Archive for the 'Interviews' Category
OneWorld.net carries an interesting interview with John H. Biaggi, deputy director of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, who says that the recent boom in documentaries has caused a drop in quality.
“With so many human rights films being made, what I see is a lot of poorly produced and/or poorly conceived films. The actual percentage of each year’s films that are really good has not moved up at all. In fact, I might venture to say, it has gone down. Really strong documentaries take time and skill and tremendous effort and follow-through.”
“All of these are in shorter and shorter supply every year. The squeeze on funding sources, on people’s time and ability to tell these stories, and the frantic siren calls of festivals and television (with their deadlines and premiere demands) make it increasingly difficult for any aspiring filmmaker to actually allow the film to unfold in its true nature, in a proper length of time.”
Continue reading ‘More documentaries are made, but quality is dubious’
Last November, Clare Richards won the Grierson documentary award for her directorial debut “Disabled and Looking for Love” (the first ten minutes of which can be watched on Google video). Clare filmed four Briton’s with disabilities who spoke intimately of their lives while going through a unique journey to find a partner. The European Documentary Portal briefly spoke to the director about the film, and her life since the award.
Q: What suggestions would you have for filmmakers who want to work on the same subject matter?
The idea behind the film was that, even though it might be more difficult to find a relationship if you have a disability, to find a partner is a desire that everybody has regardless of whether you are disabled or not. It was important that the audience saw past the disability and saw them as people that they could relate to. So my only advice would be not to treat people with disabilities any differently than you would treat anybody else.
Continue reading ‘Clare Richards on making “Disabled and Looking for Love”’
Production is currently underway on a new documentary about the Dalai Lama. “Dalai Lama Renaissance” follows a group of 40 Western thinkers, including two quantum physicists, who travel to the Himalayan mountains to meet him.
Producer/ director Khashyar Darvich has spent 6 years working on the film, and even got Harrison Ford on board to narrate. The director says he has also assembled a world-class music soundtrack that includes original music from leading sitar player Roop Verma. The European Documentary Portal recently spoke to the American director about his experiences.
Q: How did you get started on the project?
Initially, my company (Wakan Films) funded the project alone. I found a professional crew (18 people) that was so interested in the subject matter and the opportunity to spend time with the Dalai Lama that they paid their own way to India. Once the footage was filmed, we received a non-profit grant as well as smaller individual donations. Co-Producer David Mueller, who had previous experience with fundraising, helped bring in some funding for the film during post-production. Many people volunteered their time on the film, or are working for deferred pay. The rest of the post-production I paid for myself because I believe that it is an important project that can positively impact audiences.
Continue reading ‘New Dalai Lama documentary in production’
This hypnotic documentary about the life of monks in the French Alps, who live under a vow of silence, is now out on DVD. Directed by German Philip Gröning, the film is a next-to-silent meditation on monastic life. No music (except for the chants), no interviews, and no commentaries.
It was after 19 years following his first encounter with the order’s leader that Gröning was granted permission to shoot the film. During the shoot, he locked himself up in the monastery for five months, immersing himself in the never-before-seen world of the Grande Chartreuse monastery. Before the documentary started making its way through the film festival circuit, Gröning arranged a screening for the monks. “They found a lot of humor in it,” he told Newsweek. The film took 700,000 euro to make, and received many awards, including the Special Jury Price at Sundance.
Click here for the production notes and a lengthy interview with the director.
Kim Longinotto’s highly acclaimed film “Sisters In Law” was shortlisted for Oscar consideration this year. Made in Cameroon, it follows two women, a judge and a state prosecutor, as they deal with cases of domestic violence, child abuse and divorce in a deeply traditional community. She gave this interview to the One World Festival in Prague in March 2006.
Q: Compared to some of your earlier films, the stories in Sisters In Law seem a lot more universal: they are situations which arise in every community…
Continue reading ‘Interview with Kim Longinotto’
