Docpoint - An International Documentary Festival

A new International Documentary Festival in Tallinn, to chase the cold away, 17 documentaries in 3 days at 2 locations (Artis and KUMU Auditorium) from January 29th-31st. Handpicked by luminaries from Estonia in association with the established Docpoint Helsinki festival. This is the first joint event between Finland and Estonia - Docpoint 2010.

The popularity of documentary films in film circles has visibly been on the rise for the past decade. Most of the major film festivals, that used to be dealing only in feature films before, are now including documentaries into their competitive programs - viewed literally as equal to the features in places, where a full-length feature film was considered unequivocally the crown jewel on cinematic arts earlier on.

Various reasons are brought as explanation. Either the fiction feature has depleted its narrative means, or it is people's growing need for “real stories” in these times. Documentary has a potential to be socially more relevant and even emotioally more engaging than a feature, because, as the common belief goes, it is based on “truth”, not “fairy-tale”.

International Documentary Film Festival Docpoint had its 8th anniversary in 2009, and has gradually grown to become an internationally acclaimed documentary event, as well as one of the biggest in the Nordic region. In 2009, from January 20 to 25 over 23 000 people came to see the Docpoint screenings in Helsinki. This year the festival will be happening simultaneously between Helsinki and Tallinn.

We spoke with one of
the festival organisers,
Tristan Priimägi:

DiveDiveDive

Where did the idea come from to bring Docpoint to Tallinn?

Tristan

It actually came over the breakfast table during Docpoint Helsinki in 2009 with the Finnish organizing team. We shared a lot of views, and suddenly it just kind of came to all of us: why can't we do it in Tallinn. We have had total support from the Finnish side right from the very start to do this.

DDD

It's hard for a mum to pick her favourite kid or a Mormon his favourite wife, but which would you pick as your favourite documentary?

Tristan

My personal favourite, I think is suitably Finnish.... a film called Max 44500 - about an amazing guy, who tries to succeed as a perfumier in the middle of the Finnish tundra. In the beginning you are kind of embarrassed about this guy's complete awkwardness and unrealistic dreams, but he totally grows on you. Makes you feel, that this is in a way, the most punk thing to do - try to bring uptown Paris to these small town Finns.

DDD

Strange place for a perfumier but then again a very apt obscure Finnish tale giving some insight into the wonderful world we live in.

Tristan

Yes, and done in proper Finnish deadpan style, but still very emphatic

DDD

There seems to be more Finnish Estonian co-operation in the area of culture. Is this something you are experiencing and how are you encouraging it?

Tristan

Funny, how it is especially evident in the field of documentary film, as Finns have helped to co-fund a lot of Estonian docs. One of these, the film about Finnish television, "Disco and Atomic War", got 270 000 viewers for a televised broadcast in Finland. I think that gradually Estonians are just getting over their peasant complex and can talk to the Finns like equals. Finns on the other hand don't act like wealthy cousins anymore. When we get over the inevitable history of the social divide, we are very much alike underneath, as humans, I think. We laugh at the same jokes, that's a big thing, isn't it?

DDD

How is the documentary scene in Estonian, how many doc were made last year and how many will be made this year? Are the numbers increasing?

Tristan

Well... there is a special program for up and coming directors called "Estonian Shorts" which produces twelve 30-minute docs every year. This gets the numbers up. Other than that, I'd say 15-20 documentaries a year. Which is not bad at all. My personal problem is that many of them are hopelessly local in the subject matter, without the necessary ability to transcend to a more global general level.

DDD

Are there any hard and fast rules for documentary film making? Who are the pioneers and now the grand old men/women of this genre in your view?

Tristan

Well, lots of the earlier masters are misunderstood now, because their once-revolutionary ideas have become integrated into our everyday culture, completely. We could mention Errol Morris for inventing the "enacted scenes" in the 80s which are the basis of all the cheap docudramas of today's television. Or Nick Broomfield for creating a new type of author who strongly participates in the events onscreen. I think that pioneers are the same kind of people, as in every other art form - those who constantly question the form and play with it, expanding the limits. And it always helps to make a film about something INTERESTING.

DDD

And Docpoint will be championing the interesting?

Tristan

I have to say that we are total bitches, when it comes to choosing films. It has to be exceptional one way or another, touching, deep, personal, or larger than life in some other way. Good documentary is in a way like a Sharzh (what's the english word...) - it shows a reality, but distorts some aspect of it out of proportion by exaggeration.

Docpoint is running for 3 days in Tallinn at KUMU Auditorium and Artis cinemas from Friday 29th January 'til Sunday 31st.

tallinn.docpoint.info/

Films of Docpoint Tallinn 2010:

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Dreamland

Gudnason Thorfinnur, Magnason Andri Snær
89min, Island, 2009

The casino economy is not the only thing that has been growing in Iceland in recent years. One by one, the country's rivers have been harnessed to producing huge amounts of energy for the aluminium smelters of the American company Alcoa. Based on the best-selling book by the same name, Dreamland describes the island state's transformation from the home of a NATO base and fisheries to a playground of big corporations and the political elite.

A village missing out on excessive consumerism delights over a football hall built by Alcoa, but what is happening to Iceland's unique nature? Combining striking natural imagery, historical archive footage and unhurried interviews, Dreamland offers a fresh and comprehensive view of a country headed towards a huge crash.

The film traces the struggle between nature and consumer society from Iceland to developing countries, and many of the questions it raises also apply to Finland.

Matti Ylönen | Translation by Maria Koistinen

Fri 29.01 19:00 (Invitation only),
Sun 31.01 16:00, KUMU Auditorium

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The Magnetic Man

Halonen Arto
79min, Finland, 2009

Like some find Edith Södergran, Ian Curtis or Sylvia Plath at a young age, director Arto Halonen found Pekka Streng and his music. Each of them gives sensitive boys and girls strength to believe that they are not alone with their feelings of alienation.

While some overcome their obsessions, others remain fascinated with the idols of their youth. Luckily, Halonen is one of the latter. He takes us on a journey, on which we encounter a talented man, who knew throughout his recording career that he had cancer and was going to die young.

The Magnetic Man is a beautiful, melancholy documentary about a songwriter, which lingers on after the viewing. This personal piece gives hope that each life, if led in the right way, can have meaning to others. As Streng is an empowering figure, this is an empowering film.

Taina Vuokko | Translation by Maria Koistinen

Fri 29.01 22:00, KUMU Auditorium

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The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy

Liechti Peter
87min, Switzerland, 2009

A mummified man is found in a distant forest. The diaries left by the deceased show that it is a case of suicide by self-starvation. Moving between fact and fiction, The Sound of Insects is based on Until I Am a Mummy, a short story about the case, written by Shimada Masahito. The film follows the thoughts and personal struggle of a dying person beyond pain and disbelief. Everything is mirrored against the metaphorical images and slow life of the forest.

This experimental film is like a macabre combination of The National Geographic, feverish urban symphonies and delirious dreams. It captures the essence of the nameless deceased's determined but unhurried swan song. The film received the European Film Academy's Prix Arte Award for the best European documentary in 2009.

Kati Hurme | Translation by Maria Koistinen

Fri 29.01 20:00, Artis

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Marcel Łoziński Retrospective

Sat 30.01 14:00, KUMU Auditorium

89 mm From Europe

12min, Poland, 1993

Brest-Litovsk, a checkpoint between Poland and the former Soviet Union. A train heading from Paris to Moscow arrives. Since the Soviet rail gauge is 89 mm wider than the Western, the Belorussian railwaymen need to lift the railway carriage and change wheels in order for the train to continue East. A multinational group peeks wonderingly out of the windows at the men's efforts. A chasm still exists between East and West in this masterly made film.

Elizabeth Marschan | Translation by Sophy Bergenheim

Anything Can Happen

39min, Poland, 1995

The 6-year-old son of Marcel Łoziński chatters with the old people who are spending the beautiful summer day in the park. Riding his scooter the boy approaches his victims in such a charmingly natural way that before they know it, the old people have laid out their entire life stories.

Many have led harsh lives. They have lived through war, poverty and loneliness, but are still able to share their life wisdom with the boy: what is most important is to accept life as it comes. The boy, however, has a different perspective: his joy of life and enthusiasm seem infinite. He is still at the age when sun and moon can meet, and a person can live for 600 years!

The boy's lively games and his odyssey from bench to bench alternate with the still conversation scenes. The colour-rich telephoto images bring the elderly people's faces as well as the joy of a hot summer day palpably close.

Georg Grotenfelt | Translation by Anna Volmari

Microphone Test

19min, Poland, 1981

A bold reporter of a cosmetic factory's radio station interviews workers working by the conveyor belt: do they feel that they own the factory? This is what one would assume in a Worker's State. But they don't feel that way. Decisions are made at the top, the workers hardly have a say.

The factory management feels that both the questions and answers are wrong. Why were the trade unions and worker's committees not mentioned? Why, indeed.

The management censors the improper radio programme, and naturally the party bureaucrats also censor this film. It is censored until it is awarded, just a year later on, during a temporary period of liberation caused by the Solidarity movement. The film shows directly and openly the contradiction between individual experience and society's official façade.

Markku Varjola | Translation by Anna Volmari

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On The Way to School

Doğan Özgür, Eskiköy Orhan
81min, Turkey, 2008

A young teacher arrives in a remote Kurdish village. The run-down school building has clearly not been used for years. The relationship to school and civilisation has ruptured, and the teacher's first task is to find the pupils and persuade their parents to let them go to school. Prejudices run high, as the Turkish teacher represents the conqueror, especially given that Kurdish is not allowed in school.

The pupils' fervour for learning raises thoughts on the essence of humanity: what are the gains of learning and civilisation, how important is the role of knowledge to people? The Turkish-Kurdish directing duo has found an important angle in approaching an explosive issue in their country. Is it good that the archaic world of the Kurdish village is changed and integrated into the majority culture through school? At the same time, people learn to read, write and find something new in themselves.

Erkko Lyytinen | Translation by Anna Volmari

Sat 30.01 16:00, KUMU Auditorium

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Prodigal Sons

Reed Kimberly
86min, United States, 2008

Kimberly Reed digs fearlessly into her family's deepest wounds in her first film. In the beginning, there was a doctor father and teacher mother. The couple thought they were unable to have children and decided to adopt a boy. Maybe even on the very day they picked up Marc, Paul was conceived. A year later, another surprise was born: Todd.

Now there is Marc, who as a result of a car accident suffers from brain damage, Todd, who has gotten fed up with Marc's quick temper, violence and vagaries and broken ties with him, and New York resident Paul, who, after a sex-change operation, is known as Kimberly.

The film process got its start from Reed's need to mend ties with his big brother Marc. Obstacles include Marc's uncontrolled tantrums caused by the brain damage. The traditional family model and its façade crumble as the siblings patch their relationships in this very direct and intimate film.

Sanna Paakkanen | Translation by Sophy Bergenheim

Sat 30.01 18:00, KUMU Auditorium

44500 MAX

Kokko Jari
78min, Finland, 2009

44500 is the name of a scent and a postal code in Viitasaari. They are connected by the original Max Perttula, a self-taught perfumer whose aim is to put his home town on the map. Max's calling is cosmetics and he envisions that in the future Viitasaari will be known as Finland's only perfume town.

While friends at school were interested in explosives, a 7-year-old Max created his first skin lotion, followed by a lipstick. Max Joacim Cosmetics, founded in 2005, seeks to realize his long-term dream. But being an entrepreneur is hard work: Max does everything himself, from product development to advertising.

The documentary follows Max's journey from a small town to Paris. The film is fresh in its depiction of the many sides of its unconventional protagonist; the clean cut salesman, the pop singer - and the persistent countryman who is inspired by the beautiful summer meadows of Viitasaari.

Tii Starck | Translation by Senni Lähde

sat 30.01 20:00, KUMU Auditorium

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A Blooming Business

van Zantvoort Ton
52min, the Netherlands, 2009

Holland is famous for its flowers. In addition to its own tulips it imports shiploads of roses from African flower farms. Behind the floral symbol of romance and love lurk horrific phenomena.

In his poetic documentary the Dutch Ton von Zantvoort depicts the people of Kenya's most important flower city, Naivasha. By following the lives of several former and current employees he paints a brutal image of the reality of the flower farms. The business, worth 400 million euros a year, is based on exploitation: employees without rights, environmental crime, polluted waters, safety hazards and even rape.

These stories are sad messages of powerlessness and disappointment from the other side of an unequal world. A local documentary maker brings counterbalance to the story as he presents secretly filmed footage from the farms. Destiny is also in people's own hands.

Susanna Okker ?Translation by Maria Koistinen

Sat 30.01 20:00, Artis

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Videocracy

Gandini Erik
81min, Sweden, 2009

What comes to mind from the words “Italian television”? The aptly-named Videocracy explores the harmonious union between entertainment and power, one of the many fruits of which is a television-show-girl-come-minister. The infamous leviathan Silvio Berlusconi is obviously at the top of this hierarchy of bad apples, a television mogul who made himself prime minister.

Documentarist Erik Gandini does not point the camera at Berlusconi himself, but an even more revealing image of Il Cavaliere's power and persona is drawn through his acquaintances. Lele Mora, who entertains Big Brother competitors in his white mansion, statuesque and tragic Fabio Corona, and paparazzi Marella, who is Berlusconi's neighbour, form a cavalcade that leaves you speechless.

Sanna Paakkanen | Translation by Anna Volmari

Sat 30.01 22:00, Artis

The Little Snow Animal

Tervo Miia
19min, Finland, 2009

Small town up north. No one to talk to. Nowhere to go but home. That, too, secluded. There, too, alone. Ceaselessly smoking cigarette. Bottle becomes a new vase as it empties. Laundry frozen in the frost. Yölinja night time radio programme. Radio voice Pekka Sauri. Someone who is awake with you. Someone to talk to. Support, comfort, help.

The Little Snow Animal is a tribute to the old radio programme Yölinja (1986-2002). It reminds us that sometimes we need people like Sauri to say things straight. To awaken and shake people up. Above all, to listen. To show that amid darkness is a heart and a life to be lived.

This documentary is a fine example of a film that blurs the borders between fact and fiction. It is a visually beautiful compilation of montage, audio piece, animation and archive material. It raises thoughts on how many girls stay in their hide without help. Without anyone who'd listen.

Hannele Majaniemi | Translation by Anna Volmari

Sun 31.01 14:00, KUMU Auditorium

Fight of Fate

El Aboudi Mohamed
56min, Finland, 2009

Umar Kemiläinen is a 26-year-old Finnish man dreaming of world championship in boxing. He is also a devout Muslim. Mohamed El Aboudi's film follows the life of Umar, former Veli-Matti, for whom adversities are passed by God for testing one's patience. The believer's mind is not shaken by the interruption of the athlete's professional career due to a mystical disease, or by divorce: “Allah decides who is to win and who is to lose.”

The derelict Nordic society wakes crushing anguish and shame in the young Muslim. He does not want drunks feasting on pork as his neighbours, but people of his own kind. The boxer's inner world, surrounded by Finnishness and the machoness of sport, is dominated by faith and a longing for distant lands. Under Dubai's sun, a triumphant and relieved smile spreads across Umar's face. The story pictures touchingly how some of us feel as they have been born in the wrong country.

Sanni Huvinen | Translation by Sophy Bergenheim

Sun 31.01 14:00, KUMU Auditorium

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The Most Dangerous Man in America

Ehrlich Judith, Goldsmith Rick
94min, United States, 2009

What to do with top secret research documenting the lies of five presidents on the reasons for the Vietnam War? For several years, Daniel Ellsberg collected information for the Pentagon's vaults, until he finally lost his faith in the system and leaked the documents to the public.

The Most Dangerous Man in America is a thriller narrated by Ellsberg, which culminates in the revelations that in 1971 tried the freedom of the press and the basis for war. The most memorable role is played by Richard Nixon, who is heard on tape demanding the use of nuclear bombs in Vietnam.

The scandal raised some fundamental questions: Can the state shut down a newspaper for leaking state secrets? How should a state official react to lies even Congress is not aware of? The events brought about the downfall of the corrupted Nixon government.

Matti Ylönen | Translation by Maria Koistinen

Sun 31.01 18:00, KUMU Auditorium

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Saviours

Nolan Liam, Whitaker Ross
78min, Ireland, 2008

Saviours is a safe haven in a working class Dublin suburb where kids try to stay out of drug addicts' way in the staircases of concrete high-rises. Unemployment, alcoholism, violence and social exclusion pester the area. Dean describes how Saviours has saved him from a grim future and made him adopt a healthy and respected lifestyle. Unlike what it may sound like, however, Saviours is not a church, it's a boxing club.

Saviours is also a documentary that corrects the false impression that boxing is all about violence. It's a humble tribute to a sport that channels the restlessness of young men into constructive action. The chain of masters and apprentices, which turns trainees into trainers, is weaved anew at each training session. The tradition must continue so that the hopeless can have hope. At the club, men to whom life doesn't offer many chances fight themselves a future.

Taina Vuokko | Translation by Senni Lähde

Sun 31.01 20:00, KUMU Auditorium

Google Baby

Brand Frank Zippi
59min, Israel, 2009

Shocking Google Baby shows how babies are manufactured according to custom specifications. Qualified genes are canned in Israel and the United States, and the embryos are flown to India to be placed into rented wombs. A major part is played by doctor Nayna Patel, who runs a rent-a-womb clinic in Gujarati, India, home of the surrogate mothers. Womb renting is indeed very profitable, but also introduces major health risks. The intermediate calls himself “the baby producer”. In order to work around obvious legislative obstacles and keep the costs down, manufacturing babies takes place in different countries.

Clientele is both foreign and Indian. Like any business nowadays, commercial baby production is advertised over the internet to anyone interested. But when forced to hand over one's newborn, people are reminded that our biological, primary emotions cannot be outsourced.

Anna Pesonen | Translation by Jon Grönvall

Sun 31.01 20:00, Artis

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The Red Chapel

Brügger Mads
90min, Denmark, 2009

Reporter-director Mads Brügger sets up North Korea's culturati, rigified by the military dictatorship, and persuades two unusual performance artists to perform at an international festival in Pyongyoang. Their confusing show baffles the host country's staid dance experts, but the production, which started out as a bad joke, can no longer be stopped.

A strange game begins where all roles get mixed up. The director is taken by the propaganda machine's flattery, and the hosts want to hone a strained play into shape. International guests must be exploited to the fullest, even if they are original and handicapped - both qualities the state does not tolerate.

The film starts out lightly but gradually raises more serious questions: What fate do the handicapped have in North Korea? What lies in the backyard of a beautiful, finely tuned system? The audience already knows the answer.

Erkko Lyytinen | Translation by Anna Volmari

Sun 31.01 22:00, Artis