monthly newsletter of NISI MASA

más ymás

Mockumentary

DEC10

spotlight: Nisimazine Amsterdam

from

C'e

st a

rriv

é pr

ès d

e ch

ez v

ous

(199

2)

Top 10 I'm still hereZelig

editorialMockumentary is probably the strangest object coming out of the varied and crazy world of cinema. In the last decade it suddenly appeared in many guises: films, tv series, documentaries. The essence of the mockumentary has taken two different directions. The first one – which was the “spirit” of the first mockumetaries of the past - is the joke. These movies use the typi-cal code of documentaries to make fun about (and often using) the serious-ness of the documentary style. The key in this case is the representation of a kind of reality, showing something that - even if it’s clearly absurd from the beginning - pretends to be real using the documentary style to present a fact. In this case the (auto-) ironic aspect is the main result (as in many Monty Python sketches, Woody Allen’s Zelig etc). The spectator accepts the joke because it can be easily recognised – this is the core of the movie.

The other direction is more interesting and new – to use the documentary style in order to increase the “sense of real” in the spectators head, bringing one to feel more empathy with what he is watching (think of REC, Paranor-mal Activity, Cloverfield and also TV-series, like The Office). The aim here is different. The use of a documentary style adds more effect and power to the film, giving more of a “real” point-of-view in order to increase the im-pact on the spectator. The core is to tell something which is not real, but

pretends to be real without being clearly absurd. There is a “contamination” with something which is not typical for a documentary, but it stands aside from fiction.

In these cases, the realistic documentary style is not adopted to ridicule the genre. Its tools are being used in a fictional way in order to avoid special effects, because these are less and less necessary for the audience to sus-pend its disbelief. Now there is a way to create stories where poor visuals (previously considered a weak aspect in all cinematographic genres) be-comes something that give strength to a film. You just need a camera, and a story to justify its “fictional” use.

It seems that we are needing a new set of codes to believe in the stories told in cinema, as we used the traditional “fictional” ones too much in the past.

by Simone Fenoil

credits.

agenda

EDITORIAL STAFF Coordination Simone FeniolJass SeljamaaDesignMaartje Alders

Contributors to this issue: Severine Beaudot, Igor Bezinović, Simone Fenoil, Mara Klein, Ilkin Mehrabov, Marta Musso, Joana Pinto Correira, Eftihia Stefanidi

NISI MASA (European Office) 99 Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis75010, Paris, FranceTel/Fax: +33 (0)9 60 39 63 38+ 33 (0)6 32 61 70 26Email europe@nisimasa.com Website www.nisimasa.com

Mas y Mas is a monthly newsletter published by the association NISI MASA.

Polyglot submissions deadline5 JANUARY

Young Pictures from Malmö application deadline15 JANUARY

dossier3 Mockumentary

I’m Still Here: The Next Generation of the Mockumentary Genre

Young Pictures from Malmö application deadline

They exist for a long time now, but are still unknown to a great number of people. If this is your case – or, on the opposite side,

you’re a true fan – this article’s for you. A mockumentary is a “mock documentary”, a parody made out of the nature of docu-mentary. If you think you haven’t had the chance to come across one, think again. Remember The Blair Witch Project or Borat? They are some of the most commercial ones, but it serves to locate you.

Actually the term only appeared in pop culture after Rob Reiner’s groundbreak-ing comedy on a fictional rock band called This is Spinal Tap in 1984, but years before some directors were already experiencing it, like the one who showed the detailed harvesting of spaghetti from inventory spaghetti trees, or another showing a mi-raculous process of dry-cleaning, in which you could enter a tank fully dressed and come out on the other side, clean as new.

Mockumentaries are fun, but they can also be – and frequently are - used for talking serious business in an ironic way. Take Noviembre by Achero Mañas, which is on a group of provocative artists: the more one maintains or exaggerates the structure of true documentary, the better the results in making it credible. Another good example is Man bites Dog, by Rémy Belvaux. Benoit, the main character, is a charming and char-ismatic young man who maintains a lov-ing relationship with his family, plays the piano and discusses at length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture, pigeons or classical music. But he also happens to be a sadistic serial killer who goes on mur-derous rampages for money and, mainly, his own enjoyment.

Bob Roberts by Tim Robbins follows a po-litical candidate running for the U.S. Sen-ate, who is a musician singing conserva-tive ideas about rebellion that in the end reveals to be a corrupted fake. It gives us a privileged guided tour through the paths of shady deals, hypocrisy and de-ceit of U.S. politics. Interestingly enough, there’s another great one on this matter showing in Kars. Punishment Park (1970) pseudodocuments a news coverage crew on soldiers chasing a group of hippies, draft dodgers and anti-system young-sters through a desert death-game. The rebels can assumedly escape by reach-ing an American flag set miles away from their starting point. This will supposedly set them free from their beliefs. The grow-ing hostility of the soldiers only ends up revealing the sad nature of hatred-based mentalities.

We know documentaries are too always a construction over reality, but mockumen-taries scream that straight in your face. They work as a powerful mirror to make us reflect on some of nowadays absurd reali-ties, simply by subtly showing them to us in a very smart – and assumed - satirical way.

by Joana Pinto Correira

->->->->->

When Joaquin Phoenix appeared in a heavy bearded, decadent stage on David Letterman’s Late Show a year ago, ‘acting’ unusually quiet whilst provocatively chewing gum, we all sus-

pected something might not be right. Reaffirming the ru-mours about his exit from acting in exchange for a fulfilling career in rap music also left us to wonder whether April’s fools’ has arrived early. Then a year later Casey Affleck an-nounces that he has been incessantly documenting his brother-in-law’s decay from a Hollywood A-Lister turning into a spotlight-phobic creature who likes Sex, Drugs & Puff Diddy.

I’m Still Here premiered as a straight documentary at the Ven-ice Film Festival, resulting in most of the critics utterly falling for the new JP (Joaquin’s initials as a rapper!), only to find out soon - and to their bewilderment - that this was one big hoax. Possibly the best pre-publicity stunt ever made for a film, Phoenix would have made Stanislavksy really proud as he acutely exercised “method-acting” for quite some time. The plausibility of I’m Still Here wins you over and is masterly executed not only because Phoenix is a great actor but also because Affleck is an even greater manipulator, his direc

tion giving you exactly what you want from celebrity peep-ing, and so much more.

Some were clearly disgruntled by the fact that so much en-ergy was spent on the making of this mockumentary. On the one hand it could be a realistic depiction of how Hollywood manifests itself and how it exploits its actors; on the other hand though, isn’t the film using this same system for its own attention? And aren’t its creators fed from that same industry? Regardless the ideological dis-course, one lesson to be learned by this experiment is that the media are able to reproduce the tiniest bit of nonsense (‘actor retires at 34!’), and we can effortlessly take it all in. A film of multiple readings, I’m Still Here ends up being not only a sharp satire of the reality show model, but also an overwhelmingly impressive visual portrait, in which star-dom is just the top coat of a finely artistic work.

by Eftihia Stefanidi

WE LOVE MOCKUMENTARIES

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

dossier 4Mockumentary

I am still here (C. Affleck, 2010)

At his direction debut, actor Casey Affleck has a unique access to the life of super-star and best friend Joaquin Phoenix, who decided to leave behind his acting career at its pick in order to become a hip hop star. Nope, none of us has seen it already. But the fake career suicide of Joaquin Phoenix, re-corded live along with his physical and mental breakdown, reduced America in tears and even fooled David Letterman.

Best in show (C. Guest, 2000)

An astonishing backstage of a pres-tigious dog compe-tition in Philadel-phia. By telling the story of five fake couples who are just like their owners, Christopher Guest marked the final end of laugh tracks in comedies and cleared the way for Borat. C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (K. Wilmott, 2006)

You know those bor-ing, nationalistic His-tory Channel docu-mentaries on how a Country unified? Well imagine how they would be, if the South Confederacy had won the American Civil War…

F for Fake (O.Welles, 1974)

A journey inside the world of art fakes, and the last complete movie by Orwell. Along with a roundup of paint-ing masters playing themselves, the film is considered to have in-vented the MTV style of editing.

Cane Toads: an unnatural history (M. Lewis, 1988)

Cane toads were introduced to Australia in order to control sugar cane pest. But without natural enemies, they multiplied to the point of destroying the Australian ecosystem.

Although historically accurate, this half-documentary half-mockumentary is very humorous, and became such a cult to deserve a sequel: “Cane toads: the conquest”, presented at Sun-dance Festival this year.

A day without a Mexican (S.Arau, 2004)

One day California awakes, and all the Mexicans are gone. Back to their planet?A sci-fi hypothesis to show a very simple truth: without immi-grants, societies are doomed.

Exit through the gift shop (Banksy, 2010)

Thierry Guetta, an eccentric Frenchman living in Los Angeles, is obsessed by street art and cameras. Af-ter years of shooting all over the world, he finally gets the chance to film his hero, Banksy. But the result is so bad that Banksy takes over the camera and points it at Guetta… apart from the footage, the reflection on contemporary art, the music, the editing, everything else, the greatest thing of this film is that it is impossible to understand what it’s fake and what not.

This is spinal tap (R. Reiner, 1984)

A tell-all rockumen-tary about heavy metal band This is spinal tap. You would never guess they actually don’t exist…

It was this movie, and Rob Reiner, that credited the term “mocku-mentary” in the dictionary of cinema. In the US, it is such a cult that it was elected for preserva-tion by the National Film Registry.

Forgotten silver (P. Jackson, 1995).

Little did you know, New Zealanders invented pretty much everything. The proof relies in the footage of Colin McKenzie, forgotten genius of direction...

Simply the most fa-mous mockumen-tary of all times, and Peter Jackson’s un-questionable mas-terpiece

The war of the worlds (Orson Welles, 1938)

Ok, it is not a movie, but a radio (fake) bulletin. Yet, it accomplished the most important mission mock-umentaries should pursue: making viewers believe aliens are about to attack, and showing how stupid people can be in front of the me-dia…

The 10 mockumentaries you must see before you die(according to Marta Musso and Franti)

1

dossier5 MockumentaryMockumentary

What makes a mockumentary funny?

We do not call parodies of thrillers mock-illers, nor do we call parodies of horror films mockorrors or parodies of the comedy genre mockomedies. How-

ever, for the specific film genre which mocks docu-mentaries we use a witty name, mockumentary, even though it is not in any significant way different from other postmodernist genres which make their point by referring to the medium of film itself.

The very essence of every parody lies in taking a wide-ly established and renowned fact and putting it in a completely different context. When you are a child, they teach you that making fun of other peoples’ work is not a polite thing to do. Once you’ve seen a couple of film parodies, you realize that mockery is actually the basic premise for this genre to work. What makes mockumentaries especially intriguing is the fact that they deal with the documentary film, which we gen-erally connect with serious topics presented in a for-mal tone, using a clichéd style. Whether the viewer is familiar with the documentary approach in TV re-ports or with the classical works of documentary film history, he is able to distinguish fictional from non-fictional style right away.

As with every other film genre, mocku-mentary too has its pivotal works. One of these is surely Woody Allen’s Zelig, and not only because it was made by Woody Allen. With this example we can ana-lyze what makes a good mockumentary funny. Allen is fully aware of the rules of non-fictional filmmaking, so he remains faithful to this form while completely changing the corresponding content. He sets his story in the 1920-30s and hence uses methods most typical for early non-silent era newsreels: black and white photography, a concerned and agitated male voiceover, actual archive footage, panning over photographs, explana-tory titles and opening and closing titles which indicate that the film is supposed to be non-fictional. Allen also uses con-temporary talking heads of real experts

and witnesses with visible microphones in shot. Zelig is a critique of conformity, sensationalism and spec-tacle, but what makes it intelligent isn’t its content, but rather the inseparable relation of its content and its form.

We soon realize that the protagonist, the "human chameleon" Zelig, cannot be a historical character be-cause of his – to put it mildly – surreal life: he defies gravity, has his spine turned upside-down and chang-es his race and weight when close to people who are, for example, black and overweight. Moreover, he looks exactly like Woody Allen, which makes the film particularly funny for Allen’s fans. From this rises the main question, which is: would this film be as funny to a viewer who had never seen a documentary in his life, or to a viewer not familiar with Allen’s poetics? It wouldn’t. The basis of "getting" any referential film is a familiarity with the reference, so if we showed Zelig to a person who wasn’t at all familiar with the distinc-tion between fictional and non-fictional filmmaking, he would find it puzzling. Simply put: the more you’re into films, the more you’ll enjoy Zelig, the mockumen-tary genre, and parodies in general.

by Igor Bezinović

A Mockumentary Festival in ItalyAll movie genres have their own festivals – this is constant law in the cinema-sphere. But the moc-kumentary-genre does not have so much representation. Probably the oldest festival is in Quebec; Festival du DocuMenteur de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue , which has recently reached its 8th edition.

But what about Europe? It seems that the only festival in the whole of Europe is the Piemonte Docu-menteur Festival: a little interesting festival set in the town of Ostana, in the Piedmont Region, North Italy. The festival screens the most interesting mockumentaries of the last years and launched a con-test open to every Italian “aged between 18 and 100 years old”. Participants will be hosted by the dif-ferent towns involved in the project: their duty will be to write, shoot and edit a mini-mockumentary set in the valley of Piedmont in a tight timeframe of 76 hours.

“In 2010 we had the first edition,” said Carlotta Givo, Director of the Festival, “but obviously the aim is to increase participation and involvement in each level. For this reason we also have a partnership with the Festival du Documentuer, in order to develop new strategies and bring more attention to this interesting genre together.”

The festival runs in the summer period (august). For more information: www.cinelabio.eu.

by Simone Fenoil

1

PEOPLE!Don't forget there is a full page available each month for all Nisimasians to promote screenings you organise in your countries. Send all relevant information (leaving enough time for the editorial team to not break out in cold sweat) to jass@nisimasa.com.

dossier 6Mockumentary

Que Est Veritas? The mockumentaries and the "truth"

History and the world of mockumentaries have a very big span and quite a set of effects, how-ever one of the most strange examples probably was seen in Turkey in mid-90s. Named Şok (Shock in Turkish), it was a television show, preparing mockumantaries in form of TV news, and some of these programs had really unexpected ef-

fects, as for example after one of the program's news that the late Anna Nicole Smith was "working" at Edirne bordello at some weekends just for fun, there was an enormous flow of men to Edirne, a Turkish city on Bulgarian border, and later the major of the city even had to make an official statement that the news were not correct.

Another long effecting program Şok prepared was about a toi-let monster, pinkish creature living in the sewers which attacked people from time to time. Especially elder people, used to be-lieve that everything they saw on TV is "true" and unaware of the ironic nature of the program panicked quite a lot, so that even some devices as protection measure against this monster started to be seen at some local bazaars.

Presented by Korcan Karar, who later on became quite successful news anchorman, Şok marks one of milestones of Turkish TV his-tory, as later due to changes in legislation of ethical conduct of TV news it became nearly impossible to make such programs, but it continues to live in the memories of that generation combining with the practices of the new era as now even the Facebook group for the program fans exists.

by Ilkin Mehrabov

->->->->->

news

Young Pictures of MalMöCALL FOR APPLICANTS

Nisi Masa Sweden is organising a five

day film workshop on the theme “Youth

film” during BUFF - the International

Children and Young People's Film

Festival in Malmö. The concept of the

workshop is to invite ten filmmakers

from different countries as well as five

filmmakers from Malmö, who together

form five teams. These teams will make

one short film each during five days in

Malmö. We are looking for five direc-

tors who apply with a short film idea

aimed at a target audience between 13

& 15 years old. We are also looking for

five DOPs and five editors.

https://sites.google.com/a/nisimasa.

se/young-pictures-from-malmo/

ex oriente filM CALL FOR APPLICANTSDokWeb calls to submit your proposal for

Ex Oriente Film - a year-long international

workshop that supports the development

and funding of creative documentary films

from Central and Eastern Europe. At three

workshops (the 4th session focused on

rough cuts is for selected projects only)

that take place in the course of one year,

directors and producers develop their proj-

ects and funding strategies and benefit

from the assistance and valuable advice

provided by established European produc-

ers, directors, AV experts and commission-

ing editors. The Ex Oriente Film training

programme is completed with the co-pro-

go short student caMPusCALL FOR ENTRIES

From Tuesday March 15, 2011 to Sunday

March 20, 2011 Breaking Ground and the Go

Short International Film Festival will organ-

ise the third edition of the Go Short Student

Campus. This annual event offers European

film students six days of the most interest-

ing lectures, meetings with professionals,

the most informative workshops, wonderful

short films and unforgettable parties in the

city of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The em-

phasis of this year’s campus is on ultra short

films. Accompanied by renowned film pro-

fessionals, student film makers from across

Europe will work together on an ultra short

film, which will be premiered at the closing

night of the festival.

More info:

http://breakingground.eu/campus2011

PolYglot dead-line extended!

We have decided to give you 3 more

weeks to submit your short videos on

multilingualism to win a place abroad

CineBoat – the itinerant filmmaking

workshop in the beautiful archipelago of

Turku, Finland!

THE NEw DEADlINE IS 5TH oF JANuAry

www.polyglot-turku.eu

fest training ground regis-tration now oPen!

FEST Training Ground is an educational

event where new and upcoming film-

makers and filmstudents from all over the

world gather in one week, to attend a de-

luxe training from workshops to master

classes, lectured by some of the industry’s

top experts with highly acknowledged

achievements.

More info:

http://fest.pt/?page_id=153&lang=en

duction meeting East European Forum

that gives documentary filmmakers a

chance to pitch their project and secure

funding from West European and North

American broadcasters.

DEADLINE 15TH OF JANUARY

http://www.dokweb.net/en/ex-oriente-

film/news/apply-for-ex-oriente-film-

2011-1321/

you can read all coverage from IDFA on the website www.nisimazine.eu

spotlight 8

NIS

IMA

ZIN

E A

MST

ERD

AM Severine Beaudot, living between France and

Germany, participated as a videoblogger in the first complete online edition of Nisimazine, held during the last International Documentary Festi-val Amsterdam. Here her thoughts on that:

"DEATH IS NoTHING To uS...

Festivals frustrate me. The won-derful last IDFA, the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, was not an excep-

tion. I love festivals, they nearly drive me mad. I hardly can stand that a festival has an end. When all the effervescence is over, I fall in a slight depression, a mix of egocentric melancholia, feelings of no use and high phases of procrastination... Without any conditions I have the eager to go to the next festival again. At the same time, I am afraid that it wont hap-pen. Surviving a festival is like being re-leased of a drug rehab. Or like I imagine it...

Maybe attending festivals functions like a metaphor of life. Dealing with little endings every day, little deaths of shared moments, when you know that things happen just one time in a life, and you are alone to deal with it. You watch this movie, in this mood, with your own per-sonal story, at this exact time. Or you have this interview, or this person you meet. And suddenly, that is over.

By festivals, I never manage to make all the great things I plan. I get upset be-cause I am not able to take advantage of all the offered opportunities. Not man-aging to sneak into the Pitching Forum without permission. Not being able to watch these three great films a day I ab-solutely wanted to. And to shoot two in-terviews and to write a deep researched 'In Focus' article the same day. 'All we ever wanted', maybe we just want too much, at festivals and in the real life...

Nevertheless, there is no time for com-plaining, let us have a glimpse of the IDFA this year! I want you to see what happens in the head of a journalist attending the IDFA. May I introduce you into my IDFA memories? Welcome into my brain, or 14 sentences picked out of 10 days of docu-mentary festival experiment...

'1. Which film should I watch?' - is the most asked question. People I could have been and Maybe 2. Am, awarded film of Borris Gerrets – the better philosophical statement I have ever heard, isn't it?'3. Be stubborn, don't make any com-promises.' - One lesson to be a good

documentary filmmaker by Nikolaus Geyrahlter, Our daily Bread.About the film 4. All we ever wanted...Please, Sarah Domogala, stop the talking heads!'5. Where is my bike?'- Gilles, Nisimazine Videojournalist, after one beer.'Try to avoid procrastination6. ' - Sever-ine, Nisimazine Videojournalist, after one beer. (And trying to remember Boris Mitic, Director of Good bye, How are you?.)'Freakonimics' = How to make more 7. money of an already successful book?'As a journalist, you have to know what 8. you want to get! What is interesting? What is already known? What do you want to learn?' Eva Sancho and Joost Broeren, tutors of the IDFA work-shops, trying to push us up.'You have to have a strong idea, a 9. strong story, and strong protagonists. Come on, come on!!!' Atanas Gorgiev, Director of Cash and Marry. Heuuu, sorry! My brain is mixing everything, was it not at the IDFA?'You have to know your subject, the 10. facts, the culture. You have to talk about the film, not about the topic.' One Commissioning Editor at the Pitching Session of the IDFAcademy.'I am feeling I am wasting my time and 11. I will get drunk. Because I am sick of be-ing lonely and depressed all the time.' A videoblogger, a young girl totally lost in her life, from the documentary Be-cause we are visual.'12. I am OK for an interview, but not to be filmed'' The directors of Because we are visual. Hum. Because you are not visual, or what?'We are at the end of the world13. '. Jou-vens, a 12 years old Haitian child, living under a tent in Camp Pichinat, Haiti.'If politics were to come back, it could 14. only be from its savage and disreputa-ble fringe. Then a muffled rumour shall arise whence that roar is heard: we are scum ! We are barbarians'. From the film The Barbarians of Jean Gabriel Perriot.

OK, this IDFA “pot pourri” was a little bit messy, but... All brains are messy, aren't they?

Pict

ures

by

MA

RA K

LEIN