HONK! / CALVET / DUBLIN’S TRAP /
FIVE BROKEN CAMERAS
Directors Arnaud Gaillard (Honk!), Dominic Allan (Calvet), Bryan Carter (Dublin’s Trap) and Guy Davidi (Five Broken Cameras) held a Press Conference on Tuesday, March 13, 2012 as part of the 14th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
Different aspects of the death penalty through the stories of people involved with this difficult issue in some way, is the main subject of Arnaud Gaillard’s documentary HONK!. Gaillard spoke about the film’s main characters: "Everyone has a different story. The first character comes from a case that we read about in the newspapers: an execution in Salt Lake City caused a great controversy because the offender chose to be killed by firing squad instead of injection. The second, a former convict on death row, I met a year before making the film at a conference in Geneva on the abolition of the death penalty. The third character of the film is the mother of a death row convict from Texas and she is an activist."
The discussion turned to the unusual title of the film and Mr. Gaillard revealed: "It is customary in America to express reactions and have events announced through the honking of car horns. The honking is a reaction to something, it indicates refusal. In the film we see some members of the movement for abolition of the death penalty honking, thus expressing their opposition. This is the means of expression the woman I mentioned earlier has found to express her own “no”. The director wanted to explain the stance of the filmmakers to not show executions: “During the film’s pre-production I met three death row inmates. I didn’t want us to be there at the moment of execution, we were only interested in what our characters had to say. Besides, I think this is what separates this documentary from others on the subject, since it left room for the expression of all views, whether for or against the death penalty. "
Bryan Carter, director of Dublin’s Trap, spoke about the reasons that led him to make a film on the problems the “Dublin 2” treaty is creating for Greece regarding the issue of immigration. “I’ve been visiting Greece often over the last four years, and I was particularly interested in the issue of refugees. I was informed that after the very harsh measures adopted by Italy and Spain, Greece was receiving 90% of the immigrants coming to Europe. So I wanted to inform my country, the Belgian audience, on this issue. However, in order for the Belgian Union of Journalists to finance the documentary, I had to find a way to connect this story to my country and the European Union. I managed this through the story of an Afghan who was vindicated at the European Court of Human Rights for his asylum application, the story that is presented in the film”. He then briefly explained the notorious treaty, which holds the first European station of an immigrant responsible to allow him back in, even if he has managed to get to another European country. Also, Mr. Carter underlined the inability of Greece itself to offer real help to the immigrants it accepts, and argued that the return of migrants to our country from other member states of the EU be stopped. He even proposed some solutions to the Greek immigration issue: "The amendment of “Dublin 2'” is a first step. However, instead of the EU giving Frontex 6 million Euros for the creation of a barrier which won’t be of any help to the huge Greek border, it would be better to financially support the World Immigrant Organization, which provides essential help to all immigrants who either want to stay here or be repatriated”.
Then the unusual story of Dominic Allan’s Calvet was discussed. The director revealed how he met the protagonist, Jean Marc Calvet, who once flirted with insanity and reached the threshold of self-destruction, but then became a successful painter who still seeks reconciliation with the past. "I lived in Latin America in 2004 when we first met and at that time he was suffering from paranoia. He did not see himself as an artist, "said Allan. He added: "A year and a half later I met him again and heard the incredible story of his life. To make the film I had to convince Calvet to visit again all the places where important events in his life had taken place. It was like reliving his past, a very unique, often violent and dark past.” Allan called Calvet “a very charismatic and complicated personality who loves telling stories”, while he tried to find the documentary’s deeper meaning: “The entire film was based on the metamorphosis and dysfunction of a man who, although he destroyed his life and his family, he managed to build them again”. The director referred to what he gained from the film and from being with his protagonist: “I believe that this relationship was extremely rewarding. In Great Britain, where I worked in television, I was tired of doing documentaries that didn’t have anything to say. Similarly, I think that through this experience Calvet was able to repair his relationships with both his father and his son.”
Moving on to the film Five Broken Cameras by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, the latter spoke at the Press Conference about the story of Emad and his Palestinian fellow villagers who are resisting the oppressive Israeli policies at the border with Gaza. Speaking about meeting his co-director, Mr. Davidi stated: “I met him in the beginning of 2005, at a peaceful demonstration. He was already an important personality in the village Bilin, and he made sure to videotape events during our absence. In 2009 he telephoned me and told me that we wanted to make a documentary about his village and this peaceful movement. When I saw the material, I was sure that the film could be made, even though there have been many films about the Palestinians. I know I liked helping him tell his own story himself, instead of simply being my camera man”. He then focused on the changes the film caused for Emad and his relatives. “Emad began to learn to stop seeing himself as a victim. These people are not pitiful; they are brave and a source of inspiration to all of us. Emad’s work demonstrates that he is not a victim. But when you have found yourself in that position many times, it is difficult to easily stop seeing yourself like that. However, the success of the film guarantees that he is removing himself from the point of view of a victim”, the director noted.
The films HONK! and DUBLIN’S TRAP are included in sections which are financed, among other 14 TDF activities by European Union - European Regional Development Fund under the Central Macedonia ROP 2007-2013.
