myDylarama

Tommy Hodgson's Encounters TOP 5

Tommy Hodgson — 2020-10-01T19:16:18Z

Writer Tommy Hodgson offers his own top picks from this year's Encounters Short Film Festival.

Breadline (UK, director: Carol Salter): Breadline displays intimate footage of a food bank in a Northern town through the gaze of an elderly volunteer and, in doing so, serves as a damning indictment of the austerity state which the Conservative Party has manufactured and sustained within the UK. Carol Salter's short tale is a personal, and soul-searching look into the ordinary people who have chosen to help other ordinary people because their government has neglected them. Through basic conversations and mundane day-to-day tasks, Breadline is disarmingly successful in adding a layer of humanity to the political choices of this country. Understated and simplistic in its execution, Breadline gives a more realistic glimpse into modern Britain than a passive news report ever could.

Calvario (Spain, director: Lluís Margarit): From Spanish director Lluís Margarit comes a delightful gaze into insecurity and male fragility, specifically the perils of balding before one's time. As funny as it is tragic, the picture takes the toxicity of our self-image to hilarious extremes, within an easily digestible and relatable reality. Margarit's success lies with tapping into a male fear often assumed but not dwelt upon, and offering misdirects as to whether this supposed slight is real or imagined. Well-acted and not at all self-indulgent, Calvario is sure to produce a hearty laugh in its audience, regardless of their hairline.

Christy (Ireland, director: Brendan Canty): Christy is brilliant in its display of the often uncomplicated bonds of male friendship, and further how comradeship cuts deeper than job rejections and other setbacks in life. A fascinating depiction of life for the working-class youth in Ireland, it resonates with anyone who has ever been young and broke, faced with the anxiety of a job interview when you do not even know yourself yet. Director Brendan Canty's piece is ultimately positive in its message that there are rays of sunshine in friendship and petty revenge to counter the very adult drudgery and mundanity of a working life.

Christy (Short Film Trailer) from Brendan Canty on Vimeo.

Exam (Iran, director: Sonia K Hadad): When a teenage girl is pressured to deliver a package before school, her patience and limits are severely tested. An extremely tense and gripping short tale, Exam offers a simple premise but with unthinkable consequences. The build-up of tragedy is layered from the beginning, with intriguing use of over-lingering shots, often sticking closely and relentlessly to the back or front of the character's head to make the suspense more personal, and the fallout more dramatic. Touching on themes of authority, the black market and the perception of vices in Iran, Sonia K Hadad's refreshing direction and execution is simply masterful.

Soup (Russia, director: Inga Sukhordukova): Soup is a dark and dramatic piece, building layers of tension, guilt and the inability to articulate one's emotions into a tight eleven minute journey. The cost of success is apparent when a father and son are re-acquainted, and the unsaid strains on the relationship only infect the plot from there. Both actors successfully use subtle body language, micro gestures and erratic speech patterns to communicate the deep wounds of the relationship in question. It is fitting that the surroundings are sparse and empty, so only emotions cloud the set. Ultimately, Inga Sukhordukova's directorial debut is impressive in crafting a nuanced narrative - with overtones of political commentary about Russian family life and society, especially the state of LGBTQ rights in the country.

Check out more of Tommy's recent work: "Why Tearing Down Statues Is Tackling Britain's Racist History" & "Belarus' young photographers are capturing a country in flux".

Our Picks And The Staircase

Abla Kandalaft, Coco Green — 2020-07-21T11:32:33Z

In this episode, we discuss our picks of the fortnight and focus on true crime documentary The Staircase and the issues that it brings up.

The Dark finale was definitely a highlight, a truly gripping series, with twists and turns as bonkers as those in Lost, with none of the incoherence and sheer wackiness. Palestinian filmmaker Sameer Qumsieh's doc Walled Citizen, in which he explores travelling with the world's lowest ranking passport was screened as part of the Galway FF selection. You will hopefully be able to catch it at the UK Adventure Travel film festival and the Manhattan Film Festival in August.

Kaveh Abbasian's A Long Distance podcast is on Soundcloud. Art of Persia is still available on BBC iPlayer.

Korean Film Nights and Birkbeck's season- Trapped! The Cinema of Confinementstarts this week.

Made-for-TV movie The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel(2019) proved to be more than a melodrama. It's about the price one family paid to change the gospel genre forever and the moving concert scenes are the icing on the cake. Other top picks are College Behind Bars (2019), a four-part documentary series profiling the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) which is a vehicle for inmate rehabilitation, redemption and transformation; and Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020) which raises questions around gender and sexuality in Latin American media representation, but bizarrely not race, providing a cautionary tale of ownership and exploitation in show business.

We'll be focusing on Secorro's recommendation - The Staircase, currently available on Netflix, and discuss issues it brings up around culpability, social and marital expectations, the nature of factual evidence and all sorts of anecdotes. Tip: Watch ALL 13 episodes to understand the full scope of the discussion!

LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - London Lives 3

Louis Christie — 2020-02-13T14:31:02Z

Thrive (Jamie Di Spirito, 2019)

A sublimely intelligent and sensitive film, which sees a hook-up move into a challenging conversation. A naked man wakes up, lights up a cigarette and smokes out the window – through which the daylight outside illuminates the whole room. This is the only light source in the film, and it's used brilliantly. Grindr buzzes. His date comes over, and they're kissing almost before he's through the door. The orange curtain is drawn, turning the generous daylight into a warm luminescent wall, against which the sex scene unfolds, the two of them simultaneously bristling with hunger and tenderness. When the dialogue finally comes in, it necessarily makes a point of how wordless the film had been until then. Rejecting an invitation to breakfast, the man pulls the curtains back, and suddenly the scene is plunged back into cold daylight. The following conversation hurtles into the crucially underexplored grey area of HIV in the age of antiretroviral drugs, which render the virus undetectable and untransmittable. It delves truthfully into that quality of togetherness unique to gay romance, by which ties of attraction are ties of community. The dynamic between the two characters flickers mercurially; one moment they're lovers, the next moment they're brothers in solidarity. Held up by excellent cinematography and a beautifully understated central performance, the film finds a well of tenderness and complexity in the most ostensibly meaningless of hook-ups. It's a triumph.

3 Sleeps (Christopher Holt, 2019)

3 sleeps short film trailer from Chris holt on Vimeo.

In this gritty short, the trust a mother places in the maturity of her eldest daughter proves more well-founded than she could have guessed. She leaves her, in the opening scene, in charge of her two sisters. It's night and the girl doesn't want her to go; seeing her fear (and hearing the music rise ominously), we get the feeling that there is more to the situation than a child's stubborn attachment to her mum as she tries to go about everyday business. Sure enough, when they wake up she's still gone – for ‘three sleeps', possibly to Spain – and they have to fend for themselves. They spend what little money their mum gave them (with the instruction to not to spend it all on sweets) on sweets. The situation goes from bad to worse for the three sisters, with mum completely unresponsive to their phone calls, and it's almost unwatchable – not because of physical violence, but just because they're so completely helpless. The yellowish strip lighting beautifies nothing, and feels straight out of the more recent offerings from Ken Loach. When the end credits reveal that the film was based on a true story, the horror is accompanied by a strange sense of relief that the stress of seeing it might have somehow been a necessary form of witness-bearing. The film might not do much more than put its audience though a gripping and difficult watch, but in fulfilling that goal it's very successful.

Support The Girls by Andrew Bujalski

Ania D. Brett — 2019-06-27T13:20:16Z

COMING OUT TOMORROW Excellent statement on the dynamic of precarious work and the women taking it on - SUPPORT THE GIRLS by Andrew Bujalski

SUPPORT THE GIRLS follows Lisa (Regina Hall), the general manager at Double Whammies, a highway-side ‘sports bar with curves', who has her normally unstoppable optimism and faith – in her girls, her customers, and herself – tested over the course of a long, strange day.

Double Whammies, a low-budget Hooters, is a typical sports bar and “brestaurant” facing competition from strip bars (should they ever decide to install TVs), casual dining restaurants with TVs in the bars, and the actual Hooters (in this universe, named Mancave). Of course it doesn't look like that in the day-to-day. For manager and mother hen, Lisa, on her last day, she only sees problems with staff, customers and life. There is also the problem of the job itself—as the restaurant manager shares the precarious employment situation and income bracket with the front- and back-of-house staff, and shares the responsibilities of the restaurant owner, but none of the real power.

Support the Girls does not centre on workers' personal dramas, like Waitress (2007) or Clerks II (2006)—essentially soap operas with poor people—but is a statement on this dynamic. In the world of 2019 the bottom rungs of the restaurant industry are not entry-level, summer, or student jobs; it's how working people support their working families. As such, Double Whammies is simply an expression of social and economic stratification, with working-class problems like lack of child care, lack of options and lack of wealth expressed as bringing your child to work and stealing. Both Lisa and owner Cubby ask waitress Danyelle if she likes working at DW and both misunderstand her “yes” response. Danyelle likes that Lisa actually cares about the staff, and, when Cubby asks her, she clearly means she likes earning money to live.

Writer and director Andrew Bujalski understands that, in the service environment, it is the colleagues that keep you there since, ultimately, your only option is to waitress, cook, or sell elsewhere, which could be an even worse situation. Think less girl power and more surviving sexism. Thus, the film has no theme or plot, which is why there is no ending. The nature of the new working-class life, and old/ongoing Black life, is characterised by uncertainty, so the girls are doing what they can with what they have—hoping for more but are unlikely to get it.

RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS ON 28 JUNE 2019

Les héritiers

Clotilde Couturier — 2014-12-12T17:06:07Z

« Les héritiers », personne ne m'en avait parlé. Parfois, vous allez au cinéma pour l'excuse, parce que c'est sympa de partager un moment avec un(e) ami(e) et qu'il faut bien se trouver une excuse. C'est ainsi que se font sans doute les plus belles rencontres, celles dont vous n'attendez rien. Car la rencontre avec ces « héritiers » fut grisante.

« Les héritiers » m'a beaucoup fait sourire. Car on voit à l'écran ceux qu'on voit dans les classes. Avec leurs sincérités et leurs excès. Avec leur capacité aussi, à faire effectivement preuve de respect quand ils sont confrontés au Respectable. Les personnages du film se mêlent à la mémoire et sont une réplique tellement exacte des Lycéens… Ce réalisme bouleversant ne fonctionne que grâce au travail efficace et appliqué de Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar qui parvient ainsi à nous immerger totalement dans la classe de Seconde du Lycée Léon Blum à Créteil.

Pour réussir cette immersion, « Les héritiers » sort du « Cinéma » au sens esthétique du terme, où la glorification du sujet par l'image transporte vers des perspectives fantasmées. Au contraire, c'est un film du réel qui nous est livré comme un joyau brut qui n'a pas encore été taillé et dont les facettes se devinent sans nous éblouir. Mais je ne crois pas au hasard. « Les héritiers » dénonce précisément, à plusieurs reprises, la manipulation du spectateur par l'image. L'image glorifiée, l'image embellie, l'image prédicative. Vous ne verrez pas de ces images travaillées dans « Les héritiers ». Pas d'étourdissement donc. Uniquement la puissance du Vrai et beaucoup d'ambition.

Car même s'il ne nous éblouit pas de séquences « trop stylées », il est impossible de douter du rayonnement des Héritiers.

C'est par ailleurs une véritable revanche sur les clichés. Dans « Les héritiers », il y a de tout et les personnages passent d'un schéma à l'autre sans vraiment respecter les cases, bien que chacun ait une personnalité qui lui est propre. De plus, chacun des élèves nous est montré comme un vecteur d'influence sur ses proches et le groupe dans son ensemble.

Bien sûr, le film propose une vision optimiste du réel et la réalisatrice a cédé à certaines tentations, comme la séquence du héros musulman qui efface les insultes antisémites. Mais il ne faut pas nier l'existence de ces petits gestes dans le réel. Ils arrivent et c'est important de le montrer, plutôt que de donner à voir uniquement l'opposition comme c'est souvent le cas avec les tristes Actualités. Une opposition qui n'est d'ailleurs pas négligée et qu'on rencontre dans « Les héritiers », un film toujours honnête.

Le geste du héros nous est par ailleurs livré avec une autre vérité : il agit car les insultes touchent des individus qui lui sont proches et avec lesquels il souhaite maintenir le lien… pour des raisons très personnelles. De fait, « Les héritiers » traite essentiellement de ce lien à l'autre. Et du rapport à la connaissance de l'autre par la plongée dans une réalité documentée. L'épigramme des Héritiers est d'ailleurs : « En comprenant l'Histoire, ils vont forger la leur ». Il est vrai que si nous perdons le lien avec l'autre, nous pouvons sans nous en rendre compte le stigmatiser, lui assigner une identité qui n'est pas la sienne mais un stéréotype, et cela est aussi montré dans le film… « Les héritiers » nous présentent toujours les deux visions d'une même question, le prisme individuel étant complètement mis à nu pour justifier chaque acte, ou presque. Un seul acte présenté dans le film restera sans explication, sans doute car il y a des actes qui dépassent certaines frontières et ne peuvent plus être expliqués. Chapeau bas à la réalisatrice qui réussit ainsi à couper tout lien avec une éventuelle velléité de propagande idéologique et met en évidence le jeu de funambule que doit mener à bien l'Ecole pour que chacun y ait sa place.

(c) Guy Ferrandis - UGC Distribution

Après avoir vu le film, il ne vous paraîtra ni surprenant ni étrange d'apprendre que « Les héritiers » est inspiré de l'histoire d'Ahmed Dramé, interprète de Malik dans le film, jeune de Créteil ayant lui-même traversé la classe de Seconde du Lycée Léon Blum il y a seulement 5 ans. Et que « Les héritiers » est d'abord issu de son rêve d'écrire des scénarios de films, de ses démarches personnelles auprès de réalisateurs, de son envie de témoigner sur cette année particulière, sur cette enseignante anti-morosité, sur ce Concours National de la Résistance et de la Déportation qui l'a transformé, lui. Il en a aussi tiré un livre dont le titre vous en révèlera un peu plus sur son sentiment personnel : « Nous sommes tous des exceptions. » (éditions Fayard)

« Les héritiers » est une leçon pour chacun de nous. Une leçon du succès, de la foi et de l'espoir. Une leçon aussi contre le racisme. Car oui, le noir de cité PEUT. Oui un noir de cité peut gagner un concours, oui un noir de cité peut écrire un film, oui un noir de cité peut aimer Goya, oui un jeune de banlieue peut réussir, sans voler des téléphones ou des voitures… S'esbaudir du truisme est d'un désuet !

Peut-être que « Les héritiers » est fait de trop d'Humanité et qu'une trop belle « happy end » attend notre Jeunesse… Ou peut-être qu'il est temps d'entendre ce message de bienveillance et de respect à l'égard de l'autre ? Pourquoi ne pas rejoindre la Fraternité ?

Dir : Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, 2014

Beauty Is...

Coco Green — 2014-08-23T16:43:34Z

Beauty Is is a 2-hour documentary about the attitudes and opinions of Black British women and men on the meaning of Black beauty. For women. The film argues that complex processes of internalised racism and alienation have arisen as a result of the media, cosmetic, health and fashion industries which idolise the white Barbie doll and are intent on helping Black women to become more like her. Beauty Is sets about unpacking the struggles for Black women that result from the social pressures to straighten their hair and lighten their skin and the various issues around self-worth, self-hate, self-harm and self-actualisation that result.

When comparing the documentary Beauty Is to Good Hair, in which Chris Rock begins with the premise that black women want a certain kind of hair (i.e., straight, long and easily attached weaves), and examines the industries that surround this desire, the shortcoming of Beauty Is becomes clear— it possesses no single argument, no single focus. Director Toyin Agbetu clearly has extensive knowledge about colourism throughout the African diaspora, so it was surprising and more than a little disappointing not to hear more analysis from activists and academics on colourism in the UK in 2014. The problem is that the film attempts to be relevant to all Black people, everywhere, all the time; but I'm not sure it should be. The Black British voice is relatively silenced—even in London in which the US Civil Rights Movement is talked to death during the month of October—so a UK context is not only refreshing, but absolutely necessary.

Whilst the film was clever, insightful and accessible to a diverse audience, I wanted the concept of beauty to move beyond the hair, skin and bodies of Black girls and women. Transwomen were excluded entirely as was anyone speaking specifically to Black representation, desire and objectification in the LGBT communities. The Black men in the film were opinionated about their likes and dislikes when mating and dating, but did not discuss how this was shaped by their own experiences in their families or engagement with media (film, TV, porn, etc.). The film was at its best when people shared stories that revealed racially coded attitudes or contradictions in behaviour. Despite the commentary, the film did not offer any solutions beyond individual responsibility or highlight the psycho-social constructions of Black identity. After all, if collectively these Black British women have similar stories, what can be said about womanhood and patriarchy generally? How is this embodied and performed when women are in the public and private spheres? What are the expressions of resistance beyond unprocessed hair and unbleached skin?

Toyin Agbetu's talent for identifying intelligent women who are fearless in sharing their pain, disappointment and joy in their paths toward self-acceptance is enlightening for the viewer. However the scattered issues and fictional vignettes took away from their voices which spoke volumes on their own. Searching for the meaning of Black beauty, learning to love what's in the mirror when it is not reflected in dominant narratives of beauty and setting out on an uncharted path all came from the hearts of the women in the film. Anyone remotely interested in these topics would be both educated and entertained, but a 60-minute documentary focusing on straight, gay and trans women, of their mothers, their daughters and their stories would have done more to move the Black beauty conversation forward.

Dir: Toyin Agbetu, 2014

Beauty Is is screening at The Nub, London Saturday 6th September 7pm.

More details about the film, screenings and the campaign:
http://www.ligali.org/beautyis/screeningsdvd.html

The Invisible War

Coco Green — 2014-05-18T09:02:49Z

'The Invisible War' is less about a secret war that rape victims are fighting in the military than a series of public and private battles to fix a broken system. Well, broken for the victims of rape, not so much for the rapists who remain invisible to the criminal justice system.

Audiences will readily identify the usual drill that plays out when rape is reported: What were you wearing? What were you doing? But in the context of the US military other interesting questions are raised, such as, 'Do you have a boyfriend or husband?'. A key element of the uniqueness of military rape is its particular psychological impact. How do you cope with being a trained soldier yet unable to defend your own body? Or, worse, how do you see yourself after your band of brothers and sisters turns against you in a way that is so violent, personal and almost incestuous, given the familial relations established. It's no surprise that the repercussions of reporting rape, such as losing rank, benefits and being charged with adultery (if either the rapist or victim is married), keeps 80% of victims silent about the crime. The impact of victim's silence within this particular, closed-system results in higher incidents of substance misuse, depression and suicide.

Personally, I am against militarism; as a college advisor at a low-income school in Oakland, CA, I would dissuade my kids from joining the armed forces, begging them to use the homeless vets as an indicator of how much the military actually values their lives. But just like some of the women in the film, my kids were faced with limited options. However after the first seven minutes of 'The Invisible War' I was also ready to sign up. The US military offers travel, opportunities for public and social service, professional career tracks, camaraderie—all to a kick-ass soundtrack with convincing talking-heads. Whilst these opportunities are not exclusive to the armed forces, its telling that these women would look to the military to provide them. Here we find stories of womens' social and economic positions, as well as limited institutions in which women can receive specialised and advanced education where they can advance professionally and the shrinking pools of good jobs and college scholarships.

Going back to my kids in Oakland, who were exclusively Black and Latino, I couldn't help but notice their absence in the film (men also had a notably smaller screen time). But the omission of any in-depth stories from Black or Latina veterans seemed strategic: the filmmakers needed white women to represent an accomplished, military professional type in order to convincingly illustrate the contradictions of the armed forces. This reliance on the greater credibility given to testimonies from white professionals raises questions about our cultural understanding of sexual availability. Statistics on age, race, rank and marital status and their international comparisons were unfortunately absent. This analysis is especially crucial given that in the US media Black and Latina women are presented as wantan and fast.

In conclusion 'The Invisible War' is eye-opening, to say the least. The US justice system concluded that in the military, rape is an occupational hazard. Unfortunately we can apply this conclusion to women in the civilian world as well.

Dir: Kirby Dick, 2012

The Invisible War is showing at the Lexi Cinema, May 23rd, 8.45pm

Dochouse presents: THE INVISIBLE WAR + Panel Discussion
Friday 23rd May | 8:45pm | Lexi Cinema | £7 (£5 conc)
Tickets and more information: http://www.dochouse.org/film-screening/The-Invisible-War—Panel-Discussion/388

Starred Up

Viewing Pleasure — 2014-05-16T11:37:32Z

David Mackenzie's new film is a much-welcome addition to the British prison drama genre, that weaves sophisticated narrative into a bold critique of the penal system and a mockery of rehabilitation inside.

Set in the microcosm of an English prison, Starred Up is the story of serial offender, 19-year-old Eric Love (Jack O'Connell), who has left the relative comfort of foster homes and juvie, to join inmates, including his estranged father Neville, (Ben Mendelson), in an adult prison. The film opens with prison staff processing and strip-searching an unwavering (even bordering on indifferent) Eric, who is escorted to his new cell in a maximum-security unit. When the cell doors first slam behind him, Eric proceeds to settle in, fashioning a weapon by welding a razor blade into a toothbrush and neatly placing bottles of baby oil on his cell shelves, which he will later douse himself in for protection against riot police. Within the first 24 hours, he will have beaten up another inmate over a lighter, fought with prison guards and had his cell blitzed by riot police who struggle to restrain him. As the prison governor, Hayes (Sam Spruell), prepares to send him into solitary confinement or do much worse, the prison psychotherapist, Oliver, (Rupert Friend) convinces him to let Eric join his anger management group therapy, held with 3 other inmates.

Whilst O'Connell's character certainly knows how to assert himself with inmates and prison guards, the meeting with his estranged father, placed in his same wing, constitutes lesser known territory. It is here that we must thank MacKenzie for refusing to give us a drama about a young man with 'daddy issues'. Steering well clear of sappy romanticism, Starred Up presents a skillfully constructed relationship between an absent father and desperate son who, ironically, are locked up in the same place. For Eric, interactions with his father bring out a vulnerability that quietly compliments his deep-seated anger. Early on, it is clear that both sentiments stem from his profound insights into life's shortcomings. Eric's attempts at communication are met by a desperate Neville, who uses his clout in the prison pecking order to express an uncomfortable paternal instinct. More often than not, their relationship spirals into jealousy, anger and embarrassment, all of which are dramatically interrupted when Neville physically rescues Eric from a murder attempt planned by the prison's administrators in the film's final moments. As Neville is finally transferred to another prison, his very last words to his son are a darkly humorous 'I'm proud of you'.

MacKenzie's achievements, however, go far beyond his remarkable portrayal of this dramatic relationship. Although some may be left feeling - in the words of a Daily Mail reviewer - 'thankful that people like Eric are inside', others will be forced to question what the hell prison is for, or rather, what on earth prison is. But Starred Up does not invite viewers to embark on a formulaic search for answers. Corruption is far too endemic in this nick and rehabilitation a little too farcical. Individual actions emerge as mundane reproductions of a system that can survive, although not always thrive, regardless of the agents who exercise power within it. The treatment received by Eric and other inmates is not down to the moral defects of individual police officers. Punishment is not merely directed by the prison governor in power, nor is it simply administered by certain inmates to whom prison authorities have devolved a degree of control. In this context, the narrative of prison 'as progress' towards anything at all becomes too surreal for viewers to pursue. We soon have little choice but to assume that prison's greatest power emanates from the threat of incarceration it produces.

Starred Up's powerful reflections are only marginally disturbed by certain fractures that appear within the film's narrative and character development. Alongside the lack of sophistication with which less dominant themes are presented, such as inmate homosexuality and the pushing of contraband inside, Mackenzie's development of the role of Eric's therapist falls short of brilliance. Oliver's personal ambitions, abandonment issues and his feelings towards the prison establishment are clumsily elaborated. Although his ultimately ineffectual work as a rehabilitator is key to the film's central premise, the parallels we are encouraged to draw between him and Eric and his violent resignation in the film's later stages, are lacking in dramatic quality.

Perhaps much to the dismay of some, Starred Up affords little space to imagine the development of a solidal relationship between inmates, as every pursuit of meaningful connections is violently interrupted by outbursts of rage and acts of resistance, in which individual inmates remain protagonists. However, Mackenzie has made it difficult for viewers to separate Starred Up's distinct aesthetic mode from what feels like its mechanical reproduction of reality. Some would argue that this makes it a work of true realism. Deciphering the role of cinematic production is a complex and arguably circular task, but there is little doubt that this film revives our sense of the brutally surreal workings of incarceration, rehabilitation and social control, beyond political agendas and theoretical prescriptions. As for the places those reflections may lead us, well, that is most certainly down to the subsequent interventions of viewers.

Dir: David Mackenzie, 2013

Árpád Pusztai, Whistleblower

Alexis Szwed — 2011-09-18T01:43:47Z

Qu'a-t-on le droit de dire sur les O.G.M. ? On pourrait résumer ce documentaire par un proverbe de conséquence : dis-moi qui tu es, je te dirai ce que tu peux dire. Árpád Pusztai, biochimiste et répondant en outre au titre de « lanceur d'alerte », l'a appris à ses dépends en 1998, année qui devait marquer sa carrière à jamais. Que s'est-il passé en cette période ? Rien ou si peu, une simple interview médiatisée de moins de trois minutes (150 secondes montre en main) dans laquelle Árpád exprimait son refus de consommer des aliments O.G.M. tant que des tests indépendants et sur long terme ne prouveraient leur caractère inoffensif. Il n'en fallu pas davantage pour devenir le bouc émissaire du lobby agroalimentaire.

On peut raisonnablement comprendre que plus d'un scientifique hésita par la suite à se lancer dans pareille (més)aventure... Si bien que très souvent, la condition d'un chercheur pour étudier le sujet est que son nom ne soit pas cité dans le rapport. Ceux s'exprimant le plus ouvertement étant en général les chercheurs en dehors du circuit, de retraités à démissionnaires, ne craignant donc plus pour leur carrière.

Comme toujours, plus on touche à de forts enjeux économiques, plus le risque est grand... Mis au ban de la communauté scientifique, Árpád a vu ses travaux confisqués et détruits. Les tests qu'il avait effectués venaient confirmer ses doutes : des rats nourris aux pommes de terre O.G.M. présentèrent des faiblesses immunitaires et des retards de croissance. Autant d'éléments « à charge » à l'encontre du biochimiste.

Le documentaire retrace les péripéties de notre homme, de sa mise en abîme jusqu'à sa réhabilitation. La projection au Nouveau Latina (Paris), suivie d'un verre et d'un débat entre la salle et les différents intervenants a permis d'en savoir davantage sur ce sujet délicat et ô combien d'actualité. Avant tout, le message se veut résolument optimiste. Non, malgré les pressions et coups bas, l'industrie agroalimentaire n'a pas les pleins pouvoirs ! De nombreuses actions ont été menées, au point que de nos jours la question ne laisse plus personne indifférent. Des lois ont du être votées devant l'inquiétude populaire et des victoires ont été remportées. De ce fait, l'étiquetage des fruits et légumes O.G.M. est obligatoire depuis plusieurs années.

Le nouveau combat mené porte sur la viande : pour l'heure, aucune traçabilité n'est en vigueur pour les animaux nourris aux O.G.M. La solution pour pallier à cela réside bien entendu dans le bio, qui n'est pas exempt de pesticides pour autant, les pluies seules suffisants à modifier la qualité de nos terres.

Quelle est donc l'état actuel des choses ? Il en ressort que le lobby agroalimentaire est toujours présent mais qu'on peut le combattre coûte que coûte. Aux prémisses de l'agriculture O.G.M., les industriels prétendaient pouvoir lutter, par ce biais, contre la faim dans le monde. Un argument qui ne tint pas longtemps, les citoyens s'apercevant bien vite qu'une telle entreprise est faite pour faire du bénéfice, et non pour l'humanitaire. Aujourd'hui, bio et agriculture raisonnée sont devenus des denrées prisées, et l'on semble bien plus soucieux qu'auparavant de la qualité de notre nourriture.

Le rêve de certains militants anti-O.G.M. serait de ne pas toujours viser la justification scientifique. Pour eux, un tel contrôle sur l'agriculture, ne permettant plus aux paysans d'être maîtres de leur plantation et de s'échanger des graines, est mauvais par principe. Un état d'esprit opposé à celui de l'O.M.C., qui stipule officiellement qu'aucun argument éthique ( !) ou non-scientifique ne pourrait être recevable. Sans doute le sujet de nouvelles luttes et de prochains débats...

En conclusion, si la cause est juste et que le débat post-projection fut fort intéressant, notons que le documentaire en lui-même n'est pas un chef d'œuvre. Semblant davantage conçu pour la télévision et le web que le cinéma, la réalisation n'apporte rien de particulier et traîne souvent en longueur. Le combat, celui du principe de précaution et de l'éthique alimentaire, n'en est pas moins noble, et ce type de projections reste à encourager.

Dir : Bertram Verhaag, 2010

If I want to whistle I whistle (Premiere in Paris)

Abla Kandalaft — 2010-08-11T07:43:07Z

The protagonist of this film is mild-mannered eighteen year-old prison inmate Silviu. Just before he is due to be released, his mother tells him that she plans to take his younger brother with her and go abroad. Although he only has fifteen days to go, Silviu can not wait that long to, as he sees it, rescue his brother from his mother's incompetent upbringing and prevent him from going down the same road as him. The film starts of like many social realism-kitchen sink dramas in which the viewer is usually compelled to warm to the down on his luck protagonist and wish him all the best as he reintegrates society.
Without giving too much away the film takes a frankly unexpected turn. Some scenes, especially during the first half, are a little lengthy as we are introduced to the characters and the prison routine. It ambles along with no obvious direction. To be fair though, whereas it might seem clumsy at first, this allows the changes of rythm throughout the film to seem all the more dramatic.
The plot is fairly run-of-the-mill but the choice of characters, the rythm and the attention to detail give it a very original feel.
This is supported by a very good cast, almost exclusively made up of inmates except for the two main characters, played by non-professional actors a la Ken Loach.

See Q and A with co-writer and producer Catalin Mitulescu in Q and As section

Dir: Florin Serban, 2010