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INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM 2007
24:01/04:02:2007 ROTTERDAM |
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 di
Natalia Holownja |
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Rotterdam also is known for its huge number of films. For a journalist it’s hard to see all films in one program, let alone all films in the festival. In 2007, Rotterdam buzzed about 236 feature films, 399 short films, 58 lectures, discussions, talkshows and presentations, 109 performances and installations and 850 Q&A’s.
During twelve
festival days, hundreds of filmmakers and other artists have presented their
work to a film-loving public in 24 screening venues located within central
Rotterdam.
Many press and film industry representatives (up to 3.000 in 2007) have
visited the IFFR to report on its films or to take part in
CineMart, still the largest
co-production market for film projects (even though Berlin’s co-production
market is running fast to catch up with Rotterdam).
Opening Film: La Antena Like many other festivals, Rotterdam chooses to open the festival with two films: one rather artistic and usually controversial choice for the industry and guests, and another, more conventional film for the public. Rescue Dawn, by Werner Herzog was selected as the opening film for the public. I went to see La Antena, this years opening film for the industry and guests.
La Antena is the first Tiger-competition film ever to open the festival. Or maybe I should say: This year, for the first time the festival opens with a Tiger-competition film. A new direction, because the opening film has always been a rather controversial choice by the director of the festival (like last years Heart Beating In The Dark by filmmaker in focus Nagasaki Shunichi). I always look forward to the opening film because it has always been something different, unique and innovative, and I wondered if this Tiger could conquer the astonishing experiences I’ve had before. It seemed like a rather standard ‘Rotterdam film’, South American (Argentina), made with the support of the Hubert Bals Fund, according to the website ’an inventive fairytale about the power of the human voice’. Or, as IFFR –director Sandra den Hamer stated: “in the first place this is just a very beautiful film”.
La Antena certainly is a beautiful film. It’s a feast for the eye. This new and unique take on silent cinema, beautifully shot in black-and-white and practically without dialogue, seems to be inspired by German expressionist cinema, especially by the works of Friedrich Murnau and Fritz Lang. Their composition, light and perspective all come together in a surrealistic and symbolic atmosphere. This type of atmosphere revives in La Antena.
During Year X, in the City Without A Voice, the story folds around Mr. TV and his products, programms and broadcasts. Mr. Tv’s products are everywhere, always present, undeniable. The people (inhabitants of the City Without A Voice) have lost the ability to speak. Mr. TV therefore is in total control of all spoken words and images. His symbol, a spiral-like @, is everywhere, he even forces everyone to eat his own brand of TV-food. But there’s one woman who hasn’t lost the ability to speak: The Voice, a mysterious woman without a face who sings on one of Mr. TVs programms. She is a threat to Mr. TV, as he wants to rob the people of all communication skills. He plots to kidnap The Voice, but is unaware of the existence of The Voice’s son Tomas, who also has the power of speech (although he is born without eyes). A brave TV repairman tries to frustrate Mr. TVs plans, by using an old TV antenna to broadcast a plot-destroying message. Can he save the City from total mind control?
Sapir uses old cinematographic techniques like those of Fritz Langs Metropolis (1927), and adds his own contemporary components. Comic book techniques like textballoons are used frequently, which adds value to the silent theme. He projects image-in-image and plays effectively with light and shadow. Symbols are all over the place, not at all subtle, as even swastika’s are used to show Mr. TV’s evil and totalitarian character, while a star of David symbolizes the helpless people.
La Antena speaks a language from the past, but only to tell us something about modern times. The inhabitants of The City don’t seem to care about the fact that they have lost their ability to speak. Do contemporary media make us loose our communication skills? I could not help thinking of the Italian situation, one of the best examples of a nation where politics and media are dangerously intertwined. But it is not just Italy. Think of China and its censorship. Colombia and the TV station that has been closed by the government, or the one man who controls production and broadcasts in Holland. Media moguls are taking over the world, and we better raise our voices before they take them away.
What do you get… … If you haven’t been able to reserve tickets on a Sunday afternoon, and just go to the ticket center to see what’s left?
Sunday is by far the busiest day at the IFFR. Crowded, long lines, and all viewings are sold out. This year, the festival organization tried to solve these box-office problems by a new online ticketing system. Unfortunately, the systems were down quite often, and I still couldn’t reserve the tickets I wanted so badly. In the end I gave up and decided to go to the festival at haphazard.
I definitely wanted to see The Other Half, the latest film in in vérité style by the talented Ying Liang, last year one of the major surprises in the Tiger Competition with his debut Taking Father Home. The Other Half examines the position of women in today’s China, a very interesting subject. Furthermore I scheduled Real Online, by Taiwanese director John Hsu. According to the catalogue this film is an hilarious virtual comedy, but what actually intrigued me was the fact that before the screening at the festival, the Chinese pirate copy of You Tube has been removed. I was interested to know if the film itself was ignoring every single law of film as well. My third film of the day could be either Before We Fall In Love Again by James Lee or Summer Palace by Lou Ye. James Lee inspired me deeply at the Turin Film Festival with his Beautiful Washing Machine, a simple, melancholic and subtle film about a washing machine. Lou Ye’s Suzhou River is a masterpiece, a film that every film student must see, so I definitely wanted to see his new film. Anyhow, I thought my chances of seeing one of these two films were pretty good. I was preparing myself for a great afternoon full of Asian cinema.
But what did I get? All films were sold out. I usually love the fact that in Rotterdam, venues like Pathe 1 are completely sold out for an unknown Chinese film. But in this case I just couldn’t believe I had only two quite surprising choices left. So what did I see? They offered me tickets for two films of directors I already knew: the Indian director Girish Kasaravalli, Filmmaker in Focus of the 2003 edition, and Argentinean Lisandro Alonso, director of Los Muertos, last years Tiger.
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