The Crisis And Us
Posted by Michelle Moquin on January 11th, 2010
Good morning. I blogged yesterday about an independent filmmaker that I discovered. Did you like the film clip that I posted? Well, the creative man responsible for the film, Johan Kramer, has his latest out: The Crisis And Us. Kramer’s new feature film is a modern fairytale about the impact of the financial crisis on the lifes of different human beings in Tokyo, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam… and specially Ponzisson.
It was quite challenging to find any info on his recent film, not to mention a clip. But after a bit of perusing, here it is:
Tales Of The Credit Crunch
A Japanese woman walks two dogs along a winding path in a well-groomed park. The dogs sniff around the bushes as the woman walks patiently behind, plastic bags in hand, ready to clean up after them. This scene is from The Crisis and Us, the new film from Dutch film director Johan Kramer (photo), who previously gained international acclaim with The Other Final, about a soccer match between Bhutan and Montserrat, the two lowest-ranked teams at the time, and Sing for Darfur, about the tragedy in Sudan. If you saw only the images—shot in black and white using eight-millimeter film with grainy and nostalgic qualities that create a nearly dreamlike intimacy—you’d wonder what was happening. Who is the woman in the park? How long has she had the dogs? What are their names?
The stories, written by Kramer, answer all those questions, which had moved Kramer more than a year ago to launch an experiment in which he filmed everyday situations that struck a chord and were inspired by chance: people on the street, encounters in the park, the view of an office building from a hotel room.
On Monday, September 15th, 2008—which the media dubbed “Black Monday”—the American banking giant Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the global financial crisis became a reality. Kramer knew right away that this would be the topic of his next film: the crisis that would affect the everyday affairs of ordinary people across the globe. The result is a lovely film comprising 38 portraits of people from all over the world. Combined, these stories create an image of what the crisis is doing to us. Using voice-overs by the fantastic David Saire, a British actor, and the music of Tom Holkenborg, aka. Junkie XL, a Dutch performer who rose to world fame as a remixer, Kramer calls the result “a film that is really for your ears.”
According to him, the stories show the ways you can look at the crisis. “It’s not difficult to make a very gloomy, pessimistic film about this experience,” Kramer says. “But I’m curious what we can learn from it. I think it forces us to take a different path, which is why there’s also a lot of optimism in this film.”
The stories, often based on newspaper reports, make the audience chuckle, thanks to the hilarious situations Kramer describes—like the woman walking her dogs in the park. She’s married to a Japanese banker who consistently overworks himself and is afraid he’ll lose his job due to the crisis. His wife’s desire for a child is continually put off because he works 16-hour days. She wants a divorce and, in an act of revenge, gets two dogs she calls Kiniu and Kiki. These two words, spoken in succession, mean “financial crisis,” which drives her husband crazy. Thanks to the dogs, which symbolize her longing for a child, she’s ultimately able to divorce. So the story goes: Kramer’s story.
-Ode Magazine, Max Christern | Sept/Oct 2009 issue
Here’s one clip from one of the 38 portraits from around the world: Iceland
And another, in regards to banking and bonuses. It’s a short clip; only 52 seconds.
Readers: And if you want to see more clips from Johan Kramer’s film, click here.
Hi Al: Glad that you enjoyed it. What did you think of his recent clips? It’s not surprising to see how our financial situation here in the U.S. has had a ripple effect across the world.
When will the people of Darfur be heard, is really the question. And yes, as I blog and you and the rest of the readers take action, as you have done…When will we be heard? Will it take a revolution? I don’t like thinking that way but more has to be done….change needs to happen. Thanks for being here. I hope you are well. :)
Doug: I too believe in the power of ‘intention’ and the power of ‘collective intention’ is well…to be blunt, ‘Powerful’. Can you please finish the book so that I can start it? :)
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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January 11th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Hi Mischa, good clips yesterday and today…looking for love in the eyes of a banker is some serious out of the box stuff : ) probably not going to happen in our lifetimes. I also believe in the power of intention (esp of the masses) – no much else to say today, and much work os staring me in the face : ) so I’ll catch up later in the week.
Ploveness, Zen Lill
My kid’s friend left a good-bye note yesterday aft signed: peace + love + happiness = ploveness, I thought it was too cute and of course I wish ploveness for everyone writing/reading here…
January 13th, 2010 at 3:09 am
Who’s In That Old Family Photo?
Maureen Taylor
ould you like to know who’s in that old, unlabeled photo in the family album? One way to figure it out is to determine the approximate date of the photo by using a number of clues…
Photo type. Daguerreotypes (1839–1860s) are on very shiny metal and can be viewed only at an angle because of the mirrorlike quality of the image. Ambrotypes (1854–1870s) are on glass. Tintypes (1850s–early 20th century) are on thin, varnished metal (not tin). Modern snapshots on paper began in the 1880s and became common around 1900.
Borders and stamps. If there is a double gold border around the image, it probably dates to the 1860s. A thin, red-line border probably dates to the 1870s. If there is a stamp similar to a postage stamp on the back — but no address suggesting that the photo was a postcard — the photo likely was taken between 1864 and 1866, when US photos required a tax stamp.
Background and props. Portrait photos taken prior to 1870 typically had a simple drapery backdrop, with a table or chair as a prop. Photos with complex staging, such as bear rugs or elaborate furniture, probably date after 1890. A photo featuring a child on a donkey or in a cart pulled by a goat is unlikely to have been taken before 1900.
Photographer. Some pictures (particularly those taken between 1890 and 1910) identify the photographer’s name or studio on the front or back. The Web site Findingphotographers.com can help you track down when and where photographers from this period worked.
HAIR AND CLOTHING CLUES
The book Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840–1900 by Joan Severa (Kent State) can help you estimate when the clothes worn in an old photo were in style. Children’s Fashions, 1860–1912 by JoAnne Olian (Dover) can be useful for children’s clothes. You can buy these books online or at bookstores, or your library may be able to get a copy. Some clothing clues…
Women’s padded bustles were in vogue in the late 1860s to early 1870s and again in the mid-to-late 1880s.
Women’s sleeves became very puffy between 1893 and 1898.
Men’s jackets were extremely tight in the 1880s.
Modern men’s ties became popular in the late 1890s.
Clothing alone should not be used to date a picture, however, since not everyone kept up with the fashions.
Helpful: Many photographers had the latest hats on hand for female customers to borrow.
Women’s hairstyles changed frequently in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Compare the hairstyle in your photo with styles in books and magazines from the era (available in libraries) to pin down the date. Most men wore their hair very short in the 1880s and 1890s. Longer hair was more common in the mid-1800s. If a young child in an 1800s photo has hair parted on the side, it is a boy… in the middle, it is a girl.
Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Maureen Taylor, “The Photo Detective,” a Westwood, Massachusetts–based historian who solves photo-research mysteries, http://www.photodetective.com. She is contributing editor to Family Tree Magazine (www.familytreemagazine.com) and author of Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs (Family Tree).