The World Cup of Cinema - Ecuador

Qué tan lejos 

(Screen capture image taken from an Ecuador Para Largo production/ Distributed by Venevision International)

And now I arrive at the countries that forced me to do more work than what I had initially thought was necessary. Had I done some deeper research at the beginning of this project I might have discovered that Ecuador managed to qualify for three World Cups in the 21st century, which likely would’ve prodded me to search for some Ecuadorian films to consider. Instead I only considered their 2018 results where they finished 8th in the CONMEBOL qualifiers which led me to think that I didn’t need to worry about them. As a result of this I got caught a bit off guard, which honestly was probably overdue to happen.

The World Cup of Cinema - Netherlands

Amsterdamned 

(Screen capture image taken from a First Floor Features production/ Distributed by Concorde Film)

I think subconsciously, one of my aims for this project was to explore the diversity of film culture that existed on a global scale. I really wanted to expand my notion of what a film is or what a film could be by witnessing a wide variety of different approaches, traditions and techniques. Thus I did not anticipate encountering cinematic elements that I would see over and over again, and yet I have run across a rather fatuous, random commonality that I can’t seem to avoid. Currently I have watched 5 films in this series that feature, at some during the picture, children who hang out on rooftops.

The World Cup of Cinema - Saudi Arabia

Wadjda 

(Screen capture image taken from a co-production between Razor Film Produktion, High Look Group and Rotana Studios/ Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

Despite reports of documentaries that were filmed in the 1970s, the Saudi film industry began in earnest during the 21st century making it possibly the world’s youngest film culture. So while some may refer to this selection as an obvious one, there really wasn’t much to choose from. The country’s first feature films where produced during a time when movie theaters were still forbidden. Advances in modern technology though would ultimately render this ban as futile. The lifting of this restriction came at a time when people were not exactly wholly dependent on a movie theater in order to watch a film.

The World Cup of Cinema - Serbia

Druga Strana Svega (The Other Side of Everything) 

(Screen capture image taken from a co-production between Dribbling Pictures, Survivance and HBO Europe/ Distributed by Icarus Films Home Video)

Serbia earned a special distinction in this series. They were the first country to qualify for the World Cup before I actually sat down and watched one of their films. When doing my initial research for this project there were a few Serbian films that ended up on my radar. However since I didn’t think Serbia would get the automatic berth from their group stage, such films were never at the top of my to do list. After the team’s shock victory against Portugal I did some casual research later that night and found this selection. I must admit that the ease in which I found a film that interested me, that satisfied my selection criteria, and which I could access relatively painlessly was a bit spooky. Perhaps I’ve overestimated how difficult this project would be to complete. I’m not quite sure if I’ve benefited more from sheer luck or from an increasingly globally conscious world, but either way I’ve probably received a modest boost from both.

The World Cup of Cinema - Uruguay

La Vita Útil (A Useful Life) 

(Screen capture image taken from a co-production between Federico Veiroj, MediaPro and Versátil Cinema/ Distributed by FilmRise via TubiTV)

Federico Veiroj’s second feature film was initially introduced to American audiences through the efforts of the Global Film Initiative, which was founded by Susan Weeks Coulter in 2002. I would gather that the main purpose of the initiative was to support and promote the work of filmmakers from around the globe and to make such work available to American audiences, a mission that I would certainly support. For a period of about 10 years it ran a Global Lens program to bring foreign films to US theaters and beyond. La Vita Útil was included as part of its 2011 class of films. This program by all appearances is currently defunct and I’m not quite sure whatever became of the Global Film Initiative. The last Global Lens program that I found was from 2014. This occurred not long after FilmRise acquired the distribution rights for the entire GFI collection. There are Facebook and Twitter accounts for the GFI, but there haven’t been any posts to either since October … … of 2015.