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!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 general atmosphere is getting more relaxed, even the conflict between Monica and Filip has calmed down.
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