SWISS
PRODUCTION "WAR PHOTOGRAPHER" CAN GET OSCAR
"Every
minute I was there, I wanted to flee.
I did not want to see this.
Would I cut and run, or would I deal with
the responsibility of being there with a camera?"
(James Nachtwey)
In
one of the world's countless crisis areas, surrounded by
suffering, death, violence and chaos, photographer James
Nachtwey searches for the picture he thinks he can publish.
A
film about a committed, shy man, who is considered one of
the bravest and most important war photographers of our
time, and which can grant the Swiss filmmaker Christian
Frei a best documentary Oscar in 2002. It is a hard competition,
considering that one of the other nominees to the award
that will be announced next Saturday, is 'Promises', which
was shown at the 25th São Paulo International Film
Festival.
The
film "War Photographer" follows James Nachtwey's
quotidian and routine, totally different from the images
and clichés established by Hollywood, which give
the viewers a cynical and feeling-absent idea of these important
real life characters. "What can a fiction character
think about the right exposure rate at the moment of registering
a fact in the middle of intense combat terror?", challenges
Christian Frei.
We
see that his character, considered by many as the bravest
photographer of all times, is a man who, besides being shy,
likes to dive into philosophical thoughts. "For sure",
says the director, who has already taken part in the 21st
São Paulo IFF with the excellent documentary about
Cuban refugees "Ricardo, Miriam e Fidel", and
who followed James Nachtwey for two years through the conflicts
in Palestine, Indonesia e Kosovo, "he is the busiest
professional photographer in the world".
The
film is a result of a skilled documentation with micro-cameras
stuck on Nachtwey's photo-camera. We see the photographer
himself looking for the decisive moment. We hear every breath
of the photographer and his changes at every dramatic and
painful scene. For many, the film is a photojournalism lesson
not to be missed.
"A
cada minuto eu estava lá, mas eu queria partir. 
foto
que lhe pareça publicável. Este é o filme
sobre um homem tímido e empenhado, considerado o mais corajoso
e importante fotógrafo de guerra do nosso tempo, que poderá
dar ao cineasta suíço Christian Frei um Oscar de
melhor documentário em 2002. A concorrência é
boa considerando que também é finalista ao prêmio
a ser divulgado no próximo dia 24 de março, "Promessas
de um Novo Mundo", exibido na 25ª Mostra BR de Cinema
- Mostra Internacional de Cinema em São Paulo.
cotidiano
e a rotina de James Nachtwey, inteiramente contrário às
imagens e clichêsestabelecidos pelo cinema de Hollywood
que passa aos espectadores uma idéia cínica e sem
sentimentos destes importantes personagens da história
real. "O que um personagem de ficção pode pensar
sobre o tempo certo de uma exposição fotográfica
na hora de registrar um fato em meio a um intenso terror de combate?",
desafia Christian Frei.
