words: borrowing from culture produces culture, despite claims of authorship. Film introduced by a video essay by Paula Albuquerque.

Right Now, Wrong Then Hong Sangsoo

When is then and when is now? And what is right and what is wrong? These are essential questions in Right Now, Wrong Then, the dryly humorous story, told twice, about the filmmaker Ham Cheonsoo, who travels to Suwon for a Q&A. There he meets the young female painter Yoon Heejuong. They stroll, talk, eat sushi and drink much too much soju. Maybe this is the beginning of a romance. Hong’s films have often been compared with Groundhog Day; here too, stories that repeat themselves and characters who find themselves in a time loop. But Right Now, Wrong Then is also about looking and about how we remember having seen something. You only have to move the camera a little, to add a voice-over, to allow a scene to run a little longer, and you have a very different film. A beautiful puzzle about how we can never step twice into the same river. Film introduced by a video essay by Kevin B. Lee.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

217

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Helmut Berger, Actor

Francofonia

“Maybe the best motion picture of the year is also the worst? One-time dreamboat movie star and lover of Visconti, Helmut Berger, now seventy-one and sometimes looking like Marguerite Duras, rants and raves in his ramshackle apartment while the maid dishes the dirt about his sad life. The rules of documentary access are permanently fractured here when our featured attraction takes off all his clothes on camera, masturbates, and actually ejaculates. The Damned, indeed,” says cult director John Waters. Is this a thumbs up or down? Once a sex symbol and art film icon, now an emblem of faded glory, his walls covered with photos of yesteryear. Who is the star when time and age take ownership of his face? Is he still in charge of his appearance? And what is this odd eroticised, even sexually loaded entanglement between director and protagonist? Whose film is this, anyway? And at what point do we take our own responsibility? Film introduced by a video essay by Hugo Emmerzael.

“Without me, there was nothing here”, says Napoleon somewhere halfway through Francofonia to Marianne, the French symbol for freedom and reason. And of course he meant the art treasures in the Louvre, which is the backdrop throughout the film for reflections about the relationship between art and power. Against the background of the exciting plot that was conceived during the occupation of Paris in the Second World War by Count Wolff Metternich and director Jacques Jaujard in order to safeguard the heritage in the museum, Alexander Sokurov takes us along in a detective essay about the history of the museum and the museology. He doesn’t only wonder what art is, but also uses a variety of photos, paintings and archive images to illustrate his story about both men and in doing so he gets artistry on his side. Challenging and humorous key film in the Critics’ Choice programme Whose Cinema. Film introduced by a video essay by Jan Pieter Ekker and Dana Linssen.

Andreas Horvath

Alexander Sokurov

France/Germany/Netherlands, 2015 | colour, DCP, 87 min, French/German/Russian Prod: Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Thomas Kufus, Els Vandevorst | Prod Comp: Ideale Audience International, zero one film GmbH, N279 Entertainment | Sc: Alexander Sokurov | Cam: Bruno Delbonnel | Ed: Hansjörg Weißbrich | Sound Des: Emil Klotzsch | Music: Murat Kabardokov | With: Vincent Nemeth, Benjamin Utzerath, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Johanna Korthals Altes | Sales: Films Boutique | Distr NL: Contact Film

Brand New-U

Ottepel

“There’s a better life waiting for us. Someone else. Somewhere else.” That is the motto of the company Brand New-U, which offers clients an opportunity to lead a better life by taking over the life of one of their ‘Identicals’. That sounds sunny, but twentysomething Slater discovers the darker side of this practice when his girlfriend Nadia is kidnapped during a failed life takeover. Hoping to find her again, he surrenders himself to Brand New-U’s reforms. But how can he be sure that the one he finds really will be Nadia? And how sure is he about who he really is himself? Simon Pummell remixes elements from sci-fi films and thrillers in a story full of repeats and echoes that gradually acquires more and more dream logic. The result is an allegory which investigates the extreme consequences of the malleability of identity that characterises online life and the alienation it evokes. Film introduced by a video essay by Joost Broeren.

Russians have long delighted in American TV series, and now they are making their own. But a Russian Mad Men? Isn’t that as contradictory as it gets? How can consumer advertising in 60s New York be compared to the anti-capitalism of the USSR? Or is that a one-sided perspective? Just as Mad Men’s creator Matthew Weiner was inspired by his dad’s life as an advertising agent, The Thaw’s director Valery Todorovksy situated his series in a milieu he knew well: the Moscow film world during the ‘Khrushchev Thaw’, a relatively relaxed time when censorship was loosened and new forms of entertainment arose on the emerging medium of national TV. The Thaw circles around a talented filmmaker who has difficulties getting a film off the ground. A fine example of the new wave of Russian TV, that despite bold references to repression, censorship and state-controlled media aired on the main Russian TV channels. Film introduced by a video essay by Mad Men expert Matt Zoller Seitz.

The Thaw Valery Todorovsky

Simon Pummell

218

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

219

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Mediawall Rotterdamse Schouwburg

GENRE DNA

Genre Revives Itself Evgeny Gusyatinskiy & Inge de Leeuw

Face Value Tony Cokes

EXPO

What was Von Trier up to during his notorious press conference in Cannes? And Bowie when he flirted with fascism? And Kanye West with his megalomania? Tony Cokes turns existing texts into simple graphic images for his conceptual music videos. Magnifying them radically makes them even more confrontational.

Today’s classic genre cinema seems to be in an ongoing crisis: big budget comic book adaptations, animated films, and blockbusters based on new technologies such as 3D have replaced everything else in film markets around the world and narrowed its audience down to children and teenagers. In the independent film industry, there is a trend of producing classic genre films only for marketing purposes, without real artistic merits. At the same time, contemporary TV is successfully beating films in terms of producing new fiction. Genre Nostalgia What is happening in the classic genres nowadays, the films of which not only created the market but defined the language of cinema and turned it into a special medium? The Western, film noir, melodrama, thriller, horror, slapstick... New films in these genres are either adjusted to the popular standards of the mass market or pushed to the margins of the industry, becoming part of a film subculture – if not underground – where they are praised and worshipped as cult films by cinephiles and cinephile filmmakers/artists alike. Take Quentin Tarantino, who created his unique style by reinterpreting and reviving the codes of antiquated genres and subgenres in a way that attracts both arthouse and mass audiences. His new film The Hateful Eight is a post-classic or neo-classic Western, a genre that has already been considered dead for decades, and is being shot on the cult film format of 70mm. Another striking example from this year – Brady Corbet’s The Childhood of a Leader – is an impressive 35mm homage to the grand style of the 1970s, ranging from the films of Nicolas Roeg and Stanley Kubrick to gothic horror films.

Genre DNA focuses on contemporary artistic films which look back at classic and antiquated film genres and codes and renew them in different ways. It can be a stylisation, an homage, a reinterpretation, a remake – everything that aims to recreate an authentically original ambience and cinematic texture of those genres. After all, a true genre film is not merely a story: first of all, it is a style.

Aaaaaaaah!

220

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

221

GENRE DNA

The Love Witch

Bone Tomahawk

Things end up badly for the men who are enchanted by the witch Elaine (Samantha Robinson). She lures them in with her voluptuous body and manages to make them drink a mysterious concoction. Then they are suddenly in love with her. The lovers lose their manliness and become fragile, emotional creatures. In her quest for a real man, that’s precisely what Elaine doesn’t want. In this way, Anna Biller sketches a topsy-turvy world. In our society, women have to be very attractive, otherwise they don’t count. She tries to adjust the existing picture of female sexuality. It’s a feminist message, wrapped in a film whose staging was also conceived by the director. Biller designed the set and the Victorian dresses. It’s a subtle reference to Technicolor films and soft porn from the 1960s. With harpsichord music, burlesque, red velvet and sultry chairs, shot on 35mm.

The peaceful town of Bright Hope is startled one night by a mysterious kidnapping: a prison guard, a criminal and a nurse have been taken from the local prison by persons unknown, while a little further on a stableboy is murdered gruesomely. A strange quartet sets off in pursuit: the pragmatic sheriff (Kurt Russell) and his bungling sidekick (Richard Jenkins), a dauntless and arrogant cowboy (Matthew Fox) and the nurse’s infirm husband (Patrick Wilson). It’s a classic start very reminiscent of John Ford’s masterpiece The Searchers (1956), were it not that novice director and scriptwriter S. Craig Zahler sends his intelligent neo-Western in the second half further and further into the territory of the explicit horror film, including man-eating wild beasts and limbs flying everywhere. At the same time, the black humour and amusing jibes between the four heroes ensure that Bone Tomahawk retains its lighter tone right up to the grizzly final act.

Anna Biller

WORLD PREMIERE

S. Craig Zahler

The Childhood of a Leader

Fear Itself

He looks angelic, little Prescott, but his moods become increasingly vehement. While his American father, an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson, focuses on the peace conditions in the Treaty of Versailles, his son turns into a potentate back home. Scott Walker’s stirring orchestral soundtrack, which swells at the start of The Childhood of a Leader to a barely tolerable level, immediately makes it clear this isn’t any ordinary drama about a difficult child. Blackand-white shots show the havoc in Europe after the First World War. It is 1919 – Prescott’s tantrums are only a harbinger. This original feature debut by the you ng American director and scriptwriter Brady Corbet bursts with ambition, not least on the technical level. The ominous drama, beautifully filmed on 35mm with an impressive leading role by the young Tom Sweet, is a unique story about the origins and flourishing of evil. Closing film IFFR 2016.

How can you show how horror works, how fear is developed slowly, how the viewer is suddenly lured into the trap? This collage of well-known and lesser known film scenes makes an attempt to define horror. Not only with films from the genre, but also by studying scary moments from other genres. The voiceover by Amy E. Watson guides the viewer through ghastly moments, from the work of Michael Haneke to enchanting passages from the oeuvre of Kiyoshi Kurosawa. We take a look at Jaws (1975) as well as the more recent It Follows (2014). The meticulously chosen scenes allow one to draw certain conclusions. If you can’t see evil, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Because we always carry fear with us. As a result, the shadow plays degenerate into a study in depth with a strange soundtrack. The feedback to the viewer works especially intriguingly. Where are your boundaries? Would you do the same as the characters?

Brady Corbet

United Kingdom/Hungary/ France, 2015 | colour, DCP, 116 min, English Prod: Chris Coen, Ron Curtis, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Helena Danielsson, Istvan Major | Prod Comp: Unanimous Entertainment, MACT Productions, Filmteam Ltd. | Sc: Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold | Cam: Lol Crawley | Ed: Dávid Jancsó | Prod Des: Jean-Vincent Puzos | Music: Scott Walker | With: Robert Pattinson, Bérénice Bejo, Liam Cunningham, Stacy Martin, Yolande Moreau, Tom Sweet, Caroline Boulton | Print/Sales: Protagonist Pictures | www.childhoodofaleaderfilm.com

222

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Charlie Lyne

WORLD PREMIERE

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

223

GENRE DNA

Aaaaaaaah!

Hiso hiso boshi

Where would we be without civilisation? Steve Oram tries to provide an answer. In a London suburb he sketches a world where people have remained apes. A cosmos without progress, where etiquette never existed. In a documentary way, he portrays two factions led by their respective alpha males who fight for supremacy. The human apes mutter, groan and screech at each other, displaying their carnal lusts by perverse grimaces. This leads to hilarious and shameful moments. The film gradually turns into an ape satire mocking smart humanity. Without fine motor skills, we can for instance still repair a washing machine. And we can eat without cutlery, as is done in countless cultures. The observing approach serves as a way to catch the viewer off-guard. Just as we compare apes with humans, we compare people playing apes with people.

In the distant future, humanity has largely died out, while eighty percent of the universe is populated by machines. The ever-whispering android Yoko is one of them. In a strange spaceship that looks like an old Japanese villa, she flies through the cosmos looking for virtually deserted planets to deliver her cargo of parcels. In her audio diary, she keeps track of her thoughts, such as: Why did humanity lose interest in distant places after teleportation was invented? The only one she can talk to is a malfunctioning onboard computer. For filmmaker/poet Sono Sion, best known for his frenzied exploitation films and inventive genre mixes, The Whispering Star is a striking excursion into a calmer kind of cinema, with humorous references to the work of Stanley Kubrick and Andrej Tarkovski. But here too, the fixed ingredients of his oeuvre – a keen eye for tight compositions and a sardonic sense of humour – are amply present.

The Whispering Star Sono Sion

Steve Oram

Green Room

High-Rise

After the last concert by the fourman punk band The Ain’t Rights is cancelled and a replacement gig in a Mexican restaurant doesn’t earn them a penny, they get an offer to make up for it that involves playing the next day in the forests of Oregon. The show is for a bunch of neo-Nazis, but it pays well. However, once they reach the site of the irate skinheads – they sensibly open their set with a cover of Nazi Punks Fuck Off by the Dead Kennedys – everything goes wrong that could possibly go wrong. They are locked up in a room, while the leader of the gang (a terrifying Patrick Stewart) consults on how best to dispose of them. The massive slaughter that follows is portrayed by Jeremy Saulnier, who made his breakthrough in 2013 with an equally raw and violent debut Blue Ruin, with sardonic pleasure and the visible predilection for bloody genre stablemates from the 1980s.

High-Rise, based on the novel by J.G. Ballard (whose Crash was filmed earlier by David Cronenberg), is set in a retro-futurist version of the 1970s. Doctor Robert Laing (Tom Hiddleston) moves to a luxury high-rise apartment building that forms an autonomous community, complete with supermarket, swimming pool and modern lifts. He makes friends with his attractive neighbour Charlotte (Sienna Miller) and the building’s architect, Mr Royal (Jeremy Irons), who lives at the top. He gradually discovers the complex class relations between the floors. Things are brewing in the ‘lower’ floors and this results in a rebellion against the elite and their exclusive cocktail parties (that usually end in orgies), after which the inhabitants group themselves into murderous gangs, with bloody, violent and apocalyptic consequences. The meticulous and exuberant art direction ensures a beautifully stylised, dystopic and occasionally hysterical parable by the director of Kill List (IFFR 2012) and Sightseers (IFFR 2013).

Jeremy Saulnier

224

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Ben Wheatley

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

225

GENRE DNA

Gonin Saga

Nippon Neo-Noir

Ishii Takashi

Tony Rayns Japan tolerates dissidence and non-conformity only on condition that it’s kept out of sight in isolated subcultures. The current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has initiated a doomed campaign to rebrand the country as ‘Cool Japan’, but the truth is that Japan is an oppressive and unfriendly country for anyone who doesn’t buy into the social consensus. This affects filmmakers as much as any other group; you’ve probably noticed how ‘apolitical’ most Japanese films are these days. Things were different back in the more politicised 1960s, when Nagisa Oshima deliberately provoked his audience into challenging ‘received wisdom’ and fighting against the consensus. Political opposition to the ruling party (which has been in charge pretty much continuously since the Americans pulled out in 1952) survives in the occasional documentary; in fiction films, not so much. Resistance But there are signs, at last, that resistance is simmering just beneath the surface of Japanese cinema. The evidence is starting to break through in genre films as well as indie films – and indie cinema, of course, has genres of its own. This is most visible in what we can call a ‘neo-noir’ sensibility: films made with an underlying assumption that Japan is not in great shape, that it’s suffering from decades of economic and cultural stagnation. Plus an assumption that it wouldn’t take much to push many Japanese individuals over the edge.

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Identifying this current as ‘neo-noir’ does not mean that filmmakers are reviving the old Hollywood tradition of film noir. You won’t find much ‘shadows and fog’ in these films, and their streets aren’t noticeably mean. But you will find plenty of characters on the verge of mental and physical breakdowns, and social situations that provoke desperate actions, plus crime, jeopardy, dangerous violence and twisted lusts. Directors are bringing their ‘neo-noir’ sensibilities to bear on gangster movies, psychological horror movies, tales of suburban losers and even sci-fi movies. This disputatious trend won’t bring the walls of Japan Inc. crashing down, but it does give them a good shake. And it’s giving us the liveliest Japanese cinema in quite some time.

Ishii Takashi’s legendary Gonin (1995) set the standard for neo-noir Yakuza movies with its tale of five down-ontheir-luck men taking on a powerful criminal gang, the Goseikai – and then facing deadly reprisals from two gay hitmen. Twenty-years-later sequel Gonin Saga brings the story up to date. The new film starts by clarifying the messy fall-out from the original fracas and then moves rapidly forward to the present day, focusing on the strained friendship between two young men (one honest, the other not), both sons of men killed in Gonin. Now in his seventies, Ishii is the last of Japan’s great genre auteurs, maybe the only Japanese director who can attract an all-star cast to fight their way through stylishly imagined bars, night-clubs and yakuza offices. Along the way, he gives us the ultimate definition of ‘Yakuza DNA’.

Sharing

Shinozaki Makoto

The most original of all Japanese films about the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami, Shinozaki Makoto’s dark psychological thriller centres on two women. Psychology lecturer Eiko, who lost her fiancé Kiyoshi in the tsunami, begins researching premonition when she learns that some people had premonitory dreams of the disaster. One of them is the student Kaoru, who is working with classmates on a play about reactions to the tsunami; when her fellow actors drop out with misgivings, Kaoru turns the project into her own monologue performance. Meanwhile, strange things are happening on the campus: Eiko sees Kiyoshi’s ghost, and a student reading Dostoyevsky begins to feel he has a double. There are recurring dreams and troubling time-slips in this Cronenberg-esque drama about traumatic premonitions and haunting empathies.

226

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

227

GENRE DNA

Hyakuen no koi 100 Yen Love Take Masaharu

100-Yen shops are Japan’s equivalent of dime stores, and 32-year-old Ichiko has a part-time job in one. The rest of the time she’s a work-shy slob, usually found playing video games with her nephew. But her growing interest in Kano, a low-rank boxer she sees training in a gym, sets her on a different course. She takes up boxing herself, and suddenly has a reason to get up in the morning. Take Masaharu’s noir-flavoured breakthrough film centres on a stupendous performance by Ando Sakura as Ichiko. It offers a grungy view of Tokyo’s sub-proletariat – nohopers, doomed romance, broken lives – but also an energising picture of a woman who manages to reinvent herself. Gritty and hard-boiled, but also funny and surprisingly sexy.

GENRE DNA

Supporting Films Genre DNA

News Kitano Takeshi Sardonic short by ‘Beat’ Takeshi (aka Kitano Takeshi), made for his latest TV show. Two cops in a car mull over some evidence. Screens before Sharing. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Asa

Morning Kitano Takeshi Faux-sentimental short by ‘Beat’ Takeshi (aka Kitano Takeshi) made for his latest TV show. He plays a pensioner who takes a walk in the park. Screens before Sharing. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

Japan, 2015 | colour, video, 4 min, Japanese

Maru

Ow Suzuki Yohei

228

The Japanese word maru could mean ‘zero’ or anything spherical – or it could connote the Japanese flag, the Hinomaru. Suzuki Yohei’s brilliant mind-fuck of a film invokes all those meanings and more. Something very strange happens in the suburban home of the Suzuki family one morning. Jobless son Tetsuo is canoodling in bed with his girlfriend Yuriko when dad unexpectedly returns home … to confess that he was fired a month ago. That’s when a mysterious round object appears in the bedroom, stopping time and scrambling the brains of everyone who sees it. The cops are clueless, so a reporter from the local paper investigates. A sci-fi mystery spiked with references to Samuel Beckett’s novels, this comédie noire does things no Japanese film has done since Oshima’s Death By Hanging.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

229

ID: BURMA REBOUND

EXPO

ID: BURMA REBOUND

A Part of My Life

Burma Rebound

Aung Ko

Gertjan Zuilhof

Filmmakers especially have suffered under the repressive situation. Unfortunately, this programme has come too early for them. Artists, however, have often been able to maintain contact with the international art world. There are several among them who are making high-quality and unusual work that is typical for their country and situation and also has something unique to say about it. Cinematographic Sight The artists selected for this programme are contemporary artists: they also work with film and video and are therefore not out of place at a film festival. Forced by circumstances, they have made their work (often events or installations) at a variety of locations in the countryside, far from the former capital of Yangon (previously Rangoon). These artists have therefore developed their own variation on what is known as site-specific work: work that comes about in close relation to its surroundings.

The artists Po Po, Tun Win Aung, Wah Nu and Aung Ko in fact represent three generations of artists, with Po Po as the patriarch and Aung Ko the upstart. The artists have made work or chosen work from their oeuvre that best reflects their cinematographic side. The two filmmakers in the exhibition, Anocha Suwichakornpong and Midi Z, did precisely the opposite: they did not make films in the usual sense of the word, but special work that fits in an exhibition presentation. The Taiwanese filmmaker Midi Z originally comes from Burma. Anocha Suwichakornpong is from neighbouring Thailand and has followed the situation of Burmese immigrants in her country for a long time. This is a compact exhibition with six special presentations of unusual and individual work. Together, they show different sides of a country that is about to spread its wings, or at least hopes to. Because it takes time to view these works, a Burmese cafe has been created, Café Mandalay – also to make it easy to talk about them afterwards.

My Folks in Jade City

230

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Aung Ko discovered the international art world and, in turn, the international art world regards Aung Ko as the new sound from Burma. He is at present moving from one position as ‘artist in residence’ to another. He made this short video film during a stay in the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, one of the more prestigious residencies in the art world. With Paris as a base, he explored the rest of Europe and travelled round as a backpacker, using just his iPhone to make photos and films but in the meantime looking with the eye of an artist. Apart from in Paris, he also filmed in Marseilles and Venice. Where others would praise the smells and tastes of a strange country, he took it literally and licked the old Venetian architecture. In the old Europe, far from his tropical homeland, he felt different and sought powerful, elementary images to match that. Café Mandalay (West-Kruiskade 51)

EXPO

Burma (or Myanmar) is a country that is slowly, possibly more slowly than had been hoped, emerging from a long and dark period of dictatorship. We are all familiar with the difficult path that Aung San Suu Kyi (often referred to in her own country as ‘The Lady’) had to take in order to be elected as a Member of Parliament. Burmese filmmakers and artists – who, just like politicians, urgently need freedom of expression – also face such a difficult path.

My Folks in Jade City Midi Z

Jade City is the nickname of the Burmese city Hpakant, the centre for the mining and trading of jade. This semiprecious stone is one of the most important sources of income in Burma. The jade industry, which was always in the hands of the military regime, has since 2012 been in the middle of a part of Burma where the Kachin Independence Army is fighting a civil war. As a result of the chaotic situation, many people now try to find jade at their own initiative in deserted mines. It’s a dangerous activity, because you could bump into one of the parties to the conflict and the un-maintained mines could collapse at any time. Relatives of the filmmaker/artist also sought their fortune around Jade City. He followed them into forbidden territory and recorded them with his camera, often at their own request. And his relatives look straight back at him. The shots date from the start of the Civil War. Apparently they needed to ripen to find this form. Café Mandalay (West-Kruiskade 51)

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

231

ID: BURMA REBOUND

EXPO

ID: BURMA REBOUND

Aung Zeya Light Project #1: Lives Look Like Light

Coconut

A country in darkness. Ten years ago, Burma was not only politically oppressed, but also a very poor country. The artist Wah Nu and her artistic partner and husband Tun Win Aung lived in a poor apartment in the Aung Zeya complex, in an area without electricity, without ‘light’. The surroundings were depressing and in order to bring light to this darkness in a literal sense, Wah Nu embarked on a light project that she recorded in this video installation. Shots were filmed in the apartment from dusk to dawn, in order to show the living conditions of the Burmese. They also filmed outdoors in the unlit night. This video installation, often screened in a kind of tent of canvas and bamboo, marks the beginning of modern installation art in Burma and is therefore an important document. The work is as realistic as a documentary, but obviously has a symbolic significance which is now augmented by the fact that dawn seems to have broken in Burma.

Anocha Suwichakornpong, a young filmmaker and producer with a major reputation in her country and far beyond, plays a key role in the movement of independent filmmakers in Thailand. She has made many short films and is presently completing her second feature. Coconut is her first and highly successful exploration of a new form of visual art for her: video installation. The installation comprises two videos screened on separate monitors. One is in front of the installation space, the other inside. The first video consists of tourist shots made in Burma at all of the well-known spots, including pictures of local people who practise traditional handicrafts as a tourist attraction. The second video shows the real handiwork: the harsh and dusty work in a factory where coconut husks are turned into fibre. The workers here are also Burmese, but the factory is in the Thai town of Bangsapan, not far from the border with Burma.

Anocha Suwichakornpong

Café Mandalay (West-Kruiskade 51)

Café Mandalay (West-Kruiskade 51) EXPO

EXPO

Wah Nu

VIP Project, Yangon/Dhaka

Dat Khe

A video installation with two projectors and a small photo exhibition within one space. The installation documents a playful yet critical social experiment examining the slavish obsequiousness with which senior functionaries are treated. Po Po just places signs saying ‘VIP’ by bus stops and secretly photographs the reactions of the passengers. In totalitarian countries like Burma, people don’t have much choice about how to behave toward their superiors, but now that the country is becoming freer, that may also change. The artist tried the experiment in Burma and Bangladesh. In such countries, the phenomenon of a VIP does of course have a different meaning. If you refuse to give up your seat in a plane or even a bus, that can have serious consequences. The region where Po Po grew up has more countries with authoritarian governments; think of Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. He is accordingly planning to continue his project for a while.

Both artists have childhood memories closely linked to cinema. That is most clear in the case of Wah Nu. Her father, Maung Wunna, was a well-known and popular filmmaker. As a child, Tun Win Aung spent a lot of time in the booth of a projectionist friend. In order to shape their cinematographic childhood memories, they organised an open-air screening of Dat khe, an old film by Maung Wunna, in Tun Win Aung’s home village. The village has barely changed in the last thirty years and hence is very suitable for bringing back to life (as a re-enactment) a traditional open-air screening. For the video installation, the whole event was recorded: not only the film on screen but also the audience and the stalls all around. The video is as long as the feature (112’), but visitors, just like the audience in the video, can walk around to get a drink. The installation was made with support from the Fondation d’entreprise Hermès.

Tun Win Aung, Wah Nu

EXPO

Po Po

Café Mandalay (West-Kruiskade 51)

232

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

233

LETTERS FROM ETHIOPIA

Price of Love

Letters from Ethiopia

Hermon Hailay

Gertjan Zuilhof

Ethiopia, 2015 | colour, DCP, 99 min, Amharic

Price of Love

How small can a programme be? One film on its own could not possibly constitute a programme; but on the other hand, it might very well do so within a particular context. For instance, in a festival with a hundred titles, but no African film, the absence of such a film could be the festival’s own programme choice. Then no film would also be a programme. Therefore, we can call Letters from Ethiopia, which does contain four titles, a programme – a programme for a cinema that has not quite found its footing, but eventually will – because where there’s life, there’s hope.

It would be easy to make a programme, even a large programme, about the many popular films produced every year in Ethiopia, but here the focus is on a more sophisticated, independent cinema. For years, Haile Gerima was basically the only Ethiopian filmmaker with an international reputation – just as Mulatu Astatke made Ethio-jazz world famous. Since then, the country has gone through a deep political crisis. Many filmmakers and artists had to leave the country, and Ethiopia almost became synonymous with starvation. But things have slowly begun to improve in recent years. The proposition that this programme wants to defend is that there is hope for a new Ethiopian cinema in the future. There are new young filmmakers; well-trained filmmakers are returning from the diaspora; there is a lot of exuberant activity in the field of local, popular cinema. And representatives of international festivals have recently started visiting Addis Abeba regularly – and they’re not returning home empty-handed. New Eyes Diaspora filmmaker Yared Zeleke conquered Cannes with his appealing film Lamb. An historic moment: the first time that an Ethiopian film had been officially invited to this prestigious festival. In another sign of hope for the future, two young female filmmakers have found international recognition: Hermon Hailay made her entrance in Toronto with Price of Love, while Hiwot Admasu Getaneh was a guest in both Toronto and Venice with her short film New Eyes.

But this programme is not primarily about recognition at international festivals, although that will help, and it is also one reason why the films are here. More important is whether they ask questions. In order to make that easier, we commissioned Hiwot Admasu Getaneh to make a short film about places in Ethiopia that are important to her and to interview interesting colleagues in the Ethiopian film world. A personal introduction to cinema from a film country on the rise. We were there in time.

234

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

A brisk story about a man, a woman and a taxi. Teddy (played by the musician Eskinder Tameru) has a criminal past and a mother who worked as a prostitute. Yet he still tries to improve himself. A friendly priest helps him to acquire a taxi, so that he can earn his living in an honest way. After he witnesses the abuse of a woman (she turns out to be a prostitute) Teddy decides to come to her defence. Of course there’s also a pimp somewhere in the background. The earlier films by Hailay were popular so-called DVD films. The style of this film is fairly close to that of the popular cinema of Ethiopia, but this film, with the capital Addis Ababa as the set and actors without any background in commercial cinema, obviously aims to tell a more realistic and more social story. Ferweni Gebregergs, the filmmaker’s half-sister, plays the role of the woman.

Lamb

Yared Zeleke

The young Ephraim is left to his own devices, even though he is still almost a child. His father left him behind with relatives to go and seek his fortune elsewhere. Ephaim’s biggest friend is his sheep: he is inseparable from the animal. One day his uncle tells him that the sheep has to be slaughtered for a religious sacrifice. Ephraim, who can’t do much apart from cook well, does everything he can not to lose his sheep. Without the film being strictly autobiographical, the filmmaker bases the characters and mood on his own childhood memories. And just like Ephraim he enjoyed being in the kitchen. Life was hard in those years – years of dictatorship and starvation – yet it was possible to have a fairly happy childhood. The film was screened during the last Cannes festival in the Un Certain Regard section and was hence also the first Ethiopian film invited by the prestigious festival.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

235

LETTERS FROM ETHIOPIA

SCOPITONE

The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith

Supporting Films Letters from Ethiopia

Sara Fishko

KeEthiopia Yetelake Letters from Ethiopia

Hiwot Admasu Getaneh, Henok Legesse Hiwot Amasu, unelected spokeswoman of the Ethiopian independent film movement, dreams of a future for Ethiopian film. A nascent film culture. She visits places that are important for filmmakers, such as the African Jazz Village of the legendary Mullatu Astateke, and talks to them about the future. Commissioned by IFFR. Screens before Lamb.

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

WORLD PREMIERE

New Eyes Hiwot Admasu Getaneh For an African film, this meticulously made short is strikingly frank about the sexual feelings of a young girl. A sensual world opens up, seen through the eyes of the girl. What is seldom discussed in public can be seen here in colourful images. A courageous film, that much is clear. Screens before Price of Love.

Live from UB Lauren Knapp

Ethiopia/France/United Kingdom, 2015 | colour, DCP, 12 min, Amharic Prod: François d’ Artemare, Lisa Scott Gordon | Prod Comp: Les Films de l’Aprèsmidi, GBGG Productions | Sc: Hiwot Admasu Getaneh | Cam: Dawit Zewdu | Ed: Henok Legesse | Sound Des: Habtamu Gebrehiwot | With: Selam Fikadu, Berite Eshetu, Surafel Tsegaye , Feven Teshome, Yohannes Getachew, Yonathan Girma, Yitayish Dagne | Print/Sales: L’Agence du court métrage

EUROPEAN PREMIERE

236

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

For many years Life/Magnum photographer W. Eugene Smith lived in a creaking loft on 6th Avenue in New York. Below him lived composer/arranger Hall Overton, while above him, jam sessions went on til the wee hours of the morning. Thelonious Monk rehearsed there with Overton for the famous album The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall (1959). Between 1957 and 1965, Smith obsessively documented what happened in the building, taking some ten thousand photos and making thousands of hours of recordings – not only of those jam sessions, but also of his own phone conversations and the radio. This fascinating time capsule forms the heart of the documentary The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith, which focuses on the life and career of Smith, a workaholic who kept himself going with amphetamines and sleeping pills. Among the interviewed jazz musicians are Carla Bley, Bill Crow, Steve Swallow, and Overton students Steve Reich and Chuck Israels.

For decades Mongolia was isolated, ruled by a totalitarian Communist regime that kept a careful eye on all forms of artistic expression. Even so, Western pop music managed to reach the Mongolian youth – one of the preambles of change. 1990 saw the first free elections. Today Mongolia has a free-market economy that has already survived its first crisis. Live from UB explores modern Mongolia through the music scene in Ulan Bator, the capital. The documentary gives an intriguing insight into a country that is rediscovering its own culture, history and identity. Various artists, from female pop singers to throat-singing grunge musicians, give their perspective on the country’s problematic development since 1991. Mohanik, a rock band currently working on their second album, is the central focus. The band members talk about their youth, their dreams and their experiences as musicians. Just like Mongolia itself, they’re still looking for their own sound.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

237

SCOPITONE

Roaring Abyss

Sex and Broadcasting – A Film About WFMU

Quino Piñero

Tim K. Smith

This musical road movie takes us across Ethiopia, a nation with a population of ninety million and eighty different languages. Roaring Abyss is full of field recordings of all forms of traditional music – from wind orchestras from the time of Emperor Haile Selassie to the Azmari, the Ethiopian equivalent of European bards. They’re traditional pieces, using scales very different from Western music, that increasingly have to add a singer with a synthesizer or other Western instrument. The film documents music that has been passed on from generation to generation for centuries, and that gets played on traditional instruments such as the washent, masinko, krar and begena. For two years, director Pinto travelled across Ethiopia, ‘the land where even the coffee beans sing’, according to an inhabitant of the former province of Kaffa. Like all Ethiopians, he is as proud as can be of the country’s traditional music, which must never be lost.

When Tim K. Smith moved to New York in 1989, he discovered the New Jersey radio station WFMU, which broadcast a potpourri of music and anarchistic DJ jive. Smith was hooked at once. This free-form radio station, according to big boss Ken Freedman, is meant “for everyone who’d get picked last at basketball during high school”. His totally independent station shuns commerce, but at the same time turns out to suffer from a lack of democracy in the workplace. Smith’s entertaining documentary shows how ethereal harp-playing female vocalists are just as welcome as death metal performances. Just as colourful and unconventional are the unpaid DJs. Smith’s camera films them in the derelict editorial offices, just as the station is facing bankruptcy. Freedman therefore decides to organise a fundraising marathon. Will he and his pals be able to keep their beloved station on the air? And that without bashing each other’s heads in?

Inside the Mind of Favela Funk

Congo Beat the Drum

Those who listen to favela funk without knowing Portuguese mainly hear swinging music. But those who do know it hear – especially in the ‘putaria’ variety – explicit, misogynistic lyrics about sex. This male-dominated style enjoys a huge popularity in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. But why? What do these downright pornographic lyrics say about male-female relations? And what does this musical trend mean for love and relationships in these neighbourhoods? The filmmakers interviewed the (both male and female) artists as well as young boys and girls about the controversial putaria funk. Their openhearted answers shed light on their relationships and reveal a lot about these underprivileged districts, where people grow up in poverty, surrounded by drug-related violence and death. In between the interviews, the camera films the typical narrow alleyways and dark living quarters that add visual emphasis to the stories the young people tell about their tough lives.

In Tel Aviv, DJ and record collector Ariel shares his love for Jamaican reggae music with sound technician Uri. Ariel, also known by his stage name Kalbata, obsessively collects a subgenre called rub-a-dub: ‘the sound from the ghetto’. Ariel and Uri also make music together, preferably recording it analogue and playing on old synthesizers, like the Moog. In Jamaica they want to record the vocals for the instrumental tracks they record in Israel. In Kingston, together with their musical hero Jah Thomas, they make a tour past the studios to look for the best guest vocalists – such as Puddy Roots, Ninjaman, Major Mackerel and Little John. They lap up Jamaican culture and feel like children in a candy store when they visit Randy’s, the legendary studio and record store. And they relax in the wonderful countryside just outside Kingston, where the birds sing and where they delight in the clear water.

Ariel Tagar

Elise Roodenburg, Fleur Beemster

WORLD PREMIERE

238

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

239

SCOPITONE

Esperando B.

Waiting for B. Paulo Cesar Toledo, Abigail Spindel

Two months before Beyoncé is scheduled to perform in São Paulo, dozens of poor Brazilian super fans pitch tents outside the stadium. They will do anything to stand in front of the stage during the concert. Who are they and why do they go to such lengths for their idol? The film portrays ten of these diehard fans during the period leading up to the big day. It follows these – mostly homosexual – young men in their daily lives and films them at their temporary encampment, where collectively they have set up strict rules: Absent without a doctor’s note? Join the back of the line. Though the tone of the film is lighthearted, it also shows how difficult life as a homosexual can be – even in a city like São Paulo. In between their flamboyant street performances, their infectious joyousness and vitriolic quarrels, they talk seriously and candidly about Brazilian society, discrimination and the consequences of poverty.

Danny Says Brendan Toller

240

When Danny Fields was young, he thought nobody would ever want to be friends with him. Decades later, he looks back on a life filled with ‘smart people’, from Lou Reed, Nico and Iggy Pop to Alice Cooper. Danny Says – the title comes from a song by the Ramones – documents the (musical) life of a man born in 1939 as Daniel Henry Feinberg. We hear him sardonically comment on a home video of his own bar mitsva and on all the people he got to know after dropping out of Harvard Law School and embarking on a rebellious rock & roll life. Fields was an editor at the trendsetting teen-fan magazine Datebook (and later 16 Magazine), a regular at Warhol’s Silver Factory, press agent of The Doors and manager of the Ramones. Danny Says is an homage, studded with archive footage, entertaining animations and underground and punk rock, to a man whose uncompromising taste exerted a lasting influence.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

BLIND SPOTS

Blind Spots Edwin Carels

Scotomata: United Colours

One of the more curious apps launched last year was Watson, which provides audio descriptions so that partially sighted and blind people can go to the cinema. Perhaps the initiators were inspired by blind film critic Tommy Edison, who has been providing his critical, personal evaluations of new films since 2011. Blind Spots is decidedly not a programme about blind people. It is about how, in spite of technology’s huge advances, to a certain extent, we still remain the seeing blind. After all, it is part of our physiology that there are no sensory cells where the optic nerve enters the eyeball. Our brain trains itself to fill in the missing information so we can view the world, ostensibly without interruption. And, athough few people practise this, we can even perceive things without opening our eyes. Perception comes in many forms and provides different insights every time. There is looking and seeing, the direct and the mediated glance. From the telescope to the drone: machines are taking over from the human eye in many fields. Selective Vision But for those who want to notice: humans are being watched more frequently than ever. Literally by cameras or less directly by cookies, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and other innovations. It is increasingly difficult to remain invisible to the machines and it’s becoming harder to be viewed as a human and not a configuration of impersonal data. Without much suspicion we reveal countless personal details, and yet we never see the true face behind Facebook.

We also have an elective blind spot when it comes to the impact of our economic model and, as tourists, we only wish to see our own expectations confirmed. Since the Gulf War, politicians have acquired so many more options for hiding military activity from the general public that they are no longer held to account. As every magician knows, we are all susceptible to illusions and generally only see what we want to see. However, as the reinvigorated hype surrounding virtual reality demonstrates, even to create an entirely escapist reality we need the most accurate possible insight into how the eyes and the brain process visual information. In these times of blind faith and/or blind hatred, paying attention precisely to that which takes place outside our field of vision is a healthy reflex. Blind Spots’ modest ambition is to sharpen that alertness. 45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

241

TO DO

BLIND SPOTS

EXPO

BLIND SPOTS

blind dates

Scotomata

The blind dates are a live mix of conversations, short films and sound art. The audience won’t know what to expect, although a theme will be announced for every edition. For adventurous viewers! The sessions always start in complete darkness. A second fixed element will be a selection of sound compositions from The Audible Picture Show, a Matt Hulse project where he asked a range of filmmakers for pure acoustic film. On the basis of five themes, IFFR guests and other specialists will debate the limitations of human perception in this saturated media era. These will be: Machine Vision (30 Jan), Available Light (31 Jan), Eye Sight (1 Feb), Dazzling Deceptions (3 Feb) and Dark Side of the Net (4 Feb). During every informal session, one or more short surprise films will be screened to start things off or conclude a conversation.

When, in 1915, Malevich presented a completely black square, this did not herald the end of art; on the contrary. He stated: “It is from nothing, into nothing, that the true movement of existence starts.” Visitors to Scotomata will discover this Russian suprematist’s continued influence. Now that image production has gone completely haywire due to digitisation, contemporary artists often decide to radically slow down the looking process. Maximum alertness for a minimum of stimuli.The exhibition consists of the following works: Museum, Danmark (Marc De Blieck), Nanthanwan Temple – Master Duangkamol Jaikompan (Edith Dekyndt), Waiting for the Secret (Meggy Rustamova), Starscape, Djinn and Fake Reflection (Dominique Somers), The Light and the Paper (Sara Van Der Heide), Jardn Secrt (dans le desert) and United Colours (Various Artists).

Optic Nerve

Oncle Bernard – L’anti-leçon d’économie

Gallery JOEY RAMONE (Josephstraat 166)

Oncle Bernard – A Counter-Lesson in Economics

Richard Brouillette

TALK

Every year, IFFR cooperates with the Department of Media Design at the Piet Zwart Institute on one of the IFFR themed programmes. This year the cooperation consists of an intensive day of mini-masterclasses by Dominique Somers, Marc De Blieck, Melvin Moti, Various Artists and Meggy Rustamova. Piet Zwart Institute (Karel Doormanhof 45)

Blind Cinema Britt Hatzius

TO DO

Blindfolded, the audience at this special film screening will have a child whisper to them descriptions of what can be seen. The children will be viewing the film for the first time and together with the adults they will experience the magic of seeking the right words and imagining what could be.

242

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Director Brouillette gets straight to the point. At a table, behind a mug of tea, sits Bernard Maris, who introduces himself as Charlie Hebdo editor and professor of economics. In the interview he gleefully destroys the entire repertoire of neo-liberal dogma. A clear, unrelenting demythologisation of traditional economics that likes to pose as science, but is, according to dissident Maris, as unconvincing as it is superstitious. He reels off countless inconsistencies, increasingly using terms such as “rubbish” and “swindle”. Shot in a straightforward manner on 16mm without edits; even the switching between rolls of film has been included. Excerpts from this prophetic discourse (filmed in 2000, well before the bank crisis) were used by Brouillette in the 2008 documentary Encirclement – NeoLiberalism Ensnares Democracy. Maris, known as Oncle Bernard, died on 7 January 2015 during the attack on Charlie Hebdo.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

243

BLIND SPOTS

La montagne magique

Facebookistan

The mountain referred to in the title, Cerro Rico near the Bolivian town of Potosi, is so hollowed out by centuries of mining that it threatens to collapse. Many interesting details could be discussed, but Schtakleff does something entirely different. He provides viewers with a commentaryfree glimpse of the underground operations. In the scant light of a lantern he wanders the roughly hewn tunnels, with here and there miners at their toilsome task. A group of tourists provide a bizarre contrast. The filmmaker enables us to experience this unglamourised, claustrophobic reality in a sober style with long shots and almost no dialogue. The patient rock breaking, the dust, the loudly rattling trucks, the panting. Immersion in a secret world in which miners make sacrifices to their own potent god, while the break-time conversations about aboveground pleasures and dramas feel somewhat surreal.

Which rules apply on Facebook and what happens when you break them? Filmmaker Jakob Gottschau spoke to people who found out, sometimes the hard way: a law school graduate found out that Facebook saved all his data, including the deleted items. A prizewinning Danish author tried to get the far-from-shocking nude photos from his book on hippies posted, to no avail – even though he was force-fed ads for porn sites. Drag queens received threats of account removal if they didn’t use their real names. Gottschau also spoke to social media and law experts. The only missing voice is Facebook’s. The organisation hides behind nameless buildings and vague statements. An attempt to gain insight into the world’s largest, most powerful social network that has dictatorial traits.

The Magic Mountain Andrei Schtakleff

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Jakob Gottschau

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Unseen: The Lives of Looking

A Good American

Concrete images arise from patterns of light and colour. People, a city, the world. Scanning and focusing. So begins this unconventional overview during which three people share their intense literal and figurative relationship with sight. The human-rights lawyer notes that things only become clear once you look through the client’s eyes. The astronomer doggedly studies rocks on Mars and Earth until they give up their secrets. The eye surgeon discusses his empathy with people in danger of losing their eyesight. The fourth party is the filmmaker, artist Dryden Goodwin, who – in drawings – reflects on the above and gives his father and son modest roles in this unusual documentary in which poetic impressions replace the more customary talking heads. A reflection on the way we relate to the world and discover what lies beneath the surface.

He is known as America’s best codebreaker and Bill Binney is still shocked every time he sees footage of the Twin Towers burning. Then he explains what preceded that. How, as a smart mathematician, he eavesdropped on the Russians during the Cold War and went on to form a small team at the NSA that found a solution to the digital data explosion the agency was overwhelmed by. A solution the NSA’s directors ignored, enabling – so say Binney and former staff – the 9/11 terrorists to do their worst. A Good American reveals itself as a stylishly visualised documentary thriller that is at least as disturbing as Edward Snowden’s story. More than computers and data, this is about arrogance, morals and privacy. Binney, now a whistleblower, resigned after 9/11 and is still angered by the fact that the NSA ran roughshod over the values he upheld.

Friedrich Moser

Dryden Goodwin

244

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

245

BLIND SPOTS

Out of Sight

L’invitation au voyage

People are generally blind to their own way of looking. These short films heighten our attention to light, darkness, flickering, mechanical rhythm and imaginary projections.

Meggy Rustamova

Eidola Peter Miller Artist Peter Miller used infrared glasses to examine a coil that runs in the camera and subsequently wrote his ‘images’ on it using a laser pen. The title Eidola refers to the long-lost theory of intromission that assumes that objects send tiny particles of their own material to our eyes. France, 2014 | colour/b&w, DCP, 6 min, no dialogue Prod/Cam/Ed: Peter Miller | Print: Light Cone Distribution | Sales: Peter Miller | www.petermiller.info

Sakala Simon Halsberghe This study of a forgotten statue provides a deconstruction of cinematic illusion and critically analyses Western perspectives. In 1884, Sakala was the first African boy to visit Belgium. He immediately learned French and donned Western clothes. There is a monument to him: as a naked child in a loincloth.

Invitation to the Voyage

A series of beautiful black-and-white photographs is marred by yellow Post-its with their notes erased. An unassuming narrator makes things even more mysterious with a description that deviates from what you see; the constant tension makes every interpretation ambivalent. With a nod to poet Baudelaire. Belgium/Switzerland/Belgium, 2014 | colour/b&w, DCP, 13 min, English Prod: Meggy Rustamova | Sc: Meggy Rustamova | Cam: Meggy Rustamova | Ed: Meggy Rustamova, Elias Heuninck | Sound Des: Meggy Rustamova | Print/Sales: Meggy Rustamova | www.meggyrustamova.com

Eigenlicht Melvin Moti Certain minerals convert absorbed UV light into visible colours of unearthly beauty. Shown in sacred, cosmic silence. Eigenlicht (intrinsic light) refers to the visual interference the human eye sees in complete darkness. Even without light the optic nerve creates a uniform, grey experience. Netherlands, 2012 | colour, 35mm, 18 min, no dialogue Prod: Melvin Moti | Sc: Melvin Moti | Cam: Niels Boon | Prod Des: Alex de Heus, Friso Pas | Print/Sales: Melvin Moti

WORLD PREMIERE

Belgium, 2016 | colour, video, 11 min, no dialogue Prod/Ed/Music: Simon Halsberghe | Prod Comp: Moiré v.z.w. | Print/Sales: Moiré v.z.w.

Supporting Film Blind Spots

The Light and the Paper

Hello

Sara van der Heide

Simon Fujiwara

How empty is a blank page? This film carefully studies the prime precondition for seeing: the presence of light. Just like a film screening, information from a book reaches us thanks to beams of light reflecting. This brief meditation reminds us that reading is basically a directed form of seeing.

A Mexican woman talks about her childhood on a rubbish tip. A German with a severe disability in both hands explains about his job as a computer animator. What’s the connection? A digitally animated severed hand clicks on one, then the other on an other-worldly, white screen. A macabre metaphor for the arbitrary nature inherent to boundless communication. Screens before Facebookistan.

WORLD PREMIERE

Netherlands, 2016 | colour, DCP, 3 min, no dialogue Prod: Sara van der Heide | Cam: The Light and the Paper | Print/Sales: Sara van der Heide | www.saravanderheide.nl

Lightkeeping Elias Heuninck

Quotes from photographic pioneer William Fox Talbot’s letters accompany undefinable, digital black-and-white shots of a timeless calm. Heuninck designed a camera that records one pixel at a time to create a photo. His exposure times don’t last a fraction of a second, but days to weeks. EUROPEAN PREMIERE

246

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

247

PERSPECTIVES SHORT

Throwing Shadows: Short Films

Inner Man

A rare programme of psychedelic multi-projection shorts from 1960-70s Japan ranging from animations to newsreel montages that will make your eyes go ‘pop.’

Idemitsu Mako

Great Society Oe Masanori Commissioned by the American television network CBS, Oe Masanori and Marvin Fishman created the explosive trip Great Society in New York while working with Newsreel Collective, Third World Studios and collaborating with E.A.T. and USCO. American newsreel footage is collated into six projections that dazzle and shatter our vision. Japan, 1967 | colour, 16mm, 17 min, no dialogue Prod: Oe Masanori | Print/Sales: Oe Masanori

Why Tanaami Keiichi A boxing ring turns into the stage for an abstract animation that switches its focus between the match and the materiality of the photographic print. This milestone in Japanese animation explores the duration of a moment and the ecstasy of battle and play. Japan, 1975 | colour, 16mm, 10 min, no dialogue Prod: Tanaami Keiichi | Print/Sales: Tanaami Keiichi | www.keiichitanaami.com

4 Eyes Tanaami Keiichi The human eye, a well-known motif of psychedelic culture, is multiplied and intensified in Tanaami Keiichi’s cinematic trip 4 Eyes. Drawing from his experiences designing discotheques, Tanaami presents two prints of the same film in double-projection with a time delay to suggest the mind slipping out of consciousness.

An early precursor to her feminist video works on domestic spaces, artist Idemitsu Mako mocks the objectification of women with a hilarious reversal from conventions of psychedelic art: a kimono-dressed woman performs a traditional dance with a naked dancing man superimposed over her to reveal her playful inner psyche. USA, 1972 | colour, video, 4 min, no dialogue Prod: Idemitsu Mako | Print/Sales: Studio Idemitsu | www.makoidemitsu.com

At Any Place 2 Idemitsu Mako While Andy Warhol chose the Campbell’s soup can, Idemitsu Mako opted for the cup noodle. Playfully ridiculing the reverence of everyday objects in pop art, the film shows the packaged contents of a cup noodle product fade in and out of the sky. Japan, 1975 | colour, 16mm, 3 min, no dialogue Prod: Idemitsu Mako | Print/Sales: Studio Idemitsu | www.makoidemitsu.com

Tsuburekakatta migime no tame ni

For the Damaged Right Eye Matsumoto Toshio Described by the director as ‘an expression that deeply cuts into the core of the contemporary’, the overlapping triple-projection of For the Damaged Right Eye sees Matsumoto Toshio capture a spectrum of activities from politics to play in late-1960s Shinjuku with feverish simultaneity. Japan, 1968 | colour, 16mm, 12 min, no dialogue Prod: Matsumoto Toshio | Print/Sales: Postwar Japan Moving Image Archive

Japan, 1975 | colour, 16mm, 9 min, no dialogue Prod: Tanaami Keiichi | Print: Tate Modern | www.keiichitanaami.com

Illusion City Shimamura Tatsuo Japanese animator Shimamura Tatsuo’s Illusion City attempts to place a finger on the city’s heartbeat as it continues to transform. Mixing a range of graphic styles, the stylish yet incomplete look captures the dynamism of urban life in this classic of 1960s experimental animation. Japan, 1967 | colour, video, 4 min, no dialogue Prod: Shimamura Tatsuo | Print/Sales: Shirogumi Inc.

248

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

249

PERSPECTIVES SHORT

sound//vision

sound//vision: Sat 30 Jan

The late night programmes of sound//vision share their dedication to innovative, experimental and adventurous audio-visual culture, and feature unique collaborations between musicians, video artists, filmmakers and other image producers.

Tonight’s Special: Still und dunkel, Lumisokea, Thug Entrancer & MMC III, WORM DJ’s (after-party).

WORM (Boomgaardsstraat 71)

sound//vision: Thu 28 Jan Tonight’s Special: Rikuro Miyai, Floris Vanhoof: Phenomenology of Zeitgeist. Jun’ichi Okuyama: Human Flicker. Makino Takashi, Dirk Serries, Teun Verbruggen: Action Direct. sound//vision kicks off with the expanded cinema performance Throwing Shadows (in collaboration with Tate Film), consisting of Rikuro Miyai’s Phenomenology of Zeitgeist with live soundtrack by Floris Vanhoof, three performances (including Human Flicker) by Jun’ichi Okuyama and the collaboration between filmmaker Makino Takashi and the Belgian improvisation musicians Dirk Serries (guitar) and Teun Verbruggen (drums) to perform Action Direct.

sound//vision: Fri 29 Jan

The Saturday starts with the Swiss audiovisual duo Still und dunkel (Benny Jaberg and Christoph Brünggel), creating – in collaboration with VJ Pascal Arnold – a unique, site-specific work, based on research in Rotterdam. Lumisokea, the Belgian-Italian duo Koenraad Ecker and Andrea Taeggi, brings tactile and texture-rich music with influences from dub, noise, techno and contemporary classical music. Before the WORM DJ Jahua starts the after-party, Thug Entrancer (aka Ryan McRyhew) will perform his audiovisual show, combining the images of visual artist MMC III and his own retro-futuristic electronix.

sound//vision: Sun 31 Jan Tonight’s Special: Filmwerkplaats Rotterdam & Ji Youn Kang. Franck Vigroux & Kurt d’Haeseleer: Centaure. Filmwerkplaats Rotterdam and Korean sound artist Ji Youn Kang create an immersive experience of light and sound, using overlapping projections of 16mm footage that has been exposed to light leaks. The final performance of this edition of sound// vision is the post-digital road trip Centaure by Franck Vigroux (France) and Kurt d’Haeseleer (Belgium), through a future world in which all life elements are contaminated with an omnipresent technology.

Tonight’s Special: Marco Douma, Machinefabriek, Anne Bakker: Deining. Luis Sanz, Niculin Barandun: STM~ Duality. Frank Bretschneider, Pierce Warnecke: Sinn + Form Especially for sound//vision, Dutch multi-musician Machinefabriek and violinist Anne Bakker perform their composition Deining with extensive instrumentation, accompanied by a film that Marco Douma made for this occasion. Swiss STM~ (Luis Sanz and Niculin Barandun) takes us on an audiovisual journey where the duo sets out the principles, but the sounds and pixels choose the direction. SINN + FORM is a hybrid audiovisual performance by Berlin-based artists Pierce Warnecke and Frank Bretschneider that re-uses early techniques of creating moving images, fused with current digital technologies. After all this, Lowriders invite us to party with Hefty! (with Dagger DX, Beatnologic and Ruwedata).

250

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

251

BELEEF

IFFR VOLKS KRANT MET DE

AND MORE…

Partner van International Film Festival Rotterdam 2016

volkskrant.nl/iffr

252

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

253

AND MORE...

AWARDS

TALKS

Scopitone Café

TO DO

Ceremony Canon Tiger Awards for Short Film

Tiger Talks

Eclectic mix of documentaries about music and musical experience. With a nice place to sit and discuss the programme afterwards. Free admission, bar open! In order of appearance: Sex and Broadcasting – A Film About WFMU; Congo Beat the Drum; Waiting for B.; The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith; Live from UB; Inside the Mind of Favela Funk; Danny Says.

Kids Only

The awards show for the short film competition. Three filmmakers will go home with a Canon Tiger Award, €3,000 and a camera. Awards Ceremony

Festive ceremony with many big awards. Which filmmaker will go home with, for instance, the Hivos Tiger Award and the Special Jury Award, the VPRO Big Screen Award or the Warsteiner Audience Award 2016? MUSIC Tribute to David Bowie: The Man Who Fell to Earth

Bowie in the lead role. IFFR is showing The Man Who Fell to Earth on the big screen as a tribute. With music by the legendary icon before and after.

For eight evenings in a row, Ludmila Cvikova welcomes a Tiger nominee for an animated conversation following the film’s premiere earlier in the evening. The Tigers are (in order of appearance): History’s Future; Oscuro animal; Motel Mist; A Woman, a Part; Radio Dreams; The Land of the Enlightened; La última tierra; Where I Grow Old. Critics’ Talks

he best film journalists (Gerhard T Busch, Bor Beekman, Floortje Smit, Ronald Rovers) talk to the festival’s big names after the screening of their films. The films are (in order of appearance): The Idol; Malgré la nuit; Heart of a Dog; WINWIN. Critics’ Talk Special: Valerio Mastandrea

In the film He Hated Pigeons, we travel through searingly beautiful Patagonia, accompanied by a soundtrack mixed for us live.

Actor and producer Valerio Mastandrea will talk about his friendship with Claudio Caligari. This year, IFFR is showing a trilogy of three fiction films in honour of Caligari, who passed away in 2015.

Simulacrum Tremendum

Critics’ Choice: Tea & Talk

A 780-minute film, a piano and a world record attempt. This special screening of Kahvn’s Simulacrum Tremendum is the ultimate film marathon.

Tea & Talk with participants of the Critics’ Choice programme on the theme Whose Cinema, moderated by Jan Pieter Ekker and Dana Linssen.

Closing Night: The Childhood of a Leader

Mark Cousins (The Story of Film) reflects on questions concerning copyright and the extent to which a film can conform to the associations of the person watching it. Can two people ever really see the same film?

He Hated Pigeons

The 45th IFFR will close with an exclusive screening of The Childhood of a Leader, accompanied by live music by the Codarts Symphony Orchestra.

Bigger Than The Shining

Brave Talks

A series of four special screenings of films reflecting on social and/or political injustice, brave in both content and form. Followed by an in-depth interview by Geoff Andrews with the filmmaker. In order of appearance: As I Open My Eyes; Oscuro animal; Much Loved; The Plague at the Karatas Village.

254

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Student Talks

A series of talks in which students can question three filmmakers in depth in an informal setting. Moderator is Ernie Tee, teacher at the Netherlands Film Academy. Films that will be discussed screen ahead of the talk in the festival. IFFR Live

A festival screening on the biggest possible platform! Five films will premiere at IFFR and simultaneously screen in cinemas across Europe. Audiences can also watch online. After the premiere, there will be an interactive Q&A Twitter session with the filmmaker and cast. In order of appearance: As I Open My Eyes; The Model; Préjudice; La novia; The Garbage Helicopter. Erasmus Tiger College

A morning selection of films for parents and children to watch together. In the afternoon, there is a workshop for the kids, while their parents can relax with a festival film. Erasmus Film Quiz

A mix of arthouse and Hollywood. Show off your film knowledge in the Erasmus Film Quiz and win tickets to the Closing Film & Party. Workshops

A series of workshops based on films from the festival programme. In order of appearance: Hone your martial arts skills after watching The Assassin; create your own jingles and kickstart a career in the media after seeing either Radio Dreams or Sex and Broadcasting, or discover the secrets of Nordic cooking following the screening of Noma My Perfect Storm. PARTY Kick-off: Beyond Sleep & Opening Party

The IFFR 2016 festive kick-off presents a special preview of Beyond Sleep, the new film by Boudewijn Koole. Then toast a successful festival at the Opening Party.

Ahead of the film Préjudice by Antoine Cuypers, philosopher Dr. Tim de Mey will give his seminar (in English) Prejudices: A Philosophical Leaflet.

Closing Party by Warsteiner

Suede: Night Thoughts

After the film, things get loose in the Rotterdamse Schouwburg. Feet fly from the floor deep into the night.

Special Q&A with Britpop band Suede, who had an atmospheric mini-feature film to accompany their seventh album, Night Thoughts made by pop photographer Roger Sargent.

The festival comes to a dazzling close! IFFR raises the roof of de Doelen with a banging closing party. Dance Dance Dance

Studio Erasmus

How can we use brain scans to predict the success of films? Leading boffins answer these and other questions in the special edition of the Erasmus University talkshow.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

255

International Short Film Festival Oberhausen 5 — 10 May 2016

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

www.kurzfilmtage.de 256

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

257

THE SUPPORTIVE FESTIVAL

The Supportive Festival IFFR actively supports independent filmmaking from around the globe. The festival is an established and renowned international platform for launching new films and talent from around the world through its various initiatives. CineMart, IFFR’s co-production market for international film projects, takes place at the festival from 31 January to 3 February 2016. The festival’s Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) contributes financially to film projects from emerging countries. Each year, the festival programme contains a rich harvest of HBFsupported films. IFFR promotes training and talent development within its Rotterdam Lab for young film producers and the IFFR Trainee Project for Young Film Critics.

HUBERT BALS FUND The Hubert Bals Fund is designed to facilitate the completion of remarkable feature films by innovative and talented filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin-America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe. The HBF provides grants that often play a crucial role in enabling these filmmakers to realise their projects. The Fund has supported more than 1,000 projects since its establishment in 1989. Each year, a rich harvest of films supported by the HBF is presented at IFFR. This year, IFFR proudly presents a total of 13 films supported by the HBF in various programme sections, including two nominated for the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition. In 2016, the HBF is able to make individual grants at several stages of completion: early for HBF Script and Project Development (max €10,000) or after shooting for HBF Postproduction (max €20,000). With the support of the Creative Europe MEDIA programme of the European Union, minority coproduction support (€55,000) and distribution support (€20,000) is offered to European co-producers and exhibitors through the new HBF+Europe scheme. Dutch producers are eligible for the NFF+HBF coproduction scheme from the Netherlands Film Fund and the HBF (€50,000). More information about these funding schemes, as well as the application deadlines, is available at IFFR.com/hbf. In order to provide filmmakers critically addressing human rights related themes in their films with an international platform to tell their stories, IFFR in collaboration with the HBF started a new series of talks, Brave Talk. Hosted by film critic and senior film programmer at BFI Southbank cinemas in London, Geoff Andrew, Brave Talk consists of a special screening of films reflecting on social and/or political injustice, brave in both content and form. Followed by an in-depth interview with the filmmaker. The Brave Talk series at IFFR 2016 includes: As I Open My Eyes (Leyla Bouzid, Tunisia); Oscuro animal (Felipe Guerrero, Colombia); Much Loved (Nabil Ayouch, Morocco) and The Plague at the Karatas Village (Adilkhan Yerzhanov, Kazakhstan). HBF Harvest 2016 The Hubert Bals Fund is proud to present this year’s HBF Harvest at the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam. Hivos Tiger Awards Competition

Oscuro animal (Felipe Guerrero); La última tierra (Pablo Lamar) Bright Future Main Programme

Alba (Ana Cristina Barragán); The Island Funeral (Pimpaka Towira); El placer es mío (Elisa Miller) ID: gender.net

Strange Love (Natasha Mendonca) Voices Main Programme

The Fourth Direction (Gurvinder Singh); Memories of the Wind (Özcan Alper); Yo (Matías Meyer)

258

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Limelight

El abrazo de la serpiente (Ciro Guerra); Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul); Neon Bull (Gabriel Mascaro) ID: Community Cameras

El viento sabe que vuelvo a casa (José Luis Torres Leiva)

CINEMART The 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam marks the 33rd edition of its international co-production market, CineMart. Launching 25 projects in need of additional financing, CineMart heralds an important start of the ‘film year’. The project selection is a good reflection of current independent cinema, with projects from debut directors to projects from directors who have received critical acclaim for their films. Two projects have already received Hubert Bals Fund support in the development phase. The selected projects are presented to a select group of co-producers, funds, sales agents, distributors, TV stations and other potential financiers through carefully scheduled one-to-one meetings and in networking events. One of CineMart’s trademarks is its highly productive, informal atmosphere. Besides the co-production market and the Rotterdam Lab, CineMart also aims to be a platform for debate and reflection on current issues in the international film industry. Former CineMart projects in IFFR 2016 Hivos Tiger Award Competition

History’s Future (Fiona Tan, CineMart 2013) Voices Main Programme

The Fourth Direction (Gurvinder Singh, CineMart Boost! Project 2013) Limelight

Neon Bull (Gabriel Mascaro, CineMart 2011) An (Naomi Kawase, CineMart 2014) Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) (Eva Husson, CineMart 2013) Critics’ Choice

Brand New-U (Simon Pummell, CineMart 2010)

Rotterdam Lab The Rotterdam Lab, a workshop for emerging international producers, is an integral part of CineMart. In partnership with numerous international organisations, a group of 60 emerging producers from all over the world comes to the festival during CineMart to participate in this workshop that deals with various topics on international film financing and distribution. The Lab also offers the producers the opportunity to build up a large network with their peers and other international professionals. The participants have an organized programme of panels, workshops and speed-dating and also take part in all CineMart’s networking activities. Art:Film Art:Film is as an international platform bound by a mission to facilitate meetings between professionals working with art and film. It aims to further enhance, to nurture and to provide a platform for highly artistic cinema and visual arts by responding to the specific needs of artistic cinema, expanding into the new fields of finance, production and distribution. The initiative is in itself a work-in-progress. Through think-tanks, workshops, panels and co-production meetings, Art:Film brings together artists, filmmakers, galleries, art institutions, producers, distributors, funds and foundations and other professionals from the film and art worlds to exchange knowledge, practices and ideas, and thereby to explore and develop new ways of cooperating.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

259

THE SUPPORTIVE FESTIVAL

HIVOS SUPPORTS

filmmakers

DISTRIBUTION IFFR is very active in the field of distribution; for years, the festival has organised the distribution of its own HBF films, and often also Tiger Award winners, in the Netherlands. By doing this, the festival strengthens the artistic film climate and provides filmmakers with a platform for finding an audience for their films, also outside of the festival circuit.

WORLDWIDE AND GIVES THEM A VOICE www.hivos.org/film

IFFR Live In 2015, IFFR introduced a unique international live cinema event: IFFR Live. A series of five film premieres during the festival were simultaneously screened in cinemas and VOD (Video On Demand) platforms across Europe. During the second edition in 2016, over 45 cinemas in territories such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and the Netherlands will take part. The films will simultaneously be available on VOD in Spain through Filmin and an online screening room in multiple territories via Festival Scope. IFFR Live gives the audience the opportunity to experience the unique thrill of being part of a major international film festival and participate in live Q&A sessions with filmmakers and cast via Twitter using #livecinema. The films presented as part of IFFR Live in 2016 are As I Open My Eyes by Leyla Bouzid (France, Tunisia, Belgium, United Arab Emirates), The Model by Mads Matthiesen (Denmark), Prejudice by Antoine Cuypers (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands), La novia by Paula Ortiz (Spain, Germany) and The Garbage Helicopter by Jonas Selberg AugustsĂŠn (Sweden, Qatar). Simultaneously with the event screenings in Rotterdam, Dutch telecom provider KPN will stream the films live on Interactive TV in the Netherlands and offer its subscribers the opportunity to view the film and participate in the live Q&A session.

IFFR Unleashed In the field of distribution, IFFR pays a great deal of attention to digital developments. IFFR has its own YouTube channel that features a weekly series of short films and a selection of Hubert Bals Fund-supported feature films. In 2011, IFFR launched the DVD & VOD series 10 to Watch; a package of 10 festival films, mainly Bright Future titles from the last festival edition, including Hubert Bals Fund-supported titles. In 2015, to take the next step in digital distribution IFFR signed a multi-year deal with NEP The Netherlands to provide rights-holders with films selected for IFFR with the opportunity to directly release their films on global VOD platforms such as iTunes. This joint venture, named IFFR Unleashed (previously known as Tiger Release), has been established to tackle the increasingly difficult challenges for independent filmmakers, producers and sales agents of finding international distribution and a wider audience in a developing marketplace. The structure will permit the teams at IFFR and NEP The Netherlands to collaborate with the independent film industry directly, establishing a flexible release tool that can adapt to the needs and requirements of all participating filmmakers in the short, medium and long term. As more and more filmmakers participate over the coming years, IFFR Unleashed will be in a position to grow and adapt to the constantly evolving marketplace.

260

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

261

CATALOGUE CREW

FESTIVAL STAFF

Festival Staff 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam PO Box 21696 3001 AR Rotterdam Netherlands tel: +31 10 890 90 90 tiger@IFFR.com IFFR.com Festival Director Bero Beyer Managing Director Janneke Staarink Programmers Edwin Carels, Evgeny

DCP ✶ video ✶ 70 mm ✶ 35 mm ✶ 16 mm ✶ Super 8 ✶ 8 mm

T IFFR 110x117.indd 1

Catalogue Crew catalogue@IFFR.com Chief Editor Saskia Gravelijn Editors Thomas van ’t Groenewout,

Charlotte Lipić, Ilse van der Spoel, Anne van de Wetering Copy Editors (English:) Mark Baker, Jane Bemont, Christine Gardner, (Dutch:) Mariska Graveland, Pauline Kleijer, Mark Mallon Contributors Paula Albuquerque, Leo Bankersen, Paolo Bertolin, Joost Broeren, Mark Cousins, Edo Dijksterhuis, KEES Driessen, Jan Pieter Ekker, Hugo Emmerzael, Sven Gerrets, Mariska Graveland, Nienke Huitenga, Pauline Kleijer, Sasja Koetsier, Dana Linssen, Sietse Meijer, Olaf Möller, Omar Larabi, Maricke Nieuwdorp, Lot Piscaer, Tony Rayns, Nicole Santé, Jelle Schot, Ronald Rovers, André Waardenburg and Festival Staff Translators (English:) Mark Baker, Martin Cleaver, Dimitri F. Frank, Titus Verheijen, (Dutch:) Sjaan de Bruijn, Leo Reijnen

262

Photo Editor Pien van Nieuwenhuize Traffic Rosa de Bruijn Programme Chris Schouten,

Melissa van der Schoor

Campaign Concept & Design 75B Design & typesetting Sjoukje van Gool,

Nothing from this publication may be reproduced, stored in an automated retrieval system or made public in print, photocopy, microfilm or in any other way without prior written permission from the publisher. For inclusion of any part(s) of this publication in anthologies, readers and other compiled works, one should contact the publisher. ISSN 1873-8362

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Gusyatinskiy, Peter van Hoof, Chinlin Hsieh, Inge de Leeuw, Léo Soesanto, Bianca Taal, Gerwin Tamsma, Gertjan Zuilhof, (short films:) Peter van Hoof, Fay Breeman, Maaike Gouwenberg, Erwin van ’t Hart, Marta Jurkiewicz, Julian Ross, Theus Zwakhals Guest Curators Jan Pieter Ekker, Dana Linssen, Olaf Möller, Tony Rayns, Julian Ross Programme Advisors Gustavo Beck, Ludmila Cvikova, Christiane Gruen, Aihara Hiromi, Robert Gray, Shelly Kraicer, Ralph McKay, Aily Nash, Olivier Pierre, Rada Sesic, Roberto Turigliatto, Miroljub Vickovic, Grace Winter, Mercedes Martínez-Abarca Programme Department Chris Schouten, Melissa van der Schoor, Julia Hoogkamer, Pim Kipp, Rozemarijn de Kwaasteniet, Gerben de Louw, Marit Oprins, Robert de Rek Marketing & Fundraising Martje van 18-12-13 17:32 Nes, (communication & marketing:) Rosa de Bruijn, Jodie de Groot, Sylke Jellema, (sponsoring & fundraising:) Natalie Blok, Lotte Hemme, Anouk Maaskant, Michelle Roos, Marie-Noëlle Thissen Education Ronny Theeuwes, Anke Koenraadt Online Loes Evers, Manon de Wit, Christo Klumper, Vincent Krom, Pete Wu, (online industry:) Kamiel Arents Press Cathelijne Beijn, Fleur van den Breemer, Maria Lam, Mieke van der Linden, Rita Mijatovic, Laura Talsma Chief Editors Natasja van den Berg, Anton Damen, Saskia Gravelijn Editors Thomas van ’t Groenewout, Charlotte Lipić, Ilse van der Spoel, Anne van de Wetering Photo Editor Pien van Nieuwenhuize CineMart Marit van den Elshout, Bianca Taal, Kitty Bogte, Inke van Loocke, Tobias Pausinger, Zsazsa Rueb, Emmy Sidiras, Max Wassink, (consultants/matchmakers:) Jolinde den Haas, Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Beatrice Neumann, David Pope Hubert Bals Fund Iwana Chronis, Fay Breeman, Janneke Langelaan Film Office Nikolas Montaldi, Stien Meesters, Maartje Piersma, Angelo Zwaaneveld, (industry consultants:) Hayet Benkara, Marina Kozul, Kathleen McInnis, Pierre Menahem Video Library Rob Duyser, Anna Germanidi Distribution Melissa van der Schoor, Marit Oprins, Jordi Wijnalda

Finance & Human Resources Eva de Jong,

Marleen de Kok, Karin Zuijderwijk Office Sensie Mourik, Iris Moti, Irene Appelo, (assistant to the directors:) Sensie Mourik Production Juul Veenboer, Sissy Choi, Antwan Cornelissen, Arielle Fenton, Patricio van Gemeren, Sigrun Gutmundsdottir, Frank van der Horst, Annelous Klein, Maud Radema, Adam Verhaar, Jurgen van der Vlies, Randi de Vries, Tess Wiggers Guest Department & Hospitality Mirjam Klootwijk, Maaike Allard, Fay Breeman, Thijs van der Laak, Anouk Leijtens, Nasztazia Potapenko, Charlie Vermeulen Jury Support Koen de Rooij, Jeroen Achterberg, Johanna Fuhler

Information & Communications Technology Erik Gelsema, Jeroen Diderik,

Tahir Kuruoglu, Tom Timmerman Volunteers Coordination Hannah Abbink, Joran Klerks, Bénine Buijze Box Office Marie-Louise Calame, Linda van den Berg, Marco Oudewortel, Jessica Ridderhof Film Technique Martin van Broekhoven, Sjoerd van Gerwen, Dick Moesker Electronic Subtitling Els van der Meer Film Control Nadja Cohen, Joop van Langen, Kathinka Verhoeven Car Service Caspar van der Lecq, Thijs Pruis Q&A & Interpretors Mercedes Martínez-Abarca, Marketa Tom Talkshows/Specials Mieke van der Linden, Müge Demir, Dore van Duivenbode, Mariken van der Meer Catering Remco Ris Supervisory Board Pieter Broertjes, Monica Galer, Mart Dominicus, Frans van Gestel, Steven Lak, Korrie Louwes, Martijn Sanders Advisory Board Tiger Business Lounge

Jacques Kröner, Marc van Staveren, Melany van Twuijver, Wilbert van Twuijver CineMart International Advisory Board

Ido Abram, David Atlan-Jackson, Jean-Baptiste Babin, Juan Gordon, Keith Griffiths, Claudia Landsberger, Scott Macaulay, Lorna Tee, Susan Wendt International Liaison Lucius Barre CineMart Selection Committee

Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Nikolas Montaldi, Beatrice Neumann, Jacobine van der Vloed, Anita Voorham and CineMart Staff Hubert Bals Fund Selection Committee

Ludmila Cvikova, Jan Pieter Ekker, Emile Fallaux, Simon Field, Ilse Hughan, Konstantinos Kontovrakis, Nikolas Montaldi, Dicky Parlevliet, Lucas Rosant, Rada Sesic, Ineke Smits, Bianca Taal, Gerwin Tamsma, Gertjan Zuilhof and HBF Staff Curaçao IFFR Pim Kipp, Christine Davila, Saskia Gravelijn, Mirjam Klootwijk and Festival Staff Festival Groningen Gerben ter Haar, Hanneke van den Hoogen, Henk Klein Wassink, Richt Pander, Martijn Rotgers

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

263

THANKS TO

Thanks To International Film Festival Rotterdam would like to thank:

Ahmed Aboutaleb Adachi Masao Tikoy Aguiluz Helge Albers Aboozar Amini Daniel Aragão Hans Beekmans Vicky Belarmino Andrée van den Berg Mieke Bernink Kathi Bildhauer Martina Bleis Doreen Boonekamp Olya Borissova Bettina Brokemper Peter van Bueren Claudio Caligari John Canciani Cristina Cassano Jack Chiang George Clarke Arleen Cuevas Christian De Schutter Amy Dotson Guido van Driel Esther van Driesum Marianne Eijgenraam Diana Elbaum Christine Eloy Danielle Eversby Dale Fairbairn Isabel Arrate Fernandez Tine Fischer Mira Fornay Eric Franssen Daan Gielis Miguel Gomes Jacob van der Goot Daniëlle Guirguis Roman Gutek Konstantin Guz Yuni Hadi Sandra den Hamer Briony Hanson Jacques van Heijningen Jaap Hermans Taylor Hess Go Hirasawa Brigitte Hubmann Ilse Hughan Ge Huismans Hans Hurch Yassine el Idrissi Luuk Imhann Emmanuel Joly Toni Junyent Dragan Jurak Olga Khlasheva Nerina T. Kocjancic Asya Kolodizhner Roger Koza Martin Kudlac Ming-Jung Kuo Sébastien Lachaussée Anne Laurent Kevin B. Lee

264

Lee Yongkwan Emmanuel Lefrant Ed Legano Ruby Lerner Miryam van Lier Wood Lin Annamaria Lodato Sergei Loznitsa Kate MacKay Lyubov Matyunina Jasmin McSweeney Wendy Mitchell Naeem Mohaiemen Juan Daniel F. Molero Toni Monty Fiorella Moretti Tamir Muhammad Robert Muis Archana Nathan Ken Okubo Yamaç Okur Roberto Olla Nancy van Oorschot Chris Oosterom Anna Pedroli Soon-Mi Peten Nienke Poelsma Pere Portabella Andrea Posthuma Esteve Riambau Mariëtte Rissenbeek Ben Rivers Joyce Roodnat Jeroen Roovers Dennis Ruh Mike S. Ryan Hend Sabry Martin Schweighofer Guillaume de Seille Peter Shepotinnik Rowan El Shimi Yael Shuv Kang Sooyoun Marc van Staveren Anocha Suwichakornpong Meiske Taurisia Ingrid van Tol Melany van Twuijver Chalida Uebumrungjit Eduardo Valente Neil Wallace Michael Weber Okke Westdorp Frans Westra Rutger Wolfson Aziz Yagoub Ying Liang Matt Zoller Zeits Henk Zwier Arab Cinema Centre ARTE France Cinéma Ateliers du Cinéma Européen ATFT de beeldmarketeers Berlinale Co-Production Market

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

THANKS TO

Brakke Grond British Council Bob Film Sweden Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente (BAFICI) Busan International Film Festival Cinéfondation – Résidence du Festival de Cannes City Development Corporation Codarts Symphony Orchestra CPH-DOX Creative Capital Creative England Creative Europe – European Commission Creative Europe – Desk The Netherlands Creative Scotland Creative Skillset Croatian Audiovisual Centre Danish Film Institute Doc & Film International Doclisboa Durban International Film Festival Edinburgh International Film Festival Eurimages Europa Cinemas Europa Distribution European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) European Commission EYE Film Instituut Festival del Film Locarno FICUNAM Film Väst Film- und Medienstiftung NRW Filmmaker Magazine Film Society of Lincoln Center Films du Losange Finnish Film Foundation Flanders Audiovisual Fund Fortissimo Film Gallery JOEY RAMONE Gebouw De Hofpoort Goethe Institute Rotterdam Göteborg International Film Festival Grand Hotel Central Greek Film Centre Harvard Film Archive Haghefilm Digitaal HBO Nederland Hong Kong International Film Festival IDFA Bertha Fund IDFA Docs for Sale Independent Filmmaker Project Irish Film Board Israel Film Fund Istanbul Film Festival (Meetings on the Bridge) Karlovy Vary International Film Festival KNF Kunsthal Rotterdam Lightcone Lux MAMA Marché du Film Cannes

(Producer’s Network) Media Fonds Medienboard Berlin- Brandenburg Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken MoMa Museum of Modern Art Mostra de Cinema de Belo Horizonte Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Netherlands Film Fund New Zealand Film Commission Nhow Rotterdam Het Nieuwe Instituut OLFFI Olhar de Cinema Piet Zwart Institute for PostGraduate Studies & Research Politie Rotterdam Portugal Film PrintRoom Pro Helvetia Proimagenes Colombia Protagonist Pictures Qcinema – Quezon City International Film Festival Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Culture Riviera Maya Film Festival Roodkapje Rome Film Festival (New Cinema Network) Rotterdam Festivals Rotterdam Partners Rotterdamse Raad voor Kunst en Cultuur San Sebastian International Film Festival Sarajevo International Film Festival Scottish Film Talent Network Screen Australia Screen Australia (Indigenous Branch) Singapore International Film Festival Slamdance Film Festival Spaces (Gebouw De Hofpoort) Sundance Film Festival Sundance Institute Super 16 Swedish Film Institute Tate Modern Telefilm Canada Toronto International Film Festival Transylvania International Film Festival Tribeca Film Festival Tribeca Film Institute TrustNordisk Unifrance US in Progress Wroclaw V2_ Viennale Vilnius Film Festival Wallonie Bruxelles Images WORM Wroclaw New Horizons International Film Festival YLF-Vertalingen ... and special thanks to our patrons, individual donors and Tiger Friends.

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

265

Media partners

would like to thank

Suppliers

Main Sponsors HAGHEFILM DIGITAAL

BeamSystems • ESB.TSB • FestivalTickets • FilmoTeca de Catalunya - Departament de Cultura Generalitat de Catalunya • GIGTECH • Gofilex • Indyvideo • Leo Ringelberg Touringcars • Maarsen Groep Vastgoedinvesteringen • Roos+Bijl • Veenman+ • Zicht online

Hubert Bals Fund

LIONS CLUB L’ESPRIT DU TEMPS

CineMart

Funders 3 Puertos Cine • Arab Cinema Center • Ateliers du Cinéma Européen (ACE) • Association for Transformation in Film and Television, South Africa • Berlinale Co-Production Market • Catalan Films & TV • Cinéfondation - Résidence du Festival • Cinemien • CPH:DOX • Creative Europe Desk NL • Creative Skillset • Danish Film Institute • Docskool (Clinik. Kathmandu) • Durban FilmMart / Durban Film Office • European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) • EYE Film Institute Neterlands • Festival Scope • Film Väst • Film - und Medienstiftung NRW • Finnish Film Foundation • Flanders Audiovisual Fund • Guanajuato International Film Festival • Haghefilm Digitaal • Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) • Irish Film Board • Israel Film Fund • Mediafonds • Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg • New Cinema Network - Rome • OLFFI • Producers Network Cannes • Proimagenes Colombia • Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Culture • Scottish Film Talent Network • Singapore Film Commission • Sundance Institute • Swedish Film Institute • Telefilm Canada • Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival • Wallonie Bruxelles Images

Partners

Tiger Business Lounge 3PO • ABN AMRO • Bilderberg Parkhotel • citizenM • Dubois & Co • Freeland Corporate Advisors • Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam • HAL Investments B.V. • Hogeschool Rotterdam • Houthoff Buruma • IN10 • Intermax • Interparking • Leesplank • Manhave Vastgoed • Matrans Holding BV • Men at Work TV Produkties • NautaDutilh • Nedspice Holding • PwC • Share Logistics • Syntrus Achmea • Veenman+ • Zadkine Rotterdam

Campaign design 2016 Concept and design: 75B

Festivaltrailer Concept and design: 75B • Distribution: Jean Mineur, Gofilex Embassy of Austria • Embassy of Spain • Embassy of the Republic of Poland in The Hague • Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam • Goethe-Institut Niederlande • Istituto Italiano di Cultura Amsterdam • Institut Français des Pays-Bas - Maison Descartes • Piet Zwart Institute • Rotterdam Festivals • Stichting Bevordering van Volkskracht • Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot • the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia • Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands • Van Leeuwen Van Lignac Stichting

266

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Distributors

ABC - Cinemien • Cinéart Netherlands • Cinema Delicatessen • Contact Film • De Filmfreak • Imagine Filmdistributie • Nederland Lumière • MOOOV Film Distribution The Netherlands • Paradiso Filmed Entertainment (NL) • Periscoop Film • Remain in Light BV • September Film • Universal Pictures Benelux 45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

267

SEARCH TOOLS

Win meer, beleef meer De BankGiro Loterij is de cultuurloterij van Nederland en hoofdpartner van International Film Festival Rotterdam. Dankzij haar deelnemers heeft de BankGiro Loterij in 2015 tientallen musea, monumenten en molens gesteund met ruim 62 miljoen euro. Wilt u kans maken op mooie geldprijzen en exclusieve belevenissen bij onze partners? Ga naar www.bankgiroloterij.nl

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

269

FILM LIST BY COUNTRY

Afghanistan

Where Is Kurdistan?

The Waiting Room We Make Couples

Argentina

Chile

found in the catalogue listed by the IFFR sections

Atardecer La casa El clan Deseos Galindez Las lindas La luz incidente Oscuro animal Il solengo Toponimia

and programmes. Most of the feature and mid-

Australia

Using the Catalogue The films being screened at the festival can be

length films are ordered by the director’s family name, and in retrospectives mostly chronologically. Filmmakers from China, Japan and Korea (following

Austria

Abbreviations Prod = Producer

Bangladesh

Prod Comp = Production Company

Belgium

followed by their given name. Check IFFR.com for festival news, film descriptions and programme information, director profiles, film stills and trailers.

Sc = Screenplay Cam = Camera Ed = Editor Prod Des = Production Design Sound Des = Sound Design With = main actors and actresses Distr NL = Distributor in the Netherlands b&w = black-and-white min = length in minutes

Bulgaria Thirst

Canada

Bunte Kuh Consider the Belvedere Les contagions barbares Dear Lorde Elle pis son char Endorphine Engram of Returning Erysichthon Escape Scenes Flots gris Font màgica He Hated Pigeons Malgré la nuit Minotauro Montreal la blanche Of Shadows of the North Oncle Bernard – L’antileçon d’économie Poem Scrapbook

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Colombia

Croatia

All Still Orbit Belladonna Full Contact Here There The High Sun

Cuba

The New Man and My Father Nuestro mar

Czech Republic 5 October

Andrew a strong courageous warrior. D’Ardennen As I Open My Eyes Bevergem Bodkin Ras Les chevaliers blancs A Crackup at the Race Riots Ego The Event Évolution I’ll Be Late for Dinner L’invitation au voyage Keeper The Land of the Enlightened Lightkeeping Lili One.Two.Three Préjudice Problemski Hotel Sakala Two Thousand Walls (a Song for Jayyous) All Still Orbit Animal político Califórnia Neon Bull O som da casa São Paulo com Daniel This Is Not a Song of Hope Waiting for B. Where I Grow Old

The Assassin Kaili Blues Metropolitan Triangle Garden Mountains May Depart Nothing Stranger Of Shadows Paths of the Soul Where Are You Going El abrazo de la serpiente Entrelazado Oscuro animal

Last Man in Dhaka Central

Brazil

270

China

The Daughter On the Invention of the Wheel Tanna Altes Geld The Exquisite Corpus Extended Horizon A Good American Helmut Berger, Actor Lampedusa Navigator not even nothing can be free of ghosts Trespass WINWIN

the tradition) are listed with their family name first,

Los barcos He Hated Pigeons La última tierra El viento sabe que vuelvo a casa

Denmark

Facebookistan Kwassa Kwassa Land of Mine Melon Rainbow Men & Chicken The Model Norskov Our Fathers’ Sons We Chose the Milky Way

Ecuador Alba

Egypt

The Everyday Ritual of Solitude Hatching Monkeys The Cow Farm

Ethiopia

Lamb Letters from Ethiopia New Eyes Price of Love Roaring Abyss

Finland

The Bear Tales Galindez Girls Lost Karakia – The Resetting Ceremony Picasso

France

The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin 21 nuits avec Pattie An El apóstata Arabian Nights: Volume 1 – The Restless One Arabian Nights: Volume 2 – The Desolate One Arabian Nights: Volume 3 – The Enchanted One As I Open My Eyes The Assassin Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) Baron noir Bienvenue à Madagascar Bla cinima Cemetery of Splendour Les chevaliers blancs The Childhood of a Leader Deseos The Digger Drakkar Eidola The Endless River Évolution The Fourth Direction

Francofonia The Here After Lamb Love & Friendship La luz incidente Malgré la nuit Matkormano Memories of the Wind La montagne magique Montanha Mountains May Depart Much Loved New Eyes Nightlife Nos champs Notes on Blindness Novaciéries Nuytten/Film O som da casa Les ogres L’ombre des femmes The Other Side Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3 Le Park The Song of Rio Jim Souvenirs de la Géhenne Suburra Suite Armoricaine Tenemos la carne This Summer Feeling Ton coeur au hasard Tuesday Univitellin We Are Become Death The Woods Dreams Are Made Of

Georgia

Father Memories of the Wind Ogasavara

Germany

All Still Orbit Alter Senator An Arabian Nights: Volume 1 – The Restless One Arabian Nights: Volume 2 – The Desolate One Arabian Nights: Volume 3 – The Enchanted One Bending to Earth Bunte Kuh Cemetery of Splendour Chain Chuck Norris vs Communism Extended Horizon Fado Francofonia Franzosensand Halal Love (and Sex) Hello Lamb The Land of the Enlightened The Masked Monkeys Memories of the Wind My Good Hans not even nothing can be free of ghosts La novia Original Copy Oscuro animal Paradise Radio at Night Subtítulos: saber sin estudiar Wild

Greece

Alba Chevalier Oscuro animal The Slow Business of Going Suntan

Hong Kong

The Assassin Harbour City A Sunny Day Where Are You Going

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

271

FILM LIST BY COUNTRY

Hungary

The Whispering Star Why

The Childhood of a Leader Gardeners Minotaur With All Our Cameras

Kazakhstan

The Plague at the Karatas Village

Lebanon

India

The Digger Halal Love (and Sex) A Man Returned No One Gets Out Of Here Alive

The Fourth Direction The Miniaturist An Old Dog’s Diary The Strange Case of Shiva Strange Love

Luxembourg Mammal Préjudice

Indonesia

Chaotic Love Poems A Copy of My Mind Love Story Not The Masked Monkeys

Malaysia

Iran

The Brick and the Mirror Paradise Poem and Stone Remembering the Pentagons A Simple Story, Mine, Yours and M’s

Ireland

11 Minutes Brand New-U The Cusp of Your Credenza Innocence of Memories The Land of the Enlightened Love & Friendship Mammal Room

Israel

Alba La calle de la amargura Minotauro Pacífico El placer es mío Tenemos la carne Yo

Mongolia Live from UB

Morocco

Faux départ Honey and Old Cheese Much Loved A Part of My Life Aung Zeya Light Project #1: Lives Look Like Light Coconut Dat Khe My Folks in Jade City VIP Project, Yangon/Dhaka

Italy

Amore tossico Arianna The Bear Tales Bella e perduta E42 Entrelazado An Inaccurate Distance The Mesh and the Circle Miss Cinema Mother Non essere cattivo L’odore della notte The Other Side Per amor vostro Porno e libertà Il quarto giorno di scuola Il solengo Suburra A Thing Among Things Viva água

Netherlands

100 Yen Love 4 Eyes AKA Serial Killer An Artist of Fasting Asa At Any Place 2 Bowl Cinéma concret The Dork, the Girl and the Douchebag Female Student Guerrilla For the Damaged Right Eye Galaxy Gonin Saga Great Society Greater Things Happy Hour Illusion City Lowlife Love Mountains May Depart News Ow Pieta in the Toilet Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War Sayonara Sex Game Sharing The Shell Collector Three Stories of Love Too Young to Die!

272

Mexico

Myanmar

Congo Beat the Drum Tikkun

Japan

Bedside Manners Bite Cemetery of Splendour Trespassed

9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo Ali’s Boat Alter Senator Beyond Sleep Bodkin Ras Brand New-U Burka Boogie Woogie Cinéma concret The Double Edmond Eigenlicht Elli Establishing Eden The Event Falling Frames Francofonia Full Contact Gardeners Herberg van het geheugen History’s Future Honey and Old Cheese The Idol Ik wil gelukkig zijn An Inaccurate Distance Inside the Mind of Favela Funk Keeper Land of Desire – Happy Is the New Black The Land of the Enlightened Last Man in Dhaka Central Letters from Ethiopia The Light and the Paper Love & Friendship Mammal A Man Returned Mosaic Neon Bull The New Man and My Father Night Soil – Economy of Love Nothing Stranger Oscuro animal Out of Love De pedaalridder Préjudice Problemski Hotel Sept. – Oct. 2015, Cizre

FILM LIST BY COUNTRY

Silbersee The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) Stop Acting Now A Sunny Day A Thing Among Things This Is Not a Song of Hope Tribute to Art #2 Tuschinski – Ode aan de stad La última tierra Verwisseling van de namen van de steden Rotterdam en Den Haag Vonk De waarneming Where Is Kurdistan?

New Zealand

Establishing Eden Free in Deed Karakia – The Resetting Ceremony Still Light Weapons Conference

Norway

The Bear Tales Deseos Lamb Portrait of Man – Invasion of the Herbivores Time Passes

Palestine

Dag’aa The Idol A Man Returned Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War

Paraguay

La última tierra

Philippines

Simulacrum Tremendum Wake (Subic)

Poland

11 Minutes Analysis of Emotions and Vexations The Here After

Portugal

And When I Die I Won’t Stay Dead Arabian Nights: Volume 1 – The Restless One Arabian Nights: Volume 2 – The Desolate One Arabian Nights: Volume 3 – The Enchanted One Los barcos O espectador espantado Fado A glória de fazer cinema em Portugal The Mesh and the Circle Montanha Undisclosed Recipients Visita ou memórias e confissões Where I Grow Old

Puerto Rico

Las vacas con gafas

Qatar

The Garbage Helicopter The Idol Lamb La última tierra

Romania

Chuck Norris vs Communism Meda

Russia

Brother Dejan The Land of Oz My Good Hans The Return of Erkin The Thaw

Serbia

All Still Orbit Brother Dejan The High Sun Minotaur

Singapore SEA STATE 6

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Slovakia

Syria

5 October Gardeners

11 Minutes Aaaaaaaah! Ballad of Exiles Yilmaz Güney Between the Bullet and the Hole Brand New-U Cemetery of Splendour The Childhood of a Leader Chuck Norris vs Communism Crippled Symmetries The Cusp of Your Credenza A Distant Episode Double-Take: Leader of the Syrian Revolution Commanding a Charge Dream English Kid 1964-1999 AD Edmond Electrical Gaza Fear Itself From Our Own Correspondent Greater Things Harbour City Heated Gloves High-Rise The Host The Idol Innocence of Memories A Man Returned My Good Hans New Eyes Notes on Blindness Notfilm Roaring Abyss The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) Tosse not my soule Two Thousand Walls (a Song for Jayyous) Unseen: The Lives of Looking You Could Sunbathe in This Storm

Bending to Earth Bob Dylan Hates Me Bone Tomahawk Chain Chorus Chums from Across the Void Danny Says The Dark, Krystle Demolition The Dying of the Light Ears, Nose and Throat Face Value Field of Vision Final Exit Free in Deed Future Ahead Green Room Half Human, Half Vapor Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story Heart of a Dog Here Come The Videofreex Here There Hereditary Language In a Perfect Fever Inner Man Jacqueline (Argentine) The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith Juke--Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams Junun Last Man in Dhaka Central The Lost Arcade The Love Witch MA The Man from Hong Kong The Mess Metropolitan Triangle Garden Mr. Robot Night Soil – Economy of Love Notfilm NUTS! Operation Avalanche Outfitumentary Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3 Panels for the Walls of the World Peace in the Absence of War Picasso Radio at Night Radio Dreams Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made Rebel Citizen Remembering the Pentagons Riot Safe Scales in the Spectrum of Space Sex and Broadcasting – A Film About WFMU The Shell Collector Sixty Six The Slow Business of Going Smithsoniana Solitary Acts (4, 5, 6) Something Between Us They Were Just People: an Excerpt Togetherness Transparent Two Marxists in Hollywood Univitellin Vivir para vivir Wake (Subic) Where the Chocolate Mountains A Woman, a Part

Uruguay

USSR

Slovenia

9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo The Cow Farm

South Africa

The Assassin Le Moulin

Taiwan

The High Sun Mother

Thailand

The Endless River

South Korea

Alone Artist of Fasting Communication & Lies A Copy of My Mind Night and Fog in Zona Right Now, Wrong Then

Spain

L’Accademia delle Muse Acteón Aoom El apóstata Autour des salines BiBiCi Story Cabezas cortadas Cada vez que... La calle de la amargura Circles El clan Dante no es únicamente severo Después del diluvio Ditirambo Ditirambo vela por nosotros El sopar Esa sensación Esquizo Évolution Fata morgana Ghost Ship In a Perfect Fever Informe general II. El nuevo rapto de Europa Informe general sobre unas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública Lejos de los árboles Maria Aurèlia capmany parla d’un lloc entre els morts Masterclass Pere Portabella Miró l’altre The New Man and My Father Noche de vino tinto Notes sur l’émigration. Espagne 1960 Nothing Stranger La novia Oleg y las raras artes Oncle Bernard – L’antileçon d’économie Pont de Varsòvia Roaring Abyss La tempesta Tout le monde aime le bord de la mer Umbracle Vampir – Cuadecuc Vivir para vivir With All Our Cameras

Sweden

Deseos The Garbage Helicopter Girls Lost The Here After Spermwhore There Are No Limits to What I Can Do

Switzerland

Arabian Nights: Volume 1 – The Restless One Arabian Nights: Volume 2 – The Desolate One Arabian Nights: Volume 3 – The Enchanted One Dedications L’invitation au voyage Nuestro mar L’ombre des femmes A Simple Story, Mine, Yours and M’s The Woods Dreams Are Made Of

The Asylum Cemetery of Splendour Coconut Fat Boy Never Slim Fireworks (Archives) Ghost Rabbit & The Casket Sales The Island Funeral Motel Mist Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3

Tunisia

As I Open My Eyes

Turkey

Ballad of Exiles Yilmaz Güney Memories of the Wind Sept. – Oct. 2015, Cizre The Silence of Ani Solitary Acts (4, 5, 6) Tuesday

United Arab Emirates As I Open My Eyes The Digger The Idol

United Kingdom

El apóstata La luz incidente Neon Bull

USA

195 Lewis Actor Martinez American Reflexxx an is that isn’t always And When I Die I Won’t Stay Dead Anomalisa B-ROLL with Andre

Goodbye, Boys! To Love...

Vietnam

Kwassa Kwassa Letters from Panduranga

West Germany

23 Barbiepuppen kippen um

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

273

INDEX DIRECTORS

A alrust, Endre 56

Caligari, Claudio 176

G abin, Leo 217

Abu Hamdan, Lawrence 66

Calugareanu, Ilinca 196

Gaillard, Cyprien 27

Cavestany, Juan 33

Gantz, Nina 115

Abrahamson, Lenny 91 Abu-Assad, Hany 91 Adachi Masao 170

Caló, Mariana 67

Champetier, Caroline 179

Admasu Getaneh,

Cherri, Ali 122

Hiwot 236

Clout, Lucy 119

Aguilar, Sandro 138

Coates, Alli 56

Aguilera Valdebenito,

Cohen, Jem 110

Paloma 30

Cokes, Tony 220

Alfraji, Sadik 116

Collantes, Pedro 134

Allah, Shadi Habib 26

Coon, Jeremy 216

Almandoz, Koldo 178

Corbet, Brady 222

Alper, Özcan 78

Coulier, Gilles 208

Alpi, Maud 58

Craig Zahler, S. 223

Alÿs, Francis 123

Gagnon, Dominic 193

Garrel, Philippe 144 Gaudino, Giuseppe M. 144 Gee, Grant 145 Génisson, Julián 33 Giacconi, Riccardo 63 Gianvito, John 145 Giaretta, Giovanni 63 Gibbons, Joe 120 Gibson, Beatrice 64 Gijzen, Wim 121 Goel, Shumona 199

Amato, Olmo 44

Cuypers, Antoine 105

Ammar-Khodja,

Daly, Rebecca 94

Gomes, Miguel 95

Amoroso, Carmine 192

Dauverné, Marie 119

Goodwin, Dryden 244

Anderson, Laurie 92

De Pue, Pieter-Jan 14

Amini, Aboozar 197

Darses, Loïc 28

Lamine 192

Andersen, Thom 186

de Oliveira, Manoel 182

Anderson, Paul Thomas 58

Dean, Bentley 93

Anggi Noen, Yosep 135

Anoushahpour, Faraz 118 Anoushahpour,

Debrouwer, Jonathan 28 Deelder, Ari 129 Delaney, Anita 68

Parastoo 118

Demirel, Ziya 117

Anthony, Theo 117

Desjardins Paquette,

Anwar, Joko 78

Joëlle 131

Apon, Annette 92

Dienderen, An van. 185

Aponte Pearson,

Dietvorst, Jan 23

Chanelle 214

Dincel, Nazli 22

Aragão, Daniel 198

Dinter, Richard 120

Aranda, Vicente 160

Dornieden, Anja 70

Arunanondchai,

Doueiri, Ziad 208

Korakrit 24

Driel, Guido van 198

Ataeian Dena, Sina 30

Drljača, Igor 33

Aung, Tun Win 233 Ayouch, Nabil 93

Duke, Emily Vey 65

B akowski, Wojciech 66

Duplass, Jay 209

Dunseath, Alice 65

Bakuradze, Bakur 79

Duplass, Mark 209

Barrada, Yto 27

Durán, Carlos 161

Barba, Rosa 69

Duque, Andrés 80

Barragán, Ana Cristina 31

Dziurlikowska,

Bashour, Ramzi 125

Magdalena 120

Battersby, Cooper 65

E ilers, Willehad 68

BeAnotherLab 57

Beemster, Fleur 238

English, William 179

Beloff, Zoe 185

Esmail, Sam 209

Bensaddek, Bachir 79

Espiñeira, Keina 25

Bi Gan 31

Biller, Anna 222

Bofill, Ricardo 164

Bonajo, Melanie 26

Brouillette, Richard 243

Fleifel, Mahdi 128

Browne, Dan 139

Flensted-Jensen,

Brundert, Dagie 120

Flynn, Peter 216

Brutti, Marine 28

Fouladkar, Assad 74

Burr, Peter 70

Fukada Koji 75

Laurits 131

Brunatto, Paolo 166

Grandrieux, Philippe 146 Grau, Jorge 160 Grewe, Jacinto Esteva 162 Guerín, José Luis 146 Guerra, Ciro 96 Guerrero, Felipe 15 Guskova, Maria 132

Hadžihalilović, Lucile 34 Hailay, Hermon 235

Hakimzadeh, Vahid 111 Halsberghe, Simon 246 Hardy, K8 52 Harel, Arthur 28 Hashiguchi Ryosuke 80 Haynes, Todd 111 Heide, Sara van der 246 Heinzen-Ziob, Florian 180 Heinzen, Georg 180 Henderson, Tamara 66 Heredia, Shai 199 Hermanus, Oliver 96 Hernando, Pablo 33 Hers, Mikhaël 75 Heuninck, Elias 186 Heynes, Mike 121 Hjort Guttu, Ane 59 Ho Yuhang 130

Hong Sangsoo 217

Fishko, Sara 237

Broersen, Persijn 28

Gottschau, Jakob 245

Fehner, Léa 74 Finn, Jim 68

Britto, Bernardo 32

Juan David 70

Hoesl, Daniel 112

Feyrer, Julia 66

Breton, Pascale 32

González Monroy,

Everson, Kevin Jerome 128

Ferko, Ryan 118

Bouzid, Leyla 105

Golestan, Ebrahim 180

Bruno, Diego 136

Fornay, Mira 197

Buerkner, Sebastian 138

Fujiwara, Simon 247

Hofer, Eileen 135 Hoolboom, Mike 59 Horn, Magnus von 34 Horvath, Andreas 218 Hou Hsiao-hsien 97 Hu, Rui 122 Huang Ya-li 35 Huber, Sasha 121 Husson, Eva 97

Idemitsu Mako 249

Idrissi, Yassine El 197 Ishii Takashi 227

Butler, Martin 93

274

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

Jalali, Babak 16

Jenkoe, Thomas 60 Jensen, Anders Thomas 98 Jensen, Dunja Gry 210 Jia Zhangke 112 Jiwarangsan, Prapat 136 Jochems, Gesine 120 Johnson, Duke 113 Johnson, Matt 35 Jong, Mijke de 81 Jordà, Joaquim 162 Jung Sungil 183

Mack, Jodie 201

Kämmerer, Björn 126 Kankuro Kudo 81 Kapp, Edgar 129 Karthick, Arun 36 Kathari, Maxime 133 Kaufman, Charlie 113 Kawase, Naomi 98 Keining, AlexandraTherese 52 Khavn 147 Kienitz Wilkins, James N. 23 Kitano Takeshi 229 Klahr, Lewis 147 Knapp, Lauren 237 Ko, Aung 231 Kohlberger, Rainer 29 Kollár, Martin 60 Komljen, Dane 27 Koole, Boudewijn 99 Kotetishvili, Vakhtang (Tato) 133 Krebitz, Nicolette 76

MacKenzie, Kera 127 Madansky, Cynthia 24 Magdy, Basim 128 Mahaffy, Jake 99 Makino Takashi 25 Marcello, Pietro 37 Maroufi, Randa 29 Marxt, Lukas 118 Mascaro, Gabriel 100 Matanic, Dalibor 100 Matsumoto Toshio 249 Matsunaga Daishi 83 Matthiesen, Mads 106 Mausert-Mooney, Andrew 127 Meessen, Vincent 29 Melilli, Martina 137 Melis, Adrian 137 Mendonca, Natasha 54 Metahaven 38 Meulen, Floor van der 125 Meyer, Matías 83 Middleton, Peter 84 Midi Z 231 Miller, Elisa 38 Miller, Peter 246 Mindadze, Alexander 148 Minervini, Roberto 84 Modiri, Kaweh 39 Mohaiemen, Naeem 39 Mohanty, Paribartana 187 Montmayeur, Yves 181 Moser, Friedrich 245 Moti, Melvin 247 Motta, Carlos 138 Mozos, Manuel 184

L afosse, Joachim 82

Nance, Terence 131

K alik, Mikhail 189

Lamar, Pablo 17 Lane, Penny 36 Langhorst, Anne Mercedes 184 Langkamp, Johannes 116 Larrieu, Arnaud 82 Larrieu, Jean-Marie 82 Lattimer, James 27 Lavagna, Carlo 53 Leckey, Mark 24 Lee Seungwon 37 Legesse, Henok 236 Lemaître, Maurice 119 Lerman, Diego 211 Lertxundi, Laida 200 Lewis, Josh 201 Liebenthal, Melisa 53 Liechti, Peter 143 Lim Lay Kuen, Charlotte 130 Linder, Anna 139 Liparoto, A. 55 Lipman, Ross 181 Liu, Simon 202 López Beraza, Miguel 127 Louvet, Julien 68 Loznitsa, Sergei 193 Lukács, Margit 28 Lyne, Charlie 223

Nashashibi, Rosalind 124 Navai, Azadeh 200 Navratil, Alexandra 126 Nealon, Jon 194 Nguyen Trinh Thi 22 Nguyen, Tuan Andrew 136 Nongyao, Arnont 69 Nu, Wah 232 Nugroho, Garin 85 Nunes, José María 161 Nürnberg, Bettina 137

O ’Neill, Pat 61

Oe Masanori 248 Okuda Yosuke 40 Oppenheim, Lisa 63 Oram, Steve 224 Ortiz, Paula 106 Ott, Mike 85

Pallasvuo, Jaakko 64

Papadimitropoulos, Argyris 76 Park Hongmin 40 Pârvu, Emanuel 135 Paul, Nova 199 Pennell, Miranda 61 Pêra, Edgar 148 Pereda, Nicolás 62 Perel, Jonathan 41 Périot, Jean-Gabriel 118 Person, Marina 77

Peuker, Dirk 137 Pierce, Signe 56 Piñero, Quino 238 Pirtskhalava, Davit 45 Po, Po 233 Portabella, Pere 153 Prapapan, Sorayos 115 Prenant, Franssou 149 Pront, Robin 101 Provost, Nicolas 117 Pruska-Oldenhof, Izabella 201 Pummell, Simon 218

Queimadela, Francisco 67 R afman, Jonathan 127

Raim, Daniel 182 Rapin, Aude Lea 132 Raskin, Jenny 194 Rennet, Fabien 68 Ribrault, Baptiste 137 Richards, James 69 Riche, Manu 101 Rigo de Righi, Alessio 49 Ripstein, Arturo 149 Rivers, Ben 150 Robinson, Michael 214 Rocha Minter, Emiliano 41 Rocha, Glauber 163 Rocha, Marília 18 Rødbro, Eva Marie 65 Romandía, Fernanda 42 Roodenburg, Elise 238 Rothlaender, Jonas 42 Rotter, Ariel 86 Rowlson-Hall, Celia 54 Ryusuke, Hamaguchi 210 Rustamova, Meggy 247

S ağ, belit 126

Saïto, Daïchi 22 Saiz, Manuel 67 Salaviza, João 43 Salim, Ulaa 116 Santiago Pérez, Alex 43 Satz, Aura 187 Saulnier, Jeremy 224 Savaskurt, Ilker 194 Schalko, David 211 Scheffer, Frank 150 Schreiner, Peter 151 Schtakleff, Andrei 244 Selberg Augustsén, Jonas 107 Senez, Guillaume 102 Sestieri, Samuele 44 Sheikh Khudr, Ali 125 Shimamura Tatsuo 248 Shinozaki Makoto 227 Sigarev, Vasiliy 86 Silva, Fern 187 Silver, Nathan 85 Simon, Claire 113 Simoni, Paolo 184 Singh, Gurvinder 87 Sivan, Avishai 44 Skafar, Vlado 45 Skolimowski, Jerzy 87 Skousen, Tim 216 Smith, Tim K. 239 Snowdon, Peter 120

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

275

INDEX DIRECTORS

Sokurov, Alexander 219 Sollima, Stefano 212 Soloway, Jill 55 Sono Sion 225 Sotomayor, Dominga 132 Spindel, Abigail 240 Spinney, James 84 Stewart, Alexander 123 Stillman, Whit 77 Stoltz, Mike 199 Stone, Simon 45 Suarez, Gonzalo 163 Subrin, Elisabeth 19 Suwichakornpong, Anocha 232 Suzuki Yohei 228 Szutkowski, Kuba 129

Tafakory, Maryam 67

Tagar, Ariel 239 Take Masaharu 228 Takeshi, Beat 229 Tan, Fiona 20 Tanaami Keiichi 248 Thomé Zetune, Nicolas 134 Thornton, Leslie 186 Tião 46 Tjallingii, Sietske 121 Todorovsky, Valery 219 Toledo, Paulo Cesar 240 Toller, Brendan 240 Tolnai, Szabolcs 62 Torres Leiva, José Luis 195 Touma, Issa 125 Towira, Pimpaka 46 Trapero, Pablo 102 Tsangari, Athina Rachel 88 Tscherkassky, Peter 187 Tsotsorkova, Svetla 47 Tsubota Yoshifumi 47 Tuohy, Richard 200 Turić, Dubravka 134 Turpin, André 88

Wakamatsu Koji 173 Walker, Richard T. 26 Weerasethakul, Apichatpong 104 Wenninger, Paul 119 Werkman, Fenno 184 Wheatley, Ben 225 Woodberry, Billy 151

Yang Zhengfan 114

Yarmohammadi, Atefeh 124 Yasinsky, Karen 185 Yates, Pamela 196 Yeo Joon-han 130 Yerzhanov, Adilkhan 48 Yi Cui 49 Yi Yong Lim, Charles 23 Ying Liang 198 Yoon, Prabda 21

Z ahedi, Caveh 214

Zandvliet, Martin 104 Zeleke, Yared 235 Zhang Yang 90 Zissis, Steve 209 Zoppis, Matteo 49 Zwartjes, Frans 202

Uchida Eiji 48

Ulman, Amalia 56 Uman, Violeta 116 Urlus, Esther 201 Uyl, Barbara den 183

Vallée, Jean-Marc 103

Vanderbeek, Stan 118 various directors 212 Veiroj, Federico 89 Veninger, Ingrid 89 Verbeek, David 103 Verdonck, Kris 205 Verheijden, Donna 64 Viegas, Deborah 134 Villevoye, Roy 23 Vincent, Kurt 195 Vroege, Thomas 125

276

INDEX FILMS & COMPILATION PROGRAMMES

100 Yen Love 228

The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin 181 11 Minutes 87 11 minut 87 195 Lewis 214 21 Nights with Pattie 82 21 nuits avec Pattie 82 23 Barbie Dolls Collapse 120 23 Barbiepuppen kippen um 120 4 Eyes 248 5 October 60 5. október 60 9 Days – From My Window in Aleppo 125

peine j’ouvre les yeux 105 AKA Serial Killer 172 Aaaaaaaah! 224 El abrazo de la serpiente 96 The Academy of Muses 146 L’Accademia delle Muse 146 Acteón 160 Actor Martinez 85 Ajeeb aashiq 54 Alba 31 Ali’s Boat 116 All Still Orbit 27 Alone 40 Alter Senator 68 Altes Geld 211 The Amazed Spectator 148 American Reflexxx 56 Amore tossico 177 An 98 an is that isn’t always 26 Analiza wzruszen i rozdraznien 66 Analysis of Emotions and Vexations 66 And When I Die I Won’t Stay Dead 151 Andrew a strong courageous warrior. 55 Animal político 46 Ani’nin Sessizligi 123 Anna 144 Anomalisa 113 Aoom 164 The Apostate 89 El apóstata 89 Arabian Nights: Volume 1 – The Restless One 94 Arabian Nights: Volume 2 – The Desolate One 95 Arabian Nights: Volume 3 – The Enchanted One 95 D’Ardennen 101 The Ardennes 101 Arianna 53 Armorican Suite 32 Artist of Fasting 170 As I Open My Eyes 105 Asa 229 The Assassin 97 The Asylum 136 At Any Place 2 249 Atardecer 116 Aung Zeya Light Project #1: Lives Look Like Light 232 Autour des salines 166 Avant-premières 115

B -ROLL with Andre 23

Ballad of Exiles Yilmaz Güney 194 La ballade des exiles Yilmaz Güney 194 Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) 97 Bang Gang (Une histoire d’amour moderne) 97 The Barbarian Contagions 119 Los barcos 132 Baron noir 208 The Bear Tales 44 Bedside Manners 130 Bella e perduta 37 Belladonna 134 Bending to Earth 69 Between the Bullet and the Hole 187 Bevergem 208 Beyond Blue Waves 131 Beyond Sight 63 Beyond Sleep 99 BiBiCi Story 167 Bienvenue à Madagascar 149 Bil halal 74 Bite 130 Bla cinima 192 Black Baron 208 Bleak Street 149 Blind Cinema 242

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

blind dates 242 Bob Dylan Hates Me 214 Bodkin Ras 39 Boi neon 100 Le bois dont les rêves sont faits 113 Bone Tomahawk 223 Borderless 118 Bowl 173 Brand New-U 218 Brat Dejan 79 Breaking Walls 122 The Brick and the Mirror 180 The Bride 106 Brother Dejan 79 Bunte Kuh 118 Burka Boogie Woogie 121

Cabezas cortadas 163

Cada vez que... 161 Califórnia 77 La calle de la amargura 149 La casa 211 Ce sentiment de l’été 75 Cemetery of Splendour 104 Chain 110 Chaotic Love Poems 85 Chauthi koot 87 Cheon-dang-ui Bam-gua-ahn-gae 183 Chevalier 88 Les chevaliers blancs 82 The Childhood of a Leader 222 Chorus 201 Chuck Norris vs Communism 196 Chuma v aule Karatas 48 Chums from Across the Void 68 A cidade onde envelheço 18 Cinéma concret 25 Circles 166 El clan 102 The Clan 102 Coconut 232 Colour Corrections 185 Communication & Lies 37 Concrete Cinema 25 Congo Beat the Drum 239 Consider the Belvedere 66 Les contagions barbares 119 A Copy of My Mind 78 Couleur locale 123 The Cow Farm 125 A Crackup at the Race Riots 217 Crippled Symmetries 64 CULTURESPORT 213 The Cusp of Your Credenza 68 Cutting Heads 163 The Cycle King 129

Dag’aa 26

Daniel in the Lions’ Den 134 Danjiki geinin 170 Danny Says 240 Dante no es únicamente severo 162 The Dark, Krystle 214 Dastan-e sadeye man, to va mim 124 Dat Khe 233 The Daughter 45 Dear Lorde 65 Dedications 143 Demolition 103 Deseos 138 Desires 138 Después del diluvio 162 The Digger 122 The Dinner 156 Cows Wearing Glasses 43 A Distant Episode 199 Ditirambo 163 Ditirambo vela por nosotros 167 Do svidanija, maltsjiki 189 Dok-rak 136 Don’t Be Bad 176 The Dork, the Girl and the Douchebag 40 The Double 23 Double-Take: Leader of the Syrian Revolution Commanding a Charge 66 Drakkar 58 Dream English Kid 1964-1999 AD 24 The Dying of the Light 216

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

277

INDEX FILMS & COMPILATION PROGRAMMES

E 42 122

Each Time That... 161 Ears, Nose and Throat 128 Edmond 115 Efterskalv/Intruz 34 Ego 117 Eidola 246 Eigenlicht 247 Electrical Gaza 124 Elle pis son char 28 Elli 201 Embrace of the Serpent 96 The Endless River 96 Endorphine 88 Engram of Returning 22 Entangled 63 Entrelazado 63 Erysichthon 127 Esa sensación 33 Escape Scenes 124 O espectador espantado 148 Esperando B. 240 Esquizo 164 Establishing Eden 28 The Event 193 The Everyday Ritual of Solitude Hatching Monkeys 128 Évolution 34 Exchange of the Names of the Cities Rotterdam and The Hague 121 The Exquisite Corpus 187 Extended Horizon 118 Eylül – Ekim 2015, Cizre 126

Face Value 220

Facebookistan 245 Fado 42 Falling Frames 116 False Start 27 Far from the Trees 165 Fat Boy Never Slim 115 Fata morgana 160 Father 133 Faux départ 27 Fear Itself 223 Female Student Guerrilla 172 Field of Vision 212 Final Exit 120 Fireworks (Archives) 73 Flots gris 131 Font màgica 201 For the Damaged Right Eye 249 Fountains of Youth 64 The Fourth Day of School 137 The Fourth Direction 87 Francofonia 219 Franzosensand 137 Free in Deed 99 From Our Own Correspondent 119 Full Contact 103 Future Ahead 56

G alaxy 171

Galindez 136 The Garbage Helicopter 107 Gardeners 197 Gender Swap Machine 57 GenderTube 57 General Report II. The New Abduction of Europe 153 Gesu no ai 48 Ghost Rabbit & The Casket Sales 69 Ghost Ship 178 Gingakei 171 Girls Lost 52 The Glory of Filmmaking in Portugal 184 A glória de fazer cinema em Portugal 184 Gonin Saga 227 A Good American 245 Goodbye, Boys! 189 Great Society 248 Greater Things 111 Green Room 224

Al affar 122 Halal Love (and Sex) 74 Half Human, Half Vapor 199 Happy Hour 210 Harbour City 202 Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story 182 He Hated Pigeons 89

278

Heart of a Dog 92 Heart of the Matter 66 Heated Gloves 179 Hello 247 Helmut Berger, Actor 218 Herberg van het geheugen 183 The Here After 34 Here Come The Videofreex 194 Here There 123 Hereditary Language 63 The High Sun 100 High-Rise 225 Hiso hiso boshi 225 History’s Future 20 Hollywood My Hometown 184 Home’s Sound 133 Home’s Sound 133 Homeland Syria 125 Honey and Old Cheese 197 Honja 40 The Host 61 Hyakuen no koi 228

Am a Camera 126 I’ll Be Late for Dinner 186 ISOS 205 The Idol 91 Ik wil gelukkig zijn 92 Illusion City 248 In a Perfect Fever 127 In the Shadow of Women 144 An Inaccurate Distance 123 Incident Light 86 Informe general II. El nuevo rapto de Europa 153 Informe general sobre unas cuestiones de interés para una proyección pública 155 Inner Man 249 Innocence of Memories 145 Inside the Mind of Favela Funk 238 L’invitation au voyage 247 Invitation to the Voyage 247 The Island Funeral 46

Jacqueline (Argentine) 32

Jajda 47 The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith 237 Ji-geum-eun-mat-go-geu-ddaeneun-teul-li-da 217 Jogakusei gerira 172 Juke--Passages from the Films of Spencer Williams 186 Junun 58

K a-tai-pee & Khon-kai-lung 69

Kaili Blues 31 Kang rinpoche 90 Karakia – The Resetting Ceremony 121 KeEthiopia Yetelake 236 Keeper 102 Khesht va ayeneh 180 Kisah cinta yang asu 135 Koibitotachi 80 Kwassa Kwassa 136

L amb 235

Lampedusa 151 Land of Desire – Happy Is the New Black 64 Land of Mine 104 The Land of Oz 86 The Land of the Enlightened 14 Last Land 17 Last Man in Dhaka Central 39 Lejos de los árboles 165 Letters from Ethiopia 236 Letters from Panduranga 22 The Light and the Paper 246 Lightkeeping 246 Lili 185 Las lindas 53 Live from UB 237 Live to Live 200 The Lost Arcade 195 Lost and Beautiful 37 Love & Friendship 77 Love Story Not 135 The Love Witch 222 Lowlife Love 48 Lu bian ye can 31 Lubyit... 189 La luz incidente 86

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

INDEX FILMS & COMPILATION PROGRAMMES

M A 54

Ma dar behesht 30 Magic Fountain 201 The Magic Mountain 244 Mahut samut lae susaan 46 Malgré la nuit 146 Mama (Vlado Skafar) 45 Mama (Davit Pirtskhalava) 133 Mammal 94 A Man Returned 128 The Man from Hong Kong 185 Maria Aurèlia capmany parla d’un lloc entre els morts 165 Maru 228 The Masked Monkeys 70 Masterclass Pere Portabella 157 Masterclass Sergei Loznitsa 188 Matkormano 68 Mazraaet al abkaar 125 Meda 135 Melon Rainbow 131 Memories and Confessions 182 Memories from Gehenna 60 Memories of the Wind 78 Men & Chicken 98 The Mesh and the Circle 67 The Mess 70 Metropolitan Triangle Garden 122 Mian bao nv nai 130 As mil e uma noites: Volume 1 – O inquieto 94 As mil e uma noites: Volume 2 – O desolado 95 As mil e uma noites: Volume 3 – O encantado 95 Milyy Khans, dorogoy Pjotr 148 The Miniaturist 187 Minotaur 62 Minotauro 62 Minotaurus 62 Miró l’altre 156 Miss Cinema 184 The Model 106 La montagne magique 244 Montanha 43 Montreal la blanche 79 Montreal, White City 79 Morning 229 Mosaic 198 Motel Mist 21 Mother 45 Le Moulin 35 Mountains May Depart 112 Mr. Robot 209 Much Loved 93 My Folks in Jade City 231 My Good Hans 148 Mænd & høns 98 NUTS! 36

The atives 208 Navigator 126 Neon Bull 100 New Eyes 236 The New Man and My Father 137 News 229 News from the Near Future 13 Nhung lá thu Panduranga 22 Ni wang he chu qu 114 Nie yin niang 97 Night Soil – Economy of Love 26 Night and Fog in Zona 183 Nightlife 27 No One Gets Out Of Here Alive 125 Noche de vino tinto 161 Non essere cattivo 176 Nooit meer slapen 99 Norskov 210 Nos champs 137 not even nothing can be free of ghosts 29 Notes on Blindness 84 Notes on Film 199 Notes sur l’émigration. Espagne 1960 166 Notfilm 181 Nothing Stranger 134 Novaciéries 28 La novia 106 Nuestro mar 135 Nuytten/Film 179

O som da casa 133

L’odore della notte 177 Of Shadows 49 of the North 193 Ogasavara 133 Ogres 74 Les ogres 74 An Old Dog’s Diary 199 Old Money 211 Oleg and the Rare Arts 80 Oleg y las raras artes 80 L’ombre des femmes 144 On Target 186 On the Invention of the Wheel 200 Oncle Bernard – A CounterLesson in Economics 243 Oncle Bernard – L’anti-leçon d’économie 243 One Life Is Not Enough 92 One.Two.Three 29 Operation Avalanche 35 Optic Nerve 242 Original Copy 180 Original Language 67 Os der valgte Mælkevejen 65 Oscuro animal 15 The Other Side 84 Ottepel 219 Our Fathers’ Sons 116 Our Fields 137 Our Sea 135 Out of Love 30 Out of Sight 246 Outfitumentary 52 Ow 228

Pacific 42

Pacífico 42 Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3 24 Panels for the Walls of the World 118 Paradise 30 Le Park 29 The Park 29 A Part of My Life 231 Paths of the Soul 90 Peace in the Absence of War 117 De pedaalridder 129 Per amor vostro 144 The Perception 150 Picasso 64 Pieta in the Toilet 83 El placer es mío 38 The Plague at the Karatas Village 48 The Pleasure Is Mine 38 Poem 139 Poem and Stone 67 Pojkarna 52 Political Animal 46 Pont de Varsòvia 155 Porn to Be Free 192 Porno e libertà 192 Portrait of Man – Invasion of the Herbivores 56 Prejudice 105 The Pretty Ones 53 Price of Love 235 Problemski Hotel 101 Processing (in Progress) 200 Préjudice 105 Il

Q uarto giorno di scuola 137 R

I acconti dell’orso 44 Radio Dreams 16 Radio at Night 69 Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made 216 Rak ti Khon Kaen 104 Raksa dindaen 115 Reality Is Negotiable 127 Rebel Citizen 196 Red Army/PFLP: Declaration of World War 173 Remembering the Pentagons 200 The Return of Erkin 132 Ri yao ri shi san bu zhe 35 Right Now, Wrong Then 217 Riot 115 Roaring Abyss 238 Rong ram tang dao 21 Room 91 Rotterd@m Shorts 129 Ryakushô renzoku shasatsuma 172 Rüzgarin hatiralari 78

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

279

INDEX FILMS & COMPILATION PROGRAMMES

S afe 111

Sakala 246 Sali 117 Sayonara 75 Scales in the Spectrum of Space 187 The Scent of the Night 177 Schizo 164 Scotomata 243 Scrapbook 126 Scratch Beneath the Surface 55 SEA STATE 6 23 Sei yugi 171 Sekigun-PFLP: Sekai sensô sengen 173 Sept. – Oct. 2015, Cizre 126 Sex Game 171 Sex and Broadcasting – A Film About WFMU 239 Shan he gu ren 112 Sharing 227 The Shell Collector 47 Short Stories: Day & Night 130 Short Stories: New Romantic 131 Short Stories: On Their Way 132 Short Stories: Without Warning 133 Short Stories: Words of Wisdom, Words of Strife 135 Signals from Earth 69 Silbersee 126 The Silence of Ani 123 A Simple Story, Mine, Yours and M’s 124 Simulacrum Tremendum 147 Sipo phantasma 178 Sivapuranam 36 Sixty Six 147 The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers 150 The Slow Business of Going 114 Smithsoniana 178 So-tong-gwa Geo-jit-mal 37 Sobytie 193 Il solengo 49 Solitary Acts (4, 5, 6) 22 Something Between Us 201 The Song of Rio Jim 119 El sopar 156 Sophelikoptern 107 sound//vision: Fri 29 Jan 250 sound//vision: Sat 30 Jan 251 sound//vision: Sun 31 Jan 251 sound//vision: Thu 28 Jan 250 Souvenirs de la Géhenne 60 Spark 129 Spermahoran 139 Spermwhore 139 The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) 38 State of the Nation 136 Still Light 199 Stop Acting Now 81 Straight from the Street 192 Strana Oz 86 The Strange Case of Shiva 36 Strange Love 54 Subtitles: to Know Without Learning 67 Subtítulos: saber sin estudiar 67 Suburra 212 Suite Armoricaine 32 A Sunny Day 198 Sunset 116 Suntan 76 São Paulo com Daniel 134

Tanna 93

Tavern of Memories 183 La tempesta 156 Tenemos la carne 41 That Feeling 33 The Thaw 219 There Are No Limits to What I Can Do 120 They Were Just People: an Excerpt 186 A Thing Among Things 63 Thirst 47 This Is Not a Song of Hope 198 This Is Where Reconstruction Starts 197 This Summer Feeling 75 Three Stories of Love 80 Throwing Shadows: Short Films 248 Tiden går 59

280

Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films Tikkun 44 Time Passes 59 To Love... 189 Togetherness 209 Toilet no Pieta 83 Ton coeur au hasard 132 Too Young to Die! 81 Toponimia 41 Toponymy 41 Tosse not my soule 138 Tout le monde aime le bord de la mer 25 Toxic Love 177 A trama e o círculo 67 Transparent 55 Trespass 119 Trespassed 130 Tribute to Art #2 202 True Desires 138 Tsuburekakatta migime no tame ni 249 Tuesday 117 Tuschinski – Ode aan de stad 184 Two Marxists in Hollywood 185 Two Thousand Walls (a Song for Jayyous)

La ltima tierra 17 Umbracle 154 Under sandet 104 Undisclosed Recipients 138 Univitellin 131 Unseen: The Lives of Looking 244

VIP Project, Yangon/Dhaka 233

Las vacas con gafas 43 Vampir – Cuadecuc 154 Verwisseling van de namen van de steden Rotterdam en Den Haag 121 El viento sabe que vuelvo a casa 195 Visita ou memórias e confissões 182 Viva água 24 Vivir para vivir 200 Vonk 129 Vore fædres sønner 116

WINWIN 112

De waarneming 150 The Waiting Room 33 Waiting for B. 240 Wakaku shite shinu 81 Wake (Subic) 145 Wan 173 Warsaw Bridge 155 We All Love the Seashore 25 We Are Become Death 118 We Chose the Milky Way 65 We Have the Flesh 41 We Make Couples 59 Weapons Conference 121 Welcome to Madagascar 149 Where Are You Going 114 Where I Grow Old 18 Where Is Kurdistan? 197 Where the Chocolate Mountains 61 The Whispering Star 225 The White Knights 82 Why 248 Wild 76 The Winds Know That I’m Coming Back Home 195 With All Our Cameras 127 A Woman, a Part 19 A Woman and Her Car 28 The Woods Dreams Are Made Of 113

Ya tayr el tayer 91

Yo 83 You Could Sunbathe in This Storm 65 Your Heart at Random 132

Zvizdan 100

45TH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM

1 2 3 4 5 6

22 23 24 26 27 28

120