叶永期
记录事实,一定要了解几样东西,第一是中国的大传统,《诗经》里来的大传统;另外一个是小传统,“五四”里来的小传统;如果有第三条的话,就是对外国文化的了解。
这是诗人余光中最近从台湾发来的一段影像,已经89岁高龄的他,依然精神矍铄,思维清晰。他关心的是中国纪录片事业的进程,而播出他寄语的现场,则是第一届西湖纪录片大会。
从无到有,承载历史
智利导演帕特李西科·古兹曼说:“一个国家没有纪录片,就像一个家庭没有相册。”纪录片作为一种跨时空跨文化的传播媒介,改变了人类生命的局限与活动地域的局限,承载了思想传播、社会记录、文化传承、见证历史及国家形象传播的功能。
从新中国成立到“文化大革命”结束,纪录片几乎是国家声音的传播,在此之后,纪录片又多成为导演主题先行的产物。而因为缺少传播的平台和途径,个体拍摄的独立纪录片多为私下的、特定人群间的一次性传播。
步入新世纪后,上海纪实频道、湖南金鹰纪实频道加之中央电视台纪录频道等的建立,为纪录片的新生和传播提供了有利途径;网络传播的普及和民间纪录片社团的兴起,也催生了大量的优质纪录片。自此,中国各种文化形态的纪录片齐头并进:主流媒体的纪录片如《故宫》引领了文化方面的主流意识形态,独立纪录片导演杜海滨的《1428》《铁路沿线》描述了中国个体的生存状态,香港导演张经纬凭借《音乐人生》斩获了第46届金马奖的最佳纪录片……如此等等,不一而足。
2014年上映的《舌尖上的中国》更是纪录片划时代的里程碑,从阳春白雪到万人空巷,原本受众群体单一的中国纪录片,一夜之间成了人们津津乐道的网红,其背后,正是中国纪录片市场的成熟。
所以,国内各种为纪录片创办的节庆,也如火如荼地举办起来。代表着亚洲最高纪录片水平的亚洲阳光纪录片大会,多次落地成都、厦门等城市;广州纪录片节已经跻身世界八大纪录片节展。
但让人感到遗憾的是,被誉为文创之都,在电影、电视剧、卡通等生产上位列国内城市前列的杭州,却一直没有属于自己的纪录片节展。
2015年10月,浙江省纪录片协会成立。成立草案中,明确提出了要举办“西湖国际纪录片节”。
杭州籍女演员、制片人叶璇发了一条微博:“优秀的纪录片具有极高的社会和文化价值,我作为协会会员,要为保护流浪动物拍一部纪录片。”短短1小时中,收到近千个点赞。
首届西湖国际纪录片大会于2017年4月下旬在中国美术学院象山校区举行。
“浙江历史上纪录片有过小小辉煌,近几年有些沉寂,我们要缺什么补什么,所以就有了这次西湖国际纪录片大会。”这是这次盛会的初衷。
从内向外,接轨国际
虽然还是首届,但这次大会前有“国际”两字,代表其规格颇高。本次大会设有“D20提名”单元、“大师传薪”单元、“央视提案”单元、“IDF论坛”单元四大板块。
大会开幕式的《FACT》主题艺术展,就是一场颇有国际范儿的艺术秀。内容集当今国际流行的3D动画演绎、现代舞表演、电子音乐于一体。精彩绝伦,引得在场嘉宾掌声如云。
本届大会的重头戏“D20提名”单元,采取推荐制,由组委会推举的国际提名人征集40部2015年之后创作的纪录片,再筛选出20部作品进行入围角逐。来自中国、德国、法国、加拿大、日本、立陶宛、印度、挪威等国家的20位著名导演入围了本次大会“D20提名”单元。
角逐的过程与戛纳电影节非常相似,包括奥斯卡最佳纪录片获得者、来自法国的伊夫·让诺先生,中国纪录片《周恩来外交风云》《旋风九日》的导演傅红星先生等来自4个国家的7位评委组成的评审团,在沙发上围成一圈,在两三天的时间里连着看完20部入围的纪录片,评选出最后的大奖,大奖得主获得25万元人民币奖金。
伊夫·让诺先生是法国马赛纪录片节创始人、法国阳光纪录片节主席,作为首届西湖国际纪录片大会评委会主席,他表示:“希望能够在首届西湖国际纪录片大会上传递出我们想表达的、想解释的,这也是为什么今天我们相聚在此。”他承诺会有更多的活动举办,更多的纪录片、制片人和导演,共同走到一起分享更多的故事。
杜海滨先生是威尼斯国际电影节“地平线”单元最佳纪录片奖获得者,作为入围本次大会“D20提名”单元的导演代表,他坦言:“纪录片为我们带来的不仅仅是艺术形式,还有对人的理解、对生活世界的感知,以及思考。最重要的是纪录片带给我们一种善意与希望,我代表全世界的同行祝福这个新生的电影节在纪录片的国际平台上越办越好!”
最后的奖项,国际题材和国际团队电影也占到半数以上,反映二战日军强征慰安妇罪行的《道歉》获得年度作品奖,日本导演大引勇人先生的《交差》获“评委特别推荐奖”,印度导演阿卡·拉古兰的《穿长袍的拳击手》获“D20年度作者奖”。
从大到小,镜头向下
除了国际范之外,镜头向下,关注普通人的生活,更是这次西湖国际纪录片大会的特色之一:三天的时间里,在大会上展映的电影,观众无需任何条件,都可以免费观看。
中国导演金行征先生记述全国道德模范罗长姐呵护病儿的《罗长姐》获“D20年度新锐奖”,中国导演杜海滨先生講述“90后”的《少年小赵》获得“IDF年度优秀纪录片奖”。这些,都是生动反映普通人生活的作品。
而对于中国观众来说,更耳熟能详的央视纪录频道,也在本次纪录片大会中唱起主角。作为本次活动的重要一环,除了展映囊括了历史人文、自然地理、社会现实等多种类型的纪录片之外,还举行了“CCTV-9纪录频道生态伙伴大会”,并组织纪录片制作培训会,邀请国际资深纪录片制作人,对国内一线纪录片制作人、导演进行专业培训,提升国内纪录片团队的国际化视野和国际化制作水平。
大会艺术总监、中国美术学院院长许江特别撰写了一副对联“实地实时实拍纪天下人间万千事;真心真意真切录世上家园春秋情”,来形容本次大会。他谈到:“在这次大会上,我们看到了太多记录者奔忙的身影,看到他们经年累月的生命坚守,所以我说纪录片的创造者是追赶真实的候鸟,是用眼睛记录生命,揭示生命真实、生命真相的人。为这些人办一个这样的活动是我们的责任,是社会的需求,也是我们这个时代生活和心灵的品质要求。”
是的,首屆西湖国际纪录片大会,正是以“回归记录价值,彰显时代表达”为主张,向世界展现了“有态度的影像人”和“有温度的时代作品”。
(本文照片由作者提供)
West Lake International Documentary Festival Debuts in Hangzhou
By Ye Yongqi
April 20-22, 2017 saw 20 documentaries exhibited at West Lake International Documentary Festival (IDF), the first of its kind in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province in eastern China. The main venue of the event was the Xiangshan campus of China Academy of Art situated in a scenic and quiet suburb of Hangzhou.
A group of international nominators, chosen by the organizing committee of the festival, first handpicked 40 long and short documentaries created as of 2015. The 20 came from the long list and were screened free of charge at various locations across the city to the general public from April 20 to 22.
The idea for the documentary event in Hangzhou emerged in October 2015 when Zhejiang Documentary Association became operational. The first task it gave to itself was to launch West Lake International Documentary Festival as a regular cultural event in Hangzhou. Ye Xuan, a performance artist and film producer, declared in blog that she was going to make a documentary about saving homeless pets. The blog received nearly 1,000 “like”.
The jury of the festival consisted of seven people from four countries, including French documentary maker Yves Jeanneau, founder of the French Marseille Documentary Festival and winner of the Oscar Award for “Best Documentary”, and Fu Hongxing, a Chinese film director whose best known works include , and . Mr. Yves Jeanneau served as the chairman of the jury.
The jurors worked like how jurors work at Cannes Film Festival. They sat in a group of sofas, watching all the 20 documentaries within three days. And they voted winners.
, a documentary directed by Tiffany Hsiung about “comfort women” in World War Two, received the Best Documentary Award. directed by Hayato Obiki attained Recommendation Award. directed by Alka Raghuram grabbed D20 Author Award. Chinese documentaries and also received top awards at the festival.
Documentary has experienced ups and downs in China. From the birth of New China in 1949 to the end of Cultural Revolution in 1976, documentaries were exclusively made by the state media on the mainland. In the following years in the 1980s and the 1990s, documentaries largely featured themes created long before filming began. Most documentaries by independent filmmakers during these years didnt have a platform for the public to watch. These documentaries were for private uses among relevant people.
The 21st century saw a number of documentary channels set up in television networks across the country. These new platforms have provided the national audience with opportunities to access documentaries made at home and abroad. Meanwhile, the internet has helped independent filmmakers to air their documentaries online. There have emerged quite a few documentaries that grabbed the national attention such as in 2014. Sunny Side of the Doc, an Asia-wide documentary festival, has been held in several cities in China. Guangzhou Documentary Festival is now one of the top eight international documentary events of the world.
Zhejiang used to make very good documentaries, but it somewhat felt left behind by the surging trend of documentary-making and screening in the country. A city that boasts huge profit in making films, television series and animated films, Hangzhou eventually woke up and Zhejiang Documentary Association came into being.