(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
LUX price 2015. nominees: Mustang (Deniz Gamze Erguven), Mediterranean (Jonas Carpignano) and Urok (Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov)
Their boat is just known during a storm in the Mediterranean. Now the occupants are crawling up a floating metal structure that may contain a fishing net. Some are still standing upright, but most of them have so little power left in their body that they can only manage to hold on to the railing. Exhausted, hungry, some of them dying. And now they wait. Waiting for a Europe to answer.
The scene occurs within twenty minutes of the film Mediterranean (see also criticism p. 13) and expresses quite well the peculiar situation in which the European community is in the middle. . There is something almost paradoxical in the fact that the European community may well find out to pattern a film prize, which, among other things, pays homage to the refugee drama Mediterraneanbut cannot figure out how to deal with the refugee crisis of reality.
Undoubtedly, action is most needed, but conversely it is also the case that action often requires a change of consciousness or attitude beforehand, and perhaps this is seen in light of the fact that the EU Film Prize is beginning to make sense . That the movies can be debating. That movies can help transform the reality they process.
Set for the LUX Prize were three films, and all films that are obviously related to issues that are relevant to European reality today. Mediterranean as mentioned, depicts the refugee situation by following two brothers' flight from Africa to Italy, where they get work in the fruit industry. Mustang Created by Franco-Turkish instructor Deniz Gamze Ergüven, it is a portrayed portrait of five sisters whose burgeoning teenage curiosity rages fiercely with the surrounding religiously rooted community. Finally, Bulgarian Urok a personal account of what poverty can do to people, illustrated by the moral dilemmas of a female teacher as she is threatened to be thrown out of her home.
Pure propaganda? All three films, as I said, speak into European contemporary. And all three films, in so far, also theme European values such as gender equality and freedom under responsibility. The cynical observer will thus also be able to argue that this politically-based film prize is merely propaganda material for the common European cause. After all, film is – as Joseph Goebbels so cleverly realized – an excellent tool for propaganda, and when the winner of this year's LUX Prize was announced, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, of course, also used the occasion to plead for the European cause and join the attacks in Paris:
«With the LUX Prize, we want to protect cultural diversity in Europe. Opponents of enlightenment want to destroy our diversity with brutal means in these times. That's why we have a civilian project that we have to defend, ”Schulz said before announcing the award of the year Mustang.
Instead of viewing the LUX Prize as an attempt to propagate European values, the prize can also be seen as an example of activist film art.
The choice seemed obvious. French-Turkish instructor Deniz Gamze Ergüven personifies a bridge builder between Europe and the Middle East. Between the secularized and the religious. Her film is a tribute to modern Turkey in terms of content. A more European Turkey, one might be tempted to say. The production itself also mimics the cultural diversity that the president pleaded, which was also noted by Ergüven, receiving the award:
"The film team, which comes from both France, Germany and Turkey, represents what I dream of. A community across cultural boundaries, ”said Ergüven.
Mustang is also a strong film. Ergüven manages to get very close to the five young actresses and stage a compelling tale of the girls' attempt to rebel against firmly established norms, hypocrisy and double standards. Following the girls in their teens – arguably the most transformative phase of life – also creates a particular fragility that makes the sisters' unity and common ground against societal norms appear all the more fateful and fraught with personal costs.
Activist film art. Instead of viewing the LUX Prize as an attempt to propagate European values, the prize can also be seen as an example of activist film art. By spreading awareness of these films and securing them subtitled views across Europe, the films may also help to nuance debates and offer other reflections. I asked Mustangs German co-producer Frank Henschke what he thought the film could contribute to the ongoing social debate. “I think there are two levels to the film. Partly a discussion of Turkish society, but just as important, I think the film is an input into the debate on gender roles. What is the role of women in different societies across Europe? Mustang is also a female film project, which may have come into being only because it's a female director who can make scenes that don't reduce the girls to sexual objects, which would probably have happened if it were a male director, "Frank said Henschke, who also claims that the fictional feature film can do something different when it comes to activism than the documentary, can:
"The film team, which comes from both France, Germany and Turkey, represents what I dream of. A community across cultural boundaries. ” – Director Ergüven on the winning film Mustang
"If Mustang had been a documentary, it was probably more confrontational and concrete. We hope that the narrative power ensures a different perception of the audience, which thereby has some different relationships to reality than a documentary can give them, ”Henschke said.
Moving voices. Also Mediterranean is a fiction film, but this one takes on a more significant starting point in some documentary film narrative techniques. This happens, for example, with the use of handheld cameras, on-location footage as well as an acting team consisting almost entirely of amateurs, and probably to mark amateurs who have been basically the same through which the characters of the film come. The film's producer Jon Coplon also believes that the special strength knows Mediterranean is this coupling of documentary realism with the narrative power of fiction. “We wanted to tell a more universal story than a documentary can, and that story we found with Koudos. In fiction, we set up a framework that probably makes the relationships clearer and that has a more marked influence than the documentary's looser structure allows, "said Coplon, who, however, was in doubt whether the film can now also have a clear role in the public debate. : «The film hopefully gives individuals the opportunity to relate to the refugee problem in a different way than they can via news and statistics. We can step into the world of Koudos for a few hours and thus gain some other perspectives. It is ambitious and perhaps naive to think that a film can change the world, but it may be a small contribution in one direction. It is not certain that European politicians will change their voice after seeing the film, but it can hopefully help to provide an insight and perhaps make an impression, "Coplon told Ny Tid.
Og Mediterranean deserves to be seen anyway. It is extremely poignant in its portrayal of two men's diverse approaches to life in Europe. While young Abas is frustrated and bullied for violence by the local Italians who treat refugees as animals, Ayiva is persistent in her ability to work her way up. The Italian fruit industry seems to depend on these people, whom society does not want in a paradoxical way, and this dependence is the flimsy hope that Ayiva can rely on. The final scene exemplifies the light and hope of which the LUX Prize may also be an expression.
Mustang premieres February 26, and Mediterranean has premiered January 22. It is still uncertain whether Urok come to Norwegian cinemas. Also read Kjetil Rød's film criticism Mediterranea on page 13.
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