[spectre] IFFR Rotterdam H O T S P O T S

[Kees Brienen]

'But then they danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I 
shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who 
interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the 
ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of 
everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a 
commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman 
candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you 
see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' (Jack 
Kerouac, On The Road)

H O T S P O T S

Always on the lookout for young talent, but also explicitly 
interested in the context from which art emerges, the festival team 
scans the globe for 'hot spots', geographical crossroads where a 
striking creative energy can be found. With the discovery of a film 
maker, artist or audiovisual institute as its direct motivation, Hot 
Spots searches the local scene for the social climate which helps 
read this creative energy and import it in a condensed way. Thanks to 
the digitalisation that started in the late 1990s, the medium has 
become more accessible than ever. Inspired by unprecedented 
opportunities of language and technology, the presentation forms are 
also continuously developing. Film and video, as well as VJ visuals, 
music, performance, theatre, fashion, visual art and new media are 
all suitable - cross-fertilisation between disciplines is more the 
rule than the exception, certainly among young artists. Examples of 
this are brought together in a bouquet that allows the specific 
ambience to come across. Hot Spots teleports us, as it were, to one 
club or another and provides visitors with an opportunity to 
understand the conditions needed for an interesting and innovative 
film culture. The periphery of film making becomes the focus. It is 
the ambition of Hot Spots to focus on the surroundings in which a 
film is presented, in order to turn the art of film in its most 
diverse forms into a serious subject of cultural criticism. The 
aspect of amusement and spectacle linked to the medium already 
receives enough attention in regular journalism and screening 
practice. Hot Spots is more interested in linking cinema to its 
origins as an art form. The programme is being held in the former 
cinema Off_Corso. Adam Marchall is responsible for the kitchen, which 
will be a significant part of the programme this year for the first 
time...

'The history of the living world can be summarized as the elaboration 
of ever more perfect eyes within a cosmos in which there is always 
something more to be seen.'
(Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)


Vilnius - Reality Is What We Do Together...

During the Soviet era, cinema played an important role in the 
cultural life of Lithuania. Enormous film theatres were built at 
central locations in the cities. Unfortunately, since independence in 
1990, Lithuania has been imprisoned in an insane blossoming of real 
estate trading, demolition, infrastructure developments and 
privatisation. The Baltic states are governed by corrupt municipal 
officials, speculators and real estate magnates who go to any lengths 
to realise their most important motive: making a profit. Capitalism 
imported from the West has gone crazy. The most significant victims 
are the public spaces, historic buildings, cultural life and public 
opinion. Since independence, almost all the cinemas in Vilnius have 
been demolished or converted by private companies into luxury 
apartments and exclusive shopping malls. On 25 July, the last cinema 
in Vilnius with independent programming, Lietuva, celebrated its 40th 
birthday, but fate has also struck this cinema (see 
<http://vilma.cc/lietuva>http://vilma.cc/lietuva). The Coca-Cola 
Plaza is now virtually the only remaining cinema. Yet the cultural 
and artistic developments in particularly Vilnius above all 
demonstrate an enormous positive energy. The Contemporary Art Centre 
(<http://www.CAC.lt>www.CAC.lt) plays a central role in this. It 
functions as a meeting place for national and international artists, 
curators and about 60,000 visitors every year. There is an enormous 
potential for cultural innovation, maybe as a result in part of the 
fact that Lithuania is now a member of the European Union. But a new 
identity also means a struggle. Hot Spots shows the climate in which 
such transitions take place and how the local scene organises its 
quest for an autonomous identity.

Workshow: One Ingredient Cooking Performance
In collaboration with the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), curated by 
CAC TV, with special appearance by Algis Stravinskas and music 
performances by PB8 & Dublicate.

Music performances:
Dublicate (electronic)
PB8

Short films:
Easily and Sweetly - Ignas Mishkinis (2003, 23 min.)
Matrioskos - Deimantas Narkevicius (2005, 24 min.)
The Missing Book - Danas Bereznitsky (2005, 3 min.)
Nearby You - Algimantas Maceina (2005, 25 min.)
Only Don't Scare Us - Ilja Bereznickas (2005, 7 min.)
Sunday As It Is - Ignas Jonynas (2003, 31 min.)
Vulkanovka, After Grand Cinema - Giedre Beinoriute (2005, 45 min.)
White On Blue - Ramunas Greichius (2004, 20 min.)
Who Sleeps Beside You - Dovile Gasiunaite (2003, 15 min.)
AXX Festival - 70 min. of short films produced by Jurate Bitinaite
Students' Diploma Work 2005 - Lithuanian Theatre and Music Academy:
Change the Record (19 min.)
Family Feature (16 min.)
Lithuanian Beauty (27 min.)
The Mess (15 min.)
Tupi, Tupi Tashka (doc. 11 min.)
Wolf (25 min.)

Feature films:
Jausmai (Feelings) - Almantas Grikiavicius (Soviet Union, 1968, 90 min.)
One of the best Lithuanian films ever, banned for years in the former 
Soviet Union, about the life of fisherman Kasparas just after the 
Second World War. The German Army has fled the country, after which 
the Soviets take over power in Lithuania. One-off screening in Hot 
Spots.
Seven Invisible Men - Sharunas Bartas (2005, 119 min.)
No real talkers, these characters from Bartas. On the steppes of the 
Crimea, a group of drop-outs, losers and crooks find each other. 
These sombre drinking men and nervously smoking women, the derelict 
houses and impassable roads, blocked by apparently deserted cattle 
and poultry, have been portrayed spectacularly. Further information 
in the programme section Maestros: Kings & Aces.

Special guests:
Jurate Bitinaite (producer, promoter AXX)
CAC TV-crew
Uljana Kim (producer, curator)
Raimundas Malasauskas (curator CAC, writer, art historian)
Algis Stravinskas (artist)


Mexico City - In Gold We Trust...

Mexico City can be described as great in several ways: it's size, the 
number of inhabitants, the infrastructure issues and the pollution 
that go with it all. It's often difficult not to exaggerate. But the 
gigapolis also has some very positive aspects: the unparalleled 
dynamics, the versatility of street life, the intensity of cultural 
production and the originality of the culture at every level. Mexico 
City was hit in 1985 by a very destructive earthquake, but has since 
then reached a pinnacle in geographical growth. When it comes to 
economic development, the city unfortunately only knows low points. 
The chasm between poor and rich has never been so gaping. But with 
all its contradictions, Mexico City is a gigantic social laboratory, 
continually looking for its identity. As Godard once said: 'If you 
don't have an identity, then you're looking for an image.' Strangely 
enough, the misery of the 1980s has given Mexican film culture a new 
impulse. Contemporary film makers break away from the codes of the 
rich film tradition that find their origins at the end of the Mexican 
Revolution, now nearly a century ago. It is an interesting fact that, 
despite all economic setbacks, Mexico continues to develop a film 
culture all of its own, led by directors such as Iñárittu (Amores 
perros) and Reygadas (Battle in Heaven). In Mexico City alone, there 
are 17 institutions where film is taught and 74 film production and 
distribution companies. In Mexico, eight different international film 
festivals are organised. Hot Spots maps out the origins of this new, 
independent, contemporary film culture.

Presentations of young film directors:
Yibran Asuad
Hector Davila
Paulina del Paso
Pedro Gonzales
Guillermo Marin
Mario Marquez
Renato Ornelas
Gerardo Naranjo

Artist videos:
circuito interior - Silvia Gruner
Dark Mirror - Carlos Amorales
Energia Negra - Gabriel Acevedo Pomar & Andrea Fereira
Inverted Star - Miguel Calderon
Landscapes - Galia Eibenschutz
Momentos Irrepetibles - Daniel Guzman
Pirate & B series film compilation - Orlando Jimenez

Music performances:
Aux Raus, Baastian Bosma & Luuk Bouman
Debralleitor, Chente Rodriguez Lima
Lasser Moderna, Adriana Lara & Emilio Acevedo
Silverio, Julian Lede

Feature films:
El Baile - Victor Vio (1983, 85 min.)
Sparkling, enthusiastic film about practising the popular Mexican 
dance. Interspersed with interviews with musicians involved, music 
distributors, DJs and of course the dancers themselves. One-off 
screening in Hot Spots.
Batalla en el cielo - Carlos Reygadas (2005, 98 min.)
The sequel to Japón is a big city story of downfall in mega-city 
Mexico City, about a fat chauffeur, his boss' beautiful daughter and 
the surprising significance of an unforgivable crime. Worrying and 
exciting existential drama by one of the world's greatest film 
talents. Further information in the programme section Cinema of the 
Future: Sturm und Drang.
Sangre - Amat Escalante (2005, 90 min.)
Lauded, sturdy début by former assistant director to Carlos Reygadas. 
The life of a simple man is made up of boring work and household life 
filled with tele-novelas and sex with his jealous wife. This bearable 
existence becomes completely disrupted by an appeal for help from his 
daughter from a previous marriage, who has just kicked a drugs habit. 
Further information in the programme section Cinema of the Future: 
Sturm und Drang.

Special guests:
Emilio Acevedo (musician Sonido Lassar)
Carlos Amorales (artist, curator, promotor)
Bastiaan Bosma (musician Aux Raus)
Luuk Bouman (musician Aux Raus)
Alejandro Giacomann (soundtracks for NarcoFilms)
Yibran Asuad (artist, film maker)
Paulina del Paso (artist, film maker)
Adriana Lara (musician Sonido Lassar)
Camilo Lara (EMI Instituto Mexicano del Sonido)
Julian Lede (musician Silverio)
Mario Marquez (film maker)
Chente Rodriguez Lima (musician Debralleitor)


Johannesburg - Post Whites Only...

For decades, South African film culture has led a very isolated 
existence. The apartheid regime was obviously responsible for moral 
and political censorship, a lack of freedom and democracy and 
restrictions in distribution opportunities for anything that could 
endanger its existence. South Africa developed a major backlog in 
knowledge referring to developments in the language of the moving 
picture. The artistic, social and political possibilities of the 
medium were hardly investigated at all.
Thanks to the enormous black struggle that took over the nation, 
alongside international political and economic pressure, in 1994 
democracy eventually made its entrance. The personification of the 
anti-apartheid movement, Nelson Mandela, became the new president. 
After years of being silenced, the black majority, women, gays and 
lesbians, were eventually able to make their voice heard in relative 
freedom. This became the foundation on which the new, contemporary, 
critical South African cinema could be built. But ironically enough, 
the introduction of freedom and democracy only increased the 
differences between poor and rich. The assumption that apartheid was 
over turned out to be an illusion. Johannesburg in particular turns 
out to be a city with great contradictions, affected severely by the 
difficult issues surrounding crime and the spread of AIDS. The latest 
generation of artists and film makers is critical of the achievements 
democracy has brought and of the compulsory euphoria dictated by the 
government and mass media. A very striking, fairly recent development 
in Johannesburg is the rise of a local hip-hop culture, called 
Kwaito. On this subject, Aryan Kaganof made the documentary Sharp 
Sharp. Kaganof: 'It has been screened at many festivals and I am 
quite proud of it. Here in South Africa it has become a real cult 
film - they sell it in the shops as a bootleg VHS tape!'

Artist films:
Post Whites Only, curated by Aryan Kaganof
The Brown Europe Project - Jean Meeran
I Like - Dineo Bopape
Imagine - Eran Tahor
The Incubus - Guto Bussab
My BM is Bigger Than Yours - Cameron Platter
Pandrogeny Manifesto - Aldo Lee & Dionysos Andronis (WP)
The Pencil Test Series - Johan Thom
The Pencil Test Series II - Johan Thom
The Pencil Test Series III - Johan Thom
Poems That Kill - Catherine Henegan
Rituals and Items - Michael Matthews
Rituals and Items II - Michael Matthews
Running Out - Michele Mathison
Self-Portrait With Nanny - Aryan Kaganof
So is 'n Os Gemaak - Peter van Heerden
A Song For The - Nathaniel Stern
Stimela (projection) - Rike Sitas
Stimela (tv) - Rike Sitas
The Task - Storm Janse van Rensburg
Waiting - Rike Sitas & Dean Henning
Whole, A Trinity of Being - Shelley Barry

Spoken word / hip-hop poetry performances:
Ntsiki Mazwai
Natalia Molebatsi
Rhamncwa
Shamiel X

Artist performance:
Johan Thom

Electronic music performance:
James Webb

Short films:
Before TV - Stacey Sacks (2004, 11 min.)
Beyond Freedom - Jacquie Trowell (2005, 13 min.)
Blow - Llewlelyn Roderick (2004, 5 min.)
I Love You Jet Li - Jaco Bouwer (2004, 9 min., script by novelist Stacy Hardy)
Insecurity - Neil Shaw (2004, 8 min.)
Kofifi - Mic Mann (2004, 26 min.)
Sharp Sharp - Aryan Kaganof (2003, 26 min.)

Feature films:
Dollars & White Pipes - Donovan March (2005, 96 min.)
Bizarre yet musical and hip story based on facts. Bernie Baanjies 
(generation-star Clint Brick) dreams of becoming as rich and famous 
as JR Ewing from Dallas. He works his way up from slum inhabitant to 
nightclub manager, but becomes involved with drugs, violence and 
gangster practices. One-off screening in Hot Spots.
Faith's Corner - Darrell Roodt (2005, 90 min.)
Wonderful minimal film with a soundtrack by Philip Glass. 
Consistently designed in the style of the silent movie, about the 
tragic story of a mother with her two children on the streets of 
Johannesburg as she tries to survive. One-off screening in Hot Spots.
Tsotsi - Gavin Hood (2005, 94 min.)
Tsotsi, a young and very violent gangster from the townships of 
Johannesburg, acquires a moral insight when, following a carjacking, 
he suddenly finds himself lumbered with a baby. Gripping, dazzling 
drama was a winner of the audience award at the Toronto Festival. 
Further information in the programme section Cinema of the World: 
Time & Tide.

Special guests:
Ntsiki Mazwai
Natalia Molebatsi
Rhamncwa
Johan Thom
James Webb
Shamiel X


This programme has not been possible to make without the kind support 
of the VSB fund...

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