Diary : Nordisk Panorama 2018

Mikael Strandberg

22 Sep 2018

25/09/2018 Nordisk Panorama, Malmö

Let me first say what a privileged in life to be able to spend 5 days watching great documentaries. What a program the folks at Nordisk panorama have put together. Of all the films I have seen, there´s not one I thought was not worth watching.

I just saw my last one. An inspiring, uplifting and very positive documentary. This was indeed needed after so many docs with heavy subjects. Well, most of them. Needed, sure, but some uplifting, funny docs is a must I think as well.

Punk Voyage was a great doc, so full of life, it made me smile and laugh so many times. More of these films, please. The world is not just about how traumatic life is. After 33 years of travelling, I know that is just…life…and a small part of it all. Maybe the organizers of Nordisk Panorama should start travelling outside the West a bit more.

Golden Dawn Girls was a very serious film about a very serious topic which I again made me very uncomfortable and will most likely keep me awake tonight. I have had problems sleeping, often waking up in sweat and nightmares, each night after watching these superb docs. So many of them touch me deeply. Like False Confession and the Stranger which I saw yesterday.

I feel utterly knackered, but inspired and I also feel that this can be done!

Nordisk Panorama Sunday 23/09/2018

Todays overwhelming feeling is the fact how dedicated all these film makers are! I am really in awe over their dedication, passion for their subject and subjects and they all come across as really great people!

So…today I have seen one really good documentary and another very well known one lately. The Icelandic film Beyond Strength about the strongman Reynir and his life. And what I liked the most was the honesty of the film maker and the portrait made. I have realized during these days that the films I like the most are the one´s I best can identify with personally at this stage of my life. This was another one, who gained a lot of attention and then died an alcoholic, when things went wrong. A misunderstood genius again put against the times we live into day. Not easy. But a great documentary!

The very much hailed The Raft was well worth seeing, very interesting, entertaining, but moved me very little. Definitely a film institute film and what they like who occupy these positions. Again, I am basing my opinions on 14 months in Greenland and emotions gathered there. But definitely a very good documentary! I wish the director himself would have been there to give additional perspective. A film without the director at the end, ain´t as good as it could be.

So, me and the girls, we have cleaned parts of the house (not the girl’s room, they said they do it themselves…), cooked, trained at the gym, now off to shopping. The girls definitely keep me with my feet on the ground.

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I have shed tears today. I have seen one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time. One of these films you will carry with thru life when you face a wall of thoughts about the meaning of life. Again, quite unexpected. Before the festival I had only come across The Raft, The Deminer and The Distant Barking of Dogs. All three wining loads of prices, gaining full recognition. I have seen two of them. The Deminer yesterday and The Distant Barking of Dogs today. There´s no doubt that both are two really good documentaries, but none belong to those who you will carry with you on the journey of life. Like Erik Poppes film Per Fugelli – I die.

It is a film about love. About life. Landscapes. The community of human beings. Family. And about adding thought to the meaning of life. I thin the difference as I see it after 33 years of travelling the world, living a different life, is that Poppes film about Per Fugelli takes everything two steps further. If I look at The Deminer, I would have liked to know much, much more about the thoughts of Coronel Fakhir, but he said few words and was now philosopher as such, but still a great human. Simon Lereng Wilmonts fantastic filming and out of this world sound plus this great story in itself was indeed a beautiful film, but it wasn´t a film who added value to higher thoughts of life.

I fear that Poppes film possibly didn´t get us much funding (at least judging the credits) and maybe haven´t won that much prices, compared to the other two mentioned and I find that said, because it seems like people easily by hype if a film has won many prices or awards and picked up a lot of funding, but that doesn´t mean it is a documentary which will make a difference with a human perspective of our future.

And my two favorites so far, both Norwegian! I think as regards to Per Fugelli and these stunning images from the island of Rust (I hope you can take me there Kalle Rikardsen!) plus the people and general atmosphere, brought my thoughts back to Greenland. The beauty and the sea. And the people. So when I came back, instead of asking for another baby sitter whilst I went for a drink at NP Happy hour, we took the bus down to Ribban and walked on the beach, feeling the wind and getting a bit of perspective on the importance of family. Which was one of Per´s pillars of happiness.

AH, I got up at 06.11 to due the laundry.

Again, shamefully very few people watching these great documentaries. Why?

PER FUGELLI – SISTE RESEPT – TRAILER – TIFF 2018 from Tromsø Int. Film Festival on Vimeo.

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I have seen three documentaries today. In between I have been with the girls, cooked, talked to Försäkringskassan who is beginning to get it, been to the dentist with Dana (7 cavities -!- much due to the eternal sweet eating in Greenland among kids, at school and at day care) and as always, cleaned dishes. But what an important day!

There´s no doubt that the importance of documentary film is in these times is incredibly huge! I have seen three films today which has given me a deep insight into boys and male attitudes towards women in India, Mumbai, and that there is advancement in starting to change these. A bit. I have seen a film about violent extremism, from a female perspective. And an Iraqi hero deminer. All in a day. Where can that profound insight happen elsewhere but in the world of a documentary festival? I have learnt a lot today and been mesmerized.

So don´t miss them, you folks all around the world. They should indeed be part of any educational and political curriculum. Unfortunately, so far only a third or half the seats have been occupied. This worries me. The world of documentary is just getting better, with better films, but it seems to be marginalized by the powers in charge.

First film was set in Mumbai and started off really well, with such an important theme as how to foster male masculinity in a country experiencing gang rapes. But after awhile I realized, on a personal level as someone doing docs, how hard it is to do a feature and keep the audience on their toes. And then, on a personal level, am fed up with these drone images always and everywhere, and a layout trying to turn it into a Hollywood movie. But indeed a film which should be compulsory viewing in schools.

My favorite today was unexpected, a film called Exit, about extremism, but it was a personal story, which I love (of course, since this is the only way I can do docs), by a Norwegian lady, who answered questions at the end and it was such a strong story, with great insights into the world of extremism, from her point and experience all the way to French jihadism. And what a brave young lady!

The Deminer is of course already known and it is an extra ordinary story about Colonel Fakhir, what a hero on all levels. A documentary when it is at its best, simple, easy, with a great story, educational, terrifying with a director who seems like a great guy, Hogir Hirori.

It couldn´t have been a more inspirational day! Time to brush the girls teeth and try to get them to bed. They´re rocking right now and drawing.