Director or the subject?
The session lead by Jacqui Rainers was an attempt to answer the question “Who is in Control?” The participants at INPUT searched for the answer in three interesting programs about the problem of control of the public media. “The Republic of Dreams,” a program from Indonesia, is a satire on the Indonesian government done in the form of a talk show with the participation of a large, young audience and pop stars. In Indonesia criticizing the authorities in any way is illegal, but in this program the actors playing politicians do it with impunity. On the other hand “Operation Filmmaker” from the USA is a story of an Iraqi boy named Muthana, who dreams of becoming a director. A group of documentary filmmakers carefully observed his life for nine months. It’s an extraordinary story and again the question is raised, who is in control and creating reality the main character, the Iraqi fulfilling his dreams, or the director? “It’s very difficult not to become personally involved when making such a film. I even became part of it and in the end, by accident, a character in the movie.” revealed Nina Davenport. She thinks that Muthana took control over both the film and the way he wanted to be presented in it. What is more, he also took control of the viewer by knowing exactly how he wanted to be perceived. This movie is an extraordinary story of a young man aspiring to change his life. On the other hand, it is a painful lesson for the filmmakers, who allowed themselves to be fooled by this story.
Katarzyna Kosińska
