10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival –
Images of the 21st Century
March 7-16, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
MICHAEL NOER MASTERCLASS
The Masterclass given by Michael Noer took place on Thursday, March 14, in the Tonia Marketaki theater. The Danish director is the co-organizer of the Pitching Forum 2008, involving the 10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and The European Documentary Network (EDN).
The Masterclass opened with a segment from Noer’s film Vesterbro. He explained that: “My purpose was to present an emotional love story between two young people”. Noer combines scenes shot by himself with scenes shot by the two leading characters, by themselves, without a crew present, during very private moments. “One of the reasons I decided to make a film like this is that I felt my life was empty. So after many discussions with Julia, my neighbor and heroine of Vesterbro, who has a particular bond with her boyfriend, we both decided to make the film. My ambition was to make a more personal film. But this was difficult, because the leading characters didn’t always feel comfortable in front of the camera”, stressed Noer. He then revealed that he doesn’t use a script, apart from a sheet of paper with notes on it as to how each story should unfold. “The final result was a mosaic-portrait of the relationship between these two young people”, he said.
His idea of handing the camera over to his heroes led him to his next “experiment”, as he called it, the online series Doxwise, which is available My Space TV. This series is about the lives of 4 different young people. They themselves declared that they want to participate in this “experimental undertaking”, during which they themselves film their personal moments. “This is the reason I first have to gain their trust”, noted the director, and added that there is mutual respect, and before posting the material on the internet he always asks their opinion and their permission. There is a new 2.5 to 5 minute episode of each one of them posted every week.
“A new means of communication is created through the internet and MySpace, mainly because there is an interactive relationship, that is, someone can address these 4 heroes, and get an answer from them. This is the mutual influence and interaction that is offered by MySpace, and this is what makes it different from television. Also, directors are given the opportunity and the freedom to create using their own rules, away from time constraints for example, which are imposed by television”, Noer noted.
Answering a question from the audience about the financing of this undertaking, he stressed that expenses can be covered by including banners on his website. The website however, is completely free.
