Go to Louisa | Begin Began Begun

Go to Louisa
Ten years after the fall of the old political system in South Africa, Polish director Geregorz Pacek goes on a journey to the country where oppression of blacks by whites used to be a commonplace practice and where people's behaviour and attitudes are still deeply rooted in slavery. In order to explore these issues, Pacek chose to focus on a rubber production factory and three men involved in its operation, each of which vehemently promotes his own interests. Stach, originally from Poland, is the factory owner; Gert is a white South African and the company's manager; Andreas is an impoverished worker from the Zulu tribe. Clearly, unless they are able to curb their self–centred attitudes, there will never be a change for the better and the legacy of apartheid will never be dismantled. Andreas' struggle to assert his rights provides the main thread of the narrative. His hopes lie with Louisa, an employment officer – she's unable to get an appointment, however, and can't even reach her on the phone. There seems to be no end in sight to his hopeless situation. As the story unfolds, the factory becomes a symbol for South African society in general, as well as its new system of government, becoming a point of intersection where 'blacks' face 'whites', bosses face workers, luxury faces poverty. While the workers endeavour to improve their standing, their employers strive to maximise profits. The general theme of the fight for one's rights and more humane treatment in the workplace is all the more poignant since both the factory owner and the filmmaker come from a country which until recently was also under the yoke of a dictatorship.

Begin Began Begun
Documentary filmmaker Sarah Vanagt spent the Easter holiday in a village on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ten years ago this location was the site of genocide. Today this event is slowly receding into the past and the director studied the first generation of "new kids", who will grow up without their own real memories of it. The teachers await new teaching materials, according to which they will teach. The history is being rewritten, but the marks of the endured violence can be seen at every step. Those accused of murder can only move around in rose colored clothing, and the gap between the impoverished Africans standing on opposite sides of the conflict is growing. In this geographic area there exist children's villages inhabited only by orphans of the military conflict, who were forced to bury their parents. The old govern the young. The children are the only survivors of the tragic events. The short takes and the author's style grippingly draw the audience members closer to the issue of genocide. The cruel world is movingly represented by following the children's games, which have their origins in their daily exposure to brutality; they are light and full of laughter, but the themes of the games are the capturing of refugees, firing on enemies or the burying of dead. The commentary of the director initiates us into the political situation and explains everything. We are sensitively drawn into the feeling of uncertainty and fear of further unrest through the letter of a young boy who writes of the continuing threat to his village. The clear representation and the concentration on a given theme are the hidden strengths of this documentary film, which will not leave the viewer cold.