Category: Other directors’ completed films

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, has won his most recent referendum, modifying the constitution so that elected officials – notably including himself – can be reelected for several terms. Is this good or bad ? Only the future will tell, but at least he submitted the change to a popular vote, in stark contrast to the may military coups in Latin America, supported by – if not orchestrated by – some of the countries who like to suggest Chavez is a dictator-in-the making.

I recently organized a screening of a film I really like, ¿¡Revolución!?, directed by Charles Gervais. It is a doc about Chavez’s ‘Bolivarian’ revolution in Venezuela. In terms of the meaning of that revolution the film is generally positive but not at all uncritical, and Chavez’s enemies are given lots of space. That gives the film a healthy tension and it certainly avoids the pitfalls of propaganda. And it has many other qualities. There is one important strand of the film made up of animated images of Cervantes’s Don Quixote, with a gravelly voice-over which seems to represent the knowledge of a veteran revolutionary formulating some general principles for social and political upheavals – you could imagine him to be a Che Guevara speaking from the grave, but his thoughts also remind one of Machiavelli, formulating some general principles about his subject based on years of experience. There are ten of these principles in as many segments, and they signpost ten chapters in the film. The actuality material is very well edited – by Étienne Gagnon – and was treated for contrast and texture in a way more reminiscent of edgy fiction films than of documentaries. I asked Charles how he developed this treatment.

How did you come upon the Don Quixote idea? Was it hard to make it work in the film?

Charles Gervais: In 2005, when I first got the idea of making this documentary, Chavez was distributing 1 million copies of Don Quixote books to the people of Venezuela. Chavez said that it was necessary to nourish the minds, to be inspired by someone who searched “to rectify the wrongs and to rearrange the world”. I found it unusual for a political leader, fascinating. At that time, I knew little about Chavez, and it brought me wanting to know more. During my research, what I found is that Chavez is in fact a real Quixotic figure: a dreamer that wants to do good to the people, but becomes so overwhelmed in his quest that he doesn’t always see the reality clearly anymore. How did I suggest this in the film? Don Quixote is everywhere in the film. At the very beginning, Chavez refers to him when he talks about passion, and drawings of Quixote’s adventures are used to present the theory of a modern revolution; and at the end, the storyline of Chavez and Don Quixote clearly mix together. It’s even a quote of Quixote himself that closes the film, warning Chavez to be careful not to lose himself in passion forgetting his true cause. (“Let not thine own passion blind thee in another man’s cause.” / Miguel de Cervantes)

Your film has a very interesting structure, and also an interesting texture. How did you develop those?

Charles Gervais: We wanted to create a structure that would give the film a possibility to stay interesting and insightful, whatever happens with Hugo Chavez. That led us to invent a step-by-step guide for a modern revolution that would succeed in bringing about radical change without resorting to violence and repression. (I worked on this with a specialist in Theory of the Revolution from the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.) So if Chavez got mad with power and ended up as a true dictator, our film could help understand why. And if he continued to work on his «socialist revolution of the 21st century» on a democratic way, we could even pretend that we might have helped him! (I’ll let you decide which path he is on today!)

Talking about the texture, we wanted to follow a certain aesthetic about slums, poverty and «end of the world» kind of places that was brought by some great movies like City of God or Traffic. The dominant color all over the film, amber, reminds me of an old newspaper that was forgotten for a long time under the hard sun – how the people living in Venezuela’s slums possibly felt like. So technically, we took the almost too perfect HD images (shot with a Sony CineAlta F900) and alter the signal with a kind of «bleach bypass». The resulting images, with deep black and deep white, but cold, was then colored with this amber texture.

Thanks to Jorge Bustos-Estefan for help with this blog.

Wangari Maathai [Photo credit: Lisa Merton]

One of the best films I saw at the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal last November was Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, which won both the best documentary award in the ‘Eco-camera’ section and the audience award for the whole festival. The film documents the struggle of Maathai and the Green Belt Movement she started, against authoritarian governments and for the protection of the environment in Kenya. I was particularly impressed by the way archival footage of past actions and repression were interwoven with contextual and current materials, making for a compelling and inspiring story. The filmmakers, Lisa Merton and Alan Dator, told me they were far from the only ones who wanted to make a film about Maathai.

Alan Dater and Lisa Merton, the directors of the film [Photo: Andrei Khabad]

Alan: I think we got to make the film because we got along well with Wangari. And because we started making the film before she won the Nobel Peace Prize, before she had that level of recognition. We weren’t after a “famous” person, we were interested in her life and her work for its own sake. Her story is universal.

We grew up on the land as Wangari did and so we have similar sensibilities in many ways; we understand the rhythms of the natural world, the web of life of which we all are part, and our total dependence on the natural world for our very survival. Something she understood from childhood.

You succeed in portraying the person, the movement and, at least to some extent, the situation in the country. Was that difficult, or did it come naturally?

Lisa: It came naturally. Wangari’s approach to change is holistic so we wanted to show that in the way we made the film. She links sustainable development, democracy and peace in a beautiful, organic way in her life and work. When she had no choice but to become political, she became political. She and the women of the Green Belt Movement could not plant trees without speaking truth to power.

We also felt that we couldn’t make the film without putting it in historical context. The way people survive on the land they live on is an integral part of how their culture is shaped over time. For us the cultural aspect of Wangari’s work is deeply important. Her recognition of the ways in which people lost themselves, their dignity, and their sense of self-worth during colonialism and neo-colonialism is part of what the Green Belt Movement (GBM) addresses in its Civic and Environmental Education Seminars that we show toward the end of the film. It is here that the participants of GBM make the linkages themselves – they learn to know themselves in a new light and therefore are also able to understand what is best for the common good.

[Photo Credit: Ariel Poster]

Merci à Jorge Bustos-Estefan pour l’aide avec ce blogue et à Andrei Khabad pour la photo des cinéastes.

Rivens, father and sons

The other day I went to see an excellent documentary directed by Eric Scott and produced by my friend Frederic Bohbot and Evan Beloff of Bunbury Films, here in Montreal. The film is called ‘Leaving the Fold’ and it’s about young people who have left their Orthodox jewish families and culture to live an ordinary life.

It is still playing at the Park Cinema in Montreal, and will be shown on Radio-Canada later in the season. ( It was turned down by the CBC, hard to understand !)

I was very impressed with the choice of characters, and with the access to the normally very closed Hasidic milieu. One of the things you learn is that life among the Hasidim is strictly regulated and controlled, and the rebellion of those who decide to leave the fold seems totally comprehensible. But of course they have grown up with those very strong values and strictures, and will never be able to completely leave them behind.

As a result, they are ‘free’ but still conflicted individuals. The way they open up and share their thoughts and feelings is very touching.

The most fascinating scenes are with a father, Pincus Riven, and his two sons Hudi and Levi who have left the fold. They all speak very honestly and emotionally. We follow the father to prayer sessions and ceremonies where his deep concern and sorrow for his ‘lost’ sons is clearly in evidence. But then, in a surprising twist which ends the film, we find them eating and drinking together and discussing their differences with a considerable amount of compassion and mutual understanding.

I put a few questions to Eric.

Eric Scott

How did you get access ? Was it possible because you were dealing with Lubavitch orthodox jews who are known to be relatively more open to the world ?

Although Pinchus Riven is a member of the most “open” Lubavitch Hasidic sect, that alone was not sufficient grounds to give me access. In my mind the more determining factor is that Pinchhus is a ‘baal tshuva’, someone who has repented, in other words become hasidic. He is familiar enough with “outside” culture so as not to be afraid of it. In the course of my research I met other ex-Lubavitch kids who came from “old line” Lubavitch families and the stories were as shocking as those of kids coming from more “closed” Hasidic sects. In those cases there was no question of the parents ever considering participation in a documentary.

The father and sons, in spite of their differences and the father’s sadness, they seem to have a very warm relationship – is this surprising to you, as someone who knows the community ?

The Riven boys do have a surprisingly warm relationship with their father, considering the gravity of their decision and its impact upon the family and its status in the community. Often the arranged marriage negotiations of younger siblings are put into jeopardy because a family would be considered “tainted” if another child has chosen to leave the fold.

The father thinks he did something wrong… is it possible that the reason two of his sons left was instead that he had some special quality, openness, curiosity… that he passed on ?

In the case if the Riven family, the reason that the boys left came more from their personal dissatisfaction with Hasidic life than from their father’s openness or curiosity. After all, they have 6 other siblings who have stayed firmly in the fold. The boys’ two religious brothers (the eldest and youngest of the four) are no less intellectually gifted or curious than Hudi or Levi.

Sexy

A report by Quebec’s Conseil du Statut de la Femme (Status of Women Council) published this week sounds the alarm. The stereotyping in the media and in advertising lead to the hypersexualisation of youth, young women in particular. The girls have to be seductive and do everything to please the boys. Their self-esteem is out the window, jeopardizing the advances made thanks to decades of feminist struggles. The Quebec media were – not surprisingly – very critical of the report.

Filmmaker Sophie Bisonnette – who has made a number of feminist films, including Quel Numéro – What Number – made a film on this subject last year. Seeing her film, it is obvious that there are some serious issues here. I asked her a few questions.

The Council came out with its report now, but you were on to this much earlier. How long have people been aware of these issues, and who were the first people -or organizations – to bring them up ?

Sophie Bissonette : The sexualisation of our environment has happened insidiously and it manifests itself now in all media and consumer products for children and youths. The Women’s Y in Montreal, to my knowledge, was the first association to sound the alarm about it 4 years ago. In the youth programs the Y offers to girls to develop girls’ leadership and self-esteem, the facilitators became aware that the girls were being exposed continuously to sexualized images in their environment and it had a negative effect on them. The Y approached the community services at University of Quebec in Montreal and they put together a research and training project called Outiller les jeunes face l’hypersexualisation, to develop tools to help children and youths face the sexualisation of their environment. I approached the NFB who accepted to produce Sexy inc. which is the result of this collaboration.

This is an important subject, but the film was made on a very mall budget. Why ?

It’s a complex issue and the consequences are many and quite dramatic. The subject deserves to be treated more extensively and with more resources. However, we worked with a strong feeling that we needed urgently to bring out a film about this phenomenon, especially because it is affecting younger and younger children. As you well know Magnus, financing a documentary can take several years. So I decided to do a short half-hour small-budget film so it could be done within the year. I feel it was a sound decision : the film is a blockbuster for the NFB. There is an exceptional demand for it.
I still believe the subject matter deserves to be treated more extensively, so I would really like to do another film to go futher on that topic.

Sophie Bissonette

Did you make the film for a young audience, or for adults ? Can you do both at the same time ?

The film is intended for an adult public, to help parents, teachers and all people responsible for children’s well-being to understand the phenomenon and be better equiped to talk to children and youths about it. Corporations and marketers have targeted our children and teenagers to sell them sexualized and very stereotypical images. Our children are now immersed in this environment nos. It is crucial that parents and all those responsible for educating children react and act upon it to claim a territory we have lost out to private interests. The film also works very well for 14 to 16 year-olds but it is inappropriate for a younger public.
No, it is not possible to do both. I needed in this film to make adults aware of the images their children were exposed to, including pornography, and to let social workers and doctors talk about the harsh realities kids are experiencing, including their sexual experiences.

Could you make an effective film for a young audience on this subject, when they are already so inundated with messages with the other point of view ?

Our children and youngsters are very uncomfortable with these sexualised images. They do feel under pressure, invaded by these images and resent that a very stereotypical model is being pushed on them, which may not correspond to their personal aspirations. We need to help them develop their critical thinking and to turn them into resistants to these images, we need to offer other models and alternatives (let’s not forget that as parents we ARE their models). We also need to trust them and with them try to push back this phenomenon. It is true that we are facing big interests here, so we must all do it both on a personal level with our children but also collectively if we want to succeed. For instance we see in the film a mother who decides to do an activity with her very young children to dress up in a creative way the half-naked women of an ad by American Apparel on the back cover of « Voir », a weekly magazine in Montreal and they send their art work to the companies. This seems to me to be a very inspiring initiative that could be taken up by others to create a mass movement.