Matthew Eugene Hunsucker
March 16th 2020
Reporting on PIFF 43: Giraffe for Prof. Kristin Hole Film Festival studies class @ PSU
“In general, while the A-list festivals evoke the classic bourgeois public sphere, with fissures of contradictions and counterpublics erupting from time to time, alternative film festival organizers and participants often see themselves as explicitly embodying counterpublic spheres.” (Wong 91) In Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong essay “Publics and counterpublics” she rethinks the film festival in public spheres. It deals with the idea of subcultures and identity of the public sphere in their relations to film festivals. I’m reminded of this reading as I attend the film Giraffe by Anna Sofie Hartmann from Denmark at the Portland International Film Festival 43 (PIFF43). The film was screened at the Portland Art Museum’s and the Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium. The reason that this film reminds me of this essay, has to do both with the venue and the story of the film.
At PIFF 43, we get a slice of the Portland culture, which to me is kind of counter to the rest of the culture of the nation in which it resides. I don’t think PIFF itself is subversive. However maybe this year is subversive to its past and regular membership. At the Whitsell the audience though did seem more like their regulars that I have seen there before at other non-PIFF screenings in the past.
The story speaks to me in a way that is counter to what I thought the film might have been. Looking at this year’s program, I seeked to see films that I might have not gone to before. This did not happen quite as planned. With my first screening being that of Frank and Zed, see my last blog post. Then there was this film, Giraffe. It caught my eye with its imagery and description. The opening line “ On the Danish border with Germany, a massive infrastructure project promises to displace hundreds of families” (PIFF bio). Spoke to me as a documentary that would be following the story of people involved with the events.
I really enjoy documentary work, this year at PIFF 43 though they did not break their films up by narrative and documentary work. So I had to take my shot in the dark with this film and others. The film opens up from the point of view of a ferry heading into port. We then follow around Dara, as she explores the world around her and starts to interview people. However Dara is played by Lisa Loven Kongsli, of such films like Wonder Woman and The Lion Woman. This feels and is set up as it was a documentary following characters around this construction project in between Denmark and Germany.
As the plot of this narrative moves forward it documentary still starts to show its true colors as we see our principal characters interact in a way that if not staged would seem very dishonest.
The great part of this film is that even being a narrative, we get to see a real and humanist approach to storytelling. As it blurs the line of acting and performance with heart warming passion and depth of reality, normally only seen in films the document the life people. A must see film for anyone interested in cinema.
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Source of information
Publics and counterpublics by Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong
https://cinemaunbound.org/films/giraffe
PSU School of Film @ PIFF 