DocPoint ’11: Shadow of the Holy Book

Imagine an Islamist police state ruled by Dianetics. That is basically the state of what passes for reality in Turkmenistan. They also have obscene oil and natural gas deposits. As a result, a lot of people who should know better have feigned interest in the Ruhnama, a book supposedly written by the largely illiterate president-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov that co-opted elements of Islam for the sake of his personality cult. Director Arto Halonen (the quiet one) and co-writer Kevin Frazier (the gabby one) try to ask some of Niyazov’s international enablers why they think the Ruhnama is so swell in their would-be muckraking documentary Shadow of the Holy Book (trailer here), which screens tonight as part of DocPoint’s tenth anniversary celebration tour of New York.

Appointed by Gorbachev as Turkmenistan’s Communist Party strongman, Niyazov was a hardliner who supported the 1991 coup attempt against his patron. Indeed, Niyazov’s dictatorship incorporated the worst elements of Communism, Fascism, Islamist extremism, and flat-out lunacy. Yet, Halonen and Frazier largely ignore the ideological roots of Ruhnamania for inexplicable reasons (though perhaps that picture of Castro in their office is a clue).

When Shadow documents the institutionalized insanity of Niyazov’s Turkmenistan, it is jaw-droppingly scary. Subjects like algebra and physics were banned from schools, in favor of greater Ruhnama study. Architectural behemoths combining Fascist pomp, Islamic symbolism, and what can only be described as kitsch have been erected to glorify the crackpot tome. There is even a gargantuan book with pages that actually turn.

When exposing the magnitude and pervasiveness of Turkmenistan’s public cult, Halonen and Frazier essentially have a scoop. After all, when was the last time we heard the media report on the conditions in Turkmenistan? (They are far too busy reporting whether or not Sarah Palin knew who made the last out of the 1973 World Series.) Unfortunately, the filmmakers do not properly assemble their indictment against Niyazov and his successor. They show viewers the ostentatious tackiness and the surreal weirdness of the regime, but they do not properly establish the brutal repressiveness of the Communist-turned-cultist.

Instead, Halonen films Frazier making call after call to company flacks, trying to get interviews regarding their sponsorship of Ruhnama translations to curry favor with Niyazov (who died during filming). It would be all well and good to show a few calls, just to prove they tried, but the entire second and third acts are largely devoted to these exercises. Frankly, this is a waste of their time and resources. Of course, nobody has much to say about corporate policy with regards to Turkmenistan. Most probably do not even know they are in business there. Without first building a case and advancing it in the media, the filmmakers are bound to get responses like this. It is not stonewalling, it is just a real low priority in their busy day.

Turkmenistan might just be the worst place in the world to live. It certainly has the ugliest architecture (likened to that of Albert Speer). Regrettably, Halonen and Frazier present it more as a “strange but true” story, reserving their indignation for PR spokesmen and security guards who have most likely never set foot in Central Asia. Informative to an extent but ultimately a wasted opportunity, Shadow screens today (6/11) the 92YTribeca and this coming Monday (6/13) at Scandinavia House.

DocPoint in NY: War Children

It was a scene somewhat reminiscent of the kindertransport, the World Jewish Relief’s coordinated effort to relocate Jewish children in British foster homes. Yet, these were Finnish children, packed off to Swedish host families, in advance of the invading Soviet would-be conquerors. Decades later, several of the surviving relocated youngsters record their experiences for posterity in Erja Dammert’s documentary War Children, which screens this Friday as part of DocPoint’s tenth anniversary celebration in New York.

It is a testament to the Finnish people that they were able to withstand the forces of Soviet domination. In 1939 though, Finland’s future as a free and democratic country was far from certain. For their own safety, scores of Finnish parents sent their sons and daughters off to temporary refuge in ever-neutral Sweden. Such painful decisions are difficult to explain to children though. Evidently, in several cases they did not even try, simply packing up their sleeping young ones and depositing them on outbound trains.

Not surprisingly, the young Finns typically experienced difficult transition periods, particularly since few if any of the children spoke Swedish. Yet, eventually many acclimated quite well to their hosts’ higher standards of living. Naturally, they also formed emotional bonds with their foster parents. Indeed, for many of the younger children, their Swedish surrogates largely supplanted the memories of their legal Finnish parents.

Though not as elegantly crafted as the thematically related Y in Vyborg, War Children is unfailingly sensitive and respectful in its approach to its subject matter. Broadway patrons will also notice certain parallels between the former Finnish refugee children’s stories and The People in the Picture, Donna Murphy’s new musical running through June 19th at the Roundabout’s Studio 54 Theater. Of course, it is important to stress the Finns were not facing the same genocidal threat as European Jewry, but rather the everyday indiscriminate brutality of the Soviets.

DocPoint features a diverse slate, but some of its best selections open an intimate window into Finland’s unique WWII experience, hitherto largely overlooked by American media and scholarship. Indeed, War Children is a very strong film, while Vyborg is even more so. Both are definitely recommended during DocPoint’s 2011 New York tour. War Children screens tomorrow (6/10) and Saturday (6/11) at Scandinavia House, where Vyborg also screens tonight (6/9).

DocPoint in NY: Y in Vyborg

They were part of the Finnish Greatest Generation. In the notorious Winter War and the subsequent Continuation War, small democratic Finland went toe-to-toe with the Soviet Empire, putting the Allied forces in a difficult diplomatic position. Prominent Finnish husband and wife architects documented the physical destruction of the war and the emotional toll it caused in the letters and Super-8 films director Pia Andell edited and molded into the compelling documentary Y in Vyborg, which screens this Thursday as part of DocPoint’s tenth anniversary celebration in New York.

Ragnar Ypyä, or “Y” as he was simply known, had a bustling architectural firm in the eastern border city of Vyborg. Martta (or “Mirri”) Ypyä complimented her husband as a near perfect draftsmen. Together they raised a family and led prosperous, professionally rewarding lives, until the Soviet bombs started falling.

During the Winter War, Finland was fighting an Axis-aligned power. However, when the Continuation War began, Stalin had since joined with the Allies, while Germany provided limited support to Finland. Yet, the Finns were still fighting to protect their independence and democratic system of government, while the Communist forces were still fighting a war of imperial conquest. Though Vyborg largely focuses on the personal, the grit and resolve of the Finnish people comes through forcefully. So does the constant stress and frustration expressed by the Ypyäs as they struggled with their involuntary separation and numerous privations during the war years.

Vyborg is a truly graceful film, exquisitely crafted by Andell. Though rather safe, Pessi Levanto’s sensitive score still lends it an appropriately class air. Yet, it is the Ypyäs who probably deserve the most credit (as cinematographers) for capturing such striking images, both of the fearful destruction of the Communist war machine, and the intimate moments of their private family life. While clocking in at just under an hour, it is one of the more artful and emotionally involving documentaries of any length. Highly recommended, Vyborg screens with The Future is Not What it Used to Be this Thursday (6/9) at Scandinavia House as part of DocPoint’s New York tour.

DocPoint in NY: Reindeerspotting

It should be safe to say France’s drug treatment program for heroin addicts has been a failure. Their policy of providing free Subutex has created and supplied an illicit trade of the drug in Northern Europe. Filmmaker Joonas Neuvonen knows only too well. His friends from the Lapland capitol of Rovaniemi are hopelessly hooked, as viewers witness in no uncertain terms throughout his documentary Reindeerspotting: Escape from Santaland (trailer here), which has a special week-long run at MoMA as part of Finnish documentary film festival DocPoint’s ten year anniversary celebration.

Jani Raappana is a junky, or least he was. Raappana is no longer with us, but while Neuvonen was filming Reindeer, his old friend was a deceitful, grasping, drug addled small time thief. That is what junkie life is all about. While viewers might understand this intellectually, it makes it challenging to feel much for Raappana, even when he loses two fingers in a skketchy incident happening off-camera. Not surprisingly, as a film by and about junkies, there are a number of narrative holes in Reindeer where Neuvonen just missed whatever it was that went down.

Clearly invoking the title of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting, Reindeer lacks the same dark humor, for the obvious reason that it is brutally real. To his credit, Neuvonen did not exactly protect his own reputation through the editing process, leaving in several apparent references to his cocaine use. However, watching Raappana wallow in all manner of controlled substances during what was supposed to be their Parisian escape from the junkie life is just plain sad.

Perhaps one of the most tragic aspects of Reindeer is the extent to which their habit is supported by European social policy. The Subutex is supplied by the French government to addicts who trade it in turn to dealers for harder stuff. The Finnish users shoot it up with syringes paid for by their Scandinavian welfare state. Meanwhile, the Finnish police doggedly work to curtail the Subutex trade, thereby driving-up the street price.

May God have mercy on Raappana. Unfortunately, he is a rather unseemly POV character to spend time with. Laudably honest, but unremittingly depressing, Reindeer certainly establishes DocPoint’s street cred. Mostly recommended for hipsters who need to be scared straight, Reindeer screens this Wednesday (6/8) through next Monday (6/13) as part of DocPoint’s anniversary celebration.