This is my report on the second AmerAsia film festival in Montreal in March 2011, which was aired on CKUT radio. It includes interviews with the organizer "Mi Jeong Lee" and "Gerry Balasta", the director of "the mountain thief".
For my reviews on two of the festival films, refer to the following links:
"the mountain thief"
"don't cry for me Sudan"
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Mountain Thief
Thief? Stealing on the mountain? May be there is a treasure up there, but the treasures in "The mountain thief" are not gold or gemstones, nor the mountain is high in the clouds.
"The mountain thief" reveals the story of a land where people's treasure is trash. The land on which people who inherit a space on dump, are considered lucky. The land where a 6 year-old child who fled the atrocities of war, feels safe and happy.
The film muddles our notion of security, happiness and hopes. It is acutely difficult to fathom the gravity of a situation where one's hope is to own a piece of dump site. It wouldn't even cross our mind that the things we throw away, could be fought over, to the extent that it would cost a life. But in Payatas, these are all possible.
Far from the battlefield where people live in cities, there lies a land of trash which shelters people deprived of fresh air. The inhabitants of this land, are scavengers, who make a living by recycling trash, sometimes finding a piece of metal or anything still of value equal to a portion of food.
"Gerry Balasta" takes us to this land and tells us a story. Before unveiling the true story of the scavengers of Payatas, he asks them to play a fictional story for us in front of the camera, simply because he's not a documentarist. He wants us to see the story he created, hinting at the importance of religion mingled with superstition in Philippines.
Had it not been for his story, one might have given up watching the harsh story of the real lives of the scavengers, and thus not have asked oneself many questions:
Was I aware of such lands spread along the globe? How much is trash worth? What do governments do for these scavengers? How is trash dealt with in my country?
Thinking on these questions, few things came to my mind. The first was a photo reportage by Majid Saeedi from Peshawar in Pakistan, telling the story of an Afghan boy who sought refuge in Pakistan to collect garbage and earn a living.
The second thing I thought of, was the importance of educating people why and how to recycle; and last but not least, what have environmentalists done in these countries?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Don't cry for me Sudan
This was aired on August 3rd 2011 on CKUT
Perhaps the title of this movie reminds you of Eva Peron song for Argentina and how people were mournful for the loss of such a great woman.
However it is a far cry from Sudan crying for a Korean man. "Lee Tae-seok", was a doctor, who became a priest and found his happiness among the helpless, miserable people of Tonj in Sudan, but to me, he was the saviour, the father, not only to the young children of Tonj, but also to the aged.
He was an astonishingly hard-working man with a great deal of talent and creativity. His love for music was an inspiration to found the first brass band in Tonj which transformed guns to horns, trombones and trumpets, at the time when children were forced by warmongers to fight in the civil war.
Lee built the first hospital and a few years alter, the first school of full 12 grades. It was overwhelming to see how tireless this devoted man was, seeing 300 patients a day, teaching math at the school and not letting a single patient knock twice on his door during the night.
The most admiring part of the movie was the scene where he was thinking of building a school:
" I asked myself, what would Jesus build here, a school or a church? He would definitely build a school. "
To me, this attitude is unique among men of God and that was most striking of all.
The movie is made during several years, documenting the building of the first clinic which became the first hospital, the first school and the first brass band in Tonj.
Although the life of a priest is destined to be devoted to church, the director's intention is obviously not advocating religion but rather focuse on the humanitarian aspect of Lee's life and that is the most compelling aspect of this movie.
However the narrator's story telling style throughout the whole movie was bothersome, in that, it didn't match the ambiance of the movie as if she is telling a jolly story.
This, together with some unnecessary graphic scenes, were the only negative side of this movie.
Movie's page at AmerAsia film festival website
Perhaps the title of this movie reminds you of Eva Peron song for Argentina and how people were mournful for the loss of such a great woman.
However it is a far cry from Sudan crying for a Korean man. "Lee Tae-seok", was a doctor, who became a priest and found his happiness among the helpless, miserable people of Tonj in Sudan, but to me, he was the saviour, the father, not only to the young children of Tonj, but also to the aged.
He was an astonishingly hard-working man with a great deal of talent and creativity. His love for music was an inspiration to found the first brass band in Tonj which transformed guns to horns, trombones and trumpets, at the time when children were forced by warmongers to fight in the civil war.
Lee built the first hospital and a few years alter, the first school of full 12 grades. It was overwhelming to see how tireless this devoted man was, seeing 300 patients a day, teaching math at the school and not letting a single patient knock twice on his door during the night.
The most admiring part of the movie was the scene where he was thinking of building a school:
" I asked myself, what would Jesus build here, a school or a church? He would definitely build a school. "
To me, this attitude is unique among men of God and that was most striking of all.
The movie is made during several years, documenting the building of the first clinic which became the first hospital, the first school and the first brass band in Tonj.
Although the life of a priest is destined to be devoted to church, the director's intention is obviously not advocating religion but rather focuse on the humanitarian aspect of Lee's life and that is the most compelling aspect of this movie.
However the narrator's story telling style throughout the whole movie was bothersome, in that, it didn't match the ambiance of the movie as if she is telling a jolly story.
This, together with some unnecessary graphic scenes, were the only negative side of this movie.
Movie's page at AmerAsia film festival website
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Die Fremde: The foreigner
Die Fremde which means foreigner or stranger, is the title of the first movie by Feo Aladag, the Austrian director. The movie’s name is however translated to “When we leave” and has won several awards in different festivals such as Berlin and Tribeca film festivals.
Umay, the leading role, is a young woman of Turkish descent whose family has emigrated to Germany; however she is living with her husband and son in Istanbul. As a result of her husband’s violence towards her and her son, she decides to leave him for her family in Berlin, in the hope of starting a new life with a little help from them. Unfortunately, with all the reverence she has towards her family, they stick so obstinately to traditions still valued by the Turkish immigrant community, that not only they don’t welcome and help her but also make her life more miserable than she could imagine.
There are poignant scenes in the movie which make us wonder how destructive prejudice can be.
Umay’s husband, a typical traditional Middle-Eastern man, who treats a woman like a slave, comes to bed few hours after he has struck her against the wall, when she wanted to defend her helpless little child. Umay pretends to be asleep but her husband who sees her as nothing but a piece of flesh, gets on top of her and finishes up like an animal.
At home with her family in Berlin, Umay intends to break the ice at dinner and there we see how his younger brother shouts at her commandingly telling her she is not staying there long. Umay who is hopeful to persuade her father, tells him that her husband beats her but her father doesn’t seem to care: “He’s your husband; the hand that strikes is also the hand that soothes. A slap or two is no reason to run”
Umay is not a shrew; she just wants to live like a decent woman, have the basic rights and not to be beaten. But she’s asking for too much from the family who chooses the community over their daughter.
The movie depicts how authoritative Turkish men can be. I don’t say the old generation because not only the father is commanding but also Umay’s younger brother is even more prejudiced. His dogmatism reaches to the point that he coaxes his father to snatch Cem, Umay’s son, and to take him back to his father in Istanbul. To him, his sister has disgraced her family and by taking Cem from his father, Umay has made the child a bastard.
It is relieving that Umay is in a country where her basic rights are respected and the foreign society ruled by humane values, are less foreigner to her than her family. She leaves her family home for a shelter under police protection and starts working in a restaurant.
What is compelling in this movie, is Umay’s effort in convincing her family that she in fact reveres them and is not bringing shame and disgrace upon them. Umay’s first attempt in confronting her mother is in vain. Rana, Umay’s sister is getting married and upon hearing the story which had spread among the Turkish community, her suitor’s family oppose to the wedding. To them, Rana’s family has no honor.
It is so harshly striking to see how this lost honor is easily bribed. The question arises in my mind: What kind of honor is this that can be bought?
Umay tries once more, this time, dressed elegantly, she takes her son to her sister’s wedding where she’s warned by her youngest brother to leave. She persists, hoping to gain her family’s heart on this day where her sister could finally marry the man she was fond of. Instead, her brother greets her with violence, beats her and throws her out of the place.
I was flabbergasted to see her never ending effort when she went back to her family house and brought her father baklava in Ramadan few days after the wedding. Inside, I told myself, this girl is out of her mind. The director delicately made me a foreigner to Umay, though from a different aspect.
Umay doesn’t give up. She believes “blood is thicker than water” as her father used to say. Though her father finally asks her forgiveness on the deathbed, the price Umay paid in the end for his profound ignorance was high. The ignorance nurturing male chauvinism in his family.
Before watching the movie, I didn’t know that the German title meant “stranger” or “foreigner”; yet throughout the movie, I was constantly reminded of “the stranger” by Camus. Although the stories are way different but the sheer notion of foreigner, or stranger befitted Umay, who was a foreigner to her own family.
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