Seeing 11 September at the 59th Venice Film Festival, Hani Mustafa zooms in on political import In its nearly 60 years of existence the Venice Film Festival has never been free from politics. Soon after it was established in 1932 it witnessed the rise of fascism. And as one of the regime's tools for promoting Italian culture, through the war years festival screenings were exclusive to Italian and German films. Its grand prix was even christened the Mussolini Award. From 1943 to 1946 the festival was discontinued, and when it reemerged its return was incorporated into the nation-wide celebration of the end of fascism. This year Venice coincides with the memory of 11 September and a remarkable Special Event screening marked the occasion. Directed by 11 filmmakers from around the world, 11 September is a rich and varied offering that generated debate even prior to being screened. Consisting of 11 mini features of 11 minutes and 9 seconds' duration each -- by Samira Makhmalbaf (Iran), Claude Lelouch (France), Youssef Chahine (Egypt), Danis Tanovic (Bosnia), Idrissa Ouedraogo (Burkino Faso), Ken Loach (Britain), Alejandero Gonzalez Inarritu (Mexico), Amos Gitai (Israel), Mira Nair (India), Sean Penn (USA), Sohei Imamura (Japan), respectively -- the film services various and often glaringly contradictory viewpoints ranging from mournful recall of the World Trade Center explosions to sympathy with those crushed by the American military machine. While not constituting a significant development for the filmmakers involved -- indeed at times they seem to be treading well worn territory -- the films reflect political perspectives in the process of translating cinematically. Recalling Blackboard, Makhmalbaf engages in the kind of spontaneous, docudrama through which Mohsen Makhmalbaf, her father, as well as her brother (the present film's editor and the maker of the documentary Afghan Alphabet) made their names. The life of Afghan refugees in Iran is slowly and briefly portrayed until a schoolteacher enters the classroom of a small learning centre within the camp. She asks the students, "What happened yesterday?" The viewer suddenly realises that it must be 12 September. The children's answers are simple and naive, almost laughable in their innocence. Towards the end of the film it transpires that the children, who have no concept of a building the size of the World Trade Center, are consequently in no position to sympathise with the victims. The very life of these children, Makhmalbaf seems to be saying, is a greater human disaster than anything that could happen in New York. Chahine's contribution generated so much controversy it contributed to making 11 September a most prominent event. Chahine, some felt, oversteps every possible mark when he makes his protagonist (Nour El-Sherif) -- a filmmaker who engages in a fantastical conversation with one of the American marines killed during the Lebanese Civil War -- endorse suicide operations in the occupied territories, linking Israeli policy in Palestine with American policy throughout the world. The controversy was nonetheless positive, with the audience applauding in response to some of the filmmaker's most biting remarks. To mention but one example: America and Israel are one and the same entity, which merely assumes the form of two states. Gitai's contribution is the diametrical opposite of Chahine's. It would be unfair to view it within the broader framework of Israeli "anti-terrorist" propaganda, yet, for the Arab viewer, at least, it leaves an unpleasant taste -- something that was evident in the response of the audience. Using one-shot and wide-angle camera techniques the film depicts the aftermath of a suicide operation in Jerusalem. Ambulances rush to the scene of the carnage, a television crew tries to glean information about the event in vain. At the end of the film Gitai shows a girl on roller-skates and people speaking into their mobile phones, as if to stress the notion that, suicide operations notwithstanding, life goes on. And it does, for others. The British, French and American contributions were more successful. Loach's offering gave rise to a five- minute bout of applause. A London-residing immigrant from Chile sends a letter of condolence to the families of the victims in New York. Loach links 11 September 2001 to 11 September 1973, the date of General Pinochet's coup d'état, which overthrew Allende's democratic regime, using archival footage of the massacre of thousands of Chileans and the assassination of the president. Through the immigrant's discourse Loach ironically draws attention to US involvement in the coup, juxtaposing images of violence and torture with the voice of George W Bush speaking about America's role in protecting democracy and the free world. For his part Lelouch opts for a love story: a French couple living in New York are about to break up; the girl, a mute, is seen writing a letter to her boyfriend, who is meeting some friends at the World Trade Center, to mark the end of their affair. While she writes she feels a slight shake, and the camera pans to the source of the explosion: the television broadcast of the Twin Towers' fall. Soon the boyfriend arrives, his clothes covered in dust, looking seriously disturbed. Silently the girl asks him what has happened. He responds, "Have you not watched the news?" and breaks down in tears. The girl embraces him; and it is clear that she still does not know the real reason behind his discomfiture and distress. Yet arguably the most powerful of the three films is Sean Penn's disjointed account of the life of an old widower who lives alone in a one-room flat in New York. Slowly, ponderously, Penn follows the daily routine of the old man, his use of his wife's clothes to make him feel as if she is still there, his conversations with her, in which he discusses the lack of light in the flat and the consequent death of the plants. All this takes place on Tuesday morning; by the afternoon the widower is napping next to his wife's dress on the bed. Suddenly light fills the room, the flowers seem to come back to life and he begins to address her, telling how much he wished she was there to share the flowers with him. And right at the end the camera pans to the wall behind him and the viewer notices a pale shadow, the second tower gradually falling. The rest of 11 September proves less remarkable. Ouedraogo's humorous contribution depicts a group of poor children running around Burkino Faso trying to capture Bin Laden and receive the $25 million award. Nair's film is a melodramatic depiction of the life of a Pakistani family a member of which lives in New York: he was among those who tried to save the victims at the site of the World Trade Center and he died in the process. Tanovic's setting is a Bosnian village whose inhabitants are exclusively female; all the men, the viewer is given to understand, have died. A planned feminist demonstration is undermined by 11 September but happens triumphantly in the end. Of all 11 films Inarritu's was probably the most irritating: a blank screen interspersed only with brief scenes of people jumping out of the World Trade Center and a soundtrack made up entirely of disjointed snippets of information about plane crashes and terrorist attacks. Imamura, by contrast, depicts a World War II veteran who, in the wake of Hiroshima-Nagasaki, returned to his hometown with a strange psychological disorder: he was convinced he was a snake. Any war, Imamura tells us, appropriately at the end of 11 September, costs too much in human terms. Venice Film Festival Awards Coppavolpi best actor: Stefano Accorsi for Un Viaggio Chiamato Amore Coppavolpi best actress: Julianne Moore for Far from Heaven Special director's award: Lee Chang-Dong for Oasis Golden Lion: Peter Mullan for The Magdalene Sisters Silver Lion: Lina Efteeva for Clown Jury's award: Andrej Konchalovsky for Mad House Debut award (joint): Spiro Scimone and Francesco Sframeli for Due Amici; Dylan Kidd for Roger Dodger
