JSFF SHORT IMPRESSIONS By Yazan Ashqar, a leading Jordanian blogger & film critic You can enjoy the films reviewed here at the competition of the JSFF'07. To interact with Yazan Ashqar, visit the live blog http://jordnianfilms.blogspot.com Yazan Ashqar Interviews Yiorgos Moustakis, Director of MARI (Mari will screen at the Int'l Competition (B) | Aug 26, 2007 | 6pm - 8pm @ The Hussein Cultural Center) http://JordanFilmFestival.com 1. Congratulations, Your Film has been selected to the Jordan Short Film Festival. How do you feel about the festival? Hello and thank you. The selection of both International and Arab films looks very interesting. Would be delighted to attend the festival if I could. 2. What do you think are the challenges that confront the short filmmaker in UK in terms of production, distributing, and promotion? In terms of production I would say it can be hard to get funding for the film in UK's very competitive environment although there are plenty of funding opportunities. Personally, I realize more and more, how easy it is to independently produce a short film. The real challenge that short film makers (and film makers in general) are confronted with, is the fact that they are afraid to follow a unique voice and even in this more free to experiment short form they more often than not stay under the very strict guidelines of mainstream filmmaking. This is especially true for film students with the blessings of ignorant film school teachers. "Challenging the mainstream" we could put it. The promotion of a short film, mainly takes place through the festivals and it happens that people might miss a good short film because they didn't have the chance to see its eye catching poster or postcard in the foyer. A good promotion is needed to attract audience and key people. There are a couple of TV and Web channels (like BBC) that show short films. Occasionally some films might get distribution and be screened just before a feature film of the same genre. 3. What combination of elements do you think that a successful short film has? That is a rather difficult question. I could mention many different elements but they would not necessary make a good film. It should be unique. I feel that if the film maker is sensitive to the subject, then it will reveal a suitable form for it to be enclosed in. An example that came to my mind: Seven years ago, I saw in a festival a 20 min. short film, I think from Kazakhstan, in which a group of people where waiting at a bus stop in a freezing cold weather, with snow everywhere around. For the whole 20 minutes of the film, they where waiting for the bus! The film had only 2 long static shots that would alternate every 4-5 minutes along with the very slight action. It was boring as hell. I just could not stand it, It was even shot on 35mm and I was thinking how better I could have spent the money. It was impossible for me and everyone around me to see through it. The point is that I only remember this film from that year's festival. I had almost experienced first hand this waiting at the bus stop. That is what I call successful, the form and the subject could not be more well tied together. 4. How important is the short-film in the film maker's career? Short films are a very important school; there are many things to be learned in practice: form, visualization, development of a personal style. Maybe the most important is the fact that you need to have an altered mind and be ready to adapt to the circumstances which most probably (especially in low budget -independent filmmaking) will change all the time. A short film is also much easier to overview as a new film maker than a feature film. At the same time it is a cheaper form that can be used for experimenting and trials and errors. 5. Can you talk about the overall theme of your film? "Mari" is about the ultimate decadence of our present societies and the very near future dystopia: About the ultimate action of materialism which is to consume our fellow beings. In this case it is the consumption of a disposable prostitute, who does not differ a lot from a present day re-usable woman, victim of human trafficking. 6. 'Mari' is quite complicated and disturbing, and has an experimental touch. There is a common theme among experimental filmmakers to use black and white. Do you think that the absence of color contributes to the overall dark atmosphere of the film, or it depends on the story? "Mari" is meant to be disturbing as the subject it deals with and since it is the direct experience of the character, it is even more so. I wanted to give a nightmarish, claustrophobic atmosphere of no escape neither for the protagonist or the viewer who follows her. The use of color or b&w troubled me a lot before I chose the later option. There are two reasons for this. The first is somehow practical, since I felt more in control of the art direction, the locations we found asked to be shot in b&w and I wanted a minimal look. The second is that b&w photography is not very gentle to the eye (especially if it is grainy and contrast), although it helps to keep the attention to the subject. The atmosphere of the film is certainly created by the visuals too - production design/ art direction/ photography and not just the story but on the other hand in another context they would probably not work. I believe the story and visuals complement each other not only in terms of creating a dark atmosphere but in terms of strengthening the subject as well. Besides the above mentioned, I used b&w in conjunction with the shots to give a futuristic, timeless and placeless feeling. 7. Who influenced you from the famous film directors? The timeless quality of Chris Marker's "La Jetee", the very long, so realistic, shots of Bella Tarr. The character of Mari was mainly based on Rachel from Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner". The symmetry of the shots I borrowed it from Kubrik. 8. There seemed to be an emphasis of audio-visual 'noise' in the film. How does this contribute to the exploration of the character? The sound design was made to complement the milieu of the film, which in turn reveals bits about the nature of the character itself. The character can be found in the milieu itself. The rain in the underground the unidentified industrial loupe, the distorted woman's voice in the shopping centre; the soundscape either informs about the psychology or hints about the nature of the character. In some cases by contrast, like in the shopping centre, the mechanical distorted woman's voice contrasts with the organic sound of the crying girl. 9. I sensed that there is a theme of redemption. Does using requiem music contribute to that? I am not sure if I would call it redemption, but there is the way, all the way, of Mari from Darkness to Light but then again I am not sure if she is saved after all. The thing is that she is trapped in her way to escape and she endlessly repeats this escape. The spiritual music helped greatly in terms of Mari's "ascending" or introspection into her existence/identity. 10. Is it more powerful to use music instead of talk or narration? Doesn't music rely on the viewer's emotions to pull over-judgments? I don't believe that something can be used instead of something else without sacrificing its integrity. I think there is always the right thing for the situation as in "Mari" there was no place for dialogue or narration. For this reason I cannot say that music is more powerful as it accomplishes a different task. In fact a narration on top of the music would be the most powerful element but it would take the film to somewhere else. It would put it on a track, on a linear way, whereas now it works more vertical, more poetical. In this sense in a complicated structurally narrative like this, music plays also the role of an anchor, so that the audience is not completely disoriented but without putting the film on a track. 11. Finally, Do you have any advice for young short-film makers in Jordan and the Arab world? Avoid the mainstream, films that do not provoke the senses, films that do not provoke the social inquiry. Try to find inside you your unique voice. Keep it personal. # # # Yazan Ashqar Interviews Fotis Skourletis, Director of BRAINSTORM (Brainstorm will screen at the Int'l Competition (D) | Aug 28, 2007 | 8pm - 10pm @ The Hussein Cultural Center) http://JordanFilmFestival.com 1. Congratulations, your film BRAINSTORM has been selected to the International Competition of the Jordan Short Film Festival 2007. How do you feel about the festival? Thank you! I am delighted because BRAINSTORM, which is my first and my student film, has been accepted to international festivals out of Europe. 2. What do you think are the challenges that confront the short-film maker in Greece in terms of production, distributing, and promotion? The major problem is film funding. Only few mainstream films are fundable by the state and all the others are produced, distributed and promoted by the directors themselves. The procedure of doing a film becomes very long and involves irrelevant to the direction matters that get you too far from your goal. You have to find as many things as you can for free (crew, equipment,...) but up to the point your quality standards remain high. After the film is done, you are broke, you work and you give all of your money (if you are not rich) to your next film... 3. Who influenced you from the famous experimental and avant-grade directors? First of all, I don't think that I am an experimental or avant-garde director. Three movies have common elements with BRAINSTORM. "Meshes of the afternoon" by Maya Deren(1943), "Eraserhead" by David Lynch (1977) and "Pi" by Darren Aronofsky (1998). 4. What combination of elements do you think makes for a successful short film? Sorry, but I can't define success. I consider short films a safe field of experiments in cinematic schemes (narration, image, sound, etc) and less a practice in feature films. 5. How important is the short-film in the filmmaker's career? As I said before, it is more safe. It has the importance of the first step but there is no rule saying that you have to start from the short film and when you feel ready move to the feature film. 6. The overall atmosphere in the film is quite disturbing, does using black and white colors contribute to giving the film a darker depth, or it depends on the overall plot? I think both image and sound make the atmosphere disturbing. These are the first images that come out of the subconscious of a mentally deranged person after committing a murder. It looks more like a nightmare. 7. Can we say that the film images are an exploration to the character's mental breakdown? This is not a film about insanity. This is not a film about murder. This character feels extremely lonely and suffers in his urban environment. He wanders in the desert, city landscapes looking for his other half, the strong one. He seeks a chance to get out of this position as he walks down the steps of insanity. 8. Where do you place your work within the field of experimental films in Greece? Due to its narration I don't think that BRAINSTORM is a quite experimental film. 9. Any Future Plans? I am in the post production of my new short film which is called SORE WOUND. It has to do with a pedophile, the presentation of his next murder (a parallel game before and after the murder), his vain efforts to embody the new situation and a mental trip to his disturbed world till he feels safe again. 10. Finally, Do You Have any advice for young short-film makers in Jordan and the Arab world? Thanks Allot, and best of luck in the festival? I am not suitable for giving advices. Arabs are part of the world, so it applies the same as for the rest. # # # Yazan Asahqar Interviews Borja Cobeaga, Director of One Too Many (One Too Many will screen at the Int'l Competition (C) | Aug 27, 2007 | 10pm - 11:45pm) 1. Congratulations, Your Film "One Too Many" has been selected to the Jordan Short Film Festival. How do you feel about the festival? I feel very happy about my short film's selection. I always thought that "One too many" was a very local story but I can see it's understood far from my home. 2. What do you think are the challenges that confront the short filmmaker in Spain in terms of production, distributing, and promotion? I think Spain is a good place to make short films. There's a huge production and you can find all kind of films: comedy, drama, thrillers... A tougher problem is the possibility of reaching an audience and becoming a professional filmmaker, because the market of feature films is a mess now in my country. 3. In your opinion, what makes a successful short film? A short film must be honest. That's the only way you can touch the audience. There are artificial forms you can be successful with, but a short film with something to tell is a sure value. 4. How important is the short-film in the filmmaker's career? In my career it has been learning but also a way of practice thing that my job in TV didn't allow. I'll begin to make feature films soon but I know there are stories that you can only tell in ten or fifteen minutes, so I'll keep making short films. 5. Can you speak briefly about the idea of your film? "One too many" is a familiar story. A comedy made about a tragedy stuff. I was watching "The Simpsons" and I thought I know people like Homer and Bart but in flesh and bone. I wanted to portray that kind of people. 6. Which filmmakers are you influenced by? I always wanted to be a mix of Howard Hawks and Michael Haneke. I want to make comedies that make you laugh but also make you feel bad! If I had to choose a director in active, it will be Alexander Payne. I think that "Election" and "About Schmidt" are the type of movies I wanna make. 7. Finally, Do you have any advice for young short-film makers in Jordan and the Arab world? Work hard. It's an advice I try to follow every day and it's a thing that you can understand everywhere.   SHORT IMPRESSIONS BY YAZAN ASHQAR The Italian Doctor - Directed By Esben Hansen Documentary / Denmark / 2006 The power of documentary films lies in its ability to present life as it is, reality, and in most cases, it is a harsh one. But there is always hope. This is what this film tries to do, by presenting a real character that devoted a big part of life helping other human beings. In this Danish documentary about an Italian Doctor in Afghanistan, we witness the miseries of war, and the stubbornness of a man who truly believes in his job. Dr. Alberto Cairo spent 15 years of his life with one goal: to restore ‘dignities’ to thousands of mine victims in Afghanistan. Not an easy job of course. Along with the medical treatments, Dr. Cairo has to deal with cultural and educational obstacles that the people of Afghanistan have. But his stubbornness, a good sense of humor, along with a dogged determination, he managed to win hearts and minds among the Afghanis. By focusing on two medical cases, one of an old woman and the other of a young boy, this documentary tells people what it is like to give victims of mines some of their normal lives back, and show a fine example of a humanist who believes one person can make a difference. (Aug 20, 2007) SHORT IMPRESSIONS BY YAZAN ASHQAR El Gran Zambini - Directed By Igor Legarreta, Emilio Perez Fiction / Spain / 2005 In this powerful and smart drama, a father struggles with his dreamy young son. The father is a midget, and it seems that his son is ashamed of that. We see young kids steal the father’s cloths and laugh at him, knowing that he can’t do anything about it. While the father went to pick up his son from school, we see that the son is hiding in the bathroom to not let his friends see how his father is. As we learn from the film, the father used to work in a circus, as sort of a human cannonball. The family lives in a trailer house. The interesting thing about the characters in this film is in the fact that they don’t actually have any dialogue. Silence is powerful here; it reflects true emotions here even if the acting is not good. As the proverb says; nothing screams louder than the sound of silence, it can deliver the right emotional message in a way that blocks uncontrolled emotions that could result from speaking. The cinematography manages to reflect the beauty of the film by moving the camera slowly to capture beautiful spaces. With powerful silent acting, simple music, and a very smart ending, this film successfully leaves the viewer with a feel good smile. (Aug 20, 2007) SHORT IMPRESSIONS BY YAZAN ASHQAR Brainstorm - Directed By FOTIS SKOURLETIS Experimental / Greece / 2006 In this short experimental fiction, Greek director Fotis Skourletis presents an intense portrayal of psychosomatic reactions of a man, in a surreal nightmarish form that reminds you of Lynch and Aronofsky. The character seems like he’s recreating images and sounds from his past. Using cinema noir form a dark environment for the viewer, along with sounds that serve instead of words, all to create a visual representation of the character's mental journey as a lonely outsider. At first, the story is not easy to understand, but it is interesting, and the power of the film is in its touch of dark surrealism that truly captures the viewer's attention and leaving him/her in a beautiful state of confusion. (Aug 20, 2007) SHORT IMPRESSIONS BY YAZAN ASHQAR THE MARKET - Directed By Ana Husman Genre: Experimental / Croatia / 2006 Quoting the Basque writer 'Pio Baroja': "Justice is a human illusion: essentially everything is destruction and creation". Ana Husman's 'The Market' is about life itself. Beautifully shot on 16mm, this Croatian short film shows is life in its various forms: the earth, its fruit, and people, by taking a common international place. The market provides life, it is life. And as Baroja said, everything is creation and destruction, we see the creation of the market in the early morning, the 'injustice' of buying and selling, and the destruction at the end of the day, only to be resurrected again in a continues form. (Aug 20, 2007) As the viewer hears the grocery sellers talking, one can sense a political depth to the film. The common problem they have is the imported goods. "Why should we buy from abroad while we have it here?" a voice of a seller asks. The problem is international, and as Husman puts it in the film's synopsis; "by buying Croatian produce they are supporting Croatian agriculture." It is a sense of national pride, which is an international sense among the supporters of the local agricultures far from the profit-seeking trade agreements. They 'preserve' there treasures from being destroyed, treat it with care, and we see that in a simple colorful cinematic language that reflects the beauty of nature itself. (Aug 18, 2007) SHORT IMPRESSIONS BY YAZAN ASHQAR MARI - Directed By Yiorgos Moustakis Genre: Sci-Fi Drama / UK / 2007 The film starts when a young woman is dumped in a dark ally by a man who bought her for the night, followed by her journey of self discovery that leads to a revelation about her identity. In this short drama by Yiorgos Moustakis, the viewer is treated to a powerful experimental maze of intense images, trying to solve the mystery of the woman along with the strange incidents of the film. Shot with super 16mm, Yiorgos Moustakis' clever directing makes the viewing experience as disturbing as the incidents of the woman in the film. Using the harsh black and white cinematography, along with an emphasis on noise both in audio and video, the film feels life a nightmare you don't want to end. The accompanying requiem music does an excellent job by playing on the viewer's emotions instead of dialogue, all this contributes to make an excellent short film that is sure to provide a strong emotional viewing experience. (Aug 18, 2007) SHORT IMPRESSIONS BY YAZAN ASHQAR Humoresque - Directed By Diana Deleanu Genre: Documentary / Romania / 2007 A 2002 Romanian law provides a real subsidy for young families, valued at 200 euros aimed at helping young newly-weds. In the beginning of the film, the previous lines were repeated by what seems to be an idiotic government official, serving as an introduction to this powerful documentary. Life can be funny, and in the case of Maria, it is sadly funny. Maria is a 94 years old illiterate poor woman that only knows how to work; she worked in a farm for most of her life, milking cows. "Hard work makes one a man" she says, but nothing good came out of Maria's hard work. She got lost between the wisdom of the old Romanian proverbs, the communist promises, and the reforms of the anti-communists later on. The world is changing around her, but she stayed the same, forgotten. This powerful yet cynical social documentary is a criticism of the harsh reality of Romania's forgotten elderly. (Aug 18, 2007) SHORT IMPRESSIONS BY YAZAN ASHQAR Firewood - Directed By Miika Leskinen Genre: Fiction / UK / 2007 In this short minimalist film from the United Kingdom, we see the story of 'Sam', a teenage girl that meets up with her best friend 'Billy' in a field to hangout and spend a fun lazy afternoon. This is what se see first, but the events later unfold in a way that will change her life. The film is simple, quite, yet beautiful. Shot in an area of natural landscapes, forming a real-life paintings that serve as a character by itself. The cinematography is full of wide spaces that the camera manages to capture but it lets the viewer focus on the events without visual distractions. Characters are an everyday people, which along with the storyline give the viewer a sense of realism that keeps him hooked to the story of a girl who is in love with boy who is oblivious to her feelings. A simple yet powerful drama that manages to capture the whole sense of cinema in a short format. (Aug 18, 2007)