Ivan Kander
Yes, we know…you’re tired of hearing about Donald Trump. So, is the rest of the world. But, what about his better half? Sweet Melania—the Slovenian model who was suddenly, and somewhat unwillingly, thrust into the national political spotlight. Director David Freid and MEL Films return with this idiosyncratic, entertaining portrait of our current First Lady’s home town of Sevnica, Slovenia, and more specifically, their desire to monetize the sudden attention they are receiving.
Along with CNN’s Great Big Story, MEL has become a reliable producer of interesting short form documentaries about headline-grabbing topics. We’ve featured a couple on the site and admired many more (seriously…there’s a lot of them…it’s hard to keep up). While this doc’s title makes you think politics, First Ladyland is more of an endearing portrait of a foreign country than some hard hitting expose. Freid bounces from quirky person to person—from shoe designer to young pranksters to—my personal favorite—balloon artisan. It’s essentially a travelogue, providing culture and texture to a country frequently confused with Slovakia. When it comes to tourism, Slovenia’s new philosophy seems to be: come for the Trump clickbait, stay for the people!
Like in his previous efforts, Freid has a good eye and ear for humor. The film isn’t necessarily making fun of its subjects, but it is framing them in a lovable, comical way. Their quaintness is the joke—a sort of Eastern European Waiting for Guffman. The way they smile with happiness at the thought of their small town becoming a mainstream tourist destination is sweet, yet, simultaneously, a little heartbreaking. Their hopes and aspirations are resting with a woman who doesn’t appear to want much to do with them, instead, holed up in her golden tower on Fifth Avenue. Even at 20 minutes, the film breezes by—Freid is a master of keeping an online viewer engaged, darting from subject to subject with an airy cinematic enthusiasm that has become representative of his style. From musical intermissions to soundtrack covers, First Ladyland is the closest thing to a “docu-musical” that I’ve ever seen.
Freid’s creation of the film was somewhat by happenstance. As he relates, “We were watching the U.S. Presidential election from a hotel bar in Slovakia when Trump won. We happened to be in town to film a grave digging competition. Something about the proximity to alcohol and open graves maybe. We had a rental car and a bunch of gear, so we drove to Slovenia to see what the local response was.”
Fried is hard at work on more documentary MEL content. He’s currently wrapping up post to an earlier film that we featured, High Chaparral—the fascinating story of Syrian refugees taking up solace in a Swedish Wild West Theme Park. Considering the current political climate, it’s a more topical than ever. We look forward to checking it out.