23rd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Manouane River Lumberjacks
director: Arthur Lamothe
original title: Bûcherons de la Manouane
country: Canada
year: 1962
running time: 28 min.
Czech Premiere
synopsis
This film, by one of the most important and most productive Canadian documentary filmmakers, examines the seasonal work of a diverse group of lumberjacks, among whom are members of Canadian Indian tribes. The style combines direct cinema with a lyrical approach to the landscape, which enthralls everyone.
biography
Arthur Lamothe (1928-2013) was born in France and in the 1950s moved to Canada, where he got into film work through Radio-Canada and ONF. His entire oeuvre is dominated by the themes of identity and relationships to the land.
more about film
| producer: | Fernand Dansereau, Victor Jobin |
| script: | Arthur Lamothe |
| photography: | Guy Borremans, Bernard Gosselin |
| editing: | Jean Dansereau, Arthur Lamothe |
| sound: | Claude Pelletier |
other films in the section
A group of French pupils asks their American peers – what is the Far West? The young Americans answer with their teacher’s help. The director transforms the children’s statements into images, and shows how the state instills an official opinion on the Far West. Are we watching a visual rhapsody or is it a politically engaged cinéma direct documentary?
Artifices
François Reichenbach
France / 1963 / 10 min.
section: Direct Vérité
Czech Premiere
Filmed in the village of Livinière in the Lozère district, locals talk about their work and lives in a time when the area is threatened with depopulation and the extinction of traditional farming methods. The goal was to record the opinions of these people living in relative isolation, thus affecting the truth about the situation.
Strangers of the Earth
Mario Ruspoli
France / 1961 / 40 min.
section: Direct Vérité
Czech Premiere
The work of D. A. Pennebaker is absolutely vital to any understanding of the development of cinéma vérité outside of France, and his documentary about Bob Dylan is the essence of this style. First shown in 1967, it was an unexpected hit with audiences and subsequently became the model for future music documentaries even though it is nothing more than a record of Dylan’s 1965 tour of England.
Don´t Look Back
Donn Alan Pennebaker
United States / 1967 / 95 min.
section: Direct Vérité
This sociological survey began in 1960 as a project by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin. The film became a manifesto of cinéma vérité and was the first feature-length film in France shot with synchronous sound. Here, cinéma direct approaches combine with the new view of reality as it became established in France.
Chronicle of a Summer
Edgar Morin, Jean Rouch
France / 1961 / 90 min.
section: Direct Vérité
The collective narrative film Paris Through the Eyes Of... was intended as a New Wave manifesto with the goal of reviving interest in it. It didn’t quite happen, though, but an interesting work was created, part of which is the story of Odile, who has a fight with her husband and meets a mysterious man. It was shot as two long single takes on 16mm film and later transferred to 35mm.
Gare du Nord
Jean Rouch
France / 1965 / 16 min.
section: Direct Vérité
Czech Premiere
It’s no wonder the director claims to be inspired by the work of Jean Vigo. In this film, he artfully develops his own style – dialogic commentary, corpses, slowed-down scenes, and parallel montages. The result is an image of white and black society. The film was censored in Canada due to its scenes from Cuba and Fidel Castro giving a speech.
Seeing Miami...
Gilles Groulx
Canada / 1962 / 31 min.
section: Direct Vérité
Czech Premiere
The film is made up of the eponymous medium-length film and the short film The Prisoner Party. The director’s goal was for the viewers to better comprehend the everyday life of patients and doctors at the psychiatric hospital in Saint-Alban, where the first experiments with psychotherapy took place. The commentary uses Artaud’s texts on madness.
An Insight into Madness, The Prisoner Party
Mario Ruspoli
France / 1961 / 53 min.
section: Direct Vérité
Czech Premiere
This key direct cinema film originated without a script and without the usual permits. Originally it was intended to be a short four-minute report about a traditional sport, but it was rejected. The goal was to lead viewers away from traditional reportage documentaries. The film showed how to exempt documentary from the rules.
The Snowshoers
Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx
Canada / 1958 / 15 min.
section: Direct Vérité
At first glance, the film appears to be a survey about the gifted singer, the idol of a generation. The result is a unique way of observing stars through their own fans. The sound is significant here, achieving an unprecedented sense of reality. The innovative approach complements the film with staged scenes.
Lonely Boy
Wolf Koenig, Roman Kroitor
Canada / 1962 / 27 min.
section: Direct Vérité
Czech Premiere
With his creative concept, the creator of this film about wrestling completely exceeds simple match reporting. The viewers have more information than the fans in the hall and can assess not only the match, but also the reaction of the spectators. The music selection (Bach, Vivaldi) also draws attention to the fact that it’s more like a theatrical production.
Wrestling
Michel Brault, Marcel Carrière, Claude Fournier, Claude Jutra
Canada / 1961 / 28 min.
section: Direct Vérité
European Premiere
This documentary “anti-Moby Dick” is a cooperative work with Chris Marker - creator of the commentary, editing, and sound. A lively poetic essay on the plight of whales responds to the condemnation of their fishing at a conference in Stockholm. The commentary combines a male voice as the traditional explicative and a female voice, which is intimate and evokes the whales’ thoughts.
Three Cheers for the Whale
Chris Marker, Mario Ruspoli
France / 1972 / 17 min.
section: Direct Vérité
Czech Premiere
Although the director has created an ode to the national symbol of Canada – hockey –capturing a fascinating ballet creation, he also expresses the sport’s brutality and subjugation to media manipulation. The masterful editing and meaningful transitions between colour and monochrome earned the film an award in Locarno, but the content caused the National Film Office to distance itself from the film.
Such a Simple Game
Gilles Groulx
Canada / 1964 / 30 min.
section: Direct Vérité
European Premiere
