FILMKLUB 2017 at Volkskundemuseum Wien
PROGRAMME
26.01.2017
I’M NOT LEAVING ELDON
Jessica Bollag | USA, Switzerland 2015 | 49 Min. | OmeU
The state of Iowa is the largest producer of soy and corn in the U.S.. In the town of Eldon, Iowa, the multi-national corporations, Cargill and John Deere, are the most important job sources – mostly in the low income bracket. In the town there are hardly any public services. Five young people talk about their daily lives in this rural area. Their houses are often separated by Firing and outsourcing are real threats. Beside all this, the protagonists are labeled with negative stereotypes: white trash, rednecks and hillbillies. The five inhabitants of Eldon describe the local changes. Why stay despite bad job opportunities? How do they deal with their negative stereotypes? Why is freedom more important than a career? Creative solutions and a strong sense of community are essential in this rural region. An anthropological documentary about unlocked doors, fun and conflict in geographical isolation.
23.02.2017
TRACES OF WAR: SCENES OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN A NON-EXISTING COUNTRY
Jana Richter | Armenia, Germany 2015 | 55 Min. | OmeU
Twenty years after the war ended, there is still no peace treaty regarding Nagorno Kharabakh. The independent but unrecognized state, traditionally inhabited by Armenians, technically does not exist. Yet, people are building a life for themselves. Tsovak is a village school director who teaches mathematics and physics. Sayat is a professional dancer, but acts as the mayor of Havsatagh Village. They are looking forward to the day a peace treaty is signed and their country is recognized.
30.03.2017
LAST FORAGERS STANDING
Khaled Hakami | Thailand, Austrai 2016 | 26 Min. | No Dialogue
About 95% of our human existence we have spent as hunters and gatherers. “Last Foragers standing” gives insight into the life of a small community living in the rain forest. Faced with global dominant forms of society, it has become one of the last social systems of its kind. As in the biggest part of human history, not much is happening in the film – the cameraman and field researcher will be present and explain why. An evening for hunters and gatherers.
27.04.2017
DESCENDING WITH ANGELS
Christian Suhr | Denmark 2013 | 75 Min. | OmeU
A Danish Muslim in Aarhus is possessed by invisible spirits so called Djinns. Descending with Angels explores two highly different solutions to the same problem. Faith or biomedical, Islamic exorcism or psychotropic? By sensitive involving all participants, a reflexive process will get started, which allows the approach beyond familiar cultural boundaries.
05.06.2017
FILMKLUB SPEZIAL: KISKENAMAHAGEWIN (THE WAY OF LEARNING)
Jackie Hookimaw-Witt und Norbert Witt | Kanada 2017 | 29 Min. | OmeU
Wir freuen uns sehr First Nations Filmemacherin Jackie Hookimaw-Witt mit ihrem Dokumentarfilm Kiskenamahagewin am Mo. 5. Juni um 19 Uhr in Wien begrüßen zu dürfen.
Gezeigt wird ihr jüngster Film über die First Nations Communitiy Attawapiskat im Norden Ontarios, Kanada. Die Selbstmordrate bei Cree Jugendlichen ist rapide gestiegen. Mit dem Verlust ihrer Nichte möchte sie den Stimmen der Jugendlichen Gehör verschaffen. Jackie Hookimaw- Witt zeigt in diesem sehr persönlichen Film, den Kampf um Aufmerksamkeit und Bewusstsein für die Missstände in Gesundheits- und Bildungspolitik und richtet den Blick auf die Konsequenzen der fehlende politischen Unterstützung der indigenen Community seitens der kanadischen Regierung.
21.09.2017
VALENTINA
Maximilian Feldmann | Macedonia, Germany 2016 | 51 Min. | OmeU
“Do you want me to tell a story?“, Valentina asks. She is wearing army pants and a track-suit top. Her hair is wild with a tiny clip. She entrusts us with why she wasn’t born a boy, as it should have been. Nevertheless Valentina knows every detail of her family history: how her father won her mother’s heart with a bottle of juice and a pack of cigarettes, why her sister was held at gunpoint by her parents in-law, where her siblings were brought after they were caught begging. Together with her family of twelve Valentina lives in a run down one-room shack in the Romani municipality Šutka, in Skopje, Macedonia. Observations of daily live are mixed with Valentina’s personal stories, dreams with actual facts. Yet it becomes clear, that all of her story telling is nothing but preparation for her big dream.
19.10.2017
LES SAUTEURS – THOSE WHO JUMP
Moritz Siebert, Estephan Wagner, Abou Bakar Sidibé | Morocco, Denmark 2016 | 80 Min. | OmeU
Melilla – a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco: Europe on African Land. Over a thousand hopeful African migrants live on the mountain behind the border, watching the fence system separating Morocco and Spain. Abou Bakar Sidibé from Mali is one of them – the protagonist in front of the camera, as well as the person behind it. For over a year, he has ceaselessly persisted in attempting to jump the fence.
At the fence, they have to overcome the razor-wire, automatic pepper spray and brutal authorities. After every failed attempt, they return to Mount Gurugú, scouring for food in the nearby villages, trying to uphold some sort of order in the camp and building up their confidence again. Some give up and return home, others never return from the fence. Looking through the lens, Abou gradually finds expression and meaning in his situation. “When filming I feel that I exist”. But after 16 months on the mountain, Abou is brought close to a tragic accident at the fence. Returning to Mali is not an option for him, and he becomes more determined than ever to pursue his dream of a better life in Europe. Les Sauteursis Abou’s portrayal of the human struggle for dignity and freedom on one of the world’s most militarized frontiers.
16.11.2017
FUCK WHITE TEARS
Annelie Boros | South Africa, Germany 2016 | 26 Min. | OmeU
With the intent to make a film about the protest movement Annelie Bros came to Cape Town in Southafrica. When she gets here, the students turn her away: they don’t want her, as a white person, to make a film about this Black protest movement. She wants to understand why. A film about a film that the filmmaker can’t make, because she is white. And about centuries-old divides and power structures in South Africa, 20 years after the end of Apartheid. In the end it’s a film about filmmaking itself.
RAKIJADA
Nikola Ilić | Serbia, Switzerland 2016 | 20 Min. | OmeU
From the heart of Serbia comes a story of an Eastern Asterix and Obelix saga: Pranjani is a small village in central Serbia. Locals earn their living abroad or as farmers. Many count themselves among the Chetniks, Serbian patriots and WWII resistance fighters. So far, so normal. But every May, the Rakijada takes place – a championship that is all about who can drink the most, balance on wooden poles and brew the best magic potion – Rakija, plum brandy. A portrait of a sleepy village that shines a new light on the Serbian soul, while never losing sight of the typical humour of the Balkans.
21.12.2017
WHAT THE WIND TOOK AWAY
Helin Celik, Martin Klingenböck | Turkey, Austria 2016 | 75 Min. | OmeU
As a tribe of Kurdish nation, Yazidis never had an official land and had to suffer oppression of other countries since their existence. Yazidi women additionally have to endure men hegemony and it’s strict customs. During the IS attack in August 2014 in Sinjar (Northern Iraq) – the main settlement area of Yazidis – plenty of men were killed and thousands of women kidnapped. What the wind took away shows the destiny of two Yazidi women in relation to their by violence and oppression affected lives and it aims to achieve an intimate insight into their personal experiences during the IS war. This poetic documentary makes the audience travel in time and become a part of the nostalgic stories of these young women. By illuminating their stories concerning their gender and their origin it tries to give them a voice that is loud enough to be heard in the western world.
