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The Helsinki Documentary Film Festival Continues!

Published on February 1, 2012

The following is a guest post by Anya Kandel, filmmaker of the MTM9 film Why Do White People Have Black Spots?

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The last few days have been a whirlwind. As guests here at the Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, we are treated with the utmost hospitality. Last evening they took the guests to the sauna, which was followed by a dip into the ice-covered sea! Imagine a group of fun, innovative, adventurous and intriguing people, and you have met the DocPoint staff! Then add to the mix brilliantly creative, keenly curious and holistically knowledgeable filmmakers from all over the world and you find yourself in a community that support and inspire each other along with their audience of millions. Fittingly, Artistic Director Erja Dammert sees in all people a need for an immediate community that can only be accomplished through personal connection. The ritual of watching films together in the dark can access this need for community through shared experience, she says. Having watched over 400 films, she has created an art piece of her own in her selections. While I can only name a few, every film here motivates us to think how we might stand (and stand up) in our communities.

What if you stood up to Donald Trump? Anthony Baxter, shows Trump’s merciless disregard for land and people in “You’ve Been Trumped.” As Trump begins construction on one of the few remaining dune habitats in Scotland, the few remaining residents are overlooked by a police force, who appear to be at Trump’s beck and call. The land is wrecked. Water is shut off and the residents wake up to a needless wall of dirt built to roof level. This is Trump’s solution to the “dirty,” “slum-like” residents—to name a few: Michael Forbes, a farmer who has tractors, a beautiful white horse and a few barns and his mother, an 86 year old woman who raises chickens in her back yard. With the residents, we bear witness to the gross disregard for humanity for the sake of money. Anthony has recently spoken on the Rosie Show and will be coming to NYC in mid February to speak on Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin. Anthony, genuine, curious and humble in demeanor, said he had little idea that this would be his cause. Then again, that is where good investigative journalism will take you—right the center of truths that many people won’t touch. I suspect Anthony will find a pile of dirt outside his window in the near future (in one form or another). And when that time comes, we as a larger community can take inspiration from the supportive residents on the Aberdeenshire coast who stand in solidarity with Michael, his mother and the others. Let’s help Anthony get their story into the public eye.

I also had the pleasure of giving a workshop to a secondary school class on Friday at Kulosaaren Yhteiskoulu. One of their largest concerns was racism in Finland. They shared their frustration in understanding how to overcome intolerance and how to stand up as individuals in this effort. In only 1.5 hours, they managed to discuss some of the most complicated political and social problems we are facing today and come up with solutions the each would take as individuals. AND they made a film about it! Once it is completed, I will be sure to share it with you!

More soon!

Anya

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