 Director Ben Hopkins talks with Documentary Films .Net’s Tom Hamilton about his most recent film - an account of the Pamir Kirghiz tribe and their journey from nomadic pastoralism to settlement in Turkey.
Tom Hamilton. You have a background as a fiction film maker. What led you to make an ethnographic film?
Ben Hopkins. At the end of the last decade I made two fiction films very quickly one after another, and imagined, rather stupidly… in my youth… that this would be how it was always going to be. So I had made two feature fiction films before my thirtieth birthday and then immediately my career kind of collapsed! The market place changed and the British government film funding situation changed at around the same time, making it much more difficult for British art film makers to find funding. I struggled on for a few more years and moved my base to Berlin rather than London because it was easier to make films there.
Meanwhile, I got an offer from Hans Geissendörfer, who was the executive producer on my second fiction film The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz, to make a film with him about cluster bombs and unexploded ordnance. I came up with a proposal to film in Afghanistan, which was then the last place where cluster bombs had been used, with Laos being the first.
This became a 42 minute documentary called ‘Footprints’, which Hans and I eventually sold to Storyville at the BBC. Nick Fraser, the Executive Producer at Storyville, saw it and loved it and invited me in to ask what I wanted to do next as a documentary and I pitched the idea of the Pamir Kirghiz film. I knew about them because I’d met an Afghan academic who was helping me with the translation of the Pashtun dialogue in Footprints. He told me the about this tribe and I immediately thought that it was an incredible story that would make a really good film.
T. And the BBC then got behind it?
B. Nick said he didn’t normally do “tribe films”, as he called them, but because it was me he was willing to give it go. Eventually we found a way to get an invitation to go to Ulu Pamir to meet the tribe and when I got there I was struck by their sense of humour and how funny they were… not that I mean they were funny all the time or anything! Because the last film had been so sombre and depressing I was quite happy to run with this humorous nature.
T. Was that a conscious thing, to show their humorous side in this documentary?
B. My default mode, if you like, is humour – occasionally I do something serious but normally I like to be funny if possible. As the tribe were funny I wasn’t cutting against the grain there, so yes I was grateful that they had a good sense of humour.
T. Why do you think ethnographic film has in the past lacked that comic aspect of people’s lives?
B. It’s probably a spill over from academia, which in general is not exactly humorous. I know that well, coming from a family of academics. My father was one of those rare things, a humorous historian, and he found it often frustrating to work in that world, that tends towards dryness, and tends towards puffing-up its self-importance by making it difficult for the non-cognoscenti to understand.
So I think a lot of anthropological filmmaking started from an academic base. It was first and foremost a record, a field recording of a way of life – a document more than a work of cinema. My film is maybe the opposite as I am a film-maker and not an anthropologist or an ethnographer – it’s a film first, and an ethnographic document second. (more…)
Filed Under: General Film
joshd
January 14th, 2007
Associated Press
Sun Jan 14, 7:00 AM ET
 Desperate for tickets to see your favorite stars at their Sundance Film Festival premiere? EBay may be the answer — or not.
Sundance officials say they are scanning the online auction site and cracking down on ticket sales. Reselling tickets online is prohibited.
The festival gives locals a shot at purchasing tickets before they go on sale nationally. More than 2,460 Utah residents were selected at random for a chance to buy up to 20 tickets each at the locals-only sale last weekend.
Two tickets to the first screening of “Waitress,” staring Keri Russell, sold for $385 on Saturday afternoon. About half an hour later, a second pair of “Waitress” tickets went for $255.
Sundance officials warn that tickets resold online can be remotely deactivated before the film’s showing.
“We’ve contacted those sellers and informed them of our policy and what actions we are taking,” said Patrick Hubley, festival spokesman. “I wouldn’t advise people to buy tickets off of eBay or any other site,” except for the official Sundance site, he said.
It appeared some of the 293 entries under a search for “Sundance tickets” on Saturday were trying to get around the prohibition. Several sellers were giving away “free” tickets with the “purchase” of festival venue instructions or a film guide, which are given to ticket holders.
Several venue instructions and film guides were selling for around $80 Saturday afternoon. A film guide with two “free” tickets to “Waitress” was going for $227 in an auction ending Sunday afternoon.
The Sundance Film Festival begins Thursday and runs through Jan. 28, with film screenings in Park City, Ogden, Sundance and Salt Lake City.
Filed Under: General Film, Sundance
joshd
January 14th, 2007
For $1.99 each starting January 21. In the past a large number of shorts were available on the Sundance Festival web site for free after the festival was over. So whether this is a step forward or back is in question.
Filed Under: General Film, Sundance
joshd
January 14th, 2007
By Bryan Newbury
January 9, 2007
“(E)ach candidate behaved well in the hope of being judged worthy of election. However, this system was disastrous when the city had become corrupt. For then it was not the most virtuous but the most powerful who stood for election, and the weak, even if virtuous, were too frightened to run for office.”
–Niccolo Machiavelli.
 Attention filmmakers: if you desire a hit, or at least critical accolades, you could do worse than throwing a dart at a map of New Jersey and filming local elections. After seeing both Anytown, U.S.A. and Street Fight, it is hard to imagine many documentary buffs who aren’t itching for another volume to comprise a New Jersey electoral trilogy. Street Fight isn’t quite as compelling as Anytown, yet its excellence is tough to dispute.
Actually, much of Marshall Curry’s film Street Fight borders on what could best be termed “accidental excellence.” Not that Curry isn’t a gifted filmmaker with an eye for gripping political drama. Not that this feeling permeates viewing the film. It is only upon reflection that one thinks to himself, “He seems to have stumbled into it.”
In a way he has, which is not to be judgmental, because there are scores of solid documentaries whose creation and execution seem to be guided by stars. Curry came to Newark originally to set up a literacy program. Like much of Newark, Curry was once a fan of the eccentric and gifted mayor Sharpe James. As the film unfolds, the dark side of Mr. James becomes increasingly disturbing.
 Street Fight is more a profile of attractive upstart Cory Booker, a 32-year-old one-term city councilman. The battle between Booker and James is unlike most in American politics. Both are African-American (unless you take the view of Mr. James, who states or implies at various times that Booker is a white Jew on the Klan payroll) and both are Democrats… unless, well, you know. In spite of those on-paper similarities, the two could scarcely be more different. Booker was raised in a suburb, went to Stanford and then to Yale Law, has a casual charm and a genuine altruism. There are a number of parallels one could draw between Booker and Barack Obama. As Curry describes on the film’s website, Booker was getting the “first black President” talk even while his political career was nascent. (more…)
Filed Under: General Film, Featured Reviews Archive
joshd
January 9th, 2007
 Super 8 film blog, OnSuper8, has a brief review and a interesting interview with documentary filmmaker Dan Monceaux. His A Shift in Perception documentary short is getting a great reception at film festivals and will be reviewed on this site in the coming weeks. Documentary Films .Net is fortunate to have Dan as a frequent contributor to our forum.
Read the interview at OnSuper8.
Filed Under: General Film, Flickers and Flashes
joshd
January 7th, 2007
Documentary DVD Releases January 9, 2007
 Street Fight - Review - Purchase - The Academy Award-nominated “Street Fight” covers the turbulent campaign of Cory Booker, a 32-year old Rhodes Scholar/Yale Law graduate running for mayor of Newark, N.J. against Sharpe James, the four-term incumbent twice his age. Fresh from winning awards at the SilverDocs, HotDocs and Tribeca film festivals, “Street Fight” is this year’s political thriller.
 Martin Luther King: Man of Peace in a Time of War - Review - Purchase - The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most important and inspirational figures in U.S. – and World – History. He spoke of peace at a time when there was great conflict between black and white America, divisiveness within the civil rights movement itself, and an undeclared war in Vietnam that seemed to divide everyone. In addition to rare, archival footage, King: Man Of Peace In A Time Of War features exclusive interviews with such notables as the Rev. Jesse Jackson (who marched alongside Dr. King); retired general and former Secretary of State, Colin Powell (who reflects on how far the civil rights movement has come); and legendary journalist Howard K. Smith (who introduced Dr. King to Richard Nixon); amongst others including Congressman Charles Rangel, Quincy Jones, Hugh Hefner and Laurence Fishburne, plus controversial commentary from Malcolm X. Most remarkable of all is the ultra-rare appearance of Dr. King himself on a 1967 Mike Douglas Show speaking eloquently about civil rights, especially the issue of black participation in the Vietnam War.
 I Trust You To Kill Me - Review - Purchase - Kiefer Sutherland, star of the hit TV show “24″ takes his indie record label act, Rocco DeLuca & the Burden on the road for their first international tour. From Los Angeles to Europe, this highly personal journey chronicles a rock band & their less than qualified road manager, Kiefer Sutherland, and the hopes, successes and disappointments of a band trying to get their music to their audience.
Filed Under: General Film, DVD Releases, Documentary Watch
joshd
January 3rd, 2007
By Bryan Newbury
January 1, 2007
 Disarm gives the viewer some indicators that it is what we might refer to as an “activist” film. The primary image associated with it are Afghan children standing in front of a wall… one of what used to be four… with the title stenciled in black spray paint. The score is provided by Brendan Canty of Fugazi. That spray paint stencil is used as the title image in the opening credits, with participants from the affected nations painting it on walls, tanks and other iconic images of war and waste. This presentation gives the title itself a character more of demand than display.
This judgment is soon rebuffed by the work presented. Disarm takes us to the hot spots of antipersonnel mining, and subsequent de-mining, and does so with impressively athletic pace. We begin at the Myanmar-Thai border. As an official explains, the use of cameras in the area is illegal. Given the reputation of the government in Myanmar, one senses that the footage we see was gained at some peril.
From there, they set off to Sarajevo. The scenes from Bosnia and Herzegovina do best to illustrate a key point Wareham and Liu are driving at. Namely, that the horrific irony of the practice of mining is that though it serves a limited military purpose, which few fighters would choose to do without, the people who fall prey to the devices are overwhelmingly civilian and usually come across the mines in peace time. In Bosnia and Afghanistan alike, the de-mining is done best by men who laid the things in the first place. One Bosnian soldier reflects upon the inevitability of digging up some he has set.
The second key point, which Disarm succeeds in making, is that the subject of land mines seems to deter from the principle point of the argument: the victims. As scenes from Kabul and Colombia show, even if the nations of the world had the will to eradicate the munitions from the face of the earth, there would still be an overwhelming need to assist those already afflicted by them. (more…)
Filed Under: General Film, Featured Reviews Archive
joshd
January 1st, 2007
By Roger A. Davis
December 30, 2006
Do you do crossword puzzles every day?
If the answer is yes, you must see the documentary,
WORDPLAY
Will Shortz, crossword editor of the New York Times
Would know the dictionary meaning of “rimes”
Also, 21 across; Nuremberg concern: w a r c r i m e s
His daily puzzle is the cream of the crop
Bill Clinton, Indigo Girls and Ken Burns share this passion
To fill in the squares, 4 down; current clothes: f a s h i o n
Shortz founded the American Crossword Tournament
It is WORDPLAY’s central theme
Stamford, Conn., who will fulfill their being “The Champ” dream?
There is an underlying story of puzzle construction
That is very interesting, kind of like basic instruction
13 across; first stage of kidnapping: a b d u c t i o n
I recommend this movie to my readership
Comedian Jon Stewart is in it, he didn’t even need one blip
Did you know, Jon proposed to Tracey with Will’s NYT puzzle tip?
As a fan of crosswords, word scrambles and cryptoquips
WORDPLAY rekindled my interest to do puzzles
Here is one for you, 10 down, Toto restraint for lip(s)
—–
Visit Eden Prairie Prose for more poems by Roger A. Davis.
Review Wordplay for yourself.
Purchase Wordplay.
Filed Under: General Film, Featured Reviews Archive
joshd
December 30th, 2006
 Great art being made. Modest Mouse is an indie music success story. This 1997 film captures the band as they were finishing their The Lonesome Crowded West album. The album further established a fan base that would lead to commercial and critical success that conutinues even today. Included in the documentary are shots of the band goofing off, listening to their tracks, and in concert. Interspersed are akward but authentic interviews with musicians, label folks, scenesters, and the band itself. In the end the whole thing works. You see their energy. Recommended.
Watch the film.
Filed Under: General Film, Video
joshd
December 27th, 2006
Byron Hurt takes pains to say that he is a fan of hip-hop, but over time, says Mr. Hurt, a 36-year-old filmmaker, dreadlocks hanging below his shoulders, “I began to become very conflicted about the music I love.”
A new documentary by Mr. Hurt, “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes,” questions the violence, degradation of women and homophobia in much of rap music.
Scheduled to go on the air in February as part of the PBS series Independent Lens, the documentary is being shown now at high schools, colleges and Boy’s Clubs, and in other forums, as part of an unusual public campaign sponsored by the Independent Television Service, which is based in San Francisco and helped finance the film.
The intended audiences include young fans, hip-hop artists and music industry executives — black and white — who profit from music and videos that glorify swagger and luxury, portray women as sex objects, and imply, critics say, that education and hard work are for suckers and sissies.
What concerns Mr. Hurt and many black scholars is the domination of the hip-hop market by more violent and sexually demeaning songs and videos — an ascendancy, the critics say, that has coincided with the growth of the white audience for rap and the growing role of large corporations in marketing the music. (more . . .)
Filed Under: General Film
joshd
December 27th, 2006
Al Jazeera will begin broadcasting a 24-hour Arabic documentary channel from 1 January 2007. Programmes will range from social and political documentaries to history, science and the environment. Al Jazeera says it wants to sponsor talent and work in partnership with international filmmakers to develop content.
AME
Filed Under: General Film, TV
joshd
December 27th, 2006
 Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion continues rank high in Amazon and New York Times nonfiction best seller lists. A companion to the book, the two part documentary program The Root of All Evil? was written and narrated by Dawkins for Channel 4 in the UK. The film has not been shown in the US, but is available on Google video.
Part I: The God Delusion
Part II: The Virus of Faith
Filed Under: General Film, Video
joshd
December 22nd, 2006
 The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday. And as for the last 30 years no documentary category exists for TV or film. No one except award junkies and celebrity followers seems to care too much about the outcome of the Golden Globe awards, but the increasing popularity of documentaries both in the U.S. and abroad makes their absence more prominent than ever. The Hollywood Foreign Film Press who runs the event gave out a best Documentary film until 1977. If you are going to bother with the event, a documentary category should be included.
Filed Under: General Film
joshd
December 22nd, 2006
A U.S. federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by an Iraq war veteran who claimed filmmaker Michael Moore used the veteran’s image without permission in the anti-war documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.”
The film showed Iraq war veteran Sgt. Peter Damon, who had lost his right arm near the shoulder and much of his left arm, lying in a hospital gurney at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland, saying that he feels pain but that pain-killers given him “take a lot of the edge” off of it. (more…)
Filed Under: General Film, Flickers and Flashes, Michael Moore
Luke
December 21st, 2006
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