Images of the 21st Century
14-23 March 2014
PRESS CONFERENCE
THE KALUSZ I THOUGHT I KNEW /
THE STARFISH THROWERS / BASTARDS
Directors Deborah Perkin (Bastards), Bernard Dichek (The Kalusz I thought I Knew) and Jesse Roesler (The Starfish Throwers) gave a press conference on Monday, 17 March 2014, in the context of the 16th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
On account of her film Bastards, Deborah Perkin talked about Moroccan society, where, as in all Muslim countries, sex outside marriage is illegal and women bear the brunt of society’s disapproval. Such a woman is the protagonist of the film, Ms Perkin explained, adding: “The situation in Morocco is very different from other islamic countries like Egypt or Turkey. The film tells the story of a young woman, Rabha, who, at 14, was forced into a traditional wedding - that had no legal status - to a violent man who abused her and kicked her out when she became pregnant. In the film, we see Rabha ten years later, as she struggles to legalise the marriage that was forced upon her, register the birth of her daughter and force the father to recognize the child.” Determined to keep her distance, the director nevertheless admitted she could not help getting emotionally drawn to the story. “I was very disturbed by the story of my heroine. I was angry. I felt a combination of outrage and compassion. But I could not intervene. I think that a filmmaker has only one chance to intervene, and that is by making the story public.” The director made special reference to L’Association Solidarite Feminine, a Casablanca-based charity that helps unmarried women. “The founder of the organization, Aicha Ech Enna, is a remarkable woman, who has received the decoration of the Legion of Honour by France for her work. She has also received an honorary medal by the king of Morocco. This is revealing of how things are changing. Often the law changes, but mentalities stay the same. Morocco, a country that has not witnessed any violent revolution in the past few years, is now on the verge of great social change.”
Canadian director of Jewish descent Bernard Dichek takes the audience on a journey back in time with his documentary The Kalusz I thought I Knew. The director traveled to the Polish city of Kalusz, the birthplace of his father, who had to leave it after WW II. “This is a film about memory. About the memories I had of a place I had never been to; about the memories of the people who lived there and are now 90 years old; about the memory of an entire historical era. These are memories from WW II and a city that has a lot in common with Thessaloniki, since both cities once had strong Jewish communities who had all their possessions stolen,” said the director. Mr Dichek said that making the film made him realize that many young people in Eastern Europe have no knowledge of their nation’s History, adding: “I tried to follow many different perspectives in my film, with interviews of young people who know nothing about those events and testimonies of elderly people with first hand experience who were, however, reluctant to talk. My father left Kalusz for Canada in 1949 never to return, but my childhood was filled with stories about the city. It was only after he died that I decided to visit Kalusz. There, I discovered many things I did not know about my father, for example what his favorite beer was. Kalusz has changed radically since the time my father lived there. The city I had in my mind had no resemblance to the city I actually saw. This is another piece of the complex puzzle this story created in my mind.”
Jesse Roeslers The Starfish Throwers tells the story of three people doing their best to help people in need. “I set out on this journey when I met Allan Law, a retired teacher from Minnesota in the US, who drives around giving away free sandwiches to the hungry. Law is a one of a kind man. For the last 13 years, he has been sleeping in his car. He even threw away most of his furniture to make room for more fridges to store the thousands of sandwiches he distributes around the city. Mr Law, a symbol of compassion and solidarity, inspired me to look for the other two protagonists of the documentary: one is a five-star, high-caste Hindu chef, who puts his own social status at risk by giving away lunches to poor people; the other is a 12-year-old girl from South Carolina, who grows vegetable to feed hungry people in her community and beyond.” The American filmmaker said the most important common trait of all his characters is that they never give up, despite the many obstacles they face. “Their actions deeply affect the lives of others. As a director, I followed them through their day-to-day routines, avoiding any personal involvement, to present their work to the audience.”
The parallel events of the 16th TDF are financed by the European Union’s Regional Development Fund for Central Macedonia, 2007-2013.
