Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.09.2015, Side 24

'Democrats'
(Dir. Camilla Nielsson)
Documentaries
In 2008, after Robert Mugabe brutally fixed
his re-election to a sixth term as President
of Zimbabawe, international pressure led
to the creation of a committee to write a
new constitution for the country, jointly
overseen by representatives of Mugabe’s
ZANU-PF and the opposition party, MDC.
Documentarian Camilla Nielsson received
remarkable access to the process, from
public forums (sometimes marred by
violence and intimidation, with ZANU-PF
supporters bussed in to repeat scripted
responses) to the drafting and editing
stages.
Camilla and her editors excavate clear
character arcs from three years of footage
covering subtle, heavily context-depend-
ing hyperlocal political wrangling; the por-
trait that emerges is of two men coming to
sense which side of history they’re on. The
MDC’s chief negotiator Douglas Mwon-
zora starts out wonkish and cowed, but
gains confidence as he learns to leverage
the infamous persecutions of Mugabe’s
regime; the glib, toothy grin of ZANU-
PF’s Paul Mangwana grows increasingly
forced as he comes to understand the
depth of his party’s cynicism. The film of-
fers insights both specific and general,
from Mugabe’s heavily suggestive, bully-
ing rhetorical style (and the easy laughter
of his sycophants), to the strategies by
which powerful parties mobilize and me-
diate average people’s participation in the
political process.
MA
'Gold Coast'
(Dir. Daniel Dencik)
Spotlight on Denmark
Daniel Dencik‘s debut feature depicts a fe-
verish journey taken by an innocent white
man into the heart of darkest Africa, in the
days when Denmark maintained a colony
in part of what is now Ghana. You can feel
the fever and madness as our protagonist,
Wulff (Jakob Oftebro), battles an illegal
slave trade. Daniel also seems genuinely
interested in the continent’s landscapes, a
fascination which he delivers to the audi-
ence, along with the cruelty and inhuman-
ity of the colonial masters.
Despite this, the film has one big—
and all too familiar—flaw: the film’s hero
is a white guy, the locals near-exclusively
stuck in supporting roles, barely even
speaking. ‘Gold Coast’ is yet another case
of the white man confronting his own evil,
very much on his own terms. However,
‘Gold Coast’ remains a powerful, albeit
terribly white, film.
ÁI
'Mustang'
(Dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven)
Open Seas
Press in Cannes were quick to call Deniz
Gamze Ergüven's debut a Turkish ‘Virgin
Suicides’, charting as it does the tragic
sexual coming-of-age of five teenage sis-
ters locked up in a suburban tower. More
pronounced in ‘Mustang’ (like a darker
‘Fiddler On The Roof’!) is the way these
lively, flirty, modern girls inspire a reaction
in rural conservative traditions, as their
moustachioed, domineering uncle builds
up garden walls and window bars higher
and higher, and their grandmother rushes
to marry them off in rapid succession.
That the film is narrated by the young-
est, fiercest sister, who describes events
she didn't see firsthand, lends the hint of a
fable to the, but even the tallest tales with-
in the narrative are filmed in a vividly natu-
ralistic style. Keeping her camera close to
her young actresses, Deniz builds a real,
intimate world of sisterhood.
MA
'Queen of Silence'
(Dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka)
Documentaries
The ebullient ten-year-old Denisa Gabor
is a deaf-mute Roma girl who lives in an
encampment on the outskirts of Wroclaw,
Poland. We get glimpses of her life, includ-
ing fighting and playing with the other
kids, scavenging for toys and begging for
money; bringing her family into reluctant
content with the state as she’s fitted for
a hearing aid; and watching Bollywood
DVDs, avidly mimicking the dance moves
of Aishwarya Rai.
Agnieszka Zwiefka stages several
elaborately choreographed musical num-
bers, enlisting the kids from the Roma set-
tlement to dance alongside Denisa—these
sequences mix movie magic with grim
reality, and represent a creative and laud-
able attempt to allow a locked-in sensibil-
ity a platform to express itself. You may,
however, be entitled to worry that the film
also intends for Denisa’s disability and fan-
tasy life to symbolize innocence and the
pathos of escapism amid casual domes-
tic cruelty and wider social prejudice; the
film is also fascinating for what it doesn’t
show—the unique challenges of Denisa’s
treatment; the process by which the film-
makers ingratiated themselves with an
insular community and even more insular
subject—as much as for what it does.
MA
'Slow West'
(Dir. John Maclean)
New Visions
One thing has long puzzled me about
the Western genre: the films are set dur-
ing an era where people from all over the
world were moving to the new world, yet
in Westerns everybody seem to be locals,
speaking perfect English.
This seems to be slowly changing,
though. Last year we had a Danish west-
ern, ‘The Salvation’, a film that began as
a very interesting depiction of a European
coming into a world full of thieving psy-
chopaths, before turning into a regular
shoot-‘em-up. This year, with ‘Slow West’,
we have an innocent Scottish traveller
(Kodi Smit-McPhee) searching for his one
true love, amid scoundrels of all kinds. It‘s
not the most powerful Western I‘ve seen—
but it has a way of twisting convention
nicely and makes you more curious about
the era itself than most Westerns do.
ÁI
Photos
Stills courtesy of RIFF
Capsules by
Ásgeir Ingólfsson and Mark Asch
24 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2015FILM
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Osushi is a unique rest aurant in Iceland.
The met hod of dining involves snatching
small plates from a conveyor belt. Pricing is
distinguished by the color and pattern of the
plate – most range between 230 - 440 ISK.

Everything off the con vey or belt is tasty
and if you don’t really fancy sushi, you can
instead choose for ex ample teriyaki chicken,
noodle salad, tempura and desserts.

The vibe in Osushi is friendly and relaxed.
The restaurant is located almost next door to
Althingi (the parliament) which is in the
heart of the city.
osushi.is
Pósthússtræti 13 / Borgartúni 29 / Reykjavíkurvegur 60 HF.
Tel: 561 0562 / www.osushi.is
Five Takes
On Reykjavík
International Film
Festival
We watched notable titles
at the ongoing RIFF, for your
convenience!