Images of the 21stCentury
March 14-23, 2014
PRESS CONFERENCE
APOLLONIAN STORY/THE DOG/ NO MAN’S LAND
On Thursday, March 20, 2014 a Press Conference was held in the context of the 16th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Present were directors Allison Berg (The Dog), Michael Graversen (No Man’s Land) and Dan Bronfeld and Ilan Moskovitch (Apollonian Story).
Allison Berg spoke first, about her documentary The Dog, which she co-directed with Frank Keraudren. The film follows the life of John Wojtowicz, who in 1972 tried to rob a bank to pay for the sex change operation of his lover. The story is already known through the fiction film Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino. "Both Frank and I liked this film. The information given at the end that the protagonist was sentenced to twenty years, made us curious to find him. In speaking with him, we realized that there were so many interesting things in his life apart from this robbery", said Ms Berg. Regarding the film’s development, she explained: "We started eleven years ago, believing that shooting would take a year, but the more we got to know John and his mother, the more involved we became in what happened to them. A real bond was created between us. We started to look back on the 60s and 70s, learning about the pop culture of the time, we had a treasure in our hands. Also the film was self-financed, so there was no reason to stop shooting." Ms Berg explained how the death of John influenced the documentary: "When John died in 2006, we struggled a lot and wondered if indeed we had a film in our hands, as we had spent most of the time with him without the camera running. Six months later his mother also died and we needed some time to recover. In 2008 we started filming other people as well, with whom we could never have spoken while John lived as he demanded our full attention. Moreover, we got the most amazing material barely a month before the world premiere of the film, so in the end, I do not think that time hurt our film." The director also talked of the surprises hidden in the story of John: "We had no idea about his involvement in the early movement for gay rights. I think that this aspect has a lot to teach the public. At that time perhaps he was not taken by the movement, but I think that now it looks as though he had been a man who was fighting for what made ??him happy. The perspective given by the distance of time is important. Although John was not an idol, we can learn something from this crazy, charismatic, selfish man who shamelessly said what he wanted."
Michael Graversen talked about his documentary No Man’s Land, which looks at the living conditions in a center for juvenile immigrants in Denmark. "I was concerned about the issue of child immigrants and refugees who move from, mainly, Afghanistan to Denmark. I wanted to make a film not about those who eventually manage to get asylum since their number is small. It is a difficult living environment. Half the boys in the film had already lived in the juvenile center for two years, in this absolutely unstable condition. They cannot do anything except wait for a decision, which goes through a long bureaucratic process. I wanted to do a portrait of the boys, the people who work at the center, their relationships and the prevailing atmosphere in general," said Mr. Graversen. Referring to the filming of the documentary, he explained "It was a long process. Because they were minors, the laws are very strict, like obtaining permission to film. When we finally obtained permission from the boys, the lawyers and the workers at the center, then I could start. However, the situation of my characters did not allow them to be able to commit towards me - one day they said ''yes'' and the other ''no''. Shooting lasted a total of eight months and the completion of the film took three more." Regarding the issue of trust between the director and his characters, the director commented: "Every boy had different expectations from me. Some believed that the film would help them get asylum, others had no idea about the political situation in Denmark and initially thought that I was something like a government spy. You need to devote time to build a relationship of trust. But I consciously did not want to go into depth in their personal stories, but to show how they live in the center of minors."
Dan Bronfeld and Ilan Moskovitch spoke about their acquaintance with the main character of their documentary Apollonian Story, who made ??his home in a cave, digging for forty years in a limestone cliff in a coastal area of ??Tel Aviv. Mr. Bronfeld said: "I met Nissim five years ago when I worked in the area as a photographer. Everyone knew of his home, but he had not given permission for anyone to visit. One day I asked him if I could photograph it for an exhibition, but he refused. I did not leave, but I suggested helping him as a laborer and he accepted. I lived with him for five months and then suggested to my co-director, Ilan Moskovitch, that we collaborate on this subject." Mr. Moskovitch added: "Dan showed me amazing photos of Nissim’s cave two years ago. When we went there and met him, I felt two things: on the one hand he is a very tough, obsessive, passionate and talented man and on the other a man who carries something dark and gloomy on his shoulders. This was the starting point in discovering who he really is." Talking about the subject of the film, Mr. Moskovitch said: "The story was an opportunity to talk about things that concern us all daily, such as the essence of people, self-expression and family. Furthermore, through Nissim and the film we could talk about chaos and definition. Chaos has a unique beauty, a dark, passionate side, but without definition and structure, the world cannot be understood." As for the dynamics of the relationship of the directors with their character, Mr. Bronfeld said: "There was absolute trust in my relationship with Nissim, and when I introduced Ilan to him, it was the same. When you enter his world you feel and you must enlist all your sensitivity to understand how he feels. Moreover, the typical encounter with his son, Moshe, is summarized in the following: Nissim says: ''Help me build and I will love you'', while his son replied: ''love me and I'll help you".
