Thursday, September 11, 2008

Sleepless Night

The last night has been very much a sleepless one for the Cinetrain crew. Probably not the first one for many, but this one was spent mostly on editing. True, some have enjoyed playing pool or using the banya, the facilitaties of our accommodation place, a contry club for sportsmen situated outside the city.

Methods of working are quite various, from one group to the other. From the solitary work of Jochem to the constant and peaceful team editing process of Denes' group passing by the creative crises of Iris' group or the cult of secrecy of Nikita's group, styles differ.

In the evening, we leave the peaceful city of Blagovenshenk for our final destination: Vladivostok!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Dreams are my reality

In the afternoon, some films of the participants have been presented at the Cultural Center of the city, a building under the influence of Frank Gehry. Iris' documentary, Summer Child, whose action takes place both in Russia and Finland, gets its first Russian audience. An interesting Q&A follows the screening of the films.

Iris' group (with Natasha and Dimitris) is hardly seeking for dreams of train passengers since we left Moscow. Below are interesting samples of dreams collected on the Trans-Siberian. Sweet dreams!

“Once I had a dream about Heaven's Jerusalem. It is written in the bible that everything is gonna be made of gold in heaven. I had this dream that everything around was so golden and beautiful. God was riding a coach led by horses, but I haven’t seen God himself. And there was a merry round there as well. It was so beautiful, so romantic.”

“I was walking around. And my ex-boss was there as well. We had a conversation. I don’t remember what it was about. But he was standing, his body naked just covered by a fur coat.”

“A bad dream happened to my son a year ago. He waked up and told me: 'Mama, I really had a bad dream'. Like there was a river and he was inside. The river was taking him away. I told him: 'Lesha, you should not watch all these soap operas and video games. That’s why you are having these kinds of dreams.”

“Dreams, you know by yourself. The nice ones, you forget them quickly; but the weird ones, they stay. It is a very weird dream I have lately. Do you know this singer, Aziza? I never met her in my life. But I had a dream that I had sex with her. Imagine! What is it for? She came on my car in a dream. Why Aziza? I am not a fan of her, never listened to her music. We were talking, and she said: 'I want you to be mine'.”

“I came there incognito, knocked on the door. In the place I was living before. And my ex-wife was there. She was not glad to see me. First thing she said was not hello. She said: 'Denis, you are older now.' I replied: 'I agree, let me see my son'.
I was looking for a woman to love. And I found her. I thought that it was everything for me. Eight years together and after that, in a moment, we hated each other. I know that everybody was jealous of our love. All my friends were. But what did it lead to? I am almost thirty. And you know, now I am like a fire, I get angry very quickly. I am angry when I take the tramway and somebody hits me with his shoulder. Do you believe me? I want to strangle him. He or she, it doesn’t matter.”

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Welcoming orchestra on Amour

Our arrival in Blagovenshenk is truly impressive. The municipality's orchestra welcomes us in music. Children are holding a large banner and women in folkloric costumes are singing and offering us a bread of friendship. On top of that three TV channels are present. We have to pinch ourselves to be sure it's for real. The vice-mayor gives a welcoming speech, and we are rapidly led to a luxury coach.

Just on the other side of the river Amour, the buildings of the Chinese twin city of Blagovenshenk can be seen. Though the city and its inhabitants look far less Asian than the ones of Ulan-Ude, we get a special treat for dinner with a Chinese feast. This makes a considerable change in our ordinary diet. The chef has prepared for us spicy minced beef, fried shrimps, spring rolls, fish wrapped in aluminium foils, sautéed vegetables, caramelised pork ribs, etc. Surprisingly, the restaurant even has bottles of Barbaresco, a good Italian wine from Piemonte. After the banya at the lake Baikal, the Chinese feast in Blagovenshenk is another decisive moment to keep the morale of troops up. Now everybody is ready for editing...

Monday, September 8, 2008

War & Alcohol

Most of the groups spend the journey on the train editing their films. We all find ourselves at the wagon-restaurant, the only one with functioning electricity sockets. Every five minutes, the provodnitsas try to kick us out. We have to keep ordering to get some more precious minutes of electricity, even though no other customer is coming besides us. Every five minutes, we also have to ask them to lower the music (not very practical when editing a film), but every five minutes, they pump up again the volume to the maximum. It might look like a game between us, but more surely the provodnitsas behave like they were at home and we were bothering them.

In one compartment, an incident occurs. Several of us are threatened by a very aggressive drunken guy. The worse is that the guy got (God knows how) the pass to all the compartments. He came visiting us in the middle of the night even though our door was locked. He even opened the door of the toilets when someone was inside. To make it even more scary, we cannot even complain to the provodnik since he's a friend of the guy! After calling the head of the train and threatening the drunken man to be kicked out at the next station, everything slowly gets back to normal.

Later on the provodnik excuses himself in the name of his friend. He insists though that we should rather pity him: his friend just returned from two years at war, and that's apparently why he was behaving like that.

Sometimes this blog may sound like a series of negative clichés about Russia: the violence of human relationships, the Soviet mentality of the employees, the widespread alcoholism, etc. These are however striking features largely and commonly felt by all participants. Probably, by travelling on train and interviewing people we face very rapidly and directly the symptoms of the country. There's a strong feeling of Russia being a country very much at war or in war. Not only in the classical understanding of the word, but also a societal war. Something quite awkward for young Europeans.

Surprisingly, none of the participants decided to tackle the issue of the war in Georgia even though this war makes the headlines of both international and Russian news exactly at the time of our project, and very much deals with the theme of the European border.

Still we constantly meet with young soldiers, men returning from war (not necessarily Georgia), veterans, or people who have a relative at war. And the war has eventually infiltrated documentaries which were not at first place dealing with it. It's not by mere chance that Monica has found two characters very closely connected with the war in Chechenya, that Iris has collected a couple of dreams of people at war, or that the Moscovite children filmed by Denes were playing a simile-real war in the woods.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Folk song


Jochem's group (with Marton and Guillaume) has been collecting plenty of songs and music off and on the train. Before the films gets its final shape, here is a picture of two women singing a traditional folk song about the Baikal Lake.

Off the Trans-Siberian

We are leaving the beloved Ulan-Ude to get back on the train. Getting back on the train feels like returning 'home sweet home'. Still stays in the cities are being too short. Actually, we almost lost two participants here who fell in love with local beauties...

As we decided to explore the city of Blagovenshensk, at the exact border with China on the Amour river, we are from now on not exactly following the Transsiberian line. Because of tiredness, little tensions within the groups appear quite frequently. In the same time still, as about all the groups know what their films will be about, participants are more open to discuss on topics not directly related to their films. And travels on train in Russia allows very much long passionate discussions...

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Halfway Through

We are now going through the traditional phase of getting a bit down which characterises the halfway through any workshop. Minds and bodies are getting tired. Living constantly in a group – no matter how nice the people are – needs permanent extra efforts and contradicts with the full expression of each one's individuality. For this reason and others (some groups want to film the fireworks of the city's celebrations), it gets difficult to arrange the second session of 'rushes discussion'.

The main surprise comes from Monica's group, which has completely changed the scope of its documentary. From a rather experimental and intimate film on the experience of travelling it became a crossed portrait of two men met on the train, both being connected – very differently though – to the war in Chechenya.

Kind Ulan-Ude people

The six groups are now working at their own (and very different) paces. Whereas some have almost finished the shooting and take advantage of not being on train for editing their films, others are still looking for the core and main elements of their documentaries.
Andrei's group (with Florian and Georgi) is quite happy its shooting day. Until now, none of the fast-food managers they had met wanted to give an interview, and here in Ulan-Ude two of them accepted.

It's always a bit of generalisation/cliché to say: “People of this city are nice”, but it proves to be right in Ulan-Ude, capitale of the province of Bouriatia. At least, we multiplied positive experiences. Not only the fast-food managers are nice, but also the taxi drivers. One taxi driver, with whom we agreed to pay the ride 200 roubles, gave us 50 roubles back at the end of the ride when it appeared that the destination was closer than expected!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Check please!

It's time to depart from Sludianka. On the platform of the station, we leave regretfully the fake 'mayor'. He is very moved when we give him a round of applause and offer him a bottle of whiskey. We just have a 6 hour journey to reach Ulan-Ude. After the 60 hour ride over west-Siberia, this seems almost like taking a suburb train. Iris and Natasha, whose film is to be shot only by night, decide to stay on the train beyond Ulan-Ude and to come back in town the next morning.

They had to give few notes to the provodnitsa so she accepts them on the train without tickets. Did anyone mention bribing in Russia? Of course the provodnitsa doesn't deliver any invoice for that. And neither do the babouchkas when they sell products from their farms on the platforms. It's getting difficult to keep a proper accountancy of the workshop. Hopefully, our supporters from public institutions will be comprehensive.

Sakura Hotel

We arrive in Ulan-Ude, at the exact time the city is celebrating itself. There's quite a difference between the restaurant mentioned in the 'Lonely Planet' (the only one of the city according to the travel guide) and the dozens we come across on our way to the hotel! Located in a very typical Soviet building, the hotel Sakura – we are really entering Asia now – is eventually a very pleasant place, where we can even cook ourselves.

This evening and the next one, we all gather to screen each others' material. For today, the groups making documentaries about 'children', 'Lenin', and 'music' are scheduled. Showing your material to others is always a critical moment. It could be very helpful, but also confusing and harmful. To what extent should you take into account what others say on your film in progress? And to what extent should you keep on your own way? Tonight discussions are pretty vivid and usually constructive, but most of the people are not so attentive to the way they formulate their thoughts and critics. On the other hand, some directors have a lot of difficulties to accept what they are advised, even though similar feedbacks are coming from many different people.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Almost Mongolia


Most of us are going for an excursion today, thanks to the minibus that the municipality has loaned us. The mayor, accompanied this time by his son, is still present with us. Even though we don't communicate so much with him (except the Russian-speaking people among us), he appears to be a very nice guy. Later on in the day, we got sourly disillusioned: the mayor is in fact not the mayor, but simply an employee of the municipality. Probably one of us started to call him 'mayor' because of his nice outfits, and this 'truth' was never questioned later on. A lesson for documentary making. To tell the truth, we were wondering why the mayor – even of a small city – was spending so much time with us.

Anyway, we all head to an area in the south of Sludianka on the way to Mongolia, mostly populated by Bouriat people, an ethnic minority which shares a lot with Mongols. The landscape is dramatically different from what we have seen until now. Very large, flat and fertile plains, surrounded by high snowed mountains, many cows. We now feel that we are crossing one border. More exactly, we are in between two spheres of influence, in a zone which delimits two empires, the Russian and the Chinese ones. Eventually, we find ourselves not more than 100 kilometers from the border of Mongolia.

In the middle of nowhere, we found ourselves in a thermal resort but of a very special kind. All the wooden houses have a function: one for toilets, one for massages, one for the bath. And the hot sulphured water of the 'banya' is actually spread in a pool, which appears to be aimed at the kettle and not really to human beings. Still the experience appears funny enough.
When we return in Sludianka in the night, we experience a last sauna – a real one this time with swimming in the Lake Baikal, and return to the editing of the films by night; this 4th of September has been a day-off for most of us.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

BATH IN LAKE BAIKAL


Just like if we were experiencing a jet lag, the day starts at 1 pm with a brunch. We have a direct view on the lake Baikal... Not bad at all! We then experience our first 'banya' of the trip: Finnish-style sauna immediately followed by a diving naked into the lake. This is really fantastic; we just now have to be careful that the workshop remains... a workshop!

Actually, most of the teams take advantage of this stopover to start editing their material. The team of Denes is still looking for more kids in the streets of Sludianka, which just experienced a terrible earthquake (magnitude 8 on the Richter scale) the week before. Fortunately, nobody got killed and there's no sign of damage. Sludianka is a strange mixture: some typically ugly Soviet buildings, but also perpendicular streets with nice wooden houses and their painted blinds. The train station itself seems to occupy one third of the space. The presence of shooting crews is a unique attraction for the city youngsters.

The mayor


Between the long journey and the time zones we are crossing, our sense of time gets confused and we are never so sure about the actual local time. The result is that we find ourselves all awake in the middle of the night. From our stop in Irkutsk (3 am local time) to Sludianka, our destination, we organise a silent party in our wagon while everybody is sleeping. The provodnitsa and our fellow travellers are nice enough to let us go on.

We eventually arrive in the small city of Sludianka just before the sunrise, and the mayor himself – wearing a beautiful grey costume and white shoes - welcomes us. In the minibus to our accommodation place (we stay in the city's school), mister the Mayor, Alexeï, is introducing his city. It might be not the perfect time for that after 60 hours of train, but as nobody is really sleepy we are happy to learn that Sludianka comprises 20 000 inhabitants (that we favoured to the 2 millions people of Novossibirsk when we decided for the stopovers of our journey).

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Fresh food


Whereas we are entering our 3rd day on train, this morning a stop has boosted the moral of the troops. For the first time of the journey, an army of 'baboushkas' has welcomed us on the platform with fresh food: from pirojkis (some kinds of pies) to pelmenis (sort of dumplings) passing by beet roots and potatoes. We are not going to open dehydrated noodles for a change, and that's why we celebrate with a breakfast served with vodka. Our Russian travel neighbours seem to appreciate our rapid integration to the Russian customs.
The general atmosphere is getting more relaxed, even the conflict between Monica and Filip has calmed down.

The constant stare


For the first time a participant is taking over this blog. Thanks to Leo for his text, and hopefully he will be followed by other soon:

“Gold teeth smile on plump friendly lady
White long bearded old man
Young boy plays cards in football top
Smart woman in sandals plays with her mobile phone
Bulgarian girl uses her video camera to capture the wagon we are travelling on to Sludianka
A Moustached father stares me down

The Russian gaze
The penetrating stare
What’s in this look
Its hard to tell?
I have seen it all the time

On the subway I had a staring contest with a pretty brunette
We share a look on the metro for what seemed a lifetime but in reality it was a few seconds
This does not happen in the west we divert our gaze
I felt connection…
I could not take further because of my lack of the language
She left a few stops before me, nothing said
What was in this experience?

Siberia rolls by the window
For days the landscape was a flat muted green
Littered with tall skinny trees
Suddenly a change
I saw a hill today, 15 hours from lake Baikal
I sleep in a wagon with 50 others my long legs stick out the bed at night
Its very hot all the windows are closed and there is a constant smell of sweaty arm pits old socks and strange food.
We eat like we are in space, ready meals
Pot noodles just add water, serve with bread and poor salami
Wash with warm beer or lemon chai
Hot water is provided at the end of each wagon
Each wagon has two toilets a guard to watch over us

What they call a provodnitsa all girls they give us bedding, tell us off when we make too much noise and keep a watchful eye for wrong doing
Our provodnitsa is a Marilyn Monroe look alike
Her long lashes and curls make a striking first viewing
but she is nothing special when you around they are always pleasant looking girls to gaze upon much prettier ones

As the landscape slowly changes and we leave Yekaterinburg
For Asia no longer in Europe
I look for the facial changes,
Cheeks become broader and eye’s wider
The orient is coming……….

In Yekaterinburg we were taken care off
Tall Russia girls stare with hungry eyes
Every girl I meet seems to be less than 20
Are the rest married?
But even these girls seem smarter and older than European girls the same age
Pretty curious eyes what are they after?
We just talk to girls
Flirting but no more there is an genuine innocence here
Or did we just meet good Christian girls?
We talk until day breaks and then longer
They don’t want to leave us

I need to sleep and must say goodbye
I feel sorry for one girl she just does not want to go, why?
Because we are attractive men from the west?
Are they hoping it will rub off on them?
Russia is more modern than we give credit for
These are new days for me celebrated in aged-old ways
Passing the time by actually trying to listen and talk to people on the train
That last this particular journey 62 hours
A constant speed of 50 m.p.h
How is it possible we can go so far at such a slow pace, one third of the world’s land mass?
Music is pumped out into each wagon
Russian pop sounds like its from the 80’s
People in the carriage sing, eat, laugh and generally make themselves at home

Sipping tea an attractive young girl with Mongolian eyes reads vogue for the latest styles
I can’t take my eyes of her we share many long looks I give her my full stare
She looks 17 but is 19
Thank God

An hour before she leaves the train we have some time I launched myself into having a real cultural exchange
Open mouth kisses next to the toilet, she does not speak English and we can only really communicate through touch smile and general groping
My urge to take it further is defused by having something meaningful
We swap email addresses and the train continues without her…
I wonder whom else I will meet

Older women make crossword puzzles with red pens and mobile phones go off at night
Carriage lights are turn off and we must sleep in the cramped conditions but its worth it
People have opened up shared food, words, vodka and kisses.

We will continue to Vladivostok but first a swim in lake Baikal...”

Monday, September 1, 2008

Tension!


Today we have another birthday on the train, but not exactly of one of the crew members: it's the association itself, NISI MASA, which celebrates its 7th anniversary. That's pretty good to have a project going on at the time of the birthday.

The second session of discussion in groups takes place again at the wagon-restaurant this morning. Whereas the team made of Iris, Natasha and Dimitris was recovering by a whole night spent collecting testimonies of dreams on the train, in the morning a somehow bigger-than-usual conflict appeared in one team. Monica and Filip don't understand each other, to the extent that Filip doesn't get what Monica wants, and as he is persuaded it isn't going to work he's reluctant to film anything more. Monice seems to have reached her limits in terms of making efforts and explaining herself, and is emotionally tired. Time of the group session is more than needed! If it has surely not solved the conflict, at least discussion hopefully helped in multiplying points of view on the situation and in sharing the problems.
It is now planned that the team of Monica (in which Eugeniy is the sound engineer) will continue making the portrait of the character met on the train before the latter leaves the train the day after, and will then work at the next stop at the structure of the film.

Structure is also central in the two other films. Iris is disappointed with the dreams she collects and is worried about the quality of the light when filming by night, so the question of making evolve the core of the film is very much at stake. In a different way the same goes for Nikita, Monika and Julien, whose topic chosen – the heritage of Lenin in Russia – could be a subject for a 30 minute, 1 hour or even 2 hour documentary. Mixing the idea of a mockumentary about a hidden treasure left by Lenin and testimonies of common people in front of Lenin's monuments could be quite challenging – not to say impossible – in ten minutes or so...

Novossibirsk, I love you


A surprise awaits us at the 30 minute long stop at Novossibirsk train station. A delegation of about 25 people welcomes us on the platform. They are young documentary film-makers like us (younger though!), who attend a workshop taking place just before the documentary film festival of the city, this year in its 11th edition. In a quite euphoric mood, we exchange flyers and business cards, promise each other we will come back another time longer, and answer interviews to local TV's.

Julien improvises with his yukulélé a song whose only lyrics are – in Russian: “Novossibirsk I love you”. For sure, if we don't come back, at least our films will.