Astra Film

Favela Rising/ Favela. Febre în suburbii

My Lost Russia/ Scisoare dintr-o Rusie uitată

First Mass in Hagstedt/ Prima liturghie

  17.06.2009 

Favela Rising

Jeff Zimbalist, Matt Mochary

USA, 2004

80 min

A favela is a Brazilian squatter settlement. Favela is the home of drug dealers, and a place where murder is an everyday event. Anderson Sa is a former drug dealer haunted by the deaths of his family members and those of many of his friends. His way to fight against crime and violence is hip-hop music. The rhythms of the street and the Afro-Brazilian dance rally his community to war against the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police. At the dawn of liberation, just as collective mobility is overcoming all odds and Anderson’s grassroots Afro-Reggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement forever.

Favelele sunt mahalalele care cresc în jurul oraşelor braziliene. Aici, traficanţii sunt la ei acasă, iar crimele – evenimente intrate în cotidian. Anderson Sa a fost şi el traficant, care nu poate scăpa de amintirile despre rudele şi prietenii lui ucişi. Arma lui împotriva crimei şi violenţei este muzica hip-hop. Ritmurile străzii şi ale dansului afro-brazilian sunt mobilizatoare pentru comunitate şi le insuflă puterea de a se ridica împotriva terorii instaurate de armate de adolescenţi înarmaţi şi susţinute de o poliţie coruptă. Cînd eliberarea părea foarte aproape şi mişcarea afro-reggae atinsese culmile succesului, un accident tragic ameninţă să o reducă la tăcere pentru totdeauna.

24.06.2009

My Lost Russia

Iossif Pasternak

France, 2004

52 min

   The film was shot in the small town Efremov, where Pasternak’s camera identified a variety of characters whose stories are brought together to reconstruct today’s Russia: the ruined farmer writing letters to President Putin in his quest for justice, the priest who can finally inaugurate the new church after years of struggle, the striptease dancers who dream to become school teachers, the old pessimist who declares that Efremov is the worst place on earth, the young soldiers on their way to Chechnya. The filmmaker explores the life of the town in a non-intrusive way, to give a sometimes nostalgic and sometimes humorous insight into the stories of common people. Putting all their stories together, the viewer eventually understands what has changed, what is in the process of changing and what will never change in Efemov and in Russia.

01.07.2009

First Mass in Hagstedt

Joachim Wossidlo

Germany, 2003

58 min

   The first mass celebrated by a newly ordained priest resembles a debut performance held in front of a scrutinizing parish. The film follows the frantic preparations of the community in Hagsted, a small town in a Catholic enclave in Lower Saxony for the first service of their new priest. The moment becomes a major event for the entire community, as the young cleric is one of their own townsman. The film is shot in a clean observational style, combining an intimate approach with well-dosed humor. The authors follow all the preparatory stages that develop according to the complicated rules of neighborhood organization. The story culminates on the very day of the service, when a “nice boy next door” becomes one of the community notables.

   Întâia liturghie oficiată de un preot proaspăt hirotonit e ca un spectacol de debut, susţinut în faţa privirilor scrutătoare ale enoriaşilor. Filmul urmăreşte pregătirile febrile ale comunităţii catolice din Hagstedt, un orăşel din Saxonia Inferioară, pentru prima slujbă pe care o va oficia preotul proaspăt venit în parohie. Momentul devine cu atât mai important cu cât tânărul cleric le e concetăţean. Filmul se înscrie în stilul documentarului observaţional, apropiindu-se de subiect cu căldură şi cu un umor bine dozat. Autorii urmăresc toate etapele pregătirilor, care antrenează întreaga comunitate şi urmează regulile complicate ale sistemului german al vecinătăţilor. Punctul culminant este chiar oficierea slujbei, moment iniţiatic pentru tânărul preot, fostul “baiat simpatic din vecini” devenind una din notabilităţile oraşului.