THURSDAY 14 JUNE 2018

WHO ARE YOU?

VFF4 DAILY - DAY SEVEN

MASTER OF CINEMA SPOTLIGHT ON VENUES

INTRO TO DOC JURY

Editor: Sarah ChircopContributors: Melita Cameron-WoodDesign: Maarten van Drempt Produced by: Film Grain Foundation

Print credit:Copyserv

vallettafilmfestival.com

And on the seventh day here at VFF we join in the worldwide celebrations of the centenary of the birth of the great Swedish director, writer and author Ingmar Bergman. In his 59 years as a filmmaker, Bergman wrote and/or directed more than 60 films which mirrored and questioned the human condition. He explored difficult subjects such as harsh parenting, infidelity, death, humiliation and faith and refused to turn away from uncomfortable truths. His style was austere and unobtrusive and his cinema work is often criticised for being ‘theatrical’. Nevertheless, he remains one of the most influential cinematographic artists in the world and one of the Masters of Cinema for the 4th edition of VFF. To celebrate this centenary the festival will be screening two of Bergman’s best known films that were recently restored by the Swedish Film Institute - The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.

Born in 1965 in Belgium, Annick Ghijzelings initially studied biology and philosophy. After her studies, she published some essays and narratives, including the story ‘Le Jardin’ which was released in 2003. Ever since, she is entirely dedicated to filmmaking and mainly focuses on documentary features. She has also travelled to Africa, Latin America and Oceania where she made the films ‘Terrre Terra Terrae’ in 2008, ‘The Very Minute’ in 2010, ‘27 Times Time’ in 2016. Her new film ‘Ma’Ohi Nui, In the Heart of the Ocean my Country Lies’ will be screened in the Islanders section of VFF. Both her literary and cinematic work address the volatility of things, wishing to let time stand still for once.

A film by Christian Krönes & Florian Weigensamer

-WHAT’S ON TODAY-

The Pillow Book - Masters of Cinema - 1200 Valletta Campus Theatre

The Seventh Seal - Masters of Cinema - 1400 Embassy Cinemas

Eurimages - Info Session - 1700 Music Room

Pre-screening Aperitivo - 1900 Kingsway

Human Flow - UNHCR Special Screening - 2045 Valletta Campus Theatre

Boys Cry - Competition Feauture - 2100 Pjazza Teatru Rjal

Welcome to Sodom - Competition Doc - 2115 Spazju Kreattiv

Annick Ghijzelings

This year we introduced screenings at the Valletta Theatre Campus, a theatre situated in a 16th century building that houses the University of Malta in Valletta. The theatre has played an important role in students’ education for many generations. It has been the working space of the Department of Theatre Studies since 1989, and as of 2012, it caters for the needs of the School of Performing Arts. It has been recently renovated and is now furnished with cutting-edge multimedia equipment.

The name Sodom is well known, particularly among the biblically well versed. This hellish sounding place may not be what you think of when you look at your computer screen or glance at your smartphone, but the modern-day Sodom has more to do with your

everyday electronic items. Waste has been in the news a lot recently. Plastic bottles, being a part of most people’s everyday existence, understandably tend to take centre stage, but what about electronic waste? This is ultimately a politics of replacement, which goes right down to our product usage – we replace our present reality with a virtual one in the same way that we readily replace our defunct items with new ones. As is pointed out in ‘Welcome to Sodom’; ‘the white man does not repair’ his broken items. Instead, these items are transported to Ghana, to a place nicknamed ‘Sodom’ by the locals because of its desolate appearance and the smoke and fire rising from the ground as a result of burning electrical appliances.

“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is so bad as the outcry that has reached me.” Genesis 18:16-33

Carol Nahra is an American journalist, professor and producer based in London. She has been writing about the documentary industry for twenty years. She also teaches documentary film and digital media at Syracuse University and other organizations in London, serves on the advisory board for the Sheffield Doc/Fest, and regularly moderates industry panels and Q&As. She blogs at:www.docsonscreens.com.

After graduating in Journalism from the University of Santiago de Compostela in 2011, David González has since specialised in film. After having created the film website los35milimetros.com in Spain, he became editorial coordinator at the headquarters of Cineuropa, the first European portal dedicated to cinema and the audiovisual industry, funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe MEDIA programme. David also serves as press assistant for the European Union’s LUX Prize, and has taken part in several festivals and juries representing Cineuropa.

Carol Nahra

INGMAR BERGMAN

David Gonzales

VALLETTA CAMPUS THEATRE

WELCOME TO SODOM

“We make each other alive, it doesn' t make a difference if it hurts ” Ingmar Bergman

One clear difference between the biblical narrative and this present reality emerges though: in the Bible the people of Sodom bring about their own demise through their sinfulness, but in this documentary it is clear that it is not the wickedness of those who inhabit Sodom, who have made it appear as it does today, but rather that of the Western world, which has allowed its steady technological progression to bring about the downfall of another place. Although there are heart-warming moments of joy in this treacherous place, danger prevails and engulfs the everyday reality of the locals. Over 250,000 tonnes of electronic waste are shipped to Ghana every year and this is what is causing this catastrophe, which far from being a virtual, electronic reality is a very real phenomenon that should no longer be ignored. The focus on individual workers, who unflinchingly continue their painstaking work, leaves us with a chilling reminder that this is no longer shocking to them – this is life, home and hell all at once.