Astra Film

Autumn On Ob River

http://www.folklore.ee/khanty/film.html

Director: Janno Simm
Country: Estonia/Norway/Russia
Year: 2003
Length: 46

Near the Ob River mouth in northwest Siberia, the Khanty are struggling to make a living. The arctic climate is harsh. Their economic situation is unpredictable, due to the confusion of the post-Soviet era. The salaries are low, and payments are often delayed for months. Under such circumstances, the fishing brigade turns to the traditional arctic occupations: hunting and reindeer herding. The film follows the autumnal activities of a Khanty fisherman family. After the main fishing season ends, they move to the winter settlement, where they hunt and tend reindeer. The film tells the story of a Khanty family, who must balance between their work with the fishing brigade and their indigenous occupations in order to survive.

The Baker

Director: Kristina Meiton
Country: Sweden
Year: 2003
Length: 18

For the past seven years, Lars has been working the night shift in a bakery. While following his nightly routine, we hear him speak about what he misses most. He is longing for simple things, like watching TV in the evening, sleeping when it’s dark, and feeling the sunshine on his face. An accomplished short film about a man whose occupation, while not extraordinary, prevents him from living an ordinary life.

First Mass in Hagstedt

Director: Joachim Wossidlo
Country: Germany
Year: 2003
Length: 58

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.

In Between

Director: Jakob Wehrmann, Sacha Knoche, Alistair Owen
Country: Germany
Year: 2003
Length: 30

The film focuses on the effect of decades of violence, precipitated by internal armed conflict and drug trade, on the children of Colombia. Colegio Agropecuario is a boarding school in Pueblo Sanchez, on the eastern border of the Colombian Andes. It is a program developed by the local authorities with the help of international organizations, as part of a peace plan. It offers shelter and education to some 400 children, of diverse backgrounds, from different regions of the country. The film is built on interviews with one of the students of this program. John William speaks about his experience with a guerilla group, for whom he was forced to work on a coca plantation. At 15 years of age, he is familiar with weapons and the market rates for coca. He is also in the second grade, and, together with classmates half his age, has just begun learning to read and write. While the film tells troubling stories of children deprived of their childhood, it still gives a sense of hope in change for the better.

Living a Reel Life

Director: Siren Hope
Country: Norway
Year: 2003
Length: 36

Kollywood is the center of the film industry in Tamil, on the southeast coast of India. The film industry provides a living for about one fifth of the local population. The film follows the lives of two women, who are both linked, in different ways, with the cinema production. Praveena is a film school student. The training she gets prepares her for a camerawoman job in the commercial film industry. However, she would rather work in documentary filmmaking. The other character is Suhasini. She is a famous actress, having starred in almost two hundred films, and film director. She can competently judge the internal mechanism of the film industry, as well as, the position of women in this male-dominated business. Insertions from popular films, produced in Kollywood, colour and highlight the reflections of the characters.

Living With Gods

Director: Reni Jasinski Wright
Country: Taiwan
Year: 2004
Length: 33

They say Chinese Gods enjoy the same things as humans. These things include theater performances, films and puppet shows. Mei-Hua and Zui-Pin work with the Chinese Local Opera, presenting shows of traditional Taiwanese theater for temple festivals. They perform for the Gods, and for the human audience, who eventually pays them. The shows were very popular some thirty years ago. Today, the temples cannot afford inviting theater troupes very often. While the human audience is in decline, the actors perform for the Gods alone. The film observes the two actresses as they struggle to keep their business running, in spite of various competitors. A rival troupe attempts to steal their contracts. Television, also has taken away a large part of their traditional audience. This is a realistic film about preserving tradition, not for the sake of tradition itself, but as a way to survive.

Mr. Cool

Director: Zhang Hai
Country: China
Year: 2003
Length: 31

Dao Yaodong, a young Huayao Dai (Thai), lives in a village in Xinping County, in China’s Yunnan Province. Television and DVDs, and the infrastructure built for the workers of the sugar cane factory nearby, have turned him into a great fan of commercial movies and city life amenities. He has adopted a new look to pass with his new expectations: he wears sunglasses and leather jackets, as he attempts to imitate his favorite movie stars. While the elders recall past virtues, Dao, alias Mr. Cool prepares to follow his elder brother. He wishes to leave behind his farmer’s life, and move to the city. Based on observation and interviews, the film explores the impact of modernization and the media on traditional village life.

Smell The Roses

http://www.somelikeitreal.com/welcome.html

Director: Julie Linn Milling
Country: Denmark
Year: 2003
Length: 27

In 1971, a group of young people took over an abandoned military area in the middle of Copenhagen. Here, they founded Christiania, an autonomous community based on communal living and freedom. Initially, the authorities were reluctant about the project, but eventually they accepted the existence of this community as a “social experiment”. Over the years, there have been recurrent attempts to close Christiania down, but the community has always managed to survive. Today, urban redevelopment plans threaten their existence once more. This ethnographic film examines issues like community power and personal freedom. Some of the key residents of Christiania are introduced, and their social and political convictions are explored.

Sweet Life and All That Goes With It

Director: Anne Schiltz
Country: U.K.
Year: 2002
Length: 29

Rosi Muller and her father Michael are among the very few Saxons, or Transylvanian Germans, who still live in Alzen, a village in south Transylvania. Fifteen years ago, a dramatic change occured in the life of German towns and villages all over Transylvania. With the fall of communism, the quasi-total Saxon population migrated to Germany. After centuries during which they had maintained a strong sense of their cultural identity, the German communities disintegrated in only a few years. The film looks into issues like identity, migration, and the sense of belonging, following Rosi and Michael in their every day life. The people who live in the village today belong to a different culture. Alzen, like other Transylvanian German villages and towns, still remains “ home” for the Saxons. This is for those who stayed, and for those who left.