Filmfest Hamburg

Bei meinen persönlichen Favoriten habe ich die Wiederholungstermine hinzugefügt.

Gulabi Talkies *** (3) von ***** (5) (IND 2009): Uneben erzählte Geschichte einer von Hindus unterdrückten muslimischen Hebamme.

Reykjavík – Rotterdam ***** (IS 2008): Dreckiger kleiner Thriller über den letzten Schmuggeltrip eines Kleinkriminellen auf Bewährung. Witzig, temporeich.
Mittwoch, 30. 9. 2009, 21.45 Uhr, Zeise 2

Baghead **** (USA 2008): Unterhaltsame Variation des “Blair Witch”-Themas. Low-Budget-Horror-Beziehungs-Komödie.

Kandidaten / The Candidate ***** (DK 2008): Anwalt untersucht Tod des Vaters und wird selbst zum Mörder. Glaubt er. Smarter Thriller.

Donnerstag, 1. 10. 2009, 17.30 Uhr, Zeise 1

Poliţist, adj. / Police, Adjective ** (RO 2009): Den größten Teil der knapp zwei Stunden schlurft ein Polizist haschenden Kids hinterher, dann diskutiert er Dialektik.

Yu Yan / Fish Eyes ** (CHIN 2009): Im Katalog gnadenlos überverkauft, erschien die mongolische Wüstentristesse auch visuell eher karg. (Das finden auch mehrere Chinesen, mit denen ich hinterher darüber gesprochen habe. )

Don McKay **** (USA 2009): Schwarzhumorige Thriller-Komödie mit vielen originellen Wendungen.

Al final del camino / Road to Santiago **** (ESP 2009): Leichte, beschwingte Mainstream-Komödie über eine Pärchen-Pilgerfahrt.

Donnerstag, 1. 10. 2009, 19.30 Uhr, Cinemaxx 2

Bombay Summer ***** (USA 2009): Aufeinandertreffen drei unterschiedlicher Großstadtmenschen. Starkes Ensemble, schöne Bilder. Besonders beeindruckend: Tannishtha Chatterjee (bekannt u. a. aus “Brick Lane”).

Firaaq ***1/2 (IND 2008): Filmisch beeindruckende, aber etwas wenig reflektive Aufbereitung von Religionskrawallen in 2002.

Futoko / The Dark Harbour *** (JAP 2008): Einsamer Fischer findet Frau + Sohn im Kleiderschrank. Sprödes bis humorvolles Indie-Märchen.

The Soloist / Der Solist **** (UK/USA/F 2009): Konventionell inszenierte wahre Geschichte. Stark: Jamie Foxx (Straßenmusiker), Robert Downey Jr. (Autor).

Los Paranoicos / The Paranoids *** (ARG 2008): Großstadtneurotiker mit Schreibhemmung und Liebespech. Amüsante Momente.

She, a Chinese **** (UK/China/F/D 2009): Fesselnde Story einer chinesischen Auswanderin, deren Innenleben jedoch seltsamerweise verborgen bleibt.
Donnerstag, 1. 10. 2009, 19.30 Uhr, Metropolis
Freitag, 2. 10. 2009, 21.15 Uhr, Cinemaxx 3

Entre Nos / Between Us **** (USA 2009): Bemerkenswertes Regiedebüt der US-Kolumbianerinnen Paola Mendoza und Gloria La Morte, die eine wahre Geschichte erzählen. Und zwar die Erlebnisse von Mendozas Mutter, die zwei Wochen nach ihrer Einwanderung in die USA von ihrem Ehemann sitzengelassenen wurde. Sarita Choudhury (debütierte 1991 in “Mississippi Masala”) spielt darin eine kleine, aber feine Nebenrolle.

Ko-Regisseurin La Morte berichtete hinterher in der Fragestunde, dass “Entre Nos” erst mal nur als Drehbuchprojekt geplant war. Das Drehbuch gewann den Preis einer New Yorker Indie-Film-Initiative: die dreiwöchige Leihgabe einer Panasonic-DV-Kamera. Damit wurde “Entre Nos” nach einem Jahr der Geldbeschaffung gedreht, mit Paola Mendoza in der Hauptrolle.
Laut La Morta hat “Entre Nos” noch keinen deutschen Verleih – Interessierte finden Kontaktinfos auf der offiziellen Website.

La Famille Wolberg / The Family Wolberg **** (F 2009): Kleinstadtbürgermeister versucht, bröckelnde Familienfassade zu kitten. Intelligentes Psychodrama.

Falls es interessiert: Hier ist meine Bilanz des 16. Filmfests Hamburg 2008.

In the world of movies. interracial relationships have grown into a dynamic age. An edge with a lot of mixes. If you put a black woman and a black man together, it becomes a black movie. If you put a white man and  a white woman together, it is the white family. On the other hand, if you put a black man and white woman together, it is a conflict. If you put a black woman and a white man, it becomes a white-man entitlement syndrome!  But on the other side, when you mix the minority races, it is captured as more acceptable. A belonging together of those who don’t “belong”. Example. a black man and a Latina woman are seen as more acceptable than a date with a white woman. 

If there are more movies that I have not mentioned, add them to the list .  

Here is to the movies that portray those relationships. The movies that show that love has encountered resistance but love has no boundaries for those who choose love.  

1. A Bronx Tale

Calogero meets a black girl named Jane and starts dating her.

2. Missisipi Masala 

Denzel Washington falls in love with an Indian lady.

3. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

Sidney Poitier's welcome to the dinner table.

4. Something New

Simon Baker takes on Sanna Lathan.

5. Jungle Fever

Races mixing...let the action begin.

6. Save The Last Dance

Julia Stiles and Sean Pattrick Thomas dance into it.

7. O (with Mekhi Phifer)

Julia Stiles is at it again?

8. Monster’s Ball

Billy Bob goes for Halle Berry? Who wouldn't?

10. Boiler Room

Giovanni Ribisi and Nia Long have the flames burning...

11. Faking Da Funk

Tatyana Ali falls for an Asian boy

12. Black and White (1999)

Mike and Claudia in a ring of attraction.

13. Made in America

Whoopie and Ted Danson...mmm this moma has love of Vanilla.

Corrina Corrina….

Mizz Goldberg did it again....I don't blame you, I love a double scoop of Vanilla please.

14. He got Game

He Got Game----Spike Lee film.

15. Guess Who (remake with Ashton Kutcher)

Mom, dad, meet my white boyfriend....twist on Guess Whose Coming to Dinner.

16. Romeo Must Die

The Late Aaliyah in the arms of Jet Li

17. A Patch of Blue

Sidney is truly a vanilla lady magnet.

18. Strange Days (with Angela Basset and Ralph Fiennes)

Angela Bassett in the arms of Ralph Fiennes. So Fine. Who can resist.

29. Zebrahead

Michael Rapaport in a love-story set in Detroit.

30. Lakeview Terrace

Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington look hot together but, Samuel L. Jackson says "HELL TO THE NO"

31. The Family That Preys (Sanna Lathan who rejects her black husband for a white male at the workplace)

Sanna Lathan runs from black hubby (Rockmond Dunbar) into the arms of a white co-worker (Cole Hauser)

32. Hitch: I’m sorry Will. We love you but this movie should have been called: “Ditch”

Lovable characters, terrible movie. Oh why Prince of Bel-Air? Art thou so desperado?

33. Out of Time

Denzel and Eva Mendez...mmm Eva likes brown choclate.."oh no you didn't" Leave us Denzel.

34. The Mix

Usher: "damn gurl don't be looking at me like that. There's other fine ladies who want this"

35. Under Classmen

Nick Cannon aka Mariah Carey's buttler. Enough said.

36. American Gangster

Denzel and Puerto Rican beauty queen..."oh no you didn't Denzel" said the voice of a million black sistas.

37. Money Train

Wesley Snipes and JLO around the block.

38. Training Day

Eva and Denzel. Eva, we all like Denzel so that's not a secret.

39. The Bodyguard

Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner...Bodyguard was right. Guard my body.

40. Liberty Heights

Ben Foster. I would date you 1000% Rebekah Johnson, you were a heart stealer.

There was a question on the exam dealing with sound and how Mira Nair portrayed African-American and African aspects. I thought one great part in the movie where she showed some auditory connection in the movie was in the beginning credits.It was the scene where we were on a map of the world, traveling from Africa to Mississippi. When we were in the Africa region of the map, there was traditional music playing in the background; but when we began to edge closer to Mississippi, the music changed to a blues/jazz melody. It seemed that Nair was trying to make a connection between the two cultures, stating that they are not as distinct as we thought. It was as if she was showing us the “original” culture (Africa) that traveled to America and was tweaked in certain ways. However, even though it was tweaked, we can still extract similar melodies. It reminded me of a quote from one of the readings for the exam which basically stated that culture is continuous even though there can still be changes; it is the foundation that stays the same. 

Also, I wrote down a quote from the movie that Okelo said that I found striking: “Africa is for Africans, black Africans.” Even though he was trying to save his friend, Okelo was stating a fact that was believed by Idi Amin (and probably a majority of the population), especially since he did that whole let’s kick African Indians out of Africa.

Mira Nair went to Oscars with her first film Salam Bombay. Mira’s every film is a sensation. Her concepts mostly revolve around facts and problems. She mostly works with her best friend Sooni Taraporevala’s scripts. She has been working mostly for international projects but has never forgot Bollywood. Monsoon Wedding (2001) is her second movie in India after Salam Bombay (1988).

Mira was born in Rourkela, Orissa. She did her schooling in Shimla and went to Delhi unversity for higher education. There she joined theatre arts. With the scholarship from Harvard unversity she went to U.S.A. There only she met Sooni and a photo grapher Metch Epstein. Later she married Metch. There she started working for documentaries.

Her documentary India Cabret won award in the American Film festival. Then she returned back to India and worked for Salam Bombay. This movie went to many international film festivals and got official entry for the Oscars. At the Cannes film festival she won the Golden Camera award. Recently she directed The Namesake.

Mississippi  Masala is her another good movie which deals about Indian-Americans and African-Americans.  Her movie Kamasutra : A Tale Of Love became controversial for the name and was not released in India.

MIRA NAIR

Little Zizou is the latest comedy film released on 13th March 2009. It was directed by Sooni Taraporevala who wrote scripts for Mira Nair films like Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake.

Sooni with Mira Nair

She directed for the first time for her own script. Unlike her narrations she took a light weight story and gave a comedy touch to film. She has shown Mumbai based Parsi family in this film.

Little Zizou is a eleven year boy who is a big fan of French  football star player Zinedine Zidan. His original name is Xerxes and as Zidane’s pet name is Zizou all will call him Little Zizou.

His brother Artaxerxes is a master in painting. Paintings is the world for that guy his nick name is Art. Art loves a girl. That girl’s father Pressvala  is a very big rival with Zizou and Art ’s father Khodaiji. The story is about their lives and relationships.

Sooni wrote an excellent script and gave some fresh comedy scenes unlike other Bollywood movies. She never gave the feeling that it’s a debut movie as director in the entire movie. Except Boman Irani all the remaining who played the lead characters are new actors.

But every one worked hard and gave good result. Music from Bickram Ghosh is nice. Camera work is in required manner by Himman Dhamija.

She’s written Mira Nair’s acclaimed films like Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala and The Namesake, but photographer-writer Sooni Taraporewala decided to turn director for Little Zizou as she knew the subject – the Parsi community – better than anyone else. So much so that she completed the script in just 10 days!

“I wrote it with actors and locations in mind. I could visualise it and knew exactly what I wanted… Which is why I decided to direct it myself – I knew the subject better than anybody else,” said Taraporewala.

“I had some time on my hands in 2005 and for the first time began writing  a script that was not commissioned by anybody else. I enjoyed myself thoroughly as the characters and subject grew and I found myself with a complete script in 10 days,” she added.

With Parsi roots herself, she had special reasons to base her film on her cultural milieu. “I chose to set my debut film within the Parsi world because it’s a world I’m very close to, I am very familiar with and confident about depicting accurately. But also because it is so fascinating and so rarely seen,” the filmmaker explained.

“Parsis have a culture just like anybody else. While the setting is very particular the characters, their dilemmas and the issues they face are totally universal,” she added.

Produced by Dinaz Stafford, Vandana Malik and Taraporewala herself, the film is a 101-minute Hindi, Gujarati and English amalgamation with a 34-actor ensemble cast.

Releasing on March 13, Little Zizou revolves around two Parsi families in conflict and stars Boman Irani, Sohrab Ardeshir, Imaad Shah and child actor Jahan Bativala to name a few. Bollywood star John Abraham  too does a cameo in the film.

Donning the director’s hat, however, was not planned for the 52-year-old. “My life has never been planned. I never intended to become a screenwriter but life took me in that direction. Similarly with direction, it was unplanned,” she said.

The first-time director confessed that she did have her share of initial apprehensions. “Before the first day of the shoot I had a deep pit in my stomach. The only other time I’ve ever been that nervous was for my school leaving exams back in 1973! But then as soon as the first few shots were canned I was fine.”

Known for focussing on the finer details of her subjects, the writer has thrown light on the Parsi mentality of looking inwards at their success.

The presence of a portrait of Zubin Mehta in every Parsi house, their habit of playing loud Western classical music

and constant stress on Indira gandhi  being married into a Parsi family are some typical traits of the community she has humorously depicted in Little Zizou.

The film has already been appreciated and won awards at the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) film festival, New York and the Asian Festival of First Films, Singapore.

“The reaction has been absolutely wonderful, heart warming and effusive. Audiences in New York, Washington, rome

and Goa have laughed their way through this mad yet fun tale,” she said.

Taraporewala says her relationship with Indian American Mira Nair will always be special. “We have been friends since 1976. We are also very close creatively so that combination is a very special one.”

So, has photography taken a backseat now? “I still take photographs, not professionally any more but for my own satisfaction,” she said.

Taraporewala has “no immediate plans to direct anything” but is working on an ongoing project since 2006 to adapt Mark Shand’s book Travels on my Elephant into a screenplay.

Mississippi Masala was a most pleasant surprise. Revealing some biases, the film has against it that it was released in the early 90’s, a period of relative cinematic dryness. Or, if not dryness, films of this period tended to contain certain stylistic conventions, more appropriately identified as quirky clichés. Presumably every period has had some of these, but whereas many conventions become classic and beloved, others are in themselves sources of comedy and detract from what might otherwise be good films. What makes Mississippi Masala impressive is that, despite these distractions, a thoughtful premise is sensitively executed and avoids sentimental tendencies.

It presents a complex inter-generational dynamic of immigration and emigration. An “Indian” couple, after living their entire lives in Uganda, is forced to leave by the infamous Idi Amin. They move with their young daughter to, that’s right, Mississippi. Living in a community of other Indian-Americans, they hold fast to their roots while their daughter Mina clearly takes on a more American identity. This difference isn’t overdone; Mina lives in harmony with her parents, dresses in Indian garb, works the family business at the hotel where they live, and is never embarrassed to express her cultural heritage. But the director, Mira Nair, drops a few hints of Mina’s Americanization (if that’s an appropriate term). Perhaps the most subtle and yet striking effect is Mina’s American accent. All of the Indian-American people surrounding her, even those who seem to be second-generation peers of Mina, speak with an Indian accent. Mina’s Indian accent is not only non-existent, but it’s strikingly region-neutral American; there’s no Deep South accent one would expect from living in Mississippi. (Perhaps this would have drawn too much attention to the accent issue.) Mina’s romance with Demetrius (Denzel Washington, in an early and tolerable role) is the catalyst for Mina’s final liberation from a heritage that she does not feel is her own.

Yet, it’s a rather rare and refreshing portrayal of a second-generation foreign immigrant coming to American who is able to remain deeply faithful to her parents while expressing a need to rupture her constructed ethnic identity. She is more integrated into the American culture where she lives than the other immigrants in her community – there’s the accent, her love for Demetrius, her enjoyment of going out dancing, and her dreaming about future possibilities. It’s possible that the direction could have improved the film’s ending. Mina’s father returns to Uganda when he finally is approved for a court date to be compensated for the family’s expulsion from Uganda. He arrives there, realizes that his life is no longer in Uganda but in America with his wife. With accompanying music and camera angle, he tells her on the phone, “Home [pause] is where the heart is.” These kinds of clichés are what restrain Mississippi Masala from realizing its full potential, even when the film itself is worth more than the sum of its parts. The character of Mina, and even the character of her father, undergoes a dynamic process of cultural re-identification. Their disconnection from the physical places of their ethnic heritage ruptures the constructs of who-they-are and allows them to move forward unfettered. [Images courtesy of here.]

Richard Gere in questi giorni sta per terminare le riprese di Nights in Rodanthe, film in cui recita accanto a Diane Lane in uscita il 3 Ottobre nelle sale americane. Subito dopo sarà pronto per due nuove pellicole, la prima sarà un lavoro di Mira Nair, autrice di Monsoon Wedding e Mississippi Masala. La seconda pellicola invece sarà Brooklyn’s Finest un dramma poliziesco che sarà diretto da Antoine Fuqua, e nel quale interpreterà un poliziotto. Accanto a lui, in questo film scritto da Michael Martin, dovrebbero esserci anche Ethan Hawke e Don Cheadle, anche loro nei ruoli di agenti di polizia.

Il film di Mira Nair e sceneggiato da Ron Bass, racconterà la storia della pilota americana degli anni ‘30 Amelia Earhart che scomparve misteriosamente durante un tentativo di trasvolata dell’intero globo terrestre. Una sparizione che, a tutt’oggi, è ancora avvolta nel mistero. Nel ruolo della protagonista Hilary Swank, anche co-produttrice. Le riprese avranno luogo tra Toronto, la Nuova Scozia (Canada) e il Sud Africa.

Nel nuovo film di Antoine Fuqua invece Richard Gere sarà affiancato Don Cheadle ed Ethan Hawke. Al momento sta girando Hachiko di Lasse Halstrom (che ha già diretto Richard Gere in The Hoax).