FAMUFEST
38TH EDITION
30.3.—3.4.
https://youtu.be/HuMc9IZOdwk
as already has been said in another thread (related to another film festival), post-plague film festivals are getting back to their old ways and thus i can forget about my extensive participation in the last years' FAMUFEST.
gone are the old good plague days when i was able to see plenty of FAMUFEST films while staying comfortable in my cozy home.
this year (today) — to watch at least something — i had to carry my aging bones into a dark room in the other part of the town!
in Pilot's Cinema (Kino pilotů), i attended a screening of a few school films made as a part of the mentoring program (a workshop) with Bela Tarr.
https://www.famufest.cz/programme/event ... -mentoring
Beer with Béla: Films from Béla Tarr's mentoring
The FAMU Mentoring Programme aims to enable frequent contact of students and contemporary filmmakers. A practical seminar with the renowned Hungarian director was held in the fall of 2021. The creator led fifteen selected students through the beginning of a short school exercise - they discussed themes, scripts, choosing the right actors and locations. Béla Tarr then visited most of the filming locations. Total of thirteen films were made, only a few are in our selection. The screening of these films will be followed by a discussion of the future of FAMU Mentoring Programmes.
Antoine Dossin
The Heaviest Weight
Two priests, old and young, have different perspectives.
Xueni Yang
The Bus Stop Where Once We Were
At the bus stop where once we were, things don’t stay the same.
Michal Kováč
Midnight perfume
The son is trying to win his father's love.
Vojtěch Konečný
PIVO
A story of beer no one wants.
Tomáš Hlaváček
Bohemia Dasein
It's hard to say who is responsible for the reality we live in.
Michael Jiřinec
Angels
People being people around the fire. A scene shot during one night under the guidance of Béla Tarr: "The fire is the main protagonist. I could watch it for eight hours, because the fire is always changing."
Zdena Sýkorová
Infidelity
Widow goes on a date.
Kateřina Traburová
Žižkaperk
Short documentary about one neighbourhood.
none of these film exercises really blew up my mind.
the most memorable moments occurred after the screening, during the "discussion of the future of FAMU Mentoring Programmes".
this whole discussion started with a series of apologies because the very first film of the screening was messed up.
we were supposed to watch "The Heaviest Weight" by Antoine Dossin but we watched instead (due to some mistake) his other film (that was not made as a part of the Bela Tarr workshop) called "Pastoral Spring" →
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17676820/ ("A boy misses his mother. A husband misses his wife. A father misses his daughter. Three men grieve, in their distinct ways, the unbearable absence of someone they loved, to the detriment of loving each other.")
i found the full name of the director (Antoine Dossin) only now (at home, checking the internet).
during the screening, i only fathomed the dude is called Antoine and his surname starts with D., so i nicknamed him (within my mind) as Antoine Doinel.
so, the final "discussion" started with FAMU dude (approximately my age) apologizing to Antoine Doinel for showing his different film.
due to some game of destiny, it happened that Antoine Doinel was sitting almost next to me (we were separated only by a single empty seat where Antoine Doinel placed his jacket) — so, i was able to observe the whole drama of mistaken mischeduling from the nearest proximity.
during the first apology, Antoine Doinel was only moderately upset.
but with each and every new apology Antoine Doinel's outrage was increasing, and ultimately (with about 6th or 7th apology) he played the full-scale drama queen, infuriated grabbed his jacket, and left the screening room with exalted gesticulation.
i must admit i was delighted by all that Antoine Doinel's exaggerated outrage bearing the vibe of the French New Wave.
this dramatic departure left the audience speechless — thus the FAMU dude had to really strive hard to open the discussion.
the discussion was mostly an exchange of clichés.
tho, from all that was said i understood that those students interested in mentoring program were supposed to submit 3 names of their desired directors (from whom they would prefer to be mentored — besides their regular study program) and from all the names submitted FAMU is trying to lure for workshops those names that are most frequent or those that are frequent enough and the persons in question are easy to hire as workshop mentors.
when all this was said (by the FAMU dude), some students started to semi-riot that they never heard about the possibility to submit 3 desired names.
the FAMU dude (probably a manager of the mentoring program) tried to pacify the semi-rioters by his claim that he has sent plenty of e-mails to all the FAMU students with all the details about the mentoring program (including the possibility to submit 3 desired names).
youngsters responded with something like, "c'mon, old fart, who reads e-mails these days. reading e-mails is an activity of the bygone ages."
old fart counterattacked by something like, "c'mon, kids, you can enhance your careers by reading e-mails."
unfortunately, Antoine Doinel was already gone and thus semi-rioters were unable to go full-riot and the whole discussion was over.
it seems FAMU youngsters will start reading "papas' e-mails" so they can fully benefit from the "papas' kino" mentoring program.
