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From the year 2001
to the year 2002
Dear film friends around the world,
My greatest wish is that, after the turn of the year, you will begin 2002 enjoying excellent health and I offer you, your club and your federation, my best wishes for success in your activities and your projects.
Each year brings something new, something unexpected. Last year was no exception: it was a year burdened with concerns and problems. We hope that 2002 will not be shadowed by as many crises and causes of concern.
All the best to you all!
Max Hänsli, UNICA President - transl.: Jean-Claude Lejosne (FRA)
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REPORT to all National UNICA Member Federations
Dear film friends,
After an invitation extended by Achim Stampehl, the UNICA Committee met from 29th November to 2nd December in Duisburg (DEU) during 2001's Duisburger Filmtage. The only Committee member unable to attend was Heidi Lind. We were able to process a long list of items on the agenda during the short time available. Let me tell you about some matters which you may wish to discuss and which may possibly be significant for your own activities.
The minutes of the Committee meetings in Luxembourg and Tallinn and the proceedings of the General meeting in Tallinn were approved.
The Treasurer reported unpaid membership fees: seven countries are concerned. Reminders (second call) will be sent out and we hope that the money transfers will arrive soon. In this regard, it was pointed out that, in the event of non-payment of membership fees, statutory provisions will be enforced.
After a thorough discussion about activities during the UNICA 2001 Congress in Tallinn, a positive feeling was expressed by all. Some of the characteristics of this Congress were expert organisation, punctual deployment of the schedule, no overloading of the programme of events during tours and sufficient time for talks among representatives of the various nations. The quality of projection was deservedly admired (pictures and sound), as there was not the slightest hitch. Congratulations on such excellent work! The modest attendance was probably the only weak point of this UNICA event. Why should this be? Perhaps the relatively long distance to cover to come to Estonia? Or perhaps because of the previous Congress in Tallinn, 15 years ago, people had already experienced this location? Anyway we would very much like to know why so few participants registered. But of course, there was also a positive aspect to that: for a change we could find the time to chat and talk....
The regulations have been amended. Thus, in the future, only videos will be screened for the UNICA Competition, bearing in mind that ciné films can be transferred onto video and be projected in this form. However, late entries may be turned down and excluded from the competition if they pose too many problems for the organisers. The paragraph forbidding notes on the materials and equipment used was rescinded. On the other hand, we have introduced the principle that the jury's public discussions are to be conducted by a moderator who is neutral and has no vote. To cope better with the language problem, we should insist that every member of the jury panel have a good mastery of at least one of the three UNICA languages. Only in exceptional cases may an additional language be brought in and, should that situation arise, the national federation concerned will have to bear the corresponding expenses of additional translation work.
It was also laid down in the regulations that the jury should express an opinion based on their spontaneous impression after watching a block of films, but without voting at that time.
It appears that the video formats that are most widely used at the moment are : VHS, S-VHS, DV, DVCAM, BETACAM-SP. Which means that the organiser should make the corresponding equipment (S-VHS, DVCAM and BETACAM-SP projectors) available.
Under such conditions, it should be possible to screen all formats.
UNICA 2003 in Poland.
As we already know, Poland declared itself ready to replace South Africa in staging the 2003 Congress. Preparations are already in full swing in Poland. Poland will advertise this festival at the UNICA 2002 Congress in Luxembourg.
Georges Fondeur and Louis Schmitz of the UNICA 2002 Luxembourg Organising Committee attended the Duisbourg meeting. They reported the current state of planning and confirmed that all necessary preparations have been made to make sure that the event will be a great success. All participants in recent Congresses have been, or will be, contacted directly from Luxembourg, and will receive the registration form and relevant information. We are sure that the Luxembourg UNICA Congress will be a great success. Please make a note of these dates: from 23rd August to 1st September 2002!!
| We would be very pleased to see a great number of authors, especially young filmmakers, coming to the UNICA Congress with their works. For young authors taking part with a film in the UNICA Competition, the UNICA Treasury will meet half of the congress fee and the organisers will take care of the accommodation. The national federation must take care of the other half of the congress card cost. We would like to see a large number of national federations making special efforts to delegate as many authors and young authors as possible to take part in the UNICA Congress. Thank you very much. |  |
In conclusion, I once more request that for all future UNICA Congresses: please provide all your film/video entries in the form of DV or Betacam tapes. Organisers will be very grateful to you. The UNICA Film Library joins us in this - thanking you in advance - since it is then possible to make high-quality duplicates for later circulation to federations.
The next Committee meeting will be in Poland in the spring of 2002.
With kind regards
Max Hänsli, UNICA President - transl.: Jean-Claude Lejosne (FRA)
FRANC KOPIC (SLO) - Curriculum
Filmae
Franc Kopic has been a film amateur (body and soul) for 30 years. He has been the member of the Film and Video Klub Maribor since its very beginning. He has taken part in many World Film Festivals and he has received more than 330 international awards. His name is even in the Guiness Book of Records. As he did a lot for our club and in our club, we would like to offer him our hearty congratulations on his 30 years of success.
UNICA 2002
LUXEMBOURG
23rd August - 1st September 2002 at Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg
World Festival of Non-Professional Film Makers.
Website:
http://www.fgdca.lu/unica2002
Organisation Committee
| President: Georges Fondeur 49, rue Laach L - 6945 NIEDERANVEN tel.: + 352 347080 fax: + 352 223465 mobile: + 352 91 347080 e-mail: fondeur@vo.lu
Secretary: Louis Schmitz |
 |
Members: Claude Charnaut, Yvo Fumanti, Robert Grossklos, Roger Hansen, Robert Hohol, Marco Klein, Emile Lorenzini, Jorge Marques, Jean-Claude Metz, Nico Sauber, Jeannot Stirn
Accomodation Information
Alvisse Parc Hotel **** Official UNICA Hotel - Special Shuttle Bus
Hotel to UNICA
single - 75,00 Euros - B & WC
double - 87,50 Euros - B & WC
triple - 100,00 Euros - B & WC
Hotel Mercure Alfa **** situated near the central bus and railway
station
single - 120,00 Euros - B & WC
double - 120,00 Euros - B & WC
Parc Hotel Belair **** situated near the Congress centre.
single - 195,00 Euros - B & WC
double - 213,00 Euros - B & WC
Hotel Chez Anna et Jean - situated 15 minutes by car from the Congress
Centre.
double A - 45,00 Euros
double B - 50,00 > 58,00 Euros - B & WC
Camping Kockelscheuer - situated 15 minutes by car from the Congress
Centre.
per person - 3,00 Euros (car included) per caravan - 3,50 Euros
per tent - 3,50 Euros electricity - 1,25 Euros or 0,375 Euros/kWh
Filmmakers are basically storytellers. Any event may be told but not all events lend themselves to storytelling. To be a story rather than just a factual account, some conditions have to be met.
Let us suppose that a man jumps from a bridge and drowns. Even the most skilful narrator could not make much more than a report out of it, surely not a story. Even if the man fought for his life for some minutes and eventually survived, we still have nothing more than an account. His death or his survival would be the mere prolongation of events in a linear sequence. A story, on the other hand, has to be based on a non-linear sequence of events. Then it will generate in spectators, listeners or readers a feeling of suspense or tension nourished by anxiety and uncertainty concerning the denouement that will be eliminated only when some unexpected event occurs. Even if it has next-to-no plot in it, a story will rely on such a non-linear turn in the course of events. Otherwise, there will be no crescendo and no resolution of the suspense.
For linear events to be transformed into non-linear ones, they should be subject to some opposing action. However, developing a second, parallel story is not sufficient - for instance, introducing a second man who also jumps from the bridge in an attempt to help the first one. This would still be part of a linear sequence and, at the end of it, the only possible climax is the success or the failure of the rescue operation. Here again, it would be no more than an account. It would not be a story because, if the man's life is saved, that would be just a fulfilment of the spectators' hopes; if not, a materialisation of their fears. But neither case would generate real suspense based on uncertainty about the course of events and a release of the tension.
A third element is still missing.
We also need some incident so that linear events take an unexpected turn. For example, perhaps the courageous rescuer cannot swim whereas the would-be suicide proves to be an excellent swimmer, but … he is drunk as a lord. There are then two possible denouements for the story. The tragic alternative: the rescuer clings to the drunken man and pulls him down to the bottom. The more cheerful alternative: the drunken man must do his best to save the life of the would-be rescuer… Either possibility would be good material for a story.
Still, these would be trivial stories. But high-level and artistically crafted stories can be designed on the same model. The physical action is replaced by action of a psychological nature. For instance: Mrs X invites Mrs Y to a party as she is fascinated by her. But Mrs X's husband seems not to like Mrs Y. Consequently, she does her best to convince her husband to send the invitation. At the end of the party, as the guests are leaving, she suddenly realises as she watches him helping Mrs Y. put her coat on, that they are having an affair. Such is the core of a short story by Katherine Mansfield entitled Chance, with no more action than this to make the story.
And yet it is a real story.
The positive pole attracts the negative pole in electricity. A short-circuit seems to be inevitable. But someone inserts in the circuit a bulb that has a resistance. And light suddenly arrives !
- Franz Rienesl (AUT) - - trans.: Jean-Claude Lejosne (FRA) -
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Standard annual membership fees and lifetime membership fees for the Friends
of UNICA Club may be paid directly into the Friends of UNICA Bank Account.
Annual membership fees amount to USD 30, CHF 50, EUR 30.
Lifetime membership fees amount to ten times the annual membership fees.
Our bank account is: Sparkasse Saarbrücken, Konto Nr. 200-688.489,BLZ:59050101. Money transfers are preferable and make life easier for us! Thanks.
My address is: Wolfgang Freier, Hirschackerweg 32, D-66453 Gersheim - NG, Tel: 0049 (0) 6843 8510, Fax: 0049 (0) 6843 5599 <anna-freier@t-online.de>
There were two very interesting anniversaries in 2001.
- 1951 Glasgow (GBR) - 12th UNICA - The official UNICA emblem was adopted.
- 1931 Brussels (BEL) - 1st International Amateur Film Competition - 5 countries participated.
Discussion ...
- An amateur film or video is deemed to be one that is made for love, with no financial reward and without professional assistance other than processing, copying or the physical process of sound transfer.
- A Fiction Movie is a movie in which the acting of the actors or actresses is of primary importance.
Silver Medal winners at UNICA 2001
Dancing - by Let's Do It (RSP) - 30mins
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What is it that, at a given moment in time, makes memories more important
than real life?
Our picture shows the two stars. |
| Am Ende des Seins (At the End of Existence)
- Gregor Theuss, jeunesse (DEU), DV - 18mins
An unsparing film, yet one which is both sensitive and tactful. It takes place in a hospital ward in which the essence of humanity has ceased to exist. This young man who undertook social work (instead of military service) in Germany and worked for a year in a ward of Alzheimer patients portrays a situation which might affect all of us one day, and yet is something which we prefer to ignore. He does not comment at all, but simply shows "the way it is" - and thus he forces us to think about the essence and dignity of being human, about the last ethical and moral questions which affect us all. And just as inevitably we are confronted with the dubiousness, even the hypocrisy of the current moral discussion about matters such as gene technology and related problems. |
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| Greenhouse - Tim Jones (GBR) - 12mins | |
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Some time in the future, in a greenhouse travelling through space, is a little creature who becomes subjected to the "Greenhouse Effect". (The canister labelled O3 is, of course, ozone!). |
TIM JONES
(GBR) - Curriculm Filmae
Tim Jones started making films at the age of twelve and has been an active film maker ever since. He has been one of the leading figures in British non-professional film making since the late 1980s when his film THE LAND THAT NEVER MELTS, which documented an expedition to Baffin Island, won a number of major awards. Since then Tim experimented briefly with drama, again winning top awards, before concentrating upon animation. His latest model animation film GREENHOUSE took two years to make and, like all his animated films, deals with man's relationship with his environment. It won a number of the top awards in the United Kingdom including Best British Film at Movie 2001 and a Silver Medal at UNICA 2001. Tim was appointed the National Youth Officer of the IAC in the early 1990s and played an active role in widening the appeal of non-professional film making to young people throughout the United Kingdom. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of IAC (FACI) at the age of 30.
Dr. Ulrich Biermann (1911 - 2001)
Our dear Uli Biermann's funeral took place on July 18, 2001 in Altenkirchen, Germany; the ceremony was attended by many who came from the various regions of Germany and from abroad to pay homage to our friend who passed away just before celebrating his 90th birthday and who had devoted so much of his life to the promotion of international friendship and tolerance, in a spirit of wisdom and with an unequalled sense of humour.
It was in 1965 that I had the first opportunity, at the invitation of the then-president Jupp Walterscheidt, to go and participate in the DAFF Festival and tread German soil for the first time. The prejudices that I still had at that time were rapidly swept away. The very first evening, in a crowd of almost one thousand participants, I came across Uli Biermann and some of his numerous friends. We immediately became good friends and this close friendship endured and never faltered during the next 36 years.
Wherever he showed up, Uli Biermann enjoyed the consideration and friendship of all. People responded to his kindness and sense of humour - whether in the family circle, with his children and grandchildren, as a sociable doctor in the small town of Altenkirchen in Western Palatinate, or, of course, when he was with film friends.
For more than 20 years, he chaired with great tact the film club that he had founded. He was also an unfailing member of the German Film Federation, in later years as an individual member and, at the end of his life, as a member of the Senftenberg Club.
He first made music and fiction films and later produced travel films made in all parts of the world, always well-documented and entertaining.
For decades he was a regular visitor to the DAFF Festivals and UNICA Congresses and missed just a few of them. Even when he was almost 90 and was in a wheelchair, he insisted on coming. This is, for me, an opportunity to pay homage to the courage of his dear wife Uschy who herself had walking problems and spared no efforts to make sure that he could come with her to attend the events that he liked so much.
He was not only a good film maker, but also a talented pianist and an enthusiastic poet. He wrote hundreds of limericks and many people attending the DAFF Festivals looked forward to hearing the latest stories he had devised about the titles of films.
His great sense of humour became legendary: in 1966, at the time of the UNICA Congress in Marienbad (CS), he founded what came to be known as the "Cinematographic Circle of Liechtenstein" or CCL. Uli chaired this club for no less than 15 years, entertaining members with what he called himself stupidities, inanities and other forms of nonsense. The objective was actually to create within UNICA a circle of close friends prepared to overcome all forms of barriers, be it language, culture and national borders. The "articles of incorporation" appropriately read as follows : "CCL is an association without any ideology and free of any feeling of national and racial resentment, as is often found in codified statutes which, though not laid down in writing, pave the way to dangerous nonsense."
This spirit is now deeply ingrained in us and I know that I can say so on behalf of all those who have known him and appreciated his company.
- Gecko Kaufmann (CHE) -
- tran.: Jean-Claude Lejosne (FRA)
The British Team in Tallin 2001 - cartoon by Fred Graber (CHE)
(Reg Townsend, Reg Lancaster, Kenneth Seeger and Norman Spiers.)
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