JUST TALKING 20/3
“Just Talking” on Wednesday, March 20 focused on the relationship a filmmaker builds with his subjects. Participating directors were: Barbara Caspar (Who’s afraid of Kathy Acker), Marianna Economou (Bells, threads and miracles), Gilbert Ndahayo (Behind this convent), Apostolos Karakasis (National Garden), Dragan Nikolic (The Caviar Connection) and Kal Toure (Victims of our riches).
Barbara Caspar opened the conversation. Her documentary sketches out the multilevel portrait of the controversial American Writer Cathy Acker, using interviews and animation: “When I was younger I read a book by Cathy Acker which influenced my life greatly. So I thought it self evident that my first film would be about her”, the director stated and added: “At first I found it difficult to approach the people who had known Acker. Later, when they felt comfortable, they were much more honest with me”.
The central theme of Marianna Economou’s film Bells, threads and miracles is the relationship of man with religious faith, especially miracles. Two different religious worlds, Christian and Muslim meet at the Saint George monastery on Prince island outside of Istanbul. As the director noted, “the need for people to believe in miracles is universal and has nothing to do with religions and dogma”. In answer to a question as to whether the film maker interferes in the lives of his subjects, Marianna Economou noted: “It would be a lie to say that the lives of the people we film don’t change. They open up, share their thoughts and secrets, its not a simple thing”.
In Behind this convent the African director Gilbert Ndahayo speaks with victims and perpetrators of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda and meets with the person who murdered his father tete-a-tete: “I lost my whole family in the genocide, except for my brother. I wanted to make this documentary in order to face my demons”, Gilbert Ndahayo said and added: “Aside from the many technical difficulties we faced, I had to win the trust of the victims so they would talk to me. This took time and patience”.
“There is a jungle in the center of Athens, full of winding paths, hidden corners, secret spots, patrons and passers by and we almost never give it the attention it deserves”, noted Apostolos Karakasis about his film National Garden. “I tried to be as honest as possible with the people I approached. It was a kind of flirtation, I convinced them that I wouldn’t embarrass them and so I could film their personal moments, their conversations and their dreams and wishes”, the director stressed.
In The Caviar Connection, Dragan Nikolic speaks about the dreams of two brothers who are fishermen. “I need to speak a lot with the two brothers before I started shooting, so that they could open up to me. But as soon as we started, they forgot about the camera and their behavior was completely natural”, the director stressed.
In Victims Of Our Riches, Kal Toure tries to find the causes of the massive illegal immigration of Africans to Spain, after the tragic events in northern Morocco in September, 2005. Describing his approach to his subjects, Toure said: “It is like meeting someone for the first time. They way you talk to him, the first impression, your manner, all play a role and affect the final result. IN fiction films you can re-shoot a scene, but in a documentary you might not have a second chance”.
