myDylarama

Snapshots from Leeds International Film Festival 2021

Abla Kandalaft, Alma, Tom L.J. — 2021-11-21T20:57:27Z

Every year, the Leeds International Film Festival offers a carefully curated, diverse and exhaustive programme of feature films, retrospectives, shorts, music videos and more. Three members of the team were there. One of us was also part of the Jury for British and Yorkshire shorts! Here are some highlights away from the main feature competition programme.

Alien on Stage by Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer

A very amateur dramatics group of Dorset Bus Drivers spent a year creating a serious stage adaptation of the sci-fi, horror film, Alien. With wobbly sets, awkward acting and special effects requiring more luck than judgement.

The directors knew they had gold on their hands in the form of this hugely entertaining production. We as the viewers - and presumably as the audience of the actual live show - are never quite sure whether or not the cast and crew are in on the joke, which makes for some moments of awkward, guilt-ridden viewing, which mostly gives way to sheer enthusiasm and genuine big laughs. Kudos to the crew who in all earnestness put so much care and attention in recreating scenes from the film.

Music Video Awards

Here are our top 3 from the Leeds selection for you to enjoy!

Mary Ocher - For All We Know, directed by Yann Les Jours

Hak Baker - Irrelevant Elephant, directed by Jon E Price

Blake Mills - Money Is the One True God, directed by Lachlan Turczan

Blake Mills | Money Is The One True God from Lachlan Turczan on Vimeo.

Shorts and Animation

Aside from our delight at rewatching Joanna Quinn's Affairs of the Art, a Clermont favourite, our collective special mentions go to the mesmerising What Resonates in Silence directed by Marine Blin, the calming and soothing Pearl Diver by Norwegian film student Margrethe Danielsen, the funny, touching and well paced dark comedy An Irish Goodbye by Tom Berkeley and Ross White, short doc Hanging On by Alfie Barker, a glimpse at the human cost of gentrification and eviction, a creative, imaginative and personal take on much explored (but still relevant) issues in documentary.

We also liked Dan Thorburn's sombre, arresting and beautifully acted Salt Water Town and documentary maker Sema Basharan's The Branches are Hope; The Roots are Memory, an uplifting, poetic and very concrete look at the abstract concepts of peace and faith in the city of Bradford, also the well-deserved winner of the Yorkshire shorts competition. You can find Q&As with the latter two directors here and here.

We didn't have time to watch or cover everything, there were so many more gems to catch. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions you'd like to put to the Leeds team or the directors.

Winter Edition Line-Up!

Mydylarama team — 2021-01-22T16:34:46Z

The EFN short film festival winter edition is nearly upon us! Given the roaring success of the last few live-streamed events, the team is once more adopting their winning formula and showing carefully curated early shorts from first time and emerging directors. Once more, two prizes are up for grabs: the audience award and the critics' prize. Judges this time around are Mydy's Abla Kandalaft, Genesis Cinema's Christina Papasotiriou and Leeds International Festival's Molly Cowderoy.

Winners will have a lengthy in-depth video interview published on Mydy, a quickfire round interview published on partner website Film Fest Report and subscriptions to Shooting People, exposure and support from EFN's latest partners among other things.

Here are the shortlisted films!

1. HEADER by Mark Kuhlmann

When Lars (13) gets further and further behind in the initially still funny duel with his brother Kai (11) and thus also threatens to lose the love of his mother, he is faced with a decision: Will he fight against his unfairly playing brother or will he give up?

2. VINCENT BEFORE NOON by Guillaume Mainguet

A father pays his son a visit after years of conflict and turns up in the middle of his house move. The son Vincent reacts violently to that intrusion. Emotionally weakened, the father involuntarily reveals the true reason of his visit, which revives the tension between them. Within a few minutes, the anger, the memories and the crossed looks move the two men deeply.

3. @JESU_MUHNN by Jose M. Lucero, Coté Ramirez

A young man obsessed with a famous influencer takes over her identity.

NO TRAILER AVAILABLE!

4. ILL, ACTUALLY by Zoë Hunter Gordon

"ill, actually" is a short documentary exploring the challenges of being young and chronically ill in a carefully curated online culture.
A real life "superhero", a YouTuber and a camgirl explain why they choose to share -or hide- their chronic illnesses online.
Online you can be anyone: why be ill?

5. COPING by Vivien Forsans

A bunch of creatures are trying to relax after a long day of work.

NO TRAILER AVAILABLE!

6. NOT YOUR TROPICAL GIRL by Limuy Asien

An Indigenous girl responds to a racist callback.

7. FRIENDS ONLINE by Samantha White

'Stacey' an anxiety ridden, lonely, keyboard-warrior recluse hopelessly tries to convince his favourite young friend Ellie, that he too is a teenage girl, with the desperate hope that she'll send him the pictures he craves.

BOOK YOUR FREE PLACE HERE!

The live-stream will be on the event Facebook page.

Tommy Hodgson's Encounters TOP 5

Tommy Hodgson — 2020-10-01T19:16:18Z

Writer Tommy Hodgson offers his own top picks from this year's Encounters Short Film Festival.

Breadline (UK, director: Carol Salter): Breadline displays intimate footage of a food bank in a Northern town through the gaze of an elderly volunteer and, in doing so, serves as a damning indictment of the austerity state which the Conservative Party has manufactured and sustained within the UK. Carol Salter's short tale is a personal, and soul-searching look into the ordinary people who have chosen to help other ordinary people because their government has neglected them. Through basic conversations and mundane day-to-day tasks, Breadline is disarmingly successful in adding a layer of humanity to the political choices of this country. Understated and simplistic in its execution, Breadline gives a more realistic glimpse into modern Britain than a passive news report ever could.

Calvario (Spain, director: Lluís Margarit): From Spanish director Lluís Margarit comes a delightful gaze into insecurity and male fragility, specifically the perils of balding before one's time. As funny as it is tragic, the picture takes the toxicity of our self-image to hilarious extremes, within an easily digestible and relatable reality. Margarit's success lies with tapping into a male fear often assumed but not dwelt upon, and offering misdirects as to whether this supposed slight is real or imagined. Well-acted and not at all self-indulgent, Calvario is sure to produce a hearty laugh in its audience, regardless of their hairline.

Christy (Ireland, director: Brendan Canty): Christy is brilliant in its display of the often uncomplicated bonds of male friendship, and further how comradeship cuts deeper than job rejections and other setbacks in life. A fascinating depiction of life for the working-class youth in Ireland, it resonates with anyone who has ever been young and broke, faced with the anxiety of a job interview when you do not even know yourself yet. Director Brendan Canty's piece is ultimately positive in its message that there are rays of sunshine in friendship and petty revenge to counter the very adult drudgery and mundanity of a working life.

Christy (Short Film Trailer) from Brendan Canty on Vimeo.

Exam (Iran, director: Sonia K Hadad): When a teenage girl is pressured to deliver a package before school, her patience and limits are severely tested. An extremely tense and gripping short tale, Exam offers a simple premise but with unthinkable consequences. The build-up of tragedy is layered from the beginning, with intriguing use of over-lingering shots, often sticking closely and relentlessly to the back or front of the character's head to make the suspense more personal, and the fallout more dramatic. Touching on themes of authority, the black market and the perception of vices in Iran, Sonia K Hadad's refreshing direction and execution is simply masterful.

Soup (Russia, director: Inga Sukhordukova): Soup is a dark and dramatic piece, building layers of tension, guilt and the inability to articulate one's emotions into a tight eleven minute journey. The cost of success is apparent when a father and son are re-acquainted, and the unsaid strains on the relationship only infect the plot from there. Both actors successfully use subtle body language, micro gestures and erratic speech patterns to communicate the deep wounds of the relationship in question. It is fitting that the surroundings are sparse and empty, so only emotions cloud the set. Ultimately, Inga Sukhordukova's directorial debut is impressive in crafting a nuanced narrative - with overtones of political commentary about Russian family life and society, especially the state of LGBTQ rights in the country.

Check out more of Tommy's recent work: "Why Tearing Down Statues Is Tackling Britain's Racist History" & "Belarus' young photographers are capturing a country in flux".

Our Picks + Waves

Abla Kandalaft, Coco Green, Matt Howsam — 2020-09-13T08:40:40Z

This week we are joined by Matt Howsam, a production coordinator in the VFX industry and a film critic.

We mention the hilarious and highly original One Cut Of The Dead by Shin'ichirô Ueda, a Japanese Zombie comedy in the style of some of the best mockumentaries out there and a homage to low budget filmmaking. Depending on where you are you can watch it on Shudder or buy the DVD (it's from 2017). Abla also highlights the Netflix series Unwell, which looks at the dark side of the wellness industry and some of the products and concepts currently being flogged on the market through - yet again - more MLM initiatives.

For our festival picks, this week we recommend Visionmaker's Indigenous Filmmakers Festival, which runs from 31 August to 5 October, the Encounters Short Film Festival, one of the world's best short ff, which runs from 18 September to 11 October and is offering a £10 pass! A few films to highlight are Mahdi Fleifel's 3 Logical Exits, Clermont-Ferrand Grand Prize winner Anthony Nti's Da Yie and Morad Mostapha's Henet Ward.

Matt recommends Women Make Films, a 14-hour doc series, and the Japanese cinema season, both on BFI Player.

Matt chose to discuss Trey Edward Shults's Waves, a dizzying and theatrical film about a family dealing with the aftermath of a tragedy. We discuss the highly cinematic and aesthetic qualities of the film, the impact that has on the emotional punch of the story and the portrayal of the characters, and the somewhat problematic or baffling portrayal of family dynamics that are very personal to the (white) director through the prism of a black family.

First edition of the Independent Iraqi Film Festival

Abla Kandalaft — 2020-08-24T09:07:13Z

Oline and entirely free to watch, the Independent Iraqi Film Festival brings us features, shorts and discussions, shedding a spotlight on a thriving cinematic culture in the country and among the Iraqi diaspora.

IA: Israa Al-Kamali
AH: Ahmed Habib
RT: Roisin Tapponi
SD: Shahnaz Dulaimy

1. How did the team come together and initiate the idea for the festival?

IA: It started with a call from Ahmed Habib, one of the four people working on the festival, back in March. Ahmed and I got together and started throwing all kinds of big ideas with no experience in film curating or directing a festival, but our love for Iraq and films kept us going. Soon Shahnaz and Roisin joined the team, both have a lot of experience in the industry, from making films to curating them. I cannot think of a better team than this one, our drive to make this happen continues to inspire me. We all know how much Iraqi filmmakers and storytellers in general deserve more representation, we also know that there is a huge appetite for this among Iraqis back in the homeland and in the diaspora. We also know that if we can show the world what Iraqis can do with the support they can get, maybe more attention can be given to this currently struggling industry. Making this happen, especially now with the ongoing October Revolution, is so important to us. The revolution proved the resilience of Iraqis and the creative power people hold despite the realities they live in.

AH: For decades, Iraqis have watched their lives and deaths on full display in sounds and images beamed into their lives by filmmakers that couldn't even pronounce their names. However, over the last few years, a shift has been taking place, where more and more Iraqis both inside the country and in the diaspora, have started telling their story, our story. This festival is for them, so that they are empowered to tell more Iraqi stories.

2. How did you source the films? Did you put out a call for submissions? Go through your networks?

IA: We put out a call for submissions and we received over 80 films from emerging and established Iraqi filmmakers all over the world. This was mainly generated from social media and word of mouth. We wanted to create a balance between established filmmakers and emerging filmmakers in our programme to give the audience a holistic experience.

RT: The number of submissions we received is a testament to the power of the Iraqi community and diaspora. We all watched every single submission and then I curated our favourites into a programme, which was edited and then approved by the rest of the team. It was important for us to reflect the diversity of Iraqi filmmaking in our programme, from experimental to feminist to narrative feature films, we wanted to represent the multiple intersections working within our culturally rich film industry.

3. Can you tell us a bit more about the logistics behind streaming the films? Did you hit any hurdles?

SD: Technically, online screening has been almost effortless for us to host, and the global views have been outstanding. The biggest hurdle, however, has been the horrendous internet speed in Iraq, and it's a shame that Iraqis locally are having trouble streaming an Iraqi film festival made for them, by them. Many in Iraq have never seen an Iraqi production, either because these films have never been screened in cinemas there, or because they are owned by foreign distributors who have chosen to make the films available only upon purchase on platforms such as Amazon Prime, or iTunes among others, making them completely inaccessible to some, especially to audiences in Iraq. Our intention in hosting an online film festival is to extend our reach, make these films accessible without unjust geo-blocking, and spotlight Iraqi cinema on an international level.

4. What is your experience of the Iraqi film scene? What have you found the main hurdles to be for filmmakers? Are there common themes tackled by current films?

IA: The hurdles are a combination of things: lack of financial support, lack of security and safety, as well as poor production and post-production equipment. The Iraqi filmmaker faces obstacles on many levels from development, to production, to post production, to distributing, and making it to festival circuits. Making a film in Iraq especially is truly a constant battle. Regarding themes, many of the films we are screening in the festival deal with themes such as war, loss, identity, exile and displacement, and memory of a distant past. Yet, it is important to note that compared to films from other Arab countries such as Egypt and Syria, the Iraqi film industry is still shaping its identity due to years of war and destruction. Therefore, we hope that this festival becomes part of this rebuilding process.

5. Is it common or straightforward to secure co production deals with
foreign producers?

SD: It's never straightforward and there's always a lot of politics at play within the film industry. The biggest problem with securing European grants, is that they tend to favour working with their own crews whether in production or post-production, and this is because they usually follow schemes to support their local industry and to benefit from tax rebates. This takes away the opportunity from Iraqi professionals to work on productions even if they are about Iraq and filmed in Iraq. It's quite ironic in my opinion, and without a doubt unfair.

6. What are your hopes and ambitions for the festival? And for the film sector in the country?

SD: That Iraqi filmmakers are given a fair and equal chance in this industry. Iraqi films have been underrepresented on the international circuit thus far, and I hope to see that reversed in the very near future. By providing encouragement and support; Financially, creatively and technically, we can achieve it.

RT: We hope the festival introduces Iraqis worldwide to our incredible contemporary cinema. Our festival is not working on the extremely exclusive ‘premiere status' of competitive festivals. We want this to be extremely accessible, it is available to watch internationally for free with subtitles and there is no geo-blocking at play, an evil distribution-led practice dominating online distribution of new releases. We hope that our festival introduces people from all backgrounds to Iraqi cinema, not just those working at the ‘top' of the industry. That way, we are bringing Iraqi cinema to the people, and hopefully it will give Iraqis the chance to reconnect with and feel proud of their cultural heritage.

The festival is available online here from 21-28 August. Follow them @IIFF

Our Picks + Black Is King (Special Guest)

Abla Kandalaft, Coco Green, George Crosthwait — 2020-08-19T16:41:18Z

For this episode of Mydylarama's Top Picks podcast, we're joined by our guest, academic, film programmer and Japanese Avant-Garde and Experimental Film Festival producer George Crosthwait. George Crosthwait.

George's pick of the week, and also his first trip back to the cinema since February, is Shannon Murphy's debut film 'Babyteeth'. An Australian coming-of-age drama that both impressed and confused him due to it's tonal eccentricities.

Abla's picks of the week include Richard Pryor: Omit The Logic (2013), now available on Sky, a pretty engaging and informative documentary about the comedian's life, and a couple of festivals to look out for: the Cologne International Film Festival, whose first - and entertainingly eclectic - edition will run on 11-12 September 2020 across various venues in the city, and the London Kurdish Film Festival (15-24 August), offering a collection of 50 screenings carefully curated into various themes, all available ONLINE and for FREE!

George's choice for this episode take the podcast deep into the beehive for Beyoncé's ambitious new visual album 'Black is King'. A kaleidoscopic collage of symbolism, music and visual splendour, involving an impressive rollcall of African diasporic performers and artists, 'Black is King' is the first in a reported three picture deal between Beyoncé and Disney.

We discuss the film's aesthetic qualities and cultural merit, as well as its more problematic dimensions, its simplistic, potentially fetishistic depiction of a vague and all-encompassing "African" culture, its celebration of opulence and capitalist ambitions as a lever of Black empowerment, and the way it highlights a melancholic search for identity, roots and heritage among many African Americans. We mention a number of other films, namely The Burial Of Kojo, that you can watch on Netflix, the excellent Black Girl by Ousmane Sembene, freely available on YouTube!

As an aside, here is an article Abla mentions about Disney's dodgy credentials when it comes to matters of race and ethnicity - not to mention its history of plagiarism, sexism and dubious business practices.

A Dog Barking at the Moon - BFI Flare At Home

Tommy Hodgson — 2020-05-27T15:54:29Z

Tommy's review of the week is Xiang Zi's A Dog Barking at the Moon, streamed on BFI Player as part of the #FlareatHome film festival.

A Dog Barking at the Moon is a fittingly dramatic piece following the trials of a Chinese family as they deal with the revelation of repressed homosexuality within the family. Director Xiang Zi's semi-autobiographical feature brings the uncomfortable feelings and lingering resentments of each character to the fore through slow-paced shots, with long drawn-out scenes that intensify the gradual dig to uncover these long-buried secrets.

The saga is told through various points in time, dealing largely with the revelation that the character Li Jiumei's husband has secretly been living as a homosexual. This disruption provokes a range of responses from the family, with the style aptly showing how the secret has spanned across ages and circumstances. As we see in flash forwards, the couple chose to remain in a toxic marriage due to taboos about divorce and homosexuality - when their now-pregnant daughter visits from abroad, old tensions are brought back to the surface. The time jumps give emotional depth to the revelations and reactions from the characters, exploring themes of denial, anger and lost loves with honesty and clarity. The generational approaches to shame reveal a deeper pattern of unresolved issues that untangle but are left in the open, never to be fully or neatly concluded.

Naren Hua, who plays the pained matriarch Li Jiumei, deserves high praise for her portrayal of such an infuriating and tragic character - a reactionary, unsympathetic soul but a victim too of societal burdens and of her own pride in refusing divorce as an escape. As she is forced to face the reality of her husband's secret, she shifts the blame onto those around her and looks toward the paranormal, opting to join a religious cult to atone herself of this imagined sin.

Many of the characters seek ‘cures' in this fashion - external solutions to inward problems around homosexuality, desire and love; for instance a younger couple use a marriage of convenience to conceal both their sexual preferences and the decision to adopt. So much of the plot comes back to highlighting these specific aspects of both traditional and contemporary Chinese culture. The tensions often stem from the importance placed on perception of the family, with secrets or irregularities never to be spoken outside of the house for fear of judgement. As Li Juimei articulates with revealing insight into her character's mindset, ‘gossips can bury you alive'.

The direction uses a captivating theatrical style - even going so far as to represent a driving scene through chairs on an empty stage. As Xiang Zi elaborated in an interview for BFI Flare last month, a wholly realistic style was purposely not used to prevent the audience becoming ‘too close' to the characters; a sharp moment was needed every so often to bring the audience out of the story to reflect. Not being ‘trapped by the story' gives the viewer some much-needed emotional distance from the otherwise all-consuming and heart-wrenching tale. The cinematography focuses on delicate details of the sets, utilising long silences masterfully to draw attention to obsessive, repetitive actions such as preparing food. Incidentally, exploration of food culture in China is often a recurrence - deep, heavy conversations happen over meals but food also serves as a distraction from the penetration and pain of reality.

This personal and radical art piece is nothing short of cinematic excellence; one can only assume that speaking the language of the film would provide an even more profound understanding of the story than the translations can do justice. It is nominally about one family's journey - but gives greater context to China's interesting relationship towards homosexuality, pregnancy and the concept of marriage. From its inception, the piece draws you into this saga, approaching a heavy, soul-searching topic with nuance which details both the agency and pettiness of humanity. On a grander scale, A Dog Barking at the Moon illustrates what hiding the truth can do to foundational relationships, and the decisions we all make in either rising above societal pressures, or bowing to its will in potentially extreme and damaging ways.

ClermontFF2019 Lobo Mauro, director of Mais Triste que Chuva num Recreio de Colégio

Abla Kandalaft, Brasserie du Court team — 2019-03-01T11:54:37Z

Can you explain your choice of title? Is it a Brazilian saying?

It's not a Brazilian saying. There's a sentence in a book called Os Cus de Judas (“The Land at the End of the World”), by António Lobo Antunes, a Portuguese writer, which says “triste como a chuva num recreio de colégio” (“sad like rain during recess time” in English) that I really liked. I remembered this sentence when I started thinking about the film. I changed its intensity by adding “mais triste que” (“sadder than”), for I felt that this way it could better explain a feeling many Brazilians feel in this current time when hate is being stirred through a hybrid war that has been taking over since 2013. Today, Brazil is a success case in the financial markets that walk hand in hand with the Far-Right.

What links all the events covered in the film (the stadium, the football game, the coup etc.)?

The film makes narrative provocations with the intention of collecting comprehension clues for the current time in Brazil. To that intent, the film promotes clashes by mixing different spaces and historical periods: images of the renovation of the Maracanã Stadium in 2011; the narration of the biggest catastrophe in the history of Brazilian soccer during the 2014 World Cup, which took place in Brazil; the voting for the impeachment of the President Dilma Rousseff in 2016; the speech for the Labor Reform in 2017 by Michel Temer, who became the President of Brazil after the coup-impeachment. We used soccer as a common thread for the narrative, because it is one of the foundations that allow us to understand Brazil after the 20th century. In 2014, an idiom came about after the humiliating defeat suffered by the Brazilian national team. Whenever something bad happens to Brazil, we say “Another goal for Germany”. Some say that the defeat suffered by Brazil by 7 against 1 was a milestone in the purely emotional rivalry of the party-political discussions, when a conversation is replaced by name-calling and by the incorrect belief that anything that goes against the ideological bias is a lie or is wrong, as if it were a game that's played between soccer rivals in a hostile context.

How did you choose which speeches to play?

Choosing the speeches was the first hands-on stage of the film editing process. The voting session of president Dilma's impeachment in the Deputy's Chamber lasted over 9 hours. I decided not to listen to it fully, and did an initial screening using the Internet. Many of the speeches are comic, absurdly pathetic and extremely moralist. I was tempted to use them, but I chose the ones that represented the situation better, and also some of Rio de Janeiro's deputies' speeches, in order to link them to the images of the Maracanã Stadium, which is also in Rio de Janeiro. I also used the speech of the only female deputy – who was at the same time the only one who defended Dilma in the film – in order to represent another 7 X 1 defeat against a male deputy majority. As for the second part of the film, I listened to the entire transmission of the Brazil/Germany match. This transmission was made by the main television network of Brazil, which decades ago supported and grew because of a military coup which initiated a long and bloody dictatorial period in Brazil and which, once again, had a major role in another coup, with the fall of Dilma Rousseff and later imprisonment of Lula, stopping him from running in the presidential elections. Such elections were won by one of Rio de Janeiro's deputies, a former military man, which you can hear in the first segment of the film as he commended a former colonel who tortured Dilma Rousseff during the Military Dictatorship regime. The narrator in this transmission is the most popular narrator in Brazil and could be considered the best representative of Brazilian patriotism, of the “nation in soccer boots”, of the country where everything works out even when it loses a game. So, I created a conversation between this narration from the game and the draconian labor reform of the then President Michel Temer, the former vice-president of Dilma Rousseff, who helped coordinate the coup behind the scenes.

Can you tell us more about your choice of images?

I could say that the images are of a personal archive, because they were filmed between 2011 and 2014 for an unfinished project. The opening image, by the cinematographer John C.M., was what started everything for me; the idea of the whole narrative structure of the film, from choosing the narrations to the images. Because I had a lot of rough and diverse material, a kaleidoscope that pointed to different sides, I decided to concentrate the film's imagery around the renovation of the Maracanã Stadium, which, besides being the hardest ones to make, were also the most representative and aesthetically powerful for the idea of the film. To note that the renovation happened still during a Worker's Party (PT) Government, with Dilma as President, accelerating the developmental aspect of the PT government. For better or worse. From then on, first I edited the sound part of the narrative (votes of the Federal Deputies, narration of the match and the President's speech). Then, it was similar to editing a video clip, where these edited narrations work are the song, and the images, a puzzle in which the pieces could fit freely into each other. However, every choice of fit of these images would create changes that would at times be subtle, and at times radical, including causing snippets of the sound part to be changed. I experimented a lot. The movie is ready because at some point I gave up on it, I gave up on changing it once more. Otherwise, I could have still been playing with this image puzzle.

Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?
Yes. In two different spheres. Most of my audiovisual work is related to the Education and Cinema area. The short film format is a perfect fit for the classroom, and, in practical terms, the most producible format. It was when I was a film student in Universidade Federal Fluminense. A few years ago, I had the urge to make my own movies, with projects that I could afford, that I could produce almost by myself and during the time I had off work. The short film was almost a natural consequence, for it brought to me a great freedom of creation, but still inside the dome of the low budget, small team and little time logistic limitation. The exchange of ideas was intense, but in low quantity, in the few films I've made. Being a director, almost sole producer, writer, editor, sound editor of my own films gave me agility, as well as aesthetic limitations. It's a choice, however, of a strategy to make movies that are in context with myself. Being a filmmaker of gaps, if you wish. Being in constant movement is what matters. And making a short film is like writing a short story or a chronicle. It's film and literature, no matter the size. It's magical and powerful either way, and there's the bonus of making more works and, with that, most importantly, building bridges where one can meet the other. Here's a living proof: me writing, while you read, and we increase our possibilities of exchange. After all, why make films? Why are we alive after all?

Get in touch if you'd like more info about the film.

ClermontFF2019 Veljko Popovic, director of Biciklisti

Abla Kandalaft — 2019-02-17T09:31:06Z

Interview with Veljko Popovic, director of the beautiful, hypnotic and playful Biciklisti.

Can you tell us about cycling season? I'm assuming it's a real event!

The spirit of the local people in my hometown is entangled with sports. It can be football, it can be basketball, water polo or cycling. It does not matter, what matters is the iconic position of the sportsman as the alpha male in the pack. He is revered, lusted after and considered to be the best of man. He knows this and is puffed up and in love with himself. I wanted to play with this idea in a comical, satirical way.

The film is imbued with brightness and serenity thanks to the paintwork and colours. Tell us more about your animation style. Is there a particular reason you chose to give it a retro, 1920s feel?

The film is based on the paintings done by the local Split artist Vasko Lipovac. He was in love with the idea of the pre-war small Dalmatian city he knew in his childhood. This nostalgia of a simpler time is a common trait we had and I think most of my townspeople have as well.

What other subject matter would you like to explore using animation? Are you also interested in live action or other genres?

Animation for me connects my love for painting, drawing and art with my love of cinematography and storytelling. It allows me to explore fantastic worlds, explore my imagination and impregnate my idea through every aspect of the film with the use of visual and stylistic choices and depictions of the characters and the world they inhabit. As I cannot see how any other genre would be able to do this as well as animation I am not interested in moving away from animation.

Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?

Oh yes. The very nature of the short form is freedom. The short format allows for more exploration, more expression and it gives the author freedom to be bold and visionary. This is reflected both in the way the storyline and edit of the short film is constructed and in the way the author can approach the visual aspect of the film.

ClermontFF2019 Thomas Elley, director of Bølger [Open Spaces]

Abla Kandalaft — 2019-02-17T09:22:19Z

Interview with Thomas Elley, director of the cryptic and unsettling Bølger [Open Spaces] in the international competition.

I assume Open Spaces [the English title] refers to the filming location. Can you tell us a bit more about this place and its community?

Yes, it does. The fun thing is that the original title of the film is “Bølger” which is Danish for “waves”. And I hated that title in English, so I went on this big hunt for a new one. Finally, I settled on Open Spaces, which I felt could convey the idea of enormous sand banks and plains on the island, Rømø. The titles also counters the central theme of the film; the closed spaces that the characters are in. They have a secret that this very tightly knit community can't know. It's very claustrophobic, both visually in the scenes but also in the story – far from open spaces. Rømø is a curious story. Almost two million tourists go there every year but only around 600 people live there permanently. So it's like a ghost island during the off-season. The local school has closed so the demographics are shrinking. It's one of those places where nature dictates everything. The ebb and flow has controlled the island since it was first populated. The constant wind make it a very restless place.

Why did you choose to explore a relationship with an age gap unfolding in such a setting?

I think I've always been attracted to those small but tight communities. My mother is from the Faroe Islands which is like Rømø times a thousand. I grew up in a relatively small town. Something happens with these communities. When you know everyone, when everyone is like family, you can also become blind to people's weaknesses. Sometimes you look the other way and sometimes you sweep things under the carpet. It happens inside families and it happens inside these communities as well.

Can you tell us a bit more about the casting process?

Well, I had two people in mind for the main characters and those are the ones that we got for the film. Charlotte Munck, who plays Freja, is well known in Denmark. She was very popular in a cop show in Denmark some years ago and everyone knows her. She is tall and has some serious authority. She brings a larger-than-life, almost theatre-like presence. And few actors in Denmark are better with authentic dialogue and improvisation than her. Same goes for Oscar Dyekjær Giese, who plays Albert. Probably one of the biggest young talents in Denmark. He just has that natural approach to language. I loved that initially, but was astounded to find his nonverbal acting to be just as powerful. He doesn't talk a lot in this film, he lurks around in the background until he's suddenly launched, reluctantly, to the centre of the stage. He's also huge. It's like he's physically too big to fit in the house which I love.

What other subject matter are you keen to explore in the future?

I'm working on a film about will. Sounds extremely pretentious, but that's kind of all I know. It's going to be extremely bleak and even more rigorous than Open Spaces.

Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?

It makes the process more free than feature films, I think. At some point, you might have funding from a party that demands a financial return. When that happens you may have to alter the artistic vision of the crew. I dread the day when compromises are demanded – not suggested – from someone who isn't making the film. Short film remains both the arena of the experimentalist and the student.