Posted 8:33 AM by *cnn
Last night at the cinematheque in Nazareth, the documentary film al-Sabar (The Cactus) was shown to a packed audience, including the filmmaker and the main subject of the film.
The film charted two main storylines, interweaving them until they were indistinguishable. The first was a woman's quest to mount a photographic exhibition in a refugee camp in Lebanon of Palestinian villages destroyed in 1948. The second thread was a homage to a Swiss doctor and his wife, who had dedicated their life's work to the people of Nazareth.
You'll have to excuse me for not remembering the people's names, generic descriptions will have to suffice.

When the Photographer took the Doctor and his Wife to the Allenby Bridge soldiers kindly informed them that no filming would be permitted. Further along the border with Jordan, the Wife indignantly told the camera about their work here in '48, giving health checks to people fleeing the coming Israeli Army. Forms were given out at this time, in Hebrew, which effectively signed over all property left behind to Israel, and made those fleeing promise not to try to return. When the Wife protested that these people could not understand what they were signing, a soldier convinced her that a loudspeaker was explaining the implications. When she asked to see the loudspeaker another soldier said (in Hebrew), "there is no loudspeaker". After the Wife had said here piece, the Doctor quietly but audibly said to her, "We shouldn't talk about these things". She looked sheepishly back at the camera, but seemed genuinely relieved to have gotten it out of her.

The Photographer's daughter (acclaimed singer Rim Banna) held a concert in Hebron, singing modern variations on traditional songs. The crowd at the open air concert truly appreciated the need to keep such songs alive for the new generations. As babes slept in their parents arms, teenagers sang along and cheered.

By the end of the film, through trials and tribulations, arguments with residents of Ein Hod (onc e the Arab village of Ayn Hawd), and numerous other setbacks, the exhibition goes ahead in Ain el-Hilne, Lebanon. Refugees there, young and old, were able to see their villages and land, some for the first time in more than 50 years, some for the first time ever. The doctor, it turns out, was himself an amateur photographer with an excellent collection of photographs that documented the modern history of Palestine.

Afterward the film, a large chunk of the audience gravitated to the Ba'ita Phalestina (Palestinian House) in the Old City to discuss the film, chat to its creators and subjects, and enjoy the ambience of the traditional Palestinian architecture.

I hope that al-Sabar will get a larger release, perhaps even into the cinemas most frequented by the Israeli mainstream, or (heaven forbid) the Knesset.

Posted 2:36 PM by *cnn
Dogville
Danish director Lars Von Trier's much awaited new project Dogville arrived in front of me last week, just four days after its Australia-wide release. As reliable sources have told me, the movie has suffered in the initial box office receipts for failing to be 'sneaked' to the public before opening. The process of 'sneaking' a film entails telling everyone that it will open on Boxing Day [for example] and then going around to the dens of arts journalists, aspiring writers, student union hangouts and the like, and handing out free or discounted tickets to those 'in the know'. All this is in the hope that these people will create a buzz to envelope the film in a sort of 'oh my god, you haven't seen _____ yet? It's amazing', so that when the gates are opened the masses will swarm in, desperately eager to catch up to an imagined cultural elite. Like 'Lost in Translation', an excellent film no doubt, but one that opened on Boxing Day after already being projected onto screens approximately 200 times.

But Dogville, no 'sneaks', no brown nosing nor gimmick pulling, and the crowds don't want it...apparently. Maybe by not creating a buzz the film will slow boil, as people see it of their own volition and judge it accordingly.

Dogville is an interesting film to say the least. The action never leaves the small town of Dogville, which fugitive Grace (Nicole Kidman in her best performance yet, in my opinion) comes to, obstensibly seeking protection from gangsters. She immediately convinces Thomas Edison, a morally upright young philosopher, to bring her into the community to shelter her from danger. In return for this protection however, the quiet, law-abiding citizens of Dogville insist on a number of measures, meant to ensure she is symbolically 'paying her way'. An escalation of these dues makes for a peculiar tension, as it seems the town can have its way with her. I can say no more.

Playing out on a mostly bare stage, what is necessary to represent has been drawn onto the black floor in white chalk.

The details are filled in by a Dickens-esque narration that never slips from simply telling a story.

While not quite a Dogme 95 film, Dogville uses its limitations as a distinct selling point, a method by which to literally peel back the layers that hide our true identity, illuminating the facades individuals and communities hide behind.

One of my favourite films of 2003.