EUROPE.DOC
European Documentaries Festival

19 - 21 November

Tarifa Traffic - Death in the Straits of Gibraltar
Friday 19 November at 7.00 p.m.

Directed by: Joakim Demmer
Running Time: 60 mins.

Tourists come to lie on the beach and to surf.  They are completely unaware of the drama that is played out here, time and again.  Tarifa is located on the most south-easterly part of Spain and is seen by many Africans as the gateway to Europe.

Only 20 kilometers separate Morocco from Spain, but the crossing is particularly hazardous. Many of the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who try to enter Europe through this route, each year perish in the treacherous waters.

The coastguards, police and Red Cross operating in Tarifa see this tragedy happening again and again. They relate their experience with candid sorrow. The bodies that are washed ashore, many times cannot be identified, as the refugees have no documents with them but their clothes.  Their families dispersed in Africa cannot be informed, and the bodies disappear into anonymous graves. Sometimes a brother or father appears, and a grave is opened and the body is taken home for burial.

The film show how impregnable “Fortress Europe” can be, and indirectly asks the question: to what extent should Europe take responsibility for this?

The Last Peasants
Friday 19 Novemeber at 8.15 p.m.

Directed by: Angus Macqueen
Running Time: 150 mins.

To foreigners the Northern Romanian countryside looks idyllic.  The nature is breathtaking and life moves along at the slow pace of bygone days.  The inhabitants of the village of Budesti find life a burden. 30 year old Ion, dreams of a better life, which according to him can only be found in another part of Europe.  He wants to follow on the steps of his brother Petru who emigrated and is now living in Ireland.

The documentary follows several inhabitants of Budesti in three parts. Almost every family has members who emigrated and those left behind would like nothing more than to follow them, sooner or later.

This is not only a film about the problems of migration – the disrupted families, the illegality, the failures – but also shows a disappearing culture.  After 10 years of democracy, the old Rumania which survived two world wars and half a century of Communism, is on the edge of an abyss.  The Rumanians are not nostalgic – their gaze is fixed firmly on the West.

It's Been a Lovely Day
Saturday 20 Novemeber at 5.00 p.m.

Directed by: Jos de Putter
Running Time: 75 mins.

On the morning of New Year’s day 1992, film Director Jos de Putter is having breakfast with his father at 6.00 in the morning – time to start the day. This will be the last year in which his father will be active as a farmer because although it will be hard for hi to say goodbye to his land and cows, Willem realizes that life on the farm is getting to hard for him.

This documentary presents a way of life that is rapidly disappearing from The Netherlands and other Western countries.  The land has been in the family for generations but now, as no successor has come forward, it has to be sold. The old man is not upset about this as the multitude of rules and regulations , the falling prices of milk and grain and other problems mean that farming has become much less lucrative than it used to be.  The film is an ode to the fertile soil and its traditions.

89mm From Europe
Saturday 20 November at 6.30 p.m.

Directed by: Marcel Lozinski
Running Time: 12 mins.

 “89 mm from Europe”, directed by Marcel Lozinski is the story is about the European Rail Networks that ends at Brest-Litovsk, on the border between Poland and the former Soviet Union.

Past this city, the rails are 89 millimeters wider. To allow a number of international trains to pass this point each day, workers change several thousand wheels below the carriages.

Travelers from France, Germany and the Netherlands watch this work taking place from behind the windows of the train. Are these really two different worlds?  The train sounds and the weather-beaten faces of the workers make it looks as if time has stood still in Brest-Litovsk.

Power Trip
Saturday 20 November at 7.00 p.m.

Directed by: Paul Devlin
Running Time: 85 mins.

Here we have a record of the attempts by an American multinational to impose order on the chaos of post-Communist Georgia and shows that western marketing models cannot just be transplanted into another culture.

In 1999 the American power company AES, took over the electricity distribution company “Telasi” from the Georgian government with the task of fulfilling the electricity demands of the extremely impoverished Georgian population. The Board of AES saw this as a good investment opportunity but the American involvement threatens to end up in a spectacular flop.

The former Soviet republic has been in a state of chaos for years: civil wars and economic problems crippled the country. The state of electricity infrastructure is appalling with not a single house having a meter with electricity tapping reaching colossal heights. The population is not ready to suddenly start paying for the utility. This puts AES in financial difficulties. It gets worse when government interference ensures that large parts  of the country and particular the capital Tbilisi are without electricity for long periods.

The film gives a good account of the consequences of corruption, cultural differences and the difficult transition from Communism to Capitalism.

Losses to be Expected
Saturday 20 November at 9.00 p.m.

Directed by: Ulrich Seidl
Running Time: 118 mins.

An Austrian has been a widower for almost a year and the stock of meals that his wife has cooked for him and frozen before her demise, is almost exhausted.  This is a tricky situation that compels Sepp Paur to search for a new spouse, but the hunt proves difficult. He has a lot to offer – a nice house, a good pension and even some savings in the bank – but he rejects all the women who show interest in him. He thinks they are only after his money.

Sepp’s dream woman lives a few kilometers away – over the Czech border. Paula is a sober widow who is not intimidated by the wealth of Austria despite of her modest circumstances. He buys her expensive presents, but does she want to marry him?  She suspects he is only looking for a good cook and a cleaning lady.

This is a beautiful and moving documentary that shows the contrast between a Western country and another one that belonged to the Eastern bloc.

The Yes Man
Sunday 21 November at 7.00 p.m.

Directed by: Chris Smith, Dan Ollman, Sarah Price
Running Time: 80 mins.

Mike and Andy are American jokers.  Their jokes have a serious undertone.  As “The Yes Men” they present themselves as delegates of the World Trade Organisation before sowing confusion with their provocative texts and crazy disguises.

They attended a WTO Conference in Finland, where as guest speakers they called for the reintroduction of slavery and unveiled an exceptional suit, whereby a manager can keep an eye on his subordinates with a monitor.  The two were then invited to a meeting in Sydney where they made an important announcement: following a great deal of self-examination, the WTO decided to dissolve itself.

This report made the press and it took a long time before their deception was revealed. With their anti-globalisation method the two brothers operate like guerillas although the response to their tactics is even more striking.  Their audiences hardly seem to notice that the message they are hearing does not correspond to what they would expect.  A plea for the sale of election votes to the highest bidder meets with little resistance or even surprise and the information on the Yes Men’s website is mistaken by many visitors for an official WTO site.  The documentary is highly entertaining and deeply shocking.

 Wood Car
Sunday 21 November at 9.00 p.m.

Directed by: Joost Conijn

Running Time: 30 mins.

Amsterdam artist Joost Conijn has an irresistible urge to move.  From an early age, he seized every opportunity to travel; and in fact, after completing secondary school he cycled to India.  His question was always “Where does man stop and the machine starts?”

For the production of this film Conijn traveled to Romania in a wooden car which he himself built, based on an old “Citroen DS” model, which doesn’t run on petrol but on wood.  Along the way passers-by help him pick up wood and stare in amazement at the smoke-billowing contraption he always manages to get going again.  The documentary tells the story of a DIY artist at the wheel, on a journey through Ukraine, Bulgaria and Albania. The film shows the former Eastern Bloc, traditionally associated with poverty and ugliness, in a new light.

 Britanya
Sunday 21 November at 9.45

Directed by: Marjoleine Boonstra

Running Time: 35 mins.

In Britanya, anonymous refugees are given an identity. An Iraqi woman looks in the mirror and tells her story:  how she wanted to leave her suffocating fatherland and how her parents sold their house to enable her to make the journey. Her parents now live in a rented apartment with her brother and sister whom she misses terribly.

To make this documentary, Director Marjorie Boonstra traveled to Calais which is the last obstacle for many illegal immigrants who have already made a journey of thousands of kilometers. Many times they try to hitch a lift in trucks entering England, but very often they are caught at inspections and sent back. On average they pay $6000 for the trip, incurring debts, but England still remains an impregnable bastion.

A Bar at Victoria Station

Sunday 21 November at 10.30 p.m.

Directed by: Leszek Dawid

Running Time: 56 mins.

In “A Bar at the Victoria Station” we find Piotr, a 26 year old who lives with his parents and has never worked for a day throughout his life.  Not because he is unwilling.  On the contrary he is full of plans and would like to work in the food industry but despite the several applications, he never gets the job.

After a lot of deliberation, together with his friend Marek they decide to go to England to find a job there.  The two young Poles set off on their journey, arriving in London and the cities reality come to them as a bitter disappointment as the promises given by their contact person turn out to be false and without a work permit their chances to get a job are virtually nil. 

It is a hopeless situation and Piotr begins to lose heart.  The young men become homesick but continue to cherish an ideal: to open a bar at Victoria Station in London.  The message of the film is that the prosperous Western Europe remains an unattainable mirage for many Poles even after their country joined the EU.