среда, 24. јун 2009.

KRATKOFIL, report I

UVOD

Koji nema direktne veze sa KRATKOFILOM,

i u kome se opisuju pripreme i prethodeća dešavanja pred putovanje u RS


Od 16. do 21. juna 2009. u Banjaluci održan je Treći Međunarodni Festival Kratkog Filma, KRATKOFIL. U okviru njega bila su prikazana dva bloka kratkih horor filmova – "Ne samo horor" i "A Night of Horror". U ranijoj najavi kazao sam da ih ima tri, ali ispostavilo se da blok kršten "Masters of Scream" nema baš nikakve veze sa vrištanjem koje svi mi ovde toliko volimo! :(

Ovo što sledi je moj pokušaj da u najkraćim crtama opišem kako sam se proveo na festivalu i oko njega, te kako je protekao moj susret i druženje sa jednim od lenjih saradnika ovog bloga, Aleksandrom "Harvesterom" Janjićem, privremeno nastanjenim u Banjaluci.

U Republiku Srpsku otišao sam izrazito zaobilaznim putem, i to nakon čak tri predavanja/promocije/okrugla stola u kojima sam učestvovao neposredno pred put.

Ukratko o njima.


CINEMA SHITTY

Prvo sam se u Novom Sadu, na Sinema Sitiju, uverio da to ogromno Potemkinovo Selo može da bude uvek još gore nego prethodne godine. Čuo sam gunđanja novinara i kritičara na gotovo nacistički tretman od strane Dude Lakić, She-Wolf of the SS, a još više na (ne)organizaciju koja ih iz Bg odvozi u ranim jutarnjim časovima, onda im novinarski prikaže jedan ili dva filma koji se poklapaju sa drugim dešavanjima, ne obezbedi im ni kaficu ili kiselu vodu tokom celog dana, a kamo li neku hranu, i onda ih u ranim predvečernjim časovima, gladne i žedne i iscrpljene, odveze do Sava Centra. Takođe čuh da je čovek koji je za prvu godinu CC-a sredio da se novinarima između nov. projekcija daju pice i bureci i kafa – zbog toga bio žestoko izriban, i da se zato u narednim godinama odustalo od te gnusne prakse. A posle se čude što im je imidž loš!

Anyway, u Novom Sadu sam imao da učestvujem na panelu o "Nasilju kao ogledalu vremena" ili društva ili tako nečega. Njega je vodio Jugoslav Pantelić, jedan od naših najvećih poznavalaca filmske umetnosti. To barem sudeći po tome da je on, uz Dudu Lakić i Sandru Perović, jedan od retkih srpskih novinara koji imaju privilegiju da se švrćkaju po Kanu, Berlinu, Veneciji i sl. festivalima, odakle šalju svoje kanonske izveštaje, iz prve ruke, o stotinama filmova koje tamo neumorno isprate umesto nas. Ti izveštaji su potom reperi za nas, bednike koji to sve moramo da gledamo ovde u Srbiji, najčešće na Divxu.

Pre početka festivala, za ovaj panel bili su navedeni jedni učesnici. U biltenu na dan održavanja (11.06.) bila su neka druga imena. A na panelu su učestvovali uglavnom neki treći. Ja sam bio jedina konstanta + ta Makedonka, izvesna Labija Mitevska, o kojoj malo kasnije par reči više. Pošto su Jugoslava ispalili Giljermo Arijaga (proglašen najvećom zvezdom festivala, i u tom trenu verovatno prezauzet nekim preskupim pre-fensi ručkom na nekom exkluzivnom mestu a da bi se usred dana majao neakim ’akademskim’ programom!), Mladen Đorđević (koji je baš tada imao snimanje nekog promo filma), Miroljub Stojanović i još neki, Pantelić je žustro i nepokolebivo uspeo da po hodnicima SNP-a savata Ivanu Kronju, pa smo na kraju nas troje (Ivana, Labija i ja) završili na stolu sa Jugoslavom, pred publikom od oko 25 mlađih posetilaca (studenata sa NS akademije?).

Ta žvaka nije bila suviše loša, ako zanemarimo Makedonku koja je kukala nad KILL BILLOM kao primerom besmislenog i lošeg korišćenja nasilja na filmu (inače, ona je film slučajno uhvatila na TV, neko parče, nije ni gledala celog, ali ipak ima mišljenje i indignaciju!). Ja sam, naravno, skočio u odbranu besciljnog i neangažovanog, pjur entertejment nasilja na filmu, a usput sam obilato ishvalio i PORNO BANDU i SRPSKI FILM. Naravno, ja sam jedini stvarao izvesnu frikciju u inače univerzalnom slaganju za stolom – npr. taman kad Jugoslav kaže "Odgovor na ta pitanja verovatno nikada nećemo saznati..." ja uskočim: "Možda – ali, da ipak ja ponudim svoj odgovor...".

Ne znam da li je i koliko to bilo simpatično Jugoslavu, ali znam da je nakon panela pobegao ispod užarenih reflektora u ionako toploj prostoriji na prokišnjavajućem potkrovlju SNP-a i nestao bez ostani zbogom: ni "hvala što ste učestvovali" ni "hoćete li nešto da popijete?" a kamo li "sedite malo da popričamo". Oh, well, možda je baš tog časa dobio poziv od nekog big shota iz Kana, pa nije ni stigao da se pozdravi s gostima koji su spasli njegov mali panel.

U svakom slučaju, u Novi Sad sam otišao samo zato što tamo imam tetku i dobrog drugara (Nikola iz NO ABUSE); video sam se sa njima, razmenio priče, pića i filmove, i nakon nepuna 24 časa u NS-u otperjao za Beograd. Nisam ni poželeo a ni stigao da pogledam bilo šta na CC-u. A i šta bih? Kad Duda bira filmove, to je da te Azatot sačuva! Spektakularna provala oblaka koja me je dočekala u NS-u u sredu uveče bila je sasvim dovoljan entertainment! Vidi sliku, na kojoj smo Nikola, ja, katedrala, i Ktulu u mračnom oblaku iznad nas.


'NOVI KADROVI' PROMO

U petak 12.06. tačno u podne zakazan je obračun kod OK Kinoteke: Ivan Velisavljević, moj saučesnik u udruženom subverzivnom poduhvatu NOVI KADROVI, Vlada Džudović kao voditelj tribine, i oni saradnici koji u tom času nisu na poslu, van Bg-a ili drugačije zauzeti/neraspoloženi. Iz CLIO-ja nije došao niko jer je g. Hamović bio kod ministra, a PR na nekom sajmu ili tako nekom zbitiju u Vojvodini. CINEMA SHITTY dešavanje u isto vreme ipak nije sprečilo nekoliko novinara da se pojave na licu mesta i preuzmu svoje promo primerke NOVIH KADROVA, o kojima ćemo, kladio bih se, u narednim nedeljama čitati studiozne analize iz njihovih britkih pera.

Od saradnika, pojavili su se: Olga Dimitrijević, Marko Krstić, A. Novaković i Dejan Dabić (potegao čak iz Niša!) – i ja im se i ovde zahvaljujem na tom trudu. Razgovor Džudovića sa priređivačima je protekao glatko, a tako je bilo i kada su nam se na bini pridružili prisutni saradnici koji su se takođe izjasnili po pitanju svoje nevinosti ili krivice zbog učešća u ovom projektu. Živahnosti je dodao Slobodan "Bobi" Aranđelović, koji je iz publike dobacivao sočne anegdote, podatke, tračeve i kuriozitete vezane za istoriju srpskog filma. Pre toga sam dao obilati intervju za "Dvestadvojku" koji je valjda i emitovan tog popodneva.

Sve u svemu, all things considered, rekao bih da je ta spika prošla as good as it could. Bila je ideja da sa nama bude i neki od relevantnih filmadžija, ali: Miša Radivojević je tada bio u Crnoj Gori, Joca Jovanović u Sloveniji, Mladen Đorđević snimao nešto u Zaječaru, Vlatko Gilić se iz principa više ne pojavljuje u javnosti (bar što se tiče pričanja o filmu + ima neki grudge na Kinoteku), a Kadiju smo već "upotrebili" na promociji KADROVA u Nišu. Uradili smo šta se u ovom trenutku moglo, a u planu je da se najesen krene sa serijom predavanja vezanih za teme i autore pokrivene u knjizi. O tom potom.

Posle promocije se, sticajem okolnosti, načas odvojih od svog saučesnika, Ivana: on je otišao sa saradnicima u obližnju kafanu jer mu je bilo zagušljivo u podzemlju Kinoteke, a ja ostadoh da se vidim sa Dinkom, da popričamo i ugovorimo KADROVSKA dešavanja za najesen. To beše prilika i da iz prve ruke čujem njegove osvrte na ovogodišnji Kan (recimo, kaže da je ANTIHRIST tokom prve 2/3 čisto remek-delo, a onda se u poslednjoj trećini bukvalno posere po samom sebi i sve pokvari) kao i da razmenimo još neke priče i tračeve vezane za "kolege", C. SHITTY i ostale aktuelne teme i dileje.

Onda uhvatih Ivana, tj. pridružih mu se u kafani, gde razmenismo naše tužne životne priče, koje uključuju smešne razloge zbog kojih ću uskoro možda ostati bez posla, i smešne razloge zbog kojih je on već ostao bez posla na Novom Radio Beogradu. To ti je Srbija, brale: ili ćeš da se zameriš nečijem egu i sujeti, ili nečijoj partiji, ali i dalje se sve svodi da od profesionalizma i principa nema ni P, sve se svodi na lične simpatije i arbitrarne procene.

Ipak, guramo dalje, kad smo idioti.

Narednog dana, u subotu 13.06., držao sam predavanje u Domu Omladine o Klajvu Barkeru na filmu: imate ovde na blogu audio snimak, pa ko je toliko zaludan, neka skida i sluša; ono što se potom pričalo u kafani MORNAR sa okupljenim saučesnicima, od kojih su neki i tihi saradnici ovog bloga, bolje što nije snimljeno. Ima stvari koje je bolje da čovečanstvo nikada ne sazna, jer ipak, ne zaboravimo da mi živimo na blaženom ostrvu neznanja, usred mračnih mora beskonačnosti i nije nam namenjeno da putujemo predaleko. Nauke, svaka stremeći na svoju stranu, do sada nam nisu mnogo naudile, ali jednoga dana spajanje tog razuđenog znanja razotkriće nam tako užasavajuće horizonte stvarnosti, i strahotnost našeg položaja unutar nje, da ćemo ili poludeti od otkrovenja, ili od te svetlosti pobeći u mir i sigurnost novog mračnog doba.

Taj vikend sam proveo u prijatnom druženju sa svojim drugom i domaćinom Nyarlathotepom (pravo ime i adresa poznati Cult of Ghoulu!), te sa Nidžom Vitkovićem i njegovom ljupkom družbenicom s kojima sebi zajedničkim naporima priredismo obilatu gozbu uz pomoć obližnje pečenjare i povrća iz dragstora, te Sangrije kojom zalismo moje nedavno magistriranje.

A ponedeljak je već bio dan za daleki put – moj prvi odlazak u "genocidnu tvorevinu" (!), Republiku Srpsku.

Nastaviću se...

PARASOMNIA: Feedback from Bill Malone

(Exclusive photo of Bill Malone and Sean Young on the set of PARASOMNIA)


You may recall my review of PARASOMNIA.

Now a polished version of it is online in English, too – at Beyond Hollywood. Click HERE to read my English language review of PARASOMNIA.

Well, that film's director, William Malone, came accross it (probably over the link at the IMDb), read it by the use of some translating tool (I didn't know you had those even for 'obscure' languages!) and – wrote an e-mail to me!

That's the first time that a non-Serbian director responded to my review of their film. Since my feelings towards PARASOMNIA are largely positive, and since Bill Malone turned out to be a nice fellow with an obvious passion towards film, we exchanged a few e-mails. I decided to publish them here, with Malone's approval: I think they will shed some further light on the film, its origin and its uncertain future, its maker and his intentions.

So, here's the exchange between Bill Malone and me. Enjoy it – and try to see his film in some legal, non-pirated way if at all possible! This film deserves all the support it can get!


Dear Dejan:

Please forgive me for writing in English but my Serbian is really quite terrible.


I came across your website, and noticed your review of my film Parasomnia. I wanted to write you a note to thank you so much for your very kind words and thoughts. It means a great deal to me and to all of us involved. The response to PARASOMNIA, so far, has been very rewarding. I want to thank those who took the time to watch the film and enjoy it on its own terms without preconceived ideas of what this film is or is not. The film took nearly 2 1/2 years of labor... and I'm thrilled that many of you have responded so favorably... For those who don't like it, I can only promise to try harder in the future.

This movie was not made by a studio machine. This film was made by people who love film and love the possibilities of film. It was financed and made by myself and my friends who thankfully shared a common dream. We wanted to make a film where we could control our own destiny... make our own decisions... Right or wrong. If those decisions were wrong than at least they were our decisions. I and most of my friends have suffered many times at the hands of critics and in the press, for things that we had no control over. This was our response, and I can only hope that many of you enjoy it.

All my sincere thanks to you and all your readers.
(...)


Warmest Regards
William Malone
Writer/Director




Dear Mr Malone:


at first I thought this must be some kind of prank or spam, but then realized that your mail must be genuine. In any case, this is the first time a foreign (non-Serbian) filmmaker has responded to my review. I guess you were able use some net tool for translating the text and getting the rough idea of what it says there in Serbian.

In any case, it is true: I did enjoy your film and the review is predominantly positive. I enjoyed it precisely because it was unconventional, original, visually stunning and emotionally engaging. All the things usually lacking in today's horror coming from America.

I do not want to take too much of your time by my babbling, but would like to thank you for your kind words. I sincerely hope that PARASOMNIA will be successful enough for you to pursue this line of unconventional and fresh horror. I wish you all the best with the film and in your career. Feel free to inform me, if you care, of festival screenings, awards and the like.

Occasionally I write for the site BEYOND HOLLYWOOD (www.beyondhollywood.com) and will be happy to break some good news there. As the matter of fact, I just realized they haven't reviewed your film there: I'll translate my review to English and publish it there some time next week, as I'm on a vacation right now. It's a pretty big and popular site for those who like movies that are beyond the usual Hollywood crap, so PARASOMNIA will fit in perfectly there.


Best regards,

Dejan




Dear Dejan,


I sincerely appreciate your response. I really got from your letter that you love film as I do. It’s great to have fresh voices out there in the world contributing to the Sense of Wonder that is the motion picture. Often filmmakers who work within the Hollywood system get painted with a single brush. I sense that you approach is very different than that... and it is appreciated.


One of the things you should know is that there are a numbers of us who have to work here, that feel that the Hollywood system, that turns out films like toilet paper, is very oppressive. If you don’t want to fit into a little box you will be made to pay for it. Parasomnia, as I may have mentioned is a response to that oppression. This truly has been a labor of love for all involved.


I got enough from the translation software that there were things that you liked and things that you liked less. I am perfectly good with all of that and I really appreciate all of your words good and bad. Let me know if there is anything that you need for your other articles. All the Best with your websites... And more importantly your vacation. (I think my last vacation was in 1923.)


Sincerely
Bill
William Malone




Dear Bill:

it is agreed: I will write a review for BeyondHollywood.com (in English, of course). I dare not imagine what the google translation looked like: my blog writing is extremely juicy, idiomatic and idiosyncratic, with puns and allusions that were certainly lost in translation. I'm sure it looked worse and more nonsensical than it is in Serbian.

I have 2 questions:

1) What is the future of PARASOMNIA? Release? Festivals?

2) Would you mind if I published our little correspondence on my blog? I'm sure my readers would be amused, and after all, your e-mails did not contain anything personal or private, or so it seems to me. But if you want me to exclude some parts, or to keep this thing for myself, I will.

All the best,

Dejan Ognjanovic




Dear Dejan,

Sorry for not getting to you sooner. I’ve been consumed with details on the promotion of my film.


I have no problems with you publishing my notes to you. In any case, I would love to see your complete review in English so please send it a long to me when you get a chance.


Thanks for removing the “spoiler” photo. This was one of the few images that we tried very hard to not to give out to the press. I have to be careful with these things. I did a short film as part of a collection of films called “Masters Of Horror”. In the show that I did (“Fair-Haired Child”) the publicity department sent out pictures of the creature in the film and called it “the Johnny Thing’. This completely ruined any twists or turns in the story. I got a number of critics saying that there were no surprises. Of course there were no surprises, the publicity people gave it all away with the trailer and the pictures they put out. Further they were saying that the lead girl was supposed to be13 years-old. A lot of critics slagged the actress for not pulling off being 13. She was NOT supposed to be 13. She's playing a girl who was in the last year in high school. This is why I’m a bit cautious about what goes out (probably overly cautious... So I apologize). But again thanks.


Re: The future of Parasomnia... It's a bit uncertain as this is a difficult time for indy filmmakers. There are very few options to get your film seen. This is further complicated by piracy which can seriously damage sales of the film. Outside the US we have done better than most films as far as sales go. The U.S. is a very different matter and at the moment a very unfriendly environment for small films. The audiences have been very enthusiastic toward PARASOMNIA and we have received great reviews of the film. Still and all, we have not been able to put together US distribution deal that makes any sense. I can only hope that an angel comes along soon and blesses us.


Again thank you for your very kind interest in the film.

Warmest Regards

Bill
William Malone

Writer/Director
PARASOMNIA (Dreams of the Sleepwalker)