Lucidno FILM U VRIJEME PANDEMIJE KORONAVIRUSA / FILM AT THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
SRBIJA
BILJANA TUTOROV, rediteljka i producentkinja
Novi film na kojem sam u intervalima radila tokom čitave decenije trebao je da ima premijeru ovog proleća, ali smo odlučili da sačekamo da se festivalske aktivnosti normalizaciju i vrate u tradicionalne okvire. Posebno kada je u pitanju ovaj film, nisam mogla da zamislim onlajn premijeru, što je postalo praksa u doba korone.
Film je o ranim dvehiljaditim u kojima je Darko Rundek okupio nas nekolicinu u pariškom predgrađu, sa idejom da sprovede neobičan muzičko-produkcijski eksperiment i snimi “lajv” album u improvizovanom studiju pokraj železničke pruge u blizini piste za poletanje aerodroma Orli. Ova utopijska situacija rimovala se sa tekstovima i zvucima posvećenim raznim lutanja ali i (e/i)migrantskim iskustvima muzičara. Radila sam naizmenično sama i sa montažerima sve dok nisam našla tačnu formu i jezik filma. Pre nego priču, želela sam da dam iskustvo koje povezuje poeziju i lutanja. Ne dolazi u obzir premijera bez bioskopskog platna i publike, radije ću doterati još malo montažu i sačekati bolja vremena. Sledeći film snimamo u Crnoj Gori u junu i veoma zavisimo o letnjim terminima pošto su protagonistkinje dve planinke na Sinjajevini. Mlađa je dete i brzo se menja, izgubićemo kontinuitet ako se kojim slučajem situacija ne odblokira. Spremamo se kao da neće biti odlaganja. Primećujem i da sam se navikla na nomadski život, stalno na putu poslednjih godina, kao i da najbolje razmišljam i pišem u tranzitu, u no-mans-landu. Teško podnosim kućni pritvor koji nam je nametnut, muči me nedemokratičnost mera koje je moja zemlja uvela, siva zona u koju smo upali i strah koji se uvukao u nas. Od početne ideje da ću imati vremena da čitam i pišem, shvatila sam da želim da razumem šta se zbiva sa čovečanstvom na svim planovima, da pronađem “narativ” - kako je to nedavno formulisala Saskia Sassen - koji je najbliži istini kako je ja osećam. Pitam se koje je značenje filmova na kojima radim u ovim novonastalim okolnostima… Više sam razmišljala nego radila…
Problem je što smo mi u regionu i u normalnim uslovima na ivici egzistencije i za svaki film se borimo do poslednjeg daha. Sada konkursi kasne, bilo je otkazivanja, smanjivanja budžeta i sličnih mera. Distribucija autorskih filmova i dokumentaraca koje radimo gotovo da i ne postoji i svojski smo se trudili poslednjih godina da se taj prostor što više proširi. O filmu je praktično prestalo da se piše tokom proteklih par meseci i to je realnost je na globalnom nivou. Plašim se da će se iz krize kao i uvek najbolje izvući najjači, to znači oni kod kojih je novac, a ne oni koji rizikujući stvaraju dela izvan konvencionalnih okvira. Poslednjih godina se i u Srbiji i u Crnoj Gori počela stvarati nova scena, pa se nadam da će nastaviti da se razvija sličnom dinamikom, od ranije naviknuta na nemoguće uslove. Još nemamo zvanične stavove naših filmskih centara, ni najave eventualnih mera ublaživanja krize, pa je teško proceniti šta će se u bliskoj budućnosti dešavati na institucionalnom nivou i kakva je perspektiva za festivale. Dobro je što Sarajevo ne odustaje od tradicionalnog festivala.
Aktivno učestvujem u nekoliko radnih grupa udruženja u kojima sam aktivna, a posebno u EWA - European Women Audio-Visual Network i DAE - Documentary association of Europe koja je formirana tokom poslednjeg Berlinala. Razgovaramo, razmenjujemo iskustva jer tu su reditelji, producenti, selektori festivala, kritičari, urednici programa itd. Onlajn sastanci donose neku sasvim novu intimu - svi smo u svojim kućama, željni da razumemo, dijalog je lakši jer svi smo na istoj strani. Komuniciramo među sobom više nego ikada i nadam se da će taj prostor dijaloga i solidarnost ostati i posle normalizacije stanja. Ne znamo još uvek koliko će trajati kriza i na koji način će, pre svega, Evropska Unija pa onda i zemlje našeg regiona reagovati. Puno filmova u produkciji neće biti završeno ove godine, filmski radnici koji su često freelanceri imaće verovatno manje posla, ali čini mi se da je najradikalnija posledica privremeno ukidanje tradicionalnih festivala, koji su osim važnih profesionalnih punktova, za mene pre svega mesta filmskih susreta, diskusije i demokratije.
Činjenica je, pak, da se u nedostatku sportskih događaja, po kućama filmovi gledaju više nego ikada, pa bi bilo sjajno da nam ta navika ostane. Nadam da smo usporivši svi na neki način bliži sebi i važnim pitanjima, te da nećemo pohrliti u “staru” normalnost. Možda je upravo vreme za promene? Bilo bi sjajno ako ovo iskustvo unese vitalnost i u i industriju i stvaralačke procese.
MLADEN VUŠUROVIĆ, direktor medjunarodnog festivala dokumentarnog filma BELDOCS, Beograd
Na prvo pitanje, odgovorio bih: veoma pozitivno, korona me je udaljila od tekućih svakodnevnih menadžerskih obaveza i poslova, pronašla mi slobodno vrijeme da se bavim kreativnošću, imaginacija i vizuelizacija, iako se i imaginacija i vizuelizacija mogu koristiti u menadžmentu, sasvim efikasno, sada sam se vratio svojoj kreativnoj prirodi, za kojom sam čeznuo, oslobodio se pritiska svakodnevnice,otvorio svoja polja imaginacije, i tamo susreo sjajne naracije i priče, koje se pričaju same u mojoj glavi, brzo na vidjelo, nadam se.
Osim toga, korona me je podsjetila da prije ili kasnije sleduje nam kraj svijeta, ovakva ljudska civilizacija je prvo osuđena na ništavilo i negaciju sebe, pa eto još jednog polja imaginacije, kako i kada ćemo se susresti s svojim tvorcem i magarcem koji će nas odvesti nekuda, ne znamo kuda i zašto tamo idemo.
Posledice će biti veoma ozbiljne, plašiti se je, udar na bioskopske sale, bez kojih nema ni filmske industrije, će biti ozbiljan, jer koliko god se narodi nijesu ili jesu uplašili, koliko god će imunizacija biti brza i uspješna, oprez će ostati trajna kategorija, Kada se uzmu u obzir velike ekonomske posledice i osiromašenje ljudsko i dalje raslojavanje, doista se moramo zabrinuti za dalji tok filmske industrije, gdje ćemo naći gledaoca i kako ga povratiti nazad u bioskop, iako u svakom zlu ima nešto dobro.
Dobro je, vjerujem, da će se osloboditi ljudska mašta i imaginacija, poriv za oslobođenim filsmkim izrazom i vizuelizacija. Vjerujem da ćemo se svi ozbiljno zamisliti kako dalje, i pronaći dovoljno mudrosti da najveće poraze pretvorimo u pobjede, eto putokaza, nadam se svakako novoj filmskoj industriji.Vjerujem takođe da će nas korona podsjetiti i još jednom opomenuti da je svijet suviše međuzavistan i povezan, što posebno važi za filmsku industriju .
RAINER KLAUSMANN, director of photography, Switzerland/Germany
This summer Fatih and I wanted to prepare a series of 6 x 60 minutes about Marlene Dietrich. Now it is postponed in the future.
I don’t think it is a big damage for the film art in the future because the people are so bored of staying at home and see the movies on TV screen, so they will be happy to go out again and meet people at cinemas, festivals etc.
It will be a hard fight for the cinemas to survive, but still, the "good old time" comes again…
Something positive? As you know, the mankind has never learnt something from the past, so nothing positive will happen in the future (I hope I’m wrong!)
MIKE OTT, director, California, U.S.A.
Well, it’s been interesting because it has put a lot of stuff on hold of course, but it at the same time has refocused the energy in a way and made me and the producers concentrate time on aspects we may otherwise have waited on. Oddly enough it’s brought our project together stronger somehow.
- That’s hard to say. Film festivals/film people, in my opinion, have become more and more conservative and square in their culture. Hopefully there are still some radicals left in the system that will forge ahead and keep art in the forefront and not hysterical privileged whiners. I wish we still had someone like Hans Hurch to look to in situations like this. Ultimately, people are going to be hungry for content and want to watch new stuff, so it’s our job to push forward to find a way to do that.
- Maybe it will push out some of the squares who are into art as a fad and give more opportunities to the artists who are here for a lifetime. I just rewatched Come and See recently and it made me think if people survived that situation, we better be able to handle the coronavirus. I mean, really.
DIMITRIS KOUTSIABASAKOS, director, Greece
It was just two months ago I had completed the post-production of my new feature film. And suddenly the Coronavirus pandemic broke out and the world came upside down. Usually a movie starts its itinerary from film festivals. At this point I am wondering how the pandemic will affect film festivals organization concepts and their choosing criteria. I am also considering how the attitude of the audience will change towards movies, not just practically (attending or not the movie screens), but also mentally and emotionally. I believe that the Coronavirus pandemic has placed a filter in our minds, “before and after”. I really hope that these two months ago will not turn out as years after.
Already around the world many film festivals and screening events have been cancelled or postponed. In Greece, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, set to begin in March, it was postponed and now will take place on line in May.
The cinema lockdown resulted in the loss of the 1/3 of the season profit, while the summer season is still under question and during all this period current expenses (taxes, electricity, rental fees) are pending charges.
I am afraid that the movie theater is one of the biggest losers amid coronavirus pandemic and without movie theaters is difficult to speak about cinema as an art, as we knew it.
China’s film industry has lost approximately $3 billion by now. They were forced to close all the cinemas during the Lunar New Year period and the season’s economic incomes finances cinema industry across Asia.
North American film industry registers not the same loss, but encounters the same financial problems.
In my opinion, coronavirus pandemic will change the film industry, the film production and for sure the film distribution. With no doubts we are facing a transitional period for all of us and for film industry, as well. I must admit that I am afraid of transition, people will need time to overcome difficulties till they will finally manage to achieve a new stability.
EMANUELE GEROSA, director, Italy
When the pandemic started, I wasn’t working on a specific project. I finished last year a new film that has been premiered in Italy last October at Rome Film festival and I was waiting for the international premiere of the film and its theatrical distribution in Italy. Unfortunately, due to this situation, many festivals have been cancelled and the theatrical release in Italy has been postponed. My film, One More Jump, is part of the selection of Visions du Réel this year, even if the festival is taking place online. I could say that the pandemic has not only affected my work in a bad way, but it has been also a push to try to focus on this moment and set in motion a new project. Since the beginning of the pandemic I have started to work on a new project: I’m trying to collect video diaries from teenagers all over Italy, filmed with their mobile phones. I thought that all of us are affected by this situation, but the teenagers are the most vulnerable generations if we focus on the long lasting consequences, because they are in the first steps of building their lives and future and they are the ones feeling the biggest displacement. Moreover they are also very used to communicating through their devices and in their video diaries they have a special ability to express their feelings and restlessness.
I don’t know how long this situation will last, but I’m sure that already during the last months the pandemic has created an enormous damage to film festivals, cinemas and various film events. The worst thing is the uncertainty about the future: nobody could tell what will happen in the near future. During this time I have thought a lot about it and despite the fact that technology we have at our disposal is very helpful, all these kinds of events cannot exist until a new “normality” has taken place. In my opinion, film festivals, cinemas and various film events need the theatre, the audience and the author. Without these conditions they become an online platform as any other platform and they lose the magic of their specificity.
Globally? I don’t know what to answer about this, as any other crisis, this one as well, will push for innovation and creative solutions, but at the moment, I can see only the difficulties of any production to realize a film. With all the problems of risk of contagion and allowed distancing, it might be very difficult to produce a film. Maybe this time we are living, might influence the topic of film production in the years to come. It could arise a bigger attention about reality and as an author of non-fiction film, that could be a positive outcome to what I care the most: telling real stories about real people.
