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International Indies 
South African filmmaker Francois Verster’s interest in the tangled history of the South African song “Mbube”—better known in the West as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”—began in 1999, when he was commissioned by a local news magazine to make a 12-minute short on the subject. His research led him to discover how the West hijacked the composition from its South African creator, Solomon Linda, leaving his family to languish in poverty while the song earned millions of dollars for the people in the West who poached this example of African culture. Verster expanded on the ideas of the short to make his documentary A LION'S TRAIL, which has since been acquired by ITVS for Independent Lens. A LION'S TRAIL represents a growing trend within the international independent film community. On a basic level, Verster is one of a growing number of filmmakers who have embraced subjects that capture the world’s interest. At ITVS, this movement has been answered in recent years with increases in the number of international co-productions and acquisitions, as well as with content that reflects world concerns. Claire Aguilar, ITVS director of programming, notes, “The world is getting smaller, and subject matter has become international or has a global focus.” One reflection of that global focus is the increase in the number of international filmmakers making films about global politics. Paul Devlin’s POWER TRIP is one example. The film, about an American company’s attempt to privatize electricity in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, has screened for both the World Bank and the U.S. State Department and has become, according to Devlin, “a training film for those people to see the kind of pitfalls in these globalization enterprises.” Shantha Bloeman’s T-SHIRT TRAVELS is another example, charting the disastrous impact that global economics is having on a small Zambian village. A third example can be found in Vancouverbased filmmaker Jack Silberman’s BOMBIES, documenting the ongoing disaster created by the United States’ dropping tons of cluster bombs (“bombies”) on Laos nearly 40 years ago.
Berlin-based filmmakers Eric Black and Frauke Sandig choose to work in the political realm as well, although the area they’ve chosen is the politics of science. Inspired by an article they read in the German newspaper Die Ziet about the fast-approaching future of designer babies, Black and Sandig have fashioned FROZEN ANGELS, a documentary that ponders what science’s growing ability to manipulate genes actually means. Says Black, “I think there’s only a very small window of opportunity to think about this before it simply becomes very, very big business. There are billions to be made in this industry, and when that happens, we won’t be able to say [anything] anymore.”
Jan Rofekamp, president and CEO of Films Transit, POWER TRIP’s distributor, sees this trend toward the political as a natural outgrowth of the world situation, commenting that “the international situation screams for [these types of films].” Filmmaker Bonni Cohen agrees, as she observes, “I think there’s probably more weight to international crisis areas. And this sort of new emerging trend toward democracy-building around the world, and terrorism—those are just buzz areas right now.” As an example of what she means, Cohen needs to point no further than HELL OF A NATION, the documentary that she produced with director Tamara Gould. The film, which screened in September 2004 on PBS’s Wide Angle, offers a unique behind-the-scenes glimpse at Afghanistan’s 2003 constitutional convention, the Loya Jirga. Similarly, AFGHANISTAN UNVEILED, an Independent Lens acquisition, delves into that country’s rough political terrain. A team of Afghan women journalists travel into the countryside to document the price Afghanistan’s women have paid as a result of Taliban rule and the ensuing U.S. bombing of their nation. Debra Zimmerman, executive director of the film’s distributor, Women Make Movies, reveals that the number of submissions her company receives from filmmakers in countries such as Afghanistan and Iran continues to increase. “We looked at about eight different documentaries [from Afghanistan] last year,” she says, “when we were putting together the collection that AFGHANISTAN UNVEILED is part of—Beyond the Veil, films by and about women from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan.” But distributing internationally is not always easy. Although BOMBIES has won numerous film awards worldwide, Silberman has found distributing the film internationally to be a challenge. In addition to the United States and Canada, the documentary has aired in several European countries and Japan, but has yet to be acquired for broadcast in Germany, England, France and other countries, which Silberman attributes to quotas favoring domestic product over foreign films in those nations. Silberman is grateful for the exposure on American public television. He observes, “If there are people across the country who now know about cluster bombs and are aware of the terrible legacy of the U.S. secret air war in Laos, then that’s a good thing.” The Need for PTV For many international indies, public television provides a crucial broadcasting outlet. Women Makes Movies’ Zimmerman calls public television “invaluable” and “incredibly helpful for us in just getting the film out to a wider audience.” A LION'S TRAIL’s Verster calls his film’s broadcast on American public television “very important.” He notes that Solomon Linda’s family has a lawsuit pending against Disney, and “because PBS has such a far reach, it could galvanize public support. The film being shown in the States might lead to pressure to reach a settlement.” Funding for Black and Sandig’s FROZEN ANGELS was derived from a variety of sources, including ITVS and public television in Finland, France and Germany. In addition, Black and Sandig hope to distribute the documentary in Europe through their sales agent, First Hand Films. But Black considers the documentary’s eventual airing on PBS vital. “I think Americans will be making the decision [to manipulate genes], and they need to be thinking about it right now.” Besides, he adds, “[American] public television is something I very much believe in.” For PBS, international perspectives are an important part of programming content. Cheryl Jones, senior director of programming at PBS, notes that the network has always championed international filmmakers, through programs such as Independent Lens, Wide Angle, Frontline, Frontline/World and Nova. “International films—the films that we’ve seen—definitely tend to be about stories that are relevant at home in their communities and have some global resonance,” she says. “International perspectives are important.” Pam Grady is a San Francisco–based freelance writer and a regular contributor to FilmStew and Reel.com. |
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