I don't know how probable it is in Paris to see Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show for free but in Montreal, it is probable. One of the good things about Montreal is that in summer specially, the city is full of festivals most of which are free. Among these, is the fashion festival which lasts for 4 days in McGill College St.
Designers are mostly from Montreal area but not limited to this city. Models walking on runway, while opera singers in atypical outfits were belting out, made one of the shows quite special.
Unfortunately I was late on the first night where Jean-Paul Gaultier had a show. I did manage to watch but the front rows were so packed that I couldn't take a single photo.
Here are some of the photos I took from the festival
And here you can find the anomalous designs by Gaultier with which he has broken some boundaries. The photos are taken by "Allen McInnis". I selected a few of them here.
In my last days in Paris, I had a chance to get a pass and try my chance on fashion photography for the first time. I went to 2 shows, L'Oreal and Christophe Guillarme. As my first experience, I was surprised to see the tough environment and the atmosphere filled with unpleasant rivalry among photographers. One of them realized that I was a novice and started to distract me by pretending to give me hints about the setting of my camera while his friend was getting ready to shoot. I missed the first model and it was then that I realized what the story was.
Here are the ones I took from L'Oreal backstage.
And these are from the runway.
"Christophe Guillarme" show was at night, in the narrow old streets near Rue de la Roquette. Another interesting thing happened. The people at the entrance, realized that I was an amateur so they told me to go upstairs where no photographer would go. I didn't say anything and came to sit beside an old guy who was a professional photographer and wasn't afraid to give me room in the front row. He even gave me tips on how to tackle with fashion photography.
Here are some of my photos. There was no runway, I used my zoom lens which unfortunately doesn't have a fix depth of field.
I will have some photos from Montreal's fashion festival in my next post.
This is my review which was aired on CKUT this morning.
For those of us who are not familiar with Peking Opera, listening to the shrill falsettos of male singers impersonating women in the spectacle of acting, poetry accompanied by dance and martial art might seem strange. Western opera during Baroque era was highlighted by castrati such as Farinelli who sang with a soprano voice, bright and clear, whereas in Peking Opera the theatrical performance of the male singer seems more important than his voice.
“Forever enthralled” is the story of “Mei Lan”, one of the most important figures of Peking Opera who made it known to the rest of the world.
Though discouraged by his uncle to continue the family tradition of singing opera, young Mei chooses his path with confidence. Though he highly reveres his master, he doesn't follow him obsequiously. Instead he challenges him. This challenge is not welcome by the master who believes the focus should be on him, but in the end, it's Mei's subtlety that makes him win over his master.
«Characters should be flesh and blood; actors mustn't stick to the old ways both on stage and in life. Chinese women were taught to follow the rules whereas great theatre shows how to break rules. » These were the words he learned from Qui Rubai, the man who quit his job as a lecturer after he saw Mei Lanfang's performance, to become his mentor. « Only one, whose mind is clean and pure, could express passion in such an exquisite manner » he told Mei after the performance.
The strange thing for me in this movie was the fact that women played a role of men in Opera as well. This mutual impersonation, led to a mystifying attraction of a man and a woman, Mei and Meng to each other.
It is after the invasion of Japan, that we understand the importance of Peking Opera in China. Mei refuses to sing during the war which caused him an impoverished lifestyle in that period. « No matter who wins this war, Mei Lanfang must live on. », a Japanese soldier told his commander who wished to force Mei to sing for them but didn't succeed. He was right. War ended and Mei Lanfang lived on.
This is a review I wrote for Blank City, a film recently directed by Celine Danhier and the interview I had with her. They were aired this morning on CKUT radio, in the film segment of "Wednesday morning after" program.
This week, there was also another interview with Eric Tessier, a 3D filmmaker. He talks in length about Pina Bausch, Wim Wender's recent art film in 3D.
You can listen to the whole film segment here. It starts at minute 22.
Below you can listen to my review and interview on Blank City.
Quite a few films including documentaries have been made about the influential underground music scene in the 70s whereas a place for a movie chronicling “no wave cinema” and “cinema of transgression” was empty. Recently however, Celine Danhier, plucked up the courage to start her filmmaking carrier by documenting one of the most significant yet short eras of film history which took place in New York city.
No one can deny the role of directors such as “Jim Jarmusch”, “Amos Poe”, “Eric Mitchell”, “James Nares” and the likes in cinema. These pioneers of No Wave movement were dissidents who used the Lower East Manhattan to craft candid movies, which shaped the Independent Film today.
The artist community who where the denizens of the dilapidated buildings in that part of New York, came together with no money in their pockets, often stealing rolls of films or cameras, to make films of their lives and that of people in this area at the time where the city had gone bankrupt. There was no script, no real actor and all was done by a super8 camera.
In Blank City many of the influential directors, musicians, photographers, artists and sometimes a blend of these like John Lurie and Steve Buscemi, tell their stories of that time.
The audacity of the photographers becomes striking when we realize that “there were people who believed taking photos is equal to stealing souls”. Amos Poe describes this cash-strapped period of his life as “best time, worst time”.
Directors as well as actors were seeking a semi-documentary possibility; thereby the distinctive ethos of No Wave Cinema, which made it one of a kind, was a knack to make narrative instead of art film. The films were free from style to maintain the stance of a period, which gave birth to leading figures like Andy Warhol and street artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring. Heroin had become prevalent and many of the epoch-making artists including the latter 2, died of AIDS or drug addiction. One of the artists in the movie recalls this tragedy: “my friends came to me one by one and confided in me that they were HIV positive. It was awful to see them all lined up to be executed.”
Music was one of the axes of No Wave cinema. Interviews with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Debbie Harry of Blondie, alongside the soundtrack made by Patti Smith, Television, Liquid Liquid and many more, highlight this element in Blank city.
The title of the movie at first place produced an image in my mind of a blank space which turns into a city, but after watching the film, I asked myself: could this blank space come out of Berlin, Paris,London or it was just New York which could give birth to this city?
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".
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?
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.
This review was aired on CKUT on Aug 17th,2011 in the film segment program.
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.
