OSTROV HLADNÝCH DUCHOV
Ostrov hladových duchů / Island of the Hungry Ghosts
Nemecko / Veľká Británia / Austrália, 2018, 98 min, r. Gabrielle Brady
Vianočný ostrov patrí Austrálii. Začiatkom 21. storočia tu vyrástlo detenčné zariadenie pre migrantov - často kritizované za svoju nehumánnosť a zlé podmienky. Podľa povier blúdia po Vianočnom ostrove nepokojné duše, tzv. „hladní duchovia“. A film Ostrov hladných duchov akoby zaujímal ich perspektívu. Kamera sa ahasverovsky túla po ostrove a mlčky sleduje, čo sa naokolo deje. Niekedy s dávkou prízračnosti, ale tá je iba jednou z ciest k odhaleniu rozháranej duše súčasného ostrova. K nej film najviac preniká prostredníctvom rodinného a pracovného života ženy, ktorá pôsobila v poradenskom centre pre traumatizovaných utečencov. Denne počúva príbehy plné utrpenia, poníženia a frustrácie. Od ľudí, ktorí v núdzi opustili vlasť a skončili za plotom, lapení na ostrove, kde podobne ako „hladní duchovia“ čakajú bezmocne na vykúpenie.
ENGLISH:
Located off the coast of Indonesia, the Australian territory of Christmas Island is inhabited by migratory crabs travelling in their millions from the jungle towards the ocean, in a movement that has been provoked by the full moon for hundreds of thousands of years.
Poh Lin Lee is a “trauma therapist” who lives with her family in this seemingly idyllic paradise. Every day, she talks with the asylum seekers held indefinitely in a high-security detention centre hidden in the island’s core, attempting to support them in a situation that is as unbearable as its outcome is uncertain.
As Poh Lin and her family explore the island’s beautiful yet threatening landscape, the local islanders carry out their “hungry ghost” rituals for the spirits of those who died on the island without a burial. They make offerings to appease the lost souls who are said to be wandering the jungles at night looking for home.
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS is a hybrid documentary that moves between the natural migration and the chaotic and tragic migration of the humans, which is in constant metamorphoses by the unseen decision-making structures.
