In the Digital age there is no room for film reels. Old films often carry some unforgettable motion pictures, but lately they are fading into oblivion. They are not popular in general, but filmmaking artists never stopped caring about them. There is a way to give a second life to the old films, a technique that lets the filmmakers reuse some archival pieces. Found footage bases on existing videos turned into the whole new materials.
Especially for Etiuda&Anima Festival Maciej J. Drygas, the prerunner of this method, made a selection of ten best documentaries created in found footage technique. His list includes such pieces as „The Danaube Exodus” directed by Péter Forgács, one of the most outstanding creators of the “second-hand movies”. He uses his family videos to make completely new movies that contains his personal memories and historical events. What fascinates him the most is the way the films seem to show only the good moments and hidden stories, that can be brought back by making a footage of them.
„The Danaube Exodus” is a documentary about nine hundred of Jews escaping from Slovakia right before Second World War. They are sailing by two boats to reach the Black Sea and then get to Palestine. The move bases on a home video by capitain Nándor Andrásovits, the commander on one of the boats. He has been filming his passengers while they were praying, sleeping and even getting married. In the end of the journey it is clear that the boat is not going to return empty. And then we see a reversal of migration – now the Germans are going back to their homeland, running from the Soviet invasion.
Natalia Szczepanek
The Danube Exodus
(directed by Péter Forgács, Netherlands 1998, 60’)
November 23rd (Wednesday), 9:00 PM
Małopolski Ogród Sztuki (small hall)
