Why are festivals important?
A Mecca for often fruitful and dense meetings, not only do they make it possible to bring together a certain number of those who gravitate to cinema and films for a fairly short time and fast pace, but they also – the most important point – give an overview of the concerns of the world in which we live. They also serve as links between probably dated perceptions and those of youth.
This was the case for the Mannheim-Heidelberg International film festival, which, during its 73rd edition, made it possible to reconnect with the objectives mentioned above.
Consequently, by looking for a possible guiding line or presence of the same concerns through the 16 films in competition, it turned out that the unhealthy heritage of family, religious, political and social pressure still play a preponderant role in the destiny of each individual.
Harmful family inheritance
Let’s start with the harmful family inheritance, a source of much inconvenience in the later lives of individuals.
This phenomenon manifested itself in several works, notably the very dark and hard-hitting Bring Them Down, by Anglo-Irish filmmaker Christopher Andrews. In this powerful film, which won the FIPRESCI award, submission to fathers, carried down from generation to generation, constitutes the heart of the problem. However, just like in Manas, the excellent film by Marianna Brennand from Brazil (winner of the best film award, 30,000 euros and young jury award, 5,000 euros) , Sugar Island, by Cuban Johané Gomez Terrero, Santosh, by Indian director Sandhya Suri, Boomerang, by Shahab Fotouhi, the Iranian director, and to a certain extent in Girls Will Be Girls, by Indian filmmaker Suchi Talati, the main character breaks the vicious circle and emancipates herself. Sometimes, as in Bring Them Down, this manifests itself in a simple sentence uttered by the tormented and cruel young boy at the end – a kind of redemption – giving a glimmer of hope to this film about the cruelty of human beings in fight against poverty and led by the lure of gain, while in Manas, the Sugar Island and Santosh, this rebellion is frank and saving. The rupture, although existing, becomes more discreet and indirect in Bound in Heaven, by Huo Xin, the Chinese director, in which the female character, enduring male violence, is saved accidently by a peculiar encounter. The pressure exerted by a father, lost in religion just to fill an emotional void, on his young son at the age of rising hormones, in Panopticon, by Georgian George Sikhrulidze, becomes a relevant example of harmful family legacies. The unleashing of violence brewed by a repressed sexuality under the weight of religious precepts imposed by the father, demonstrates the extent of unresolved unease and the absence of revolt. Religion as a factor of splitting, guilt and entanglement remains essential.
Curiously, religion occupies an important place in the lives of all those who lend themselves to acts beyond all understanding, like that of the incestuous father in Manas. This phenomenon also occurs in Capo Negro by Abdellah Taïa, which takes place in a puritan Muslim society. Thus, one of the main protagonists declares he has known sexual violence from the age of ten inflicted by many men around him. However, it is him who suffers rejection in the society and, as a young adult, must assume a chaotic life. Therefore, we are entitled to ask the question about the possible impact of this abuse on one’s later sexual orientation, his or her sexual exploitation through prostitution and its consequences on their physical and mental health, as well as their later life.
In the register of heavy family heritage, we can also cite The Kingdom, the masterful first feature film by Julien Colonna which, despite the centrality of filial love, demonstrates the indelible imprints of the poisonous heritage that parents leave to their children. We thus agree with Pasolini who said: “History is the passion of sons in wanting to understand their father”. The two main impressive non-professional performers, the young Ghjuvanna Benedetti and Saveriu Santucci, allow us to travel the byways and witness the genesis of this heritage.
Let’s summarise briefly, although the films focus on the characters and the immediate story that they tell to the spectators, the deep and disturbing off-camera events sound the alarm and act on the unconscious. This is true, not only for films with a less mainstream approach, but also those like Dead Mail, by Americans Joe Deboer and Kyle McConaghy, which can touch a wider audience. With a psychological thriller full of cinematographic inventions, the directors challenge us about the psychology of the perverse character and its causes.
Women everywhere
Taking into account that in the international competition seven out of 16 feature films were directed by female filmmakers, without forgetting the centrality of the role played by women in most films, surprisingly female figures were more insightful in cutting through the vicious cycle of abuse and humiliation than men.
Sometimes, as in Manas, the Brazilian director tries to alert the public and raise awareness about the child abuse and incest, the scourge of our time against which the authorities are in no hurry to find radical solutions. In her pleading, she does not forget the fundamentals of cinema which gives her film a lot of attractiveness. Consequently, we can share her point of view, as she mentions in her interview with me, that cinema is capable of changing the course of things.
Of course, the #MeToo effect was not very far away. Sugar Island and Santosh, which denounce the weight of mistreatment of women, their inferior prey position and their exposition to all the vicissitudes and men’s vagaries, were there to prove.
in Manas, the one who fights against violence and oppression within her own family, is Marcielle (Jamili Correa), who manages to break the silence and prevent the curse that strikes her family from generation to generation.
In Boomerang, the young girl shows how the young generation in Iran have overcome many bans by a solid resistance. She becomes a symbol by pointing out the roots and the advent of the extraordinary Woman Life Freedom movement. We also see how she liberates the previous generation, her parents’ generation, by her engagement. Resistance to prohibitions is demonstrated in every detail of this film, notably in the scenes where the mother walks bareheaded in front of the camera.
Concerning the centrality of the role of the woman, Gazer, by Ryan J Sloane, the American director, gives us another example. In this gripping psychological thriller, Ariella Mastroianni, with her masterful acting, takes the viewer into a whirlwind of suspicion, anguish and doubts. Maternal love remains the only link to reality and survival.
In the sensitive and touching first feature film Familiar Touch, from American Sarah Friedland, we witness, desperately, like the main character of 80 years old, a woman who is a priori very autonomous, cognitive decline and the harsh truth of submission to the other’s will. This film, where humour is also present, won from Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s award (15,000 euros).
In The Kingdom, by Saïd Hamich Benlarbi, the young actress, Ghiuvanna Bnedetti, carries the unfolding of the story on her shoulders and, with her searching gaze, gives an overview of a mafia environment where women have, in general, no right to citizenship.
These stories are told in different forms and with approaches which define their cinematic qualities and distinguish them from one another. The vicious circle of the transmission of family faults manifests itself directly or indirectly in other films.
Cinematographic techniques
The techniques chosen by films were often linked to the material and financial resources available to their directors. However, they often manage to hide the shortcomings through the subterfuge of staging or editing. That said, the resumption of the technique often used by Gus Van Sant, the repetitiveness of the different camera axes and actions, the fixity of the frames, the respect for real durations, were taken up by certain directors, notably satisfactorily in Bring Them Down and Dead Mail.
These films, with their strength and weakness, have given us varied and truthful portraits of the societies in which we live. They thus met the objectives that any festival pursues.
So, long live the festivals!
Shahla Nahid
Edited by Amber Wilkinson
© FIPRESCI 2024