Horisont øst / Horizon East

Horisont øst

horizon EAsT

Grensene mot øst er nærmere i nord, og veien til våre naboland kortere. Båndene er også sterke, takket være våre sammenvevde historier. Derfor er det naturlig at Tromsø Internasjonale Filmfestival ser mot øst, og henter fram de spennende, viktige og gode filmene som altfor sjelden når fram til norske kinolerreter.

tiff har fulgt utviklingen hos våre naboer siden festivalen ble startet i 1991. Den gangen viste vi et par filmer som offisielt var produsert i Sovjetunionen. Vi har siden hatt filmer fra området gjennom tyve begivenhetsrike år, fra Sovjets sammenbrudd og frem til i dag. Fra 2002 har Horisont øst vært en fast post i programmet der det presenteres nye spillefilmer fra Russland, Baltikum og Finland.

Horizon East is a special side dish in the Horizons program. In the spirit of the historically close ties between Tromsø and our neighbors in the east, Tromsø International Film Festival aims to promote cultural exchange between our countries by presenting films that otherwise would not be screened in Norwegian cinemas.

tiff has followed the development across the Eastern borders since the first festival in 1991, when we screened films that were officially produced in the Soviet Union. The last twenty years we have shown a variety of films from the area, from the fall of Soviet and up until the present day. Horizon East has been a part of the program since 2002, presenting new feature films from Russia, the Baltic Region and Finland for the tiff audience.

THE DOLLS

KuKlAlAr

AZERbAiJAN 2010

REGiSSØREN:

Chingiz Rasulzadeh (f.1972 i Aserbajdsjan) er manusforfatter, regissør og produsent. Han har bakgrunn fra Azerbaijan State College of Arts, the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts, og Moscow’s VGIK Film School. the dolls er hans første helaftens film.

THE diREcTOR:

Chingiz Rasulzadeh (b. 1972, Azerbaijan) is a screenwriter, director, and producer. He has background from Azerbaijan State College of Arts, the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts, and Moscow’s VGIK Film School. the dolls is his first feature film.

FilMOGRAPHY (UTvAlG/SElEcTiON):

2003 MIMOZHIZNI (SHORT/DOC) 2005 GESTURES. RECONCILIATION (SHORT/DOC) Året er 1989 og vi befinner oss i Aserbajdsjans hovedstad Baku. Sovjetunionens imperium er i ferd med å falle. En gjeng unge menn har fått jobb langs en strandpromenade, hvor de, utkledd som Mikke Mus og andre kjente figurer, skal overraske og glede forbipasserende småbarn og la seg fotografere sammen med dem. Maskene mennene bærer på jobb kan forstås som en slags metafor for måten de forholder seg til sine familier og til samfunnet for øvrig. Filmen viser deres kamp for å kvitte seg med maskene, og på den måten komme i kontakt med sine egne identiteter. Men den turbulente samtiden de lever i oppleves både forvirrende og voldsom på dem. Alt de opplever, opplever de for første gang, og det er vanskelig å holde tritt.

Den aserbajdsjanske filmskaperen Chingis Rasulzadeh har laget en nostalgisk fortelling om hans egen generasjons oppvekst. Til tross for tidvis bruk av humor, vitner filmen om de vanskelige kårene aserbajdsjanere levde under for bare tjue år siden.

It’s 1989, and we’re in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The fall of the Soviet Union is at hand. A group of young men work at a seaside park disguised as Mickey Mouse and other famous characters to earn money by posing for pictures with the passing tourists. In a way, these guys also wear masks at home and in their social lives. With the approach of adulthood, they try to get rid of the masks and find their real faces underneath. But it isn’t easy in the maelstrom of historical events, which ruthlessly impacts their small lives. They experience everything for the first time, and somehow things seem to be moving too fast. Love, friendship, and betrayal – betrayal both of themselves and of their nation – Azerbaijani filmmaker Chingiz Rasulzadeh has shot a nostalgic tale of his own generation’s coming of age. Despite flashes of humor, the film bears witness to the distressful fate of ordinary Azerbaijanis, whose country underwent dramatic changes 20 years ago.

FORTELLINGER FRA SAUNAEN

sTEAm of lifE miEsTEn vuoro

FiNlANd 2010

REGiSSØRENE:

Joonas Berghäll og Mika Hotakainen gikk på filmskole sammen, og debuterte som regissører sammen i 2004 med en dokumentar om det finske militæret. Etter dette dannet de et eget filmselskap, Oktober LTD, hvor de jobber sammen om prosjekter, samtidig som som de også arbeider med soloprosjekter.

THE diREcTORS:

Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen went to film school together, and they also made their first film together in 2004 – a documentary about Finnish military service. After this they founded their own company, Oktober LTD, where they develop projects individually as well as together.

FilMOGRAPHY (UTvAlG/SElEcTiON):

2004 VALTIO VAPAUDEN VEI / FREEDOM TO SERVE (DOC) (TIFF 2006) Hva skal til for å få en mann til å snakke om følelsene sine? Eller rettere sagt: Hva skal til for å få en finsk mann til å snakke om følelsene sine? Filmskaperne Joonas Berghäll og Mika Hotakainen har svaret. Skru på badstua! I denne dokumentarfilmen har de inntatt offentlige badstuer, og de har innredet saunaer på steder man aldri skulle forvente å finne dem, for eksempel i ei campingvogn. Unge menn, eldre menn, gifte menn, ugifte menn, store og små, sønner og fedre. Sammen med svetten skylles det ut betraktninger om alt som angår den finske mannen. Ingen tema er for banale, og ingen for store.

Filmskaperne har lagt til rette for et inderlig, hjertelig møte både med den nakne mannen og mellom nakne menn. Vær forberedt på å ta hele følelsesregisteret i bruk – for det kan hende at også publikummet vil bli avkledd i møte med fortellinger fra saunaen.

hendelse ved bank (12m) av Ruben Östlund er forfilm på disse visningene.

What does it take to get a man to talk about his feelings? Or rather: What does it take to get a Finnish man to talk about his feelings? Filmmakers Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen have the answer. Turn up the heat in the sauna! In this documentary they have invaded public saunas to find naked men, and they have built their own saunas in unexpected places. Young men, old men, married men, bachelors, men big and small, sons and fathers – when they start sweating, thoughts and feelings begin to flow. Everything that touches the Finnish man in some way or another is open for discussion. No subject is too big, and none too small. The stage is set for a heartwarming meeting with and between naked men, and the audience is bound to feel the heat of the steam of life.

The short incident by a bank (12m) by Ruben Östlund will be screened prior to this film.

RUSSIAN LESSONS

NORWAY / RUSSiA / GEORGiA 2010

REGiSSØRENE:

Olga Konskaya, som var utdannet ved Moskvas beste teaterskole, arbeidet som filmprodusent og skuespiller. Hun gikk bort i 2009. russian lessons var hennes regidebut. Andrei Nekrasov (f. 1958) har teater- og filmutdanning fra hjembyen St.Petersburg og mastergrad i litteratur fra Université de Paris. Nekrasov jobber som TV- og filmregissør.

THE diREcTORS:

Olga Konskaya was a prominent film producer, director and actress. She graduated from the prestigious Moscow Arts Theatre and produced a number of documentaries, russian lessons was her debut as a director. She died in 2009. Andrei Nekrasov (b. 1958) studied film and theater in his native St.Petersburg and got his master’s degree at the University of Paris. He works as a TV and film director.

FilMOGRAPHY (UTvAlG/SElEcTiON): ANdREi NEKRASOv:

2000 CHILDREN’S STORY, CHECHNIA 2004 DISBELIEF (DOC) 2007 BUNT. DELO LITVINENKO / REBELLION: THE LITVINENKO CASE (DOC) Ekteparet og filmskaperne Olga Konskaya og Andrei Nekrasov drar til Georgia og Sør-Ossetia i det krigen bryter ut i august 2008. De er skeptiske til måten konflikten blir framstilt i russisk media, og de drar til krigens frontlinjer for å intervjue øyevitner og ofre. Målet er å finne ut om deres fortellinger stemmer overens med den offisielle russiske versjonen. Det de finner er både opprivende og egnet til ettertanke. russian lessions gir oss en usminket fortelling om en sivilbefolkning som hjemsøkes av krigens brutalitet. Det er også et polemisk stykke dokumentararbeid, som kritiserer det mediamanipulerte virkelighetsbildet som skapes av russiske myndigheter – hvor nyheter blir ukritisk kjøpt og videreformidlet av internasjonale medier.

Resultatet er blitt et en ukonvensjonell, personlig dokumentarfilm som insisterer på å engasjere oss følelsemessig, uten å ofre saklig argumentasjon og bevisføring. Filmen slår fast behovet for uavhengig reportasje fra alle konfliktsituasjoner.

When the war in Georgia and South Ossetia breaks out in August 2008, filmmakers (and married couple) Olga Konskaya and Andrei Nekrasov become skeptical to the way the conflict is presented by Russian media. They decide to go to the front lines to interview eyewitnesses and victims. Their goal is to find out if, and how, these testimonies fit with the official Russian version. russian lessons gives us the straight story of a civil population plagued by the brutality of war. It is also unquestionably a polemic documentary, clearly criticizing the way media presents the world view created by Russian authorities – a view that international media opts to convey uncritically to the rest of the international community.

The result is an unconventional, personal documentary that insists on engaging us emotionally, without sacrificing reasonable arguments and evidence. The film reminds us of the need for independent coverage of all conflict situations.

SILENT SOULS

ovsYAnKi

RUSSiA 2010

REGiSSØREN:

Aleksei Fedorchenko vant kritikerprisen i Venezia for silent souls. Han debuterte som spillefilmregissør med kvasidokumentaren first on the moon, som forteller historien om russiske kosmonauter som landet på månen før andre verdenskrig.

THE diREcTOR:

Aleksei Fedorchenko won the critiques' award at the festival in Venice for silent souls. His debut as a feature film director was with the mockumentary first on the moon, revealing the story on how Russian cosmonauts landed on the moon before World War II.

FilMOGRAPHY (UTvAlG/SElEcTiON):

2005 PERVYE NA LUNE / FIRST ON THE MOON 2007 ZHELEZNAYA DOROGA / THE RAILWAY Miron sørger over tapet av sin unge kone Tanya. Han tar med seg hennes kropp på en siste reise for å gi henne en tradisjonell begravelse ved elva der de tilbrakte sin bryllupsreise. Med seg på ferden inviterer Miron sin gode venn, den ordknappe fotografen Aist. Underveis blir det imidlertid klart at det ikke bare er vennskapet mellom mennene som gjorde at akkurat Aist ble bedt med.

silent souls er en stillferdig road movie med elva som spirituelt midtpunkt og mål. Elva bidrar også til filmens gjennomgående meditative stemning. Filmfotograf Mikhail Krichmann, tilbake (tiff 2004), skaper en vakker verden ut av et guffent landskap. Det mystiske og spirituelle møter det verdslige og profane i denne filmen, som er blitt omtalt som «en spøkelseshistorie uten spøkelser».

Miron grieves the death of his young wife Tanya. He sets out with her on a final journey, to give her a traditional burial ceremony near the spot on the river where they spent their honeymoon. He invites his good friend Aist to accompany him. We soon learn that it is not only their friendship that is the reason for this invitation.

silent souls is a very low-key road movie with the river functioning both as the spiritual center and the goal. The river also supplies the meditative mood that runs through the film. Cinematographer Mikhail Krichmann, the return (tiff 2004), creates a beautiful world out of a rather bleak landscape. The mystical and spiritual world meets the worldly and profane in this film, which has been described as «a ghost story without a ghost».

THE TEMPTATION OF ST. TONY

PÜhA TÕnu KiusAminE

ESTONiA / FiNlANd / SWEdEN 2009

REGiSSØREN:

Veiko Õunpuu (f. 1972) ble født i Saaremaa, Estland. En tidligere maler, essayist, produsent og heavy metal-gitarist som nå har funnet sitt sanne kall som filmskaper. Õunpuus filmer er kunstneriske og ambisiøse, med sakte tempo og eksentriske karakterer.

THE diREcTOR:

Veiko Õunpuu (b. 1972) was born in Saaremaa, Estonia. A former painter, essayist, producer, heavy metal guitarist, who now seems to have found his real home in filmmaking. Õunpuu’s films are slow paced artistic works with eccentric characters.

FilMOGRAPHY (UTvAlG/SElEcTiON):

2006 TÜHIRAND / EMPTY (SHORT) (TIFF 2006) 2007 SÜGISBALL / AUTUMN BALL (TIFF 2008) the temptation of st. tony er en moderne versjon av historien om St. Anthony som bodde i total ensomhet i ørkenen for å vie sitt liv til Gud, men som blir pint av Satans fristelser. Vår Tony har akkurat mistet sin far, og på vei hjem fra begravelsen kjører han på en sort hund. Hans forsøk på å grave ned hundens lik i skogen blir amputert når han finner en haug med avhogde menneskehender. Når han melder fra til politiet setter det i gang en rekke surrealistiske hendelser, som alle skyver Tony lenger ut i en moralsk livskrise.

Filmen er en estetisk nytelse, filmet i svart-hvitt, med selvsikker stil. Det er en post-sovjetisk film som utforsker sosiale forskjeller, hovedsakelig fra den rike overklassens perspektiv. Krydret med klassisk kullsvart østeuropeisk humor er dette utvilsomt en av de mer bisarre filmene på årets festival.

the temptation of st. tony is a modern take on the story of St. Anthony who chose to live in the desert in total solitude to focus on God, but who was tormented by Satan’s temptations. Our Tony has just lost his father, and driving home from the funeral he hits a black dog. His attempt to bury the dog in the forest is thwarted when he finds a pile of severed human hands nearby. Telling this to the police sparks off a series of surreal events, all pushing Tony further into his moral crisis.

The film is beautifully shot in black and white, with its own cool aesthetics and self-assured style. It’s a post-Soviet film that explores social differences, largely from the perspective of the upper class. Spiced up with classic Eastern-European pitch-black humor, this is undoubtedly one of the more bizarre films at this year’s festival.

ON THE THIRD PLANET FROM THE SUN

4 FilMS bY PAvEl MEdvEdEv

Pavel Medvedev (b. 1963) is a TV producer and director. From 1993–2000, he worked as a television producer in St. Petersburg, and since 2000, he has been a film director at the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio. His short documentaries are all characterized by his use of contrast, either visually, as we can see in vacation in november, or audibly, like in wedding of

silence. The films are political in the sense that they focus on social issues, often related to workers and their struggles.

VACATION IN NOVEMBER (KANIKULY V NOYABRE)

YEAR: 2002 RUNNiNG TiME: 20m

Blinding white snow and the sound of the wind. Suddenly a single reindeer appears, followed by a group of men on a sledge, with loud, jangling bells. vacation in november shows the harsh dark reality of the Russian miners, contrasted with the herders in pure, white snow. However, the contrast is more of an illusion, and Medvedev’s film reveals a world rarely shown to outsiders.

WEDDING OF SILENCE (SVAD � BA TIŠINY)

YEAR: 2003 RUNNiNG TiME: 28m

In wedding of silence we follow a community of deaf people who make church bells in St. Petersburg. We are allowed into their family celebrations, and everyday life, from a wedding where the clinking of the glasses is the loudest sound, to the factory with its intolerably high decibel levels. The workers are making a giant bell for the city’s anniversary, a bell they will never be able to hear.

ON THE THIRD PLANET FROM THE SUN (NA TRETEJ PLANETE OT SOLNCA)

YEAR: 2006 RUNNiNG TiME: 31m

The Arkhangelsk Region of northern Russia was the testing area for the hydrogen bomb half a century ago. It’s inhabited by descendents of the people who settled there during the Middle Ages, people who always made their living along the rich shores of the Arctic Ocean. Today they take high risks, gathering debris from the Russian space program to make a living.

THE UNSEEN (NEzRIMOE)

YEAR: 2008 RUNNiNG TiME: 28m

St.Petersburg hosted the G8 summit in July 2006. In an extensive security effort, the city was turned upside down, with military patrols in the street, check points, and the constant sound of helicopters and howling sirens. the unseen takes us behind the official dinners and rituals of the summits, but also shows the impact of the event on the everyday life of the citizens, some waiting to bury their loved ones in the closed off cemetery, inconveniently placed closed to the summit.

ST PETERSBURG DOCUMENTARY STUDIOS

FOUR diREcTORS, FOUR FilMS

Founded in 1918, St Petersburg (Leningrad) Documentary Film Studios is Russia’s oldest state-run documentary studio. Today the Studio produces about twenty films per year, only one-third of which are video. The rest are shot on 35mm. Here are four films from the last year, all of which have participated in major festivals and competitions all over the world.

JAzz KIDS (DETSKIY JAzz)

diREcTOR: Viola Vorobyova RUNNiNG TiME: 26m

In a country with strong roots in classical and professional schooling of young musicians, the jazz school for kids is something quite out of the ordinary, described by one of the kids as a secret society. This observing documentary shows the young performers as they strive to learn this «adult» form of music.

BREAD FOR BIRDS (KHLEB DLYA PTITSY)

diREcTOR: Aleksandra Strelyanaya RUNNiNG TiME: 26m

A striking opening scene captures the audience in this beautiful and unusual documentary. With technique and narrative style closer to fiction, it shows the striking contrasts in the Russian society, between the younger and older generations, and the urban modernity and countryside’s traditional ways of living.

CIRCUS (TSIRK)

diREcTOR: Irma Komladze RUNNiNG TiME: 26m

Troubled teenagers observe skeptically as a youth circus performs, but after seeing what the other kids can do, they can’t hide their interest. Larisa is the director of a circus for kids, and with simple tricks she engages young people in the joy of the circus, leaving the audience charmed by their enthusiasm and juggling skills.

POLAR EXPLORER (POLYARNIK)

diREcTOR: Nikolay Volkov RUNNiNG TiME: 39m

Tomash Petrovsky is a polar explorer, fascinated by the raw and brutal nature of the Arctic. His mother, an elderly woman, cannot understand his interest. When she was young, Soviet citizens were sent to places like that as punishment. polar explorer is a delicately constructed documentary that focuses on the unbelievably stoic determination of Petrovsky and his crew in the face of the dangers of the Arctic.