DOComedy Now

Influenzasæsonen er i fuld gang. Har du det mentale helbred til at fordrive sengetiden med tv-kigning? (If you don't understand Danish, don't worry. This is just a predictable elegy on  lousy TV )     Feberen er ved at tage af, men alligevel danser ordene i bogen ubehageligt foran mig. Jeg lægger den formentlig overvurderede roman fra mig og tænder for tv’et. Stuen fyldes af et vederkvægende lys og en behagelig stemme lægger sig kælent ved siden af mig, og nu kan jeg se hende: studieværten, der fortæller om trafikale problemer, så jeg selv længes ud i sneen. Men jeg må videre; jeg zapper hen til en reklame, der pludselig ikke er så kælen at høre på, bare høj. Videre til en anden reklame, der er højere og nu også dum. Jeg har ikke brug for produktet, synes jeg, men måske tager jeg fejl. Et såkaldt dokumentarprogram holder mig fangen nogle minutter, men speakeren taler alt for manisk om noget, som billederne lige har vist. Højtlæsning. Så syg er jeg heller ikke. For...

In all fairness (considering my previous blog) I should express here that the closing ceremony of CPH:DOX 2012 at Bremen Theater was well executed and rounded off my quite busy and interesting ten days of films, seminars and meetings. And partying. Thank you all - for making this possible. At the awards itself, we as an audience was courteously told several times what to do and where to go at what time; director Tine Fischer’s speech was brief(er) and to the point; the hosts Brügger and Bertelsen were funny and engaging; the awards didn’t take too long; the film well chosen as a closer; the wine was better; the girls were prettier… But of course I wouldn’t be me if I couldn’t list some more undesirable features: The invitation/ticket system was unclear to most delegates; the screen itself was damaged and tarnished the film; the audience was impatient/thirsty/peeing in their pants and kept running in and out; the noise from the bar during the screening was quite annoying… ...

The 10th edition of CPH:DOX is about to start – so happy birthday to them, the staff and ourselves on this versatile and exciting event. For the second year in a row, the opening was held at Koncerthuset, the fantastic concert hall of the national Danish broadcasting corporation, DR. I had received an invitation – and thank you for that – and was looking forward to the screening of Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn & Anonymous’s film “The Act of Killing”, produced by my friends at Final Cut for Real. But, but, but… I need to get this out: First of all: When the ticket says “7 PM, doors open at 6.30 PM”, it’s not okay to let people guess when the event really starts, which proved to be at 7.45. From the lobby you have no chance to see what’s going on inside the hall itself (the place is a complex system of stairs, elevators, aisles and escalators) and no bells indicated when you should actually go to your seat. Some people were trapped in their seats for 40 min...

(About a specific Danish matter re. support or no support from Danish Film Institute) Filminstituttets konsulentsystem er vel kun godt så længe det administreres forsvarligt – af mennesker, der forstår filmsprogets mangfoldighed og som ikke kolporterer deres personlige smag og holdninger via støtteansøgerens mulige filmprojekt . Jørgen Leth og Jytte Rex har begge luftet utilfredshed med nylige afslag fra navngivne konsulenter, og EKKO videregiver deres oplevelser. Er det ikke lidt med DFI-støtte som at blive udtaget til landsholdet? At det skal tilkomme nationens fremmeste aktører? Eller er det dem med de frækkeste driblinger? Og skal de på en eller anden måde ikke også passe ind i systemet? Bortset fra at folk i offentlige stillinger skal kunne passe deres job uden at blive direkte generet eller risikere, at der ustandseligt klages til deres chef i DBU eller på DFI, så skal der være plads til en faglig snak om det. Stiller Morten Olsen måske ikke også op til komm...

I have been trying different inadequate and sort of inane ways of saying that a really good documentary film (or at least my own films) should take advantage of both reality and fantasy and mix them in a cinematic way which will enhance the spectators understanding and appreciation of the depiction and interpretation of reality. But as the first paragraph here shows, the wording gets a little… erhm… wordy and egg headed, so I was really happy to stumble over this quote from an interview with none other than one of my favorites, Tom Waits, who manages to add the pictures (which really should be my job, damn-it):     “Mostly I straddle reality and the imagination. My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.” So regarding documentary films, always listen to what Tom says. (Afterall, he also gives these valid advices: "Never trust a man in a blue tre...

Recently, I got this info on Facebook and by chance I was wearing their T-shirt on the very same day. Coincidence? Anyway, here is what the good people at Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival wrote: "A bit of sad news for all our friends and supporters, but hopefully with a positive ending. We have decided not to run our 7th Guth Gafa Festival this year because of funding difficulties. But we are going to be back - in April 2013 - in Derry and Inishowen. The full story is here on our website www.guthgafa.com " I also wrote about my visit to the festival in 2011 on www.filmkommentaren.dk , and I wish them the best.

(Alt for l ange) b etragtninger om humorens vilkår i Danmark (in Danish). Humor er liv, humor er uhøjtidelighed, og humor er en god måde at påpege urimeligheder på. Men det er svært at have med at gøre. Prøv at gå ind i en propfuld bagerbutik en søndag formiddag, og når ekspedienten spørger ud i rummet ”Hvis tur er det?”, så sig fra din plads allerbagest i køen med så ærligt et pokerfjæs du kan: ”Jeg tror, det er mig nu.” Det kan være en hel ubetalelig oplevelse, for reaktionen er prompte og sur, for det kan umuligt være min tur, jeg er jo lige kommet ind osv. Men hurtigt går det op for de fleste, at det jo må have været for sjov, at jeg sagde det, og nogle begynder ligefrem at se det satiriske i situationen. Men det er ikke noget, man skal gøre hver søndag – så bliver det gammelt. Humor kan også være ond og ødelæggende.   Eller kan det? For er det så ikke bare mobning og ikke humor? Men hvor går grænsen, og er vi bange for at udfordre den grænse? Hvem må vi gøre grin...