Today is a public holiday for Ash Monday, it is also the day that the official celebration of the festival’s 10th anniversary with a party. Big tables were laid out with popular delicacies (dolmados, taramasalata, bread, beans, halva and plenty of ouzo) and a local band. It was all very informal and just another excuse for getting together to eat and dance. But it was soon time to move out of the spring sunshine and return to the dark of salons and the business at hand – watching films.
My quest to watch only positive, uplifting films took a bit of dip during the first screening of the day, a Turkish film called TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF by Necati Sönmez. It was a look at the death penalty in Turkey over a sixty year period where over 700 people were executed. It combined images of abandoned prisons, with the remembrances of people who witnessed the hangings and the words of the condemned taken from letters. The film handled the subject humanely but not film you leave feeling good.
The second half of the double bill was a rather intriguing film in that it started out with one intention and changed as events unfolded during the filming. FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU by Irish filmmaker Neasa Ni Chianáin was originally going to be a portrait of homosexual Gaelic poet Cathal O Searcaigh, whom the filmmaker admired, following him Nepal where he sponsors some of the local youth with their schooling. As the film unfolds it becomes very clear that his intentions towards these innocent local teenage boys is less than honourable, despite the fact that he declares he is trying to protect their innocence. However, the filmmaker’s admiration for the poet initially clouds her judgment but she eventually confronts her subject. The outcome, for the boys at least, is positive.
Forgoing the temptation to enjoy the warm weather I went back to the hotel to catch up on my work, which included updating this blog, until the next film session, another double-bill, started.
TERRITORIES by Canadian Mary-Ellen Davis follows photographer Larry Towell as he works around his Canadian home, on the Mexican border and in Palestine and the Gaza strip. Towell is the only Canadian member of the legendary Magnum Photo Agency. Although he photographs in conflict zones, and particularly those with border issues, his photographs are more concerned with capturing the positive aspects of humanity amongst the suffering and destruction. Unfortunately the technical quality of the screening was very poor, whether it was because the movie was shot on miniDV and couldn’t withstand the blowing up to the big screen or for some other reason, it was all very pixelated, particularly Towell’s photos, which is ironic as he still shoots on film using a battered old Leica. Despite that, it was still an intriguing look at a photographer in the field.
When introducing the second film, SHAKE THE DEVIL OFF, its maker Peter Entell denied he was actually the director because he arrived in New Orleans after Katrina without any specific story in mind and captured the unfolding events of “The Church” using its power to undermine a strong community ravaged by the storm. The archdiocese has decided to close down the parish of St Augustine in the poor black area and absorb it into the surrounding affluent white area. The church has been in the area since the time of slavery and is regarded by many as the birthplace of modern music. Although the charismatic Father LeDoux accepts his fate after he tries his best to prevent the closure the local parishioners aren’t as willing to accept the word of the white hierarchy that is trying to crush the spirit of the community. Watching the joyless sermon of the incoming priest compared to that of LeDoux’s really showed that the local people feel the spirit. And it is accompanied by some fantastic music that bridges jazz, soul and gospel that is performed from the heart without resorting to forced emotions that often get put into church music. Although the community won its battle, the coda told a different story, where the power of “The Church” got its own way in the end. Both sad and uplifting at the same time, which is what the music of the area has always been.
