DOC MEETS, intellectual flexibility, honesty in documentary

SO, the first grand weekend of the 63. Berlinale is behind us, and some films have been seen, and some places have been been, and so and so. The DOC MEETS events coproduced by IFP and EDN at the EFM have proven surprisingly informative, at least in terms of framing our own ideas of how we compose and propose our own ideas for market. 

Short story: the European market as a primary node is not appealing, particularly from the perspective of intellectual independence and flexibility. Of course we knew this before, but it was heartening (and horrifying) to have these visceral responses validated (if sidewise and/or unintentionally) by documentary producers regularly engaged with the byzantine broadcast hierarchy/mafia here. 

All the while, the listserv of AG DOK has been losing its shit in the most unflattering way over the fallout from last Friday's symposium. Basically, they have not, after all these years, found the answer to the question best posed by the supergroup WAR, "Why Can't We Be Friends?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFJapPwmY_0 (I chose this version, of course, because I am Canadian). Fritz and I have been enjoying comparing and contrasting the tones of the listservs of AG DOK and DOC. 

Shock of shocks, the Canadian listserv is warm and helpful and human and the German is, well, well... I'm not sure what I can say, but it's most certainly none of those adjectives. I also worry about those people a bit, you know? Cold and alone and huddling away, back home in Kassel, or Regensburg, or Magdeburg, or Karlsruhe, full of rage and utterly beside themselves with... I don't really know, actually, but utterly beside themselves with something. Perhaps with being alone. We might very well attempt a documentary about this. 

This evening we attended the premiere of our friend Ramon Zürcher's film THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT. That was nice. His command of choreography and performance is formidable. He will make really lovely things in the future. Take note! 

Yesterday Fritz saw a documentary which I also saw today which filled me with a variety of rage about dishonesty in filmmaking. It certainly doesn't relate to us directly, but it was something of an affront to the form, which would also be an affront to the form of filmmaking in general. I regret that the Berlinale programmed it, though I suppose they were swayed by the profusion of male prostitutes and (poorly composed) shots of supposedly luxurious European cities. Utter rot. Thoroughly dishonest. Potentially the most inauthentic piece of filmmaking I've ever seen. 

Yahtzee! That's what one says before setting the alarm for 6:30 to acquire tickets for the following day at the Berlinale... kuss kuss kuss und bis später.

For images, I offer this gorgeous fragment of a rug from the early days of the Ottoman empire, seen at the Pergamon Museum this morning when I was turned away from a screening that I wasn't particularly interested in anyway. I wouldn't mind this much in our flat.