“I’m from Sweden, from the far ends of N. Europe and you’ve probably never had the chance to see my work, so I’m going to show you how I do it and how I see documentaries”. That’s how Stefan Jarl began his master class on Friday, March 19th with the Thessaloniki audience in the packed Stavros Tornes theatre of the Thessaloniki port, in the framework of the 6th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
The mostly young crowd fervently watched Jarl who spoke about cinema as well as the modern world we live in. He began his lecture by screening excerpts from one of his films from the 80’s about the efforts of a discus athlete to compete in the Los Angeles Olympic Games and how he managed to break world records after the committee turned him down. While showing the film’s opening scenes to the audience, he revealed cinema’s true weapon, which according to him, is editing. “When people hear ‘documentary’ they think of cinema verité. For some people documentaries are a depiction of the truth. However, this isn’t true because there’s always a director behind a documentary who conducts it. Cinema has an extremely important element which is absent from other arts, namely editing. You can combine video, audio and music. Everything you see is editing, there is no action, no interviews, just editing”.
Jarl continued, saying that every documentary director is obliged to open the audience’s mind, including himself. “Every director must try to change the world. When you have something to say to the world, you present it through your own eyes. God created the world but directors can change it”, which, according to Jarl, is the logic behind the Misfits trilogy. “The trilogy aims to put an end to passivity about drugs. During the making of the second film I lost 30 friends who died of drugs. And this is because you must befriend the people you work with. I practically lived with these people and we made this journey together”. “Members of the Social-Democratic party were present at the film’s premiere. Ulof Palme had also seen the film shortly before his death and he had been using it at his speeches. We were able to make the world see the problem with drugs at its base. Many people turned away from drugs. Of course, we weren’t able to stop the drug dealers but the myth behind drugs had started to dissolve. That’s how a film can change the world”.
Jarl also spoke about the differences between fiction films and documentaries, saying that documentaries must incorporate authentic moments. “Of course expressions are very important but it’s the authentic moments that count. For a documentary to be successful, the director must be part of it. From the minute you start to film other people, you become part of their lives. Other than that, the director conducts the audience with images and sounds in fiction films as well as in documentaries. Houston once said that with fiction films you have the script and then you start filming, whereas in documentaries you begin to film and then you come up with the script. Many of my films are created in the editing phase. Although I begin with a script, I end up changing it during the filming. It’s a good thing, though, to start off with a script”.
About his relationship with the people he works with, Jarl pointed out that he is always interested in their opinions as they always provide useful material for a film. He advised cinema students not to trust other directors’ opinions during their filmings but only the opinions of the people in the film. As for the themes of his films, Jarl said that resistance and opposition interest him the most. That’s why he never criticizes people in his films but tries to make their voices and opinions heard. Finally Jarl admitted his ‘jealousy’ of the younger generation and the opportunities that they have to voice their opinions by making films. As he said, all they need is a laptop and a digital camera. As a matter of fact, Jarl advised them to ignore producers and make their own films without restrictions, exactly the way they want.
