JUST TALKING 18/3
On Wednesday, March 18, guests of “Just Talking”, the daily sidebar event of the 11th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, were the directors: James Chressanthis (No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos), Emel Celebi (Sisters of Lilith), Adam Schmedes (Chameleon Beach) and Jean Henri Meunier (Nothing To Lose). Just Talking is an event where industry professionals from all over the world have the chance to get to know each other and exchange their opinions and experiences.
For James Chressanthis, the process of making his film was the fulfillment of a dream. His film No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos follows the parallel careers of two eminent Hungarian directors of photography, Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond from 1956 to today. “Through interviews with directors and actors who had worked with Laszlo and Vilmos I had the pleasure of getting to know my artistic idols up close. There is no greater pleasure than that”, the director noted and added: “I studied with Laszlo – who is no longer with us – and apprenticed with Vilmos. These are two personalities who are larger than life, two heroes who never stopped being approachable people, warm and generous”.
The shooting process was full of great challenges, but also pleasant surprises for the director of Greek descent. “Given that we would have many film excerpts in the documentary, the original material had to be up to the same standard. So we needed top quality equipment. We received grants of 2 million dollars for equipment and technical processing. We were also very lucky in finding a financier, since we also needed cash in order to pay for copyrights in order to use the excerpts”, James Chressanthis stated, while also making a complaint: “The money given by American television for documentaries are scandalously little. And then the HBO network asked me if it would be possible to add more gossip about the stars Vilmos Zsigmond worked with! I mean really…”
The protagonists of Sisters of Lilith are also extraordinary: Three women, a shepherd, a farmer and a fisherwoman who have the strength of spirit to challenge themselves at jobs considered “masculine”. “The beauty of the film for me is equal to the knowledge it gave me. I learned a lot and became stronger seeing these women”, director Emel Celebi stated, admitting that there were problems during production: “Having had a bad previous experience with television crews, which had literally invaded her home, one of my leading characters asked for payment, refusing to talk to us otherwise. We were shocked because we weren’t expecting this. Fortunately, we were able to change her mind”, she explained and continued: “our budget was only 4.000 Euros, of which we only had 10% in advance, but in spite of this we began production normally”.
Adam Schmedes said: ”In what I do, everything springs from the beauty of nature, this is the foundation. If you can’t understand, respect and love the beauty of nature you can’t make a ‘green’ film”, he stressed. His docudrama Chameleon Beach studies the lives of two chameleons in a Greek lagoon, where these rare animals are facing natural threats, but also the dangers created by the human factor. As the director stated, Chameleon Beach cost 350.000 Euros. “Environmental films are very expensive because shooting lasts at least 3 years. For every 150 minutes of shooting there is 1 minute of usable material”, the Danish director commented and added: “I always make sure I have the entire amount needed before I start shooting. I travel from country to country, going to the television networks. This process could take up to two years. And the worst thing is that they treat you arrogantly, as if you were a beggar! I’m lucky that the Media program of the European Union exists”. He then spoke of his latest project: “For a year now I’ve been collecting money for a documentary on whales in the North Pole. The estimated cost is 1.2 million Euros and it will be difficult to raise, especially now with the economic crisis, but I’m not giving up”.
Jean Henri Meunier, in his film Nothing To Lose, deals with the homeless in the French city of Toulouse, who are fighting for better living conditions. “ I found beauty in the gaze of these people. Their smile was very moving. The greatest difficulty I faced concerned my personal life, after shooting was finished. I felt strange, after having spent 15-20 hours a day with them for a long time to return to my apartment and the comforts they didn’t have. These people are our ‘alarm clocks’”, he stressed. Speaking about his film’s financing, he said: “For the twenty years that I have been making films, I always ask for an advance, so that I can have the time and the freedom to work in the way I wish. Also, I avoid showing my work to the network ahead of time, so that there is no interference. About the cost, I believe that there is no revolution bigger than the digital camera, which has made production much cheaper”.
