Where is Spain headed? part 1 of 2

It surprises me to find that many more people seem to be reading my blogs about the actors in Domino than the ones I write about what´s going on in Spain.  It would seem to me important to think about Spain, because in many respects, it´s a linchpin of an economic bloc that includes the United States.  If Spain goes, well, watch out!

In addition, Spain´s protest movement, the Indignados (or Movimiento 15-M) was certainly one of the models for Occupy Wall Street.  After all, the Occupy movement started about a year after the much more peaceful Indignados first appeared on the scene.

(Incidentally, there´s a movement in Canada called the Adbusters that started in 1989, well before the Indignados.  THEY claim to be the model for all of these protest movements.)

A LINK about some of the recent demonstrations in Spain organized by the Indignados.

So on that note, what´s going on in Spain?

Well, for one thing, taxes have gone up, unemployment has gone up, and people continue to be paid late or only partially or not at all (especially government workers and outside contractors for government).  A law has also been passed making it illegal to use social media to organize public demonstrations that result in problems for the authorities -- and don't most public demonstrations end in problems for the authorities, even though the organizers had not intended it?  The law has not yet been enforced very often, but it´s kind of a monster sitting in a cave, waiting for an opportunity to come out and wreak havoc.

On the other hand, one of my friends in Spain report that on some days, such as festival days, it looks as if everything were normal.  The streets are full of people, the cafe-bars have plenty of customers, people seem happy and carefree.

Another blog LINK about recent demonstrations in Spain -- some pretty powerful photos in this one.

On non-festival days, however, the streets are empty, the cafes-bars have few customers, the small shops are closing (and small shops make up a very important part of Spain´s economy), manufacturing has almost disappeared (except for parts of the auto industry), and construction work is hard to come by (another thing  that also used to be a major part of Spain´s economy).

In addition, the national tax collecting agency (Hacienda) has taken to sending investigators to inquire into people´s bank accounts, especially in the past several months.  If you owe money to the taxing agency but also owe money for your mortgage, etc., watch out.  The money you earn that you put into your bank account to pay your mortgage might be found by the taxing agency which will simply pounce on it...and there goes your mortgage payment.

An interesting fact about mortgage payments in Spain:  if  you can´t pay your mortgage, and lose your home, not only are you homeless but you still owe that mortgage to the bank.  Let´s just say that in Spain, you can´t win for losing.

OUR NEXT BLOG will finish up this topic.

Notes on the economic situation in Berlin (leaving Spain for later)

Ok, we've  talked about the economic crisis in Spain (and will talk about it more at another time).  We've talked about Occupy Wall Street, the Movimiento 15-M (los Indignados), and housing foreclosures in the U.S..  We´ll talk about all these again, but now:

I recently had the opportunity to go to Berlin, where another one of my productions (A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz) was screening in a festival.

So what about the economy in Germany, or at least, in Berlin?  Germany has the reputation of being in rather good shape, right?  It's supposedly one of the economically most stable countries in Europe, right?

Graffiti is alive and well in Berlin.

I'm sure all that is true.  Berlin, however, is not in quite such good shape.

I have this information simply from talking to a few people in Berlin during my brief, one-week stay there.  This is NOT a carefully researched analysis of current affairs.  Please take it with a grain of salt.

I was, however, very surprised to hear that Berlin has been having economic problems for the past few years.  I was told that salaries have remained stable, but that prices are increasing (meaning, obviously, less purchasing power).  I was told that "workers" (which I believe indicates government employees, but it wasn't completely clear) have lost some very important benefits in the past few years, chief of which is the one-month paid vacation and the automatic Christmas bonus.

Mixed in with very modern business towers, and handsome historic monuments, are huge, drab apartment houses.

The one month's vacation is still there, but it's no longer a paid vacation.  The Christmas bonus, which used to equal one month/s pay, is now gone.

When workers complained and threatened to strike, they were told that either they would have to accept these cuts, or there would be major cutbacks in staff.  Not wanting to lose their jobs, they then accepted the cuts.

A beauty spot with 18th century buildings.

 This was all very surprising to me.  It indicates a really significant change in the economic situation of a large part of the work force.  I do not, however, know if this is limited to Berlin, or to Berlin plus what used to be East Germany, or what.

SO....

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about finishing the editing of the LONG, for television, version of Domino.

The current economic situation in Spain

Seen from the perspective of one individual in the city of Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain, the economic situation doesn´t look very good.  And from what I read on-line and in the newspapers, the situation in Jerez reflects pretty accurately the situation in all of Spain.

When I left here in mid-November, unemployment was high, the city was behind on paying city workers and paying the concessionaires who supply the water, street lights and garbage.  When I returned, in late January, unemployment was higher, the city workers hadn´t been paid for three months (!!--forget that Christmas bonus), and there have been almost daily demonstrations.

Encampment of city workers in front of city hall.

 When I left, the people of the Movimiento 15-M (los Indignados) were camped out in the city´s mail plaza, Plaza Arenal.  Now that I´ve returned, they are still there (in spite of some really cold weather...near freezing most nights and part of the mornings as well).  In addition, there is now a new, DIFFERENT encampment right in front of city hall.  It´s the encampment of those unpaid city workers.

Some more specifics:  in a city of 200,000, over 35,000 are now unemployed.  When you realize that about half of the population consists of children or the elderly, and that most women over the age of 40 don´t work, that number becomes pretty scary.

An aside:  it´s only fair to report that a significant number of people work--especially if it´s a question of odd-jobs--without benefit of reporting it to the government.  A self-employed person here is required to pay $350 minimum (278 Euros) per month to the government no matter how much or how little they earn, so low-income self-employed people, well, they just don´t TELL the government.

Movimiento 15-M (Indignados) encampment.  "Nothing will move if you don´t push."

 Another factoid:  there´s a series of publicly financed apartment buildings that have had roof problems for the past four years.  Various government organizations have reluctantly promised to attend to this but none has a yet, and the roofs are caving in.  Over 200 people live in this housing complex.

Plus the bus drivers go on strike and march down the streets every week or so.  (I don´t have a photo because every time I pass a demonstration, I´m without a camera.  Sorry....)  But the next day, they go back to work even though unpaid.  I´ve heard many city workers are afraid to leave their jobs because then things will be even worse for them.  They´ll be unemployed as well as unpaid.  So they go to work each day, although I understand there will now be periodic slow-downs to indicate that they are really, really unhappy.

The building which houses offices of the major unions refers to the now 4-months´ overdue pay for city workers.

 And the big, annual flamenco festival is coming up, an event which normally draws thousands of foreign tourists and would-be flamenco stars.  The core of the festival consists of performances and classes.  The people teaching the classes this year have been required to sign a form saying they won´t ask to be paid for 12 months.

But the street lights are still on, the garbage collectors are still collecting the garbage, and the water and electricity continue to function.  My fingers are crossed that people will start getting paid soon, BEFORE they lose their homes, etc..

What do those notices all over the city workers´ tents say?  One of these:  if you tremble at injustice, you are our friend.

 OUR NEXT POST will be about shooting the scene in the pawn shop.

Occupy Wall Street and Movimiento 15-M (Indignados)

On two continents, movements have sprung up expressing people's frustration with the economic crisis, their belief that it has been caused by banks and other financial institutions, and their desire to have the political (and perhaps, social) system undergo fundamental change.  The first of these started in Spain, in May of this year, and is called the Movimiento 15-M (or los Indignados).  The other started near the end of this summer and began as Occupy Wall Street.

Both in their most visible form include people camping out for long periods of time, usually in tents, in or near city centers.  Both offer (or try to offer) daily discussion sessions where the public is invited to discuss our current economic problems, the origins of these problems, and solutions to these problems.

The general assembly point in Occupy Berkeley (CA).

Back side of the general assembly point in Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).

In all these respects, the two movements are very similar and in fact, I imagine the Occupy Wall Street (and more recently, Occupy Oakland, Occupy San Francisco, Occupy Washington, etc.) movement began partly by taking the Spanish Movimiento 15-M as a model.

But there are also some rather striking differences between the two movements.

One is the reaction of local and national government, and the use or non-use of police to deal with the protestors.

In Spain, with the notable exception of two incidents (one in Madrid and one in Barcelona) there has been, to my knowledge, no serious attempts on the part of government to curtail the protests.  The government doesn´t seem to be afraid of the protestors.

Part of a declaration of principals, Occupy Berkeley.

Call to demonstrate, Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera.

As an example, when I was last in Spain (mid-October through late November) the protestors were camped out in the central square of the city where I was staying (Jerez de la Frontera) with no government opposition or police intervention.  There were also several big protest marches, one organized by the Movimiento 15-M people and the others by unemployed or, even more often, unpaid workers (mostly unpaid government workers).  The Movimiento 15-M people participated in the protest marches organized by others.

I also didn´t read about or hear of any government or police action against Movimiento 15-M encampments in other Spanish cities.

In the United States, on the other hand, there have been numerous instances of police tearing down Occupy Wall Street/Occupy San Francisco/Occupy .... encampments.  Often violence is involved, people get hurt, and people get arrested.

Tents with placards, Occupy Berkeley.  Placard is on the right.

Placards and tents, Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera.

Another major difference is in the attitude of the protestors.  In Spain, they don't seem to be nearly as confrontational as in the United States.  They set up their camps, they keep their camps clean, and they offer their daily informational and discussion sections at a set hour each day.  They have set up rules for these sessions and for decision-making which emphasize the right of everyone to have a say, and the duty of everyone to listen to each other and respect the right of people to disagree.

In the United States, on the other hand, the protestors are full of demands, often want to force their opinions on others (and I include in this the shutting down of the Port of Oakland), and are sometimes very provocative, including smashing and trashing other people's things.

Tents of Occupy Berkeley.

Tents and signs of Movimiento 15-M, Jerez de la Frontera.

Some of these differences have to do with a different cultural outlook.  Some have to do with fear, and with a process by which one side pushes and the other side pushes back--and the very idea of "we are one side and you are another."  Space prevents me from going into more detail, nor do I want to favor one side in the U.S. over the other, but the differences between the two movements in these regards are really striking.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about an upcoming screening of Domino in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Principal photography REALLY completed-in Jerez de la Frontera

We'll start using this blog not only for articles and news items, but also for updates about our progress on Domino.

SO--we finished principal photography for what I believe is the LAST TIME at the end of November, just before I left Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) to return to the San Francisco Bay Area (California).  When I say the LAST TIME, I mean that I do NOT expect to add any more scenes.  As a filmmaker, I´m happy with the structure as it is now.

Of course, I haven´t yet viewed the current version of the film.  I´ve brought a viewing copy with me to California and will look at it soon.  Right now, I´m letting it age, like good wine.

It is currently about 40 minutes long, as opposed to the 20 minutes that it was before my last trip to Jerez.  In one new scene, we managed to incorporate part of the current demonstrations of the Movimiento 15-M (Indignados).  That movement is similar to, and started earlier than, the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S..  As a filmmaker who's creating a dramatic narrative about the current economic crisis, including shots of those demonstrations gives Domino more immediacy and relevance.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about Occupy Wall Street (etc.) and the Movimiento 15-M (Indignados)

We've finished shooting.

In my just-ended five week trip to Jerez, we finished shooting Domino.  In fact, we finished two days before I flew back to California.

Hooray for us!  Fireworks!  Cheering crowds!  We did it!

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it was to me and to our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena, playing Luis.  To me because I really like the project and after quite a lot of time and effort, it felt good to have it "in the can," as it were.  To Antonio de la Malena because he likes the project too, but also because, well, I think by the end he was kind of tired of having me say "Hey, I decided to add just two more little tiny scenes...."

But I did add in all the scenes I wanted and to tell you the truth, I think they really make the drama complete.

"Luis' street," as seen last year.  Now, some of the houses have been painted other colors.

 For some of the last scenes we shot, Antonio was the only actor and he had no dialogue.  I did all the shooting of those by myself.  A five to seven person crew seems unnecessary if, for example, you simply need a shot of one person going out the front door of his "home" and walking down the street, passing in front of the camera as he walks.

But even small things like that had to be shot 5 or 6 times because it's hard to keep someone in frame and with a good spacing within the frame if the person is first moving towards the camera, and then away from it.

For that particular walking-out-of-the-door shot, several neighbors came out to watch because--a confession here--we used the front door of my flat as Luis' front door.  They were all very quiet while we were shooting, and when we finished, they gave us some applause. 

Good neighbors.

Another memorable shot was where I had Antonio (as Luis) walk in front of the major demonstration organized by the Moviemiento 15-M (los Indignados), similar to our Occupy Wall Street.  Here, we used a 4 person crew.

The protestors' camp in Jerez' central square.

 As we suspected, the demonstrators did not pose for our camera nor did they wait to start their march until we had the camera set up at the angle I wanted.  The result was that we got the back of the parade, we got some reasonable sound, we got Antonio walking in front of the tents (with a sign saying "Liberty" behind him),etc.  

Note that Liberty is something Luis does NOT have, due to his financial problems.

The "Liberty" sign.

BUT to make the scene complete, we had to go back another day, shooting  a DIFFERENT demonstration (but involving the same groups) marching down the street past the camera.

All that aside, I am really delighted with what we have, and really pleased that shooting is done.  Now, for fine cut editing, background music, and various kinds of technical work.  Considering money concerns as well as other matters, my guess is that Domino will be finished by summer of 2012.

The crisis, or Why "Domino: caught in the crisis," part 2

In addition, March of 2011 saw the birth of something called the Movimiento 15-M (also called "los Indignados") in which thousands of people from all over the country set up protest centers and tent cities around Spain.  Their aim has been to educate the public as to what they believe to be undue influence by banks, etc., leading to a failure of the political and financial systems which can only be restored through true democracy.  By "failure of the financial system," they´re referring to the current economic crisis.

Some of the tents in which members of the Movimiento 15-M camped out in the city center for 3 months.

It is also generally believed that unemployment for people 30 and younger is about 45%.  Total unemployment estimates range from a low of 22% to a high of 50%.  (That´s quite a spread...it  seems the figure is related to  your political viewpoint and to whether or not you´re including the undocumented aliens invited into Spain to work in construction, auto manufacturing, etc., back when the economy was booming.)

In addition, the former city administration is accusing the new administration of failing to pay the social security costs of 900 families, costs for basic necessities such as food.  (Note that there were municipal elections this past April, at which time a left-leaning political party lost power and a right-leaning one gained power in most of Spain´s cities-but not in the national government.)

A small shop about to close.

And due to  mortgage defaults, thousands of people are losing their homes in Jerez, as in all of Spain and also in the United States and elsewhere.

On a more personal level, a friend of mine who runs a theater company has yet to be paid for a major production his group put on for a government organ back in September of 2010.

This is why I came up with the idea of "Domino," and why I think the story is important.  Certainly we need to think globally about how to avoid having countries go bankrupt, but we also need to think of the middle-aged family man (or woman) who has lost his/her job.

OUR NEXT BLOG will give some thanks to some of those who have helped us.

The crisis, or, Why "Domino: caught in the crisis," part 1

But let's back up a little, and let me explain how the crisis looks in Spain.  This is the situation in which our hero Luis finds himself in "Domino:  caught in the crisis."

I assume that we all read about the drama of the Obama administration and Congress "working together" to raise the debt ceiling for the United States from the low, low level of something over $14 trillion to--MORE than $14 trillion, a cliff-hanger that has led to the downgrading of the dollar by S&P.

I assume most people are aware that the national debt of Greece is about 150% of that country´s GNP (gross national product), that Italy and Spain are having problems with THEIR national debt, and that all of this is making the world economy very unstable.

On the ground in southern Spain, in the city where I find myself (Jerez de la Frontera) and which is the location for "Domino," a recent newspaper had this to say about the local economy:

The two day old garbage strike, a product of the city´s failure to pay the garbage company, has ended because the city has now paid. It is, however, unclear if the city will have the money to pay NEXT month.  (Note that a few months ago, several city streets became very dark at night since the city wasn´t paying the lighting company.  That has been temporarily resolved.)  The city buses are about to go on strike because of the city's failure to pay them.  Etcetera.

Another factoid:  the city has a combined debt of over 6 million Euros for city services.

One of the  calls for a boycott of a private business.

Two major employers in the city are on the verge of closing their doors. Lots of smaller shops have already closed or are closing.  Aside from strikes by city workers, private business cut-backs and closures have led also led to strikes and to  boycotts.

OUR NEXT BLOG WILL BE ABOUT THE "INDIGNADOS" and other matters, and end this theme.