A Rough Crossing

dir. Teresa Macinnes
(Canada, 1995)

The new National Film Board doc-
umentary A Rough Crossing out-
lines the exodus at the beginning
of World War II of British children
to Canada which was engineered
by the British government and
resulted, as we see in this docu-
mentary, in the relocation of a lot
of these children permanently to
Canada or in the removal of chil-
dren from adopted Canadian fami-
lies to which they had become
attached only to never be seen
again. It’s a solid piece of inves-
tigative documentary work which,
during the thirtieth year of the
National Film Board, speaks elo-
quently about its value to
Canadian culture in the face of
impending government cut backs
which threaten its near annihila-
tion. The National Film Board is
one of those things which is easily
taken for granted but that we'll all
regret the absence of in today’s
lean, conservative, culture free
economic climate. j

In the film, British children of
families who could afford it were
initially sent into the British coun-
try side in preparation for the war.
And then, when the scope of the
war became more apparent, they
were sent abroad to other domin-
ions of the Commonealth. This
same protection was then offered
by the British government to chil-
dren of working class families.

A certain shocking revelation
that the film presents is that,
despite the successful campaign to
adopt British children into surro-
gate families in Canada and other
Commonwealth countries, the
same was not done for Jewish
refugee children when the oppor-

tunity was ripe
and many thou-
sands of them
later died in Nazi
camps as a direct
result. While the
British children
were being suc-
cessfully housed,
the Canadian
Jewish Congress
was lobbying the
Mackenzie King
government to
adopt the Jewish
children who
were being held
in internment
camps in Vichy,
France.

The response
from the
Immigration
Department was
suspicion towards
these children
that they weren't
in fact real
orphans and that
after they arrived
in Canada, they
would be able to
turn around and sponsor their par-
ents as immigrants after the war
was over. Officially, the govern-
ment stated that official
Immigration policy was to not
break up families. However, as the
documentary points out, F.C. Blair,
who was in charge of Canada
Immigration at the time, was a
renowned anti-semite and
Charlotte Whitten, who was a
leading social worker and close to
Blair, was a believer in the then
fashionable ideas of Eugenics.
These two people were largely
responsible for steering the
Canadian government’s decision
until 1942 when it had become

Children sent from Britain to
Canada in escape of the war.

apparent that millions were dying
in gas chambers and the Jewish
children were finally allowed in.
The not so subtle implication is
that the white, pure, British chil-
dren were welcome to Canada with
open arms and held up to far less
scrutiny than the Jews who might
pollute our already overwhelming-
ly Anglo population.

For the most part however, the
film concentrates on talking head
interviews and archival footage of
the British children being shipped
overseas on boats. The stories of
these children form a significant
part of thecultural heritage of
Canada as a member of the British

Commonwealth and the impact
that these individuals had on the
fabric of our society. As a film, it’s
the kind of work we've come to
expect from the NFB: meat and
potatoes, no nonsense information
and stories. As such, it has value
and it serves as a reminder of how
great a void will be left if the NFB
is underfunded into extinction.
-Terry Dawes

Art Imitates Life

continued from previous page

those events into something else. I
wouldn’t have released the film if I
hadn't. I proceed with an aware-
ness of the balancing act between
making embarrassing confessionals
and making good art. I think if
something’s important either in
my own life or elsewhere, I don’t
really hesitate to do it.

People change and go on. Ina
way then, what becomes the issue
is how you then look at people
who are the age you were. My
viewing of the subjects of this
man’s photographs now is sort of
the issue.

-Terry Dawes

a

Nico-Icon
dir. Susanne Ofteringer
(Germany, 1994)

“That’s what makes the story so
sad: to have all the assets and still
fail.” -Alain Delon’s mother in
Nico-Icon

The Film Festival guide blurb
for Nico-Icon, a video documen-
tary from Germany directed by
Susanne Ofteringer, began: “Why
would a woman of ‘marbled sculp-
ture’ beauty want to become
ugly?” I found this question oddly
reminiscent of seeing a TV
reporter standing outside Kurt
Cobain’s home almost rhetorically
musing: “He had wealth and fame,
a wife and child, and spoke for an
entire generation. Why did he
throw it all away?” It seems as
though there could now be an

Nico-icon

entire underclass of celebrities who

warrant their own hall of fame
(Those who responded to public
scrutiny by either im- or ex- plod-
ing.) whose likes would include
only the most beautiful of doomed
oversensitive prophets: James
Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and ...
Nico? It would be a tougher sell
but with a kind word from the
right influential critic, she could
make it. Where would Jackson
Pollock have gone without
Clement Greenberg? Six feet under
(which happened anyway but he
wouldn’t have been in the history
books).

And Nico has this flattering
documentary portrait. She is best
known as the singer on the record
“The Velvet Underground and Nico
produced by Andy Warhol” which
is certainly a real contender for
Best Rock Record Ever Made and

begs further the question: “Where
would any of those people have
gone without Andy Warhol?” Nico,
the ice blonde goddess, was basi-
cally imposed on the Velvet
Underground who had been select-
ed by Warhol as the house band
for his Exploding Plastic
Inevitable, a multimedia show
which featured this almost invisi-
ble band, film projections, and
dancers who brandished whips and
wiggled provocatively. The inclu-
sion of Nico in the Velvet
Underground was met with resis-
tance. After all, as John Cale
points out, they already had a girl
on drums. Two girls would be too
much.

But Nico fit perfectly with
Andy Warhol’s glorification of
opaque beauty and decadence and
he was paying for everything so
obviously they had no choice.
Besides, says Paul Morissey in an
enjoyably bitchy aside, everybody
knew that Lou Reed couldn’t sing
to save his life. Originally, Warhol
and Morissey wanted Nico to sing
all of the songs on that record but
the Velvets argued against it and -
won at least a partial victory.
Ironically, Reed (like David Bowie
and Mick Jagger: a now married
on-again, off-again homosexual)
and Nico developed an apparently
deep relationship, the break up of
which probably precipitated Nico’s
absence on their second (even bet-
ter) record “White Light/White
Heat.”

When | asked Ofteringer about
her motivations for making her

documentary, she responded thus-
ly: “Yeah, I used to listen to the
records of the Velvet Underground
when I was, like 15 years old and
when I heard on the radio that
Nico was born in Cologne, I
thought there had to be an inter-
esting story behind that. Also, she
was very forgotten in Germany
when I started to do the research. I
couldn’t get her records anywhere.
She just wasn’t remembered, so I
thought she did interesting work
and she was worth remembering.”

Previous to her arrival in New
York, Nico had been a successful
model in Europe and had cut a
single in the passing fad style of
Dylanesque folk which was so
popular at the time. She also had a
featured role in a film called Strip
Tease, a bit part in Frederico
Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, and a son
by French film idol Alain Delon,
who we get to watch shoot a game
of pool at the end of the docu-
mentary.

How does Ofteringer think that
Nico’s exposure to Andy Warhol’s
Superstar scene influenced her? “I
think what really rubbed off on
her from Warhol’s philosophy is
that you should do what you real-
ly want to do and that you should
find an expression for yourself. I
think when you have a whole
career that’s only based on beauty,
at a certain point you want to be
valued for something more than
that.”

-Terry Dawes

Novemper 1995 / Emny 11
A Rough Crossing
dir Teresa Macinnes
(Canada, 1985)

‘The new National Film Board doc-
tumentary A Rough Crossing out-
beginning

by the British government and
resulted, as we seein this docu-
‘mentary in the relocation of alot
ofthese children permanently to
(Canada or in the removal of chil-
dren from adopted Canadian fa
lies to which they had become
attached only to never be seen
again. Isa solid piece of inves
tigative documentary work which,
‘during the thirtieth year ofthe
National Film Boar, speaks elo-
‘quently about its value to
Canadian culture in the face of
impending government cut backs
‘whieh threaten its near annihila-
ton. The National Film Board is
‘one of those things which is easily
taken for granted but that we'll ll
regret the absence of in today's
Jean, conservative, culture free
‘economic climate,

In the film, British children of
families who could afford it were
initially sent into the British coun-
‘ty side in preparation for the war,
‘And then, when the scope of the
‘war became more apparent, they
were sent abroad to other domin-
fons of the Commonealth. This
‘same protection was then offered
by the British government to chil~
dren of working class families,

A certain shocking revelation
thatthe film presents is tha,
despite the successful campaign to
adopt British children into surro-
gate families in Canada and other
Commonwealth countries, the
same was not done for Jewish
refugee children when the oppor-

tunity was ripe
and many thou-
sands of them
later died in Nazi
‘camps as a direct
result, While the
British children
were being suc-
cessfully housed,
the Canadian
Jewish Congress
‘was lobbying the
Mackenzie King
government to
adopt the Jewish
children who
were being held
in internment
‘camps in Vichy,
France.

The response
from the
Immigration
Department was
suspicion towards
these children
‘that they weren't
in fact real
‘orphans and that

after they arived hen set fam Stan ©
in Canada, they "290m ciope ofthe wo

‘would be able to
tum around and sponsor their par-
ents as immigrants after the war
was over. Officially, the govern-
‘ment stated that official
Immigration policy was to not
break up families. However, as the
Blair,
charge of Canada
Immigration atthe time, was a
renowned anti-semite and,
Charlotte Whitten, who was a
Teading social worker and close to
Blair, was a believer in the then
fashionable ideas of Eugenics.
‘These two people were largely
responsible for stering the
Canadian government's decision
‘until 1942 when it had become

apparent that millions were dying
in gas chambers and the Jewish
children were finally allowed in
‘The not so subtle implication is
‘that the white, pure, British chil-
‘dren were welcome to Canada with
‘open arms and held up to far less.
scrutiny than the Jews who might
pollute our already overwhelming
ly Anglo population.

For the most part however, the
film concentrates on talking head
interviews and archival footage of
the British children being shipped
overseas on boats, The stories of
these children form a significant
part of thecultural heritage of
Canada as a member of the British

Commonwealth and the impact
that these individuals had on the
fabric of our society. As a film, its
the kind of work we've come to
‘expect from the NFB: meat and
potatoes, no nonsense information
And stories. As such, it has value
and it serves as a reminder of how
seat a void wil be left ifthe NFB.
is underfunded into extinction.
“Terry Dawes

Art Imitates Life

those events into something els. |
wouldn't have released the film if |
hadn't I proceed with an aware-
ness ofthe balancing act between
‘making embarrassing confessionals
and making good art. | think if
something's important either in
my own life or elsewhere, I don't
really hes

People change and go on. In a
way then, what becomes the issue
is how you then look at people
who are the age you were. My
Viewing of the subjects of this
‘man's photographs now is sort of
the issue
“Terry Dawes

Nico-Icon

Nico-Ieon
dir. Susanne OReringer
(Germany, 1994)

“That's what makes the story so
sad: to have al the assets and still
‘ail.”-Alain Delon’s mother in
‘Nico-feon

The Film Festival guide blurb
for Nico-Ieon, a video documen-
tary from Germany directed by
Susanne Ofteringer, began: “Why
would a woman of ‘marbled sculp-
ture’ beauty want to become
ugly?” I found this question oddly
reminiscent of seeing a TV
reporter standing outside Kurt
CCobain’s home almost rhetorically
musing: “He had wealth and fame,
1 wife and child, and spoke for an
‘entire generation. Why did he
throw it all away?” It seems as
‘though there could now be an

‘entire underclass of celebrities who
‘warrant their own hall of fame
(Those who responded to public
scrutiny by ether im- or ex- plod
Ing) whose likes would include
‘only the most beautiful of doomed
‘oversensitive prophets: James
Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and

Nico? It would be a tougher sell
bout witha kind word from the
right influential criti, she could
‘make it. Where would Jackson
Pollock have gone without
Clement Greenberg? Six feet under
(oehich happened anyway but he
wouldn't have been in the history
books),

‘And Nico has this attering
documentary portrait. She is best
known as the singer on the record
“The Velvet Underground and Nico
produced by Andy Warhol" which
is certainly areal contender for
Best Rock Record Ever Made and

begs further the question: “Where
‘would any of those people have
gone without Andy Warhol?” Nico,
the ice blonde goddess, was basi-
cally imposed on the Velvet
Underground who had been select-
cd by Warhol as the house band
for his Exploding Plastic
Inevitable, a multimedia show
which featured this almost invisi-
ble band, film projections, and
dancers who brandished whips and
wiggled provocatively. The inelu=
sion of Nico in the Velvet
Underground was met with resis
tance. Afterall, as John Cale
points out, they already had a gil
‘on drums. Two girls would be too
‘much

But Nico fit perfectly with
‘Andy Warhol's glorification of
‘opaque beauty and decadence and
Ihe was paying for everything so
obviously they had no choice
Besides, says Paul Morissey in an
‘enjoyably bitchy aside, everybody
knew that Lou Reed couldn't sing
to save his life. Originally, Warhol
and Morisey wanted Nico to sing
all ofthe songs on that record but
the Velvets argued against it and
‘won atleast a partial victory.
Ironically, Red (like David Bowie
and Mick Jagger: a now married
‘on-again, off-again homosexual)
‘nd Nico developed an apparently
‘deep relationship, the break up of
‘which probably precipitated Nico's
absence on thei second (even bet-
ter) record “White Light/White
Heat”

‘When I asked Ofteringer about
her motivations for making her

documentary, she responded thus-
Iy: “Yeah, I used to listen to the
records ofthe Velvet Underground
when I was, like 15 years old and
When I heard on the radio that
[Nico was born in Cologne, 1
thought there had to be an inte
‘sting story behind that. Also, she
was very forgotten in Germany
when I stated to do the research, 1
couldn't get her records anywhere.
‘She just wasn't remembered, so 1
thought she did interesting work
and she was worth remembering.”

Previous to her arrival in New
York, Nico had been a successful
‘model in Europe and had cut a
single in the passing fad style of
Dylanesque folk which was 50
popular atthe time. She also had a
featured role in a film called Strip
Tease, abit part in Frederico
Fellin’s La Dolce Vita, and a son
by French film idol Alain Delon,
Who we get to watch shoot a game
‘of pool atthe end of the docu-
mentary.

How does Ofteringer think that
[Nico's exposure to Andy Warhol's
‘Superstar scene influenced her? “I
‘think what really rubbed off on
her from Wathol’s philosophy is
that you should do what you real-
ly want to do and that you should
find an expression for yourself. 1
‘think when you have a whole
career that’ only based on beauty,
at a certain point you want to be
valued for something more than
that"

“Terry Dawes

Novawer 1995 | Ever 11