Images of the 21stCentury
March 14-23, 2014
PRESS CONFERENCE
THE MANOR / GRAZING THE SKY / EVAPORATING BORDERS / WOMEN AND WATER / THE SHEBABS OF YARMOUK
On Sunday, March 16, 2014 a press conference was held by directors Iva Radivojevic (Evaporating Borders), Nocem Collado (Women And Water), Axel Salvatori-Sinz (The Shebabs Of Yarmouk), Horacio Alcala (Grazing The Sky) and Shawney Cohen (The Manor).
Axel Salvatori-Sinz spoke first, referring to his decision to travel to Syria in order to film the lives of the Shebabs, a group of young Palestinian refugees living in the Yarmouk camp. He said: “I completed the film two years ago. When I met the young heroes of the film I realized that because they had lived all their lives in Syria they did not want to return to Palestine. They wanted to find a way to continue living in Syria, while maintaining their identity. When I met them they were 20 years old and now they are 26. Meanwhile, everything changes and in this environment these young people are trying to find themselves. The identity of the Shebabs has undergone many changes with the war in Syria. At present, they camp they lived in has been completely destroyed, it is like Berlin in '45. Hassan, one of the characters, died four months ago. He tried to escape, was arrested by the authorities and tortured. Two other heroes of the film fled to Chile, where they are studying film, while a third one lives in Europe”. The director added that at the moment he is preparing his new film which will be about Lebanon.
The issue of immigration is also dealt with in the film Evaporating Borders by Iva Radivojevic, which takes place in Cyprus. The director is of Yugoslavian origin, but she grew up on the island. Her film records the experiences of immigrants seeking asylum there. Referring to her documentary, the director noted: "My intention was to make a personal, subjective film so that the viewer knows where the information he is receiving comes from. The documentary deals with the sense of belonging, identity and how we are participating in the process of intolerance. In Greece the problem of immigration is greater. In Cyprus, I found that immigrants often identify with the Turks, which further complicates the situation. Coming from Yugoslavia, having lived in Cyprus and now living in New York, I do not feel that I belong anywhere, I prefer to have not one, but many countries." She added: "In this respect, I believe that my film could only be done by a non-native. At the same time, I feel I have a Cypriot in my identity, since I can understand the mentality of the local population."
Nocem Collado’s film Women And Water focuses on a different topic, that of politics and ecology. The film analyzes the relationship of women with water and poses a key question: who has the right to water when it is scarce? Speaking about her decision to make the film, the Spanish director said: “I believe that water is absolutely necessary for life. Nobody has put a price on the air we breathe, but some private companies are putting a price on water. In southern Spain where I come from, we have been plagued by drought for years and water is scarce. Our water supply is state run, and we are now facing a similar problem to that of Thessaloniki: The government plans to privatize the water company. I found that politicians put a price tag on the basic needs of people." The artist traveled to India for the purposes of the film, recording the responsibility of women to transport water in areas without a water supply. She said: "In India, 46% of the population has access to running water and 80% is forced to carry water from wells. Women are obliged to carry water by the age of seven so they do not go to school. Large companies bottle water and sell it. Because of this exploitation of water, the locals are often forced to migrate". A serious issue that also affects the film is that of water pollution. Ms. Collado said: "The situation in India is tragic. In recent years 1.5 million children have died due to water that is contaminated with arsenic and other hazardous substances." She considers herself "a member of the social rebel movement," she said. "I cannot find funding easily and I have to do almost everything myself. I consider the opportunity to participate in the festival very important, and I feel grateful to be in Thessaloniki", she added.
Grazing The Sky by Horacio Alcala has a different atmosphere. The film attempts to shed light on the passion and motivation that inspire circus artists. The film approaches the subject through a personal perspective, as the director was himself a member of a circus group. He stressed: "We wanted to change the perception of the world about the circus, not that which uses animals, but the modern circus which is a mixture of theater, dance and acrobatics. It took seven years to shoot the film and I met with serious financing difficulties. Because of my status, I had access to large troupes like Cirque de Soleil. I filmed in ten countries, from Canada and Spain to Palestine." The director added: "The film talks about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I wanted to show the passion and dedication evident in their eyes. I wasn’t all that interested in showing acrobatic numbers as much as the personal stories of the heroes, that's why I focus the camera very close to their faces, showing what we can’t see at the circus." For the film, the director collaborated with clarinetist Stavros Pazarentzi from Naoussa, which, as he said, is among the most important musicians in the field worldwide.
A strip club is the environment where the documentary The Mansion by Shawney Cohen takes place. He approaches this unusual subject through his dual role: that of film director and the boss of this enterprise. Speaking at the press conference, the Canadian director said: "When I was six years old, my father bought the 'Villa', a provincial strip club. I avoided the family business until I was 30 years old, when I first decided to work there. At the same time, I started shooting the film, whose basic theme is addiction to love, sex and food. This issue is intimately related to my family: My mother has a serious problem with anorexia while my father weighs about 180 pounds. Among other things, I was interested in how my parents continued to live together for so many years." As noted by Mr. Cohen, the shooting process was paradoxical to a large degree, as his parents never believed the film would be made, so he had absolute freedom to shoot with the camera. The director added: "I didn’t show the film to my parents ahead of time, as a matter of fact they learned about it much later, when they read in a newspaper that it was to be screened at the Hot Docs festival in Canada. In the end, through the process of filming, I realized that the relationships in my family had become closer. For example, now we often eat together - before the film, this was not the case at all. As for me, I still continue to work at the strip club today. "
