Of Rugby, Kakapo and Castlepoint
We are the champions – New Zealand that is, and rugby is the game (or religion, if you prefer)!! On Sunday morning in a very crowded Irish pub on the Karli some very loyal Kiwis agonised with 4.3 million others (at least!) half a world away – geographically, but not in spirit – over much more than a game with a funny shaped ball. The country’s mental state was at state.
Hayley Westenra, singing sensation from earthquake stricken Christchurch, sang our national anthem very sweetly, to be followed by our warriors giving the haka their all. The French response was to create an arrow formation and advance to eyeball the Kiwis. Off-putting to say the least! They continued by not making it at all easy to put points on the board, and grey hairs were in the making. Kiwis are fairly modest types and the All Blacks have been known to lose their nerve when put under immense pressure, but finally the full-time whistle blew and we were on top. On top of the world!! The final score was 8 – 7, but who cares if there was only one point in it! The team who had played like champions throughout the competition, and only too happily welcomed so many so warmly while hosting the competition, had pulled it off. The Web Ellis Cup can now be tucked up with a hottie in a Kiwi nest for – at least – the next four years.
It was enough to make any Kiwi more than a bit tearfully homesick, but a trip to Leipzig’s Natural History Museum today helped as I came face to face with a couple of Kakapo (long deceased, but still a fine looking pair of native birds)! Then there was Wairarapa’s Castlepoint that featured in (and inspired – at least the dead whale did) the impressive DOK film ‘Vivan Las Antipodas!’ and thirdly New Zealand documentary film guru Alex Lee who made the trip to LE to talk business at the festival. So, Kiwi connections there are to be found and cherished in Leipzig, even if we are a long way from home.
The pride of all Kiwis
Farewell DOK 2011
The buzzing DOK festival of international documentary and animated films came to an end on Sunday, sadly. Fortunately the images, ideas, faces and places we’ve encountered through film cannot be erased so rapidly from our heads and can be replayed at – and against – our will many times over.
For six days the DOK was there to help us make sense of the world we live in; six new films alone from Tunisia and Egypt told of the very contemporary revolutionary happenings unfolding there. You could also travel back in time to the year 1961 when the Berlin wall was the topic, and get more familiar with India, a country that featured in this year’s 54th celebration of film. From the record number of 3,012 submissions, 300 made the cut, giving over 38,000 people the opportunity to broaden their minds.
For me the atmospheric haiku-like (thanks Barbara) ‘Minka’ that told of an east-west relationship, shared while relocating and restoring an old Japanese farmhouse in a picturesque mountain location, was quietly really something. In just 15 minutes Yoshihiro Takishita’s open chat with us about his partner, John Roderick, a charismatic American foreign correspondent whose bad Japanese was made up for by his love of people and life, really got to me. The images on the screen conjured up images of my own time spent in the Land of the Rising Sun – with feeling. As the atmospheric mist one encounters in Japan’s mountainous areas was visible on screen and Yoshihiro farewelled his friend the screen suddenly became blurry as emotion took over … parting is such sweet sorrow!
To check out who took away the awards visit: www.dok-leipzig.de
Highlights at DOK Leipzig 17-23 October 2011
DOK Leipzig is the oldest documentary film festival in the world and the second largest in Europe. For its 54th event, 341 documentary and animated films from 47 countries will be screened. The festival will also be offering 59 different events related to the DOK Industry.
Here are just some of the highlights on offer from an incredibly broad programme:
Three great names from the world of East German documentary film, three important birthdays, three homages: DOK Leipzig will be paying its respects to Gitta Nickel (75), Jürgen Böttcher (80) and Kurt Weiler (90) with select special programmes. Nickel and Böttcher will be personally attending the festival.
The revolutions in the Arab world are among the most important international political events of the year. DOK Leipzig is the first film festival in the world to offer a sensitive view of the turmoil in Egypt and Tunisia with its programme The Reality of a Revolution – Initial Documents of the Arab Spring. Most of the filmmakers will be on hand in Leipzig.
India is often associated with clichés regarding poverty, spirituality and mysticism. And yet the label ”largest democracy in the world” also proves to be a cliché by the Indian documentary films included in the special programme Filmmakers as Changemakers – The Rhythms of India. The filmmakers offer some shocking views of the treatment of minority groups, the environment and social problems, but also show potential solutions to the deep rift between Hindus and Muslims.
The retrospective 1961 Reviewed — When the World Was Split in Two looks back at a turbulent year in world history. The construction of the Berlin Wall divided not just a city but almost the entire world into East and West. In Africa came a great wave of independence, the Cuba Missile Crisis threatened to escalate into a world war and John F. Kennedy put an end to segregation. The retrospective brings together more than 30 works that document this time, some of which are surprisingly relevant today.
Through DOK Engagement this year DOK Leipzig will be supporting the independent development organization Oxfam and its campaign “Mahlzeit!” to ensure food security. The subject is explored in a special screening of the film Up in Smoke by Oxfam.
The opening of the 54th DOK Leipzig Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann and other special guests are expected. The opening films will be A Morning Stroll by Grant Orchard (UK) and Special Flight by Fernand Melgar (CH).
For the first time this year the Goethe Institute will be presenting its documentary film award in Leipzig. After the prize of the “Stiftung Friedliche Revolution” in 2010, yet again a new prize will be presented at DOK Leipzig. The most important awards are of course the Golden and Silver Doves as well as the Talent Dove of the Medienstiftung der Sparkasse Leipzig. A record of 74,500 euros in prize money will be awarded.