By Edward Caffrey

The Miraculous Tale of the Children Dubois is about a young girl, Juliette, that has lost the magic of her childhood. When her twin brother, Nikolia, returns from the great beyond, he forces Juliette to make a choice between the practicality of normal life and the whimsy and enchantment of one’s imagination.

Q: In your film you use a variety of different techniques, for example stop-motion, and what looks like digital compositing or CGI. Was it a difficult process?

YES! It was difficult! BUT absolutely worth it! I had an incredible time learning all of the different ways to make magic real. I knew that I wanted most of the special effects to be representational but seem real, so stop motion was my first choice. However, not everything can be made out of paper, yarn and clay, so for the other effects I worked with a very talented special effects team in order to design a tangible magical world, so most of the CGI are composited pictures of real things.

Q: Your film has a very distinctive style. Was this influenced by any other films?

While I was writing the film I was very much influenced by a lot of films from the Czech republic, such as  Daisies by Vera Chytilova and Alice by Jan Svankmajer. However, ever since I was a child I have always know that I wanted to make films like Terry Gilliam.  Adventures of Baron Munchausen,  Time Bandits, and  Brazil constantly inspire me to be courageous and adventurous with my imagination and storytelling.


Q: Your characters live in their own magical world. Do you have your own magical world?

(hahah) Yes, it’s called Austin Texas, but seriously, yes, I would have to say my bedroom would be the most magical world I have built. From bright Christmas lights and map covered walls, to forts, musical instruments and Hawaiian printed curtains, I always try to surround myself with creatively stimulating objects/colors/ideas/etc. Inspiration is random but we are all inspired by our surroundings.

Q: Tell us a bit about the casting process. How did you choose/meet your actors and actresses?

Well, I pretty much wrote each leading role with each actor already in my mind, Alana Morshead was a dear friend I met in film school and Morgan Krantz is one of my oldest friends who had a big hand in helping me develop the story. Jeff Fahey was a great supporter of mine through this project and had agreed to be in it, so when writing the script everything just came together perfectly. Usually when casting I try to use people in my life, friends or colleagues, because I have found when there is an established relationship, there is a freer atmosphere on set. It’s very important to me that my set is safe and comfortable, a place where we can throw around ideas and have some fun whilst capturing the genuine nature of the human condition.

Q: Are you working on any new projects?

Currently I have been working on a screenplay, making music videos for local Austin musicians, making stopmotion short films, and what I am most excited about is a children’s story-book that I have been writing that will be turned into a screenplay in the near future.

“Ink” is a subversive and unsettling CU Student short directed by Nuno Neves . Who knew ink had such an organic, benign energy – able to create images that are hypnotic and frightening…

By Nick Forrester

Q: This short plays with the visual properties of ink. How did you go about filming the ink; the fast moving black compared to the blending colours?

The short was all filmed on a wood table I set up and lit, in my building ´s comunity garage. The ink was poured down a white piece of glass, shaped like a half moon. Because of this shape, the ink kept moving towards the center, slowly. The main concept of the movie is genesis and how it is always started by a conflict between opposing forces. I start with black and white because they are opposites, the absence of colour and all the colours mixed up.The pure white is static and the black contaminates it, starting the evolution.   It is similar to sperm and an egg, which are made of cells that can become any part of the human body (organs, skin, teeth, etc.) when they collapse. In the film the conflict between two forces creates all the other colours and shapes that follow it.

Q: What are the particular properties of ink that make it so appealing to you?

Every since I was a child, I recall having dreams in which a black spot on a white wall begins to grow, spreading in the form of tentacles, creating patterns and spirals, until it corrupted the whole wall. I never really thought much about what they meant, but they always freaked me out. So, when I decided to do an experimental work, I immediately knew I had to include that kind of aesthetics. First I thought about using effects, but then I experimented with ink for glass, which is thick and glows, and I loved it. I really like the way when you mix different colours of ink, they create random shapes which, depending on the person who sees it, can appear to be anything.

Q: At one point the yellow ink blends to look like a foetal scan. Is it dangerous to look for patterns in a changing, concealing substance, or is this the point?

Well, I wouldn ´t say it ´s dangerous, but I definitely wanted the patterns to be kind of hipnotic, to involve the spectator in the evolution of the substance, as it became more complex and organic. I tried to include shapes that, to me, look like a fetus, fractals and fungus, to enhance the feeling of organic growing. Sometimes people don ´t actually see the shapes, but feel there is something organic in the process.

Q: There seems to be a malign, extremely subversive energy which is at the heart of this short film. To what extent is the cutting apart of the squid a satisfactory, even enjoyable ending?

The whole ambient of the short is subversive, as I tried to make the spectator a little uncomfortable, not only by the images but also with the sound. Right before the cutting of the creature we see  a hand touching it in a caring way, this makes what comes after more perverse. The destruction of the creature closes the circle of creation, started with the first drop of black ink. More than a feeling of satisfaction, the idea was that the cutting of the creature served as a relief from the tension that builds up along the short film.

Q: Did you use a real squid?

Yes, a dead one. It was bought on the local market and then animated using our hands, in an old small aquarium.

Q: As a filmmaker, what did you want to make the viewer feel?

I wanted the viewer to experience the genesis of a life form, from its  basics, to its full shape and to its end. And I wanted it to be a malign, perverse experience.

Q: Tell me about your next project.

I’ve started directing music clips recently, having finished one last week and having two scheduled to be shot by in the next three weeks. Besides that, I’m finishing post-production of a friend’s project, it’s a medium length movie we’ve been working on for the last six months. It’s a story about how an unexplained disappearance [of a woman] affects the lives of the people that knew her.

Fabien Dubois gives us details about his film, recently chosen for the CU 2010 Official Selection. “High/Low” is a short film about two step-brothers living in Tokyo and experiencing the city in different ways: while one works on his decibel map project and thoroughly explores the city, the other abandons himself to a life of confusion and alcohol.

By Maria Gabriella Pezzo

Q: Why did you choose to film in a city? How does the city speak to you?

I fell in love with Tokyo the first time I went to Japan. This city is so fantastic, constantly in movement, day and night. With High/Low, I wanted to give this feeling I had during my first trip to Japan– we lock on to the things we know, while accepting the fact that we’re totally lost.

Q: Why did you choose to approach the topic of grieving in this particular way?

Obviously it’s very personal but these kind of stories move me. I love the treatment of melancholia moreover and I think it s feeling is very cinematographic.

Q: What were some of the difficulties you encountered while filming?

It s always a challenge to shoot a film in a big city so shooting a “short” in a big city far from home was really exciting.The shooting lasted a bit less than one week. We had to race against the clock. Most of the film takes place outside, because I always prefer natural-light. Luckily, I knew where I wanted to shoot.We had a big technical problem: the sensor of the camera was broken and some rushes were unusable. Fortunately (once again) some trademarks are very popular in this country, and the reparation took only a few hours and we were back on track.

Q: What role do you think travel plays in one s personal formation?

I’ve always felt the need to travel, to discover the world. The world is so vast. Today you can learn a lot of things through books, media, TV, internet. But to see things with one’s own eyes is the most rewarding.

Q: What does this film say about family values?

The relationship I chose to establish between the two-step brothers isn t so uncharacteristic. They’re like two friends, they used to know each other but they’ve got an overriding link, which governs both their lives.

Q: What inspires you?

A variety of things, movies, books, but if I had to choose only one it would be music. Music, it can carry tones of different feelings. We re surrounded by music that follows us through each important step of our lives.

Q: Did you intend for this film to feel like a travel journal?

Not completely, it s not about a journey, strictly speaking. It s a short moment extracted from the lives of the two characters when one of them becomes aware of his own pathetic being.

The younger one sums up their relationship. We follow his point of view, the analogy he makes between his silenced relationship with his brother and his sound-project.

Q: I found the choice of music very distinct. How did you choose it?

Since the beginning, I knew music would be an important part of this story.One of the main themes is of course the sound generated by the city and it’s reverberation on mankind.Contingent on sequences, I needed different types of music, some experimental material, when the younger brother’s on his decibel-quest, and some rock n’ roll to emphasize the impact of some scenes.

Director, Alice Mitterrand recently submitted her film, D’UNE VIE A L’AUTRE to the ECU 2010 Dramatic Short category. She discusses the joys and sorrows of motherhood as well as her own struggles as a filmmaker.

By Anna Takayama

Q: What is your film about?

The film is about motherhood, which is a very sensitive time in a woman’s life. Everything changes: one’s way of thinking, one s priorities, and one’s vision on life. In this story I want to show that when a woman becomes a mother, she can enjoy the most intense happiness as well as live the worst nightmare. Nothing is predictable. Suddenly, life appears so precious and so fragile at the same time. The fear one experiences in motherhood is often relentless, which is why I wanted to direct the film as a psychological thriller.

Q: Your film struck me as a deeply personal account of motherhood. How did you come up with the story?

A few years ago, I was horrified by a story I read in the paper: a woman had stolen a baby in a maternity hospital. I instantly began to imagine how the mother must have felt, the fear and the deep anguish. Then I forgot about it. And some months later, when I became a mother myself, this story came back to me very powerfully. I was ready to tell it in the most organic and instinctive way.

Q: Your film is made in a way that does not give the audience a straightforward plot. Why did you decide to tell your story this way?

I wish to invite the audience to follow a path that leads to a different way of seeing and feeling things. My purpose is to make the act of stealing a baby understandable. But at the same time, I wished to show devastating this was for the robbed mother. So this path has to be emotional, strange, and different. Besides, I don t like to give keys that would lead to an obvious and logical understanding. Mystery is a better guide. I like movies like Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko, Dark Water or The Others because you may feel lost and because you don t always understand what s going on, but at the same time, you are totally immersed in the story. When you are struck by a strong existential anguish, the way you think is simultaneously disconnected from reality and totally connected with your soul. I wanted the film to reflect the precise sensation that we experience once in a while, in exceptional moments.

Q: How did you meet Cécile de France and what was the casting process like?

I met Cécile de France in 1995 when we were studying drama and following acting classes together in a prestigious national school (ENSATT) in France. I was very sensitive to her acting style and her powerful instinct as an actress. I saw her in Electra by Sophocles and I remember how strong she was in a real drama. As I wrote the script, it was inspiring to think about her. I knew exactly how she could give life to the characters, and I was very excited by the idea of using her great talent in this drama. After she read the script and before the shooting, she had a baby. It was just ideal the subject was now totally obvious to her. She not only understood the story but felt it in the flesh. We were speaking the same language.

Q: Cécile de France plays the two main characters, Milla and the young mother. Why did you decide to have her play both characters?

The only way I could visually express the power of the bound that unites these two women was to put the same actress in both characters. Each woman is the reflection of the other one. Anything can happen any time. The despair of the first woman is going to affect the second one. And if their own destinies are at the opposite, the intensity of their feelings and hopes is exactly the same. Giving them identical faces indicates how fragile the line is, separating happiness and despair.

Q: How long did it take for you to complete the film?

The shooting itself took 4 days, but with the editing process and all the post-production I would say it took 2 months to complete the film, and that s without counting the writing period and finding the financing for the project. All in all I would say I worked about 2 years on it.

Q: Tell us a little about the soundtrack how did you choose your music?

Yan Volsy is the composer for the music. When he saw the first images of the film he suggested me three melodies. The first one was exactly what I had in mind. A bit electronic but very human and dream-like. It was somehow magical to hear something that was a perfect match with the images and the atmosphere I wanted to create.

Q: How were you able to gain sponsorship and support from many companies, including France 3?

Fighting again and again would be the most appropriate answer. The subject and the unusual way I wanted to film it were not always easy to defend. Many critics were attacking some aspect of the script, for example the fact that the same actress would act in both characters. But my conviction in my choices has supported me when I was confronted to other people s doubts. Finally the most understanding were 2 channels, 13eme rue and France 3, which were really interested in the project. I think that the curiosity of discovering Cécile de France in this kind of challenge was also a source of enthusiasm.

Q: Tell us about your next project.

It s a feature film titled Les pieds sur Marseille ( Feet on Marseille). The story is about a father who creates a wonderful lie to protect his son from the misfortune of his disease. The film will be produced by Bonne Pioche Productions.

Director Dean Bajramovic gives us an enticing sneak peak into his recent CU 2010 Non-European Dramatic Feature submission, GANGSTER EXCHANGE, a quirky and dynamic (and somewhat autobiographical) gangster comedy about a Japanese Yakuza member smuggling heroin and a toilet. Anna Takayama get’s the gritty details.

Q: What is your film about?

The film is an action comedy about a couple of gangsters, one Japanese, one American, who team up in New York City and steal a toilet made of heroin from their gangs. On a deeper level, it s about manhood and growing up. Marco (the giant muscle-mountain American thug) wants to graduate from his physical job as a simple enforcer, rise up the ranks and start using his mind for a change. But of course if he wants power he has to take it from his boss. Hiro (the Japanese Yakuza mobster) is looking for love. I always admired the work of directors like Hawks, Ford and Carpenter who made films that were easy to digest on a surface level, but also had many layers of subtext available if you wanted to dig deeper into the symbolism and the characters.

Q: What was the source of inspiration for your story?

They always say write what you know, so this story is autobiographical, about my years spent smuggling heroin for the Yakuza. Just kidding. But I did live in Osaka, Japan for two years, teaching English, and am generally obsessed with the culture and films, particularly Japanese gangster films. Then there are the Bosnians in New York City. My family is Bosnian, though I was born in Canada and now live in Toronto. There is also a lot of chemistry in the film, which I studied in University.

Q: How did you come up with the setting of using a toilet to smuggle drugs?

I read a magazine article years ago about how the Columbian cartels were smuggling cocaine encased in ceramics. The cops busted a warehouse full of bathtubs, sinks, etc all made from cocaine. I switched it from cocaine to heroin because it seemed more likely that the Japanese mob would be sending heroin from Asia to the USA, as a stop over from Afghanistan. Heroin is also viewed as darker and more exploitative than cocaine. And I wanted the characters to be our heros but to have a dark side, morally. The toilet was an obvious choice, both for humor and for the symbolism of the nastiness of the drug.

Q: You have a very international cast. How did you choose/meet your actors and actresses?

Toronto is probably the most international city in the world, and the acting community certainly reflects that. We never had a role that we couldn’t fill with a great actor, and choosing one out of the talents that we saw was hard. For the leads, Hiro-Marco and Dragan-Gogo, we auditioned the actors alone, then had a shortlist and auditioned them in pairs to see who fit better. I think the chemistry between two leads is very important in a buddy film like this. Also, it was very important for me that the Bosnians be real Bosnians and that the Japanese be real Japanese. It had to be authentic.

Q: What were some of the major difficulties that you encountered while shooting?

Most of the problems we had were basically about working on such a tight budget. But then, I’ve heard George Lucas and Michael Bay complain about their budgets, so I guess it s something all directors complain about. One major issue we had was the location changes. We shot sixteen locations in twenty days, which means we were packing up everything and moving almost every day. Each day in a new location means setting up the trucks, equipment, parking, finding bathrooms, running water for make up, etc. I figure we lost about 1-2 hours each time we had to go to a new location. On a twenty-day shoot that s a big percentage of our time.

Q: There are a lot of dynamic action sequences in your film. How long did your actors rehearse for these?

I have to thank our stunt coordinator (Chris Cordell) and our fight co-ordinator (Steve Park), they were both phenomenal. Safety was the most important thing and we rehearsed every action scene until they were both comfortable. The scene that took the longest was the fight between Marco, Hiro, Ozaki and the six bouncers. The six bouncers were seasoned stunt guys from Toronto and they rehearsed that scene with the actors for about four or five hours.

Q: Your film includes scenes from all over the world such as Tokyo and New York. How long did you spend in each of these locations?

The New York City footage we shot there when I went down for a weekend with the producer, Georges Henri Picaud. It was Halloween weekend in NYC and they have the best Halloween party I ve ever seen. They have a huge parade lasting about 5 or 6 hours, which made it into the film. The Tokyo footage was shot by Katsura Murata, a friend of mine from London Film School.

Q: Tell me about your next project.

I m still working on Gangster Exchange, doing the promotion right now. We’ve landed a theatrical release in the USA, which was great news. This is still taking up most of my time right now though I’ve found some time to get writing done on new projects. I’ve got three scripts in the works: a zombie script, a musical, and a Big Lebowski-style crime comedy. I ll also be shooting some music videos this year.

Director James Rumsey recently submitted his film, MILK MAN, to the ECU 2010 Fiction Short film category. Having recently won the Audience Choice Award at the Filmstock International Film Festival 2009 in the UK, Rumsey talks to us about milk, re-birth and the beauty of working on a tight budget.

By Anna Takayama

Q: What is your film about?

Milk Man is about the consequences of getting stuck in one view of yourself and of life and aims to suggest that another view, with other possibilities, can be taken if we choose it. The story is of a fearful and neurotic voyeur called Brian whose life is dominated by routine. The drink that forms an essential part of that routine is milk. He runs out of milk late [one] night and is compelled to return to the convenience store. His routine is in bits and worsens as a woman takes what Brian believes to be the last carton of milk.

Q: What was the source of inspiration for your story?

Brian’s story was born out of my own. My story is utterly unremarkable and much like countless others where dreams fade as the daily grind kicks in. It wasn’t a bad life and I didn’t mind the work, but I still lived life feeling it wasn’t all it could be, So I left my job, left London and went to film school in Vancouver. I came up with the first draft of Milk Man while I was in Vancouver as I reflected on my choice to leave my job, the great time I d had in Canada, and what awaited me back in the UK, no job, no money, but also no doubt that I was excited by the new challenge ahead.That’s what is at the heart of the initial idea: a realisation that life is often limited only by how you see it and the choices you make as a consequence.

Q: There is a definite shock value in the way your story unfolds but was this intended from the beginning?

Yes, the story evolved from those shock elements, as you call them. It was an integral part of what I was attempting with the structure of the narrative [it] is designed to reflect the existential theme and encourage the audience to think about assumptions that they might be making about the outcome of the film and perhaps about the way they view things generally.

Q: How would you define the genre of your film?

For me it s film noir. Some scenes, such as the lighting and design fit the noir cliché more than others, but the noir genre is more than a few visual clichés. In terms of a questionable hero at odds with his surroundings it is definitely a noir film with noir themes for me but one that has more in common with the reinvented noir of the 70s, movies like The Conversation, Taxi Driver, Junior Bonner and Five Easy Pieces. The protagonists in those movies either had a journey of self-rediscovery or perished in some way, unable to cope.

Q: The quirks of your main character are very particular how did you come up with this characterization?

Much of that was on the page but the translation of that into a living breathing reality owes much to Henry Everett. Henry is a very close friend that was always in my mind to play Brian. Somewhat poetically, he had quit his job to become an actor at the same time I quit mine to become a filmmaker. So Henry was on board very early. It gave us the luxury of time to discuss ideas for Brian as they occurred to us and it made a real difference. I also researched Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. Ultimately my research led me to realise that people with OCD have a more complex set of issues to overcome and deal with than Brian or I could hope to deal with within a 15 minute film. Hopefully, what we are left with is a neurotic and painfully ritualistic man, but not necessarily someone who is OCD.

Q: Why did you choose milk as one of your main character s obsession?

As the script developed and different elements came together, the milk came to symbolise a bunch of things. I found it evoked a sense of childlike innocence in Brian that I liked and that was sympathetic to the way in which Marina watches over him like a lost little boy. ..Milk also helps evoke a sense of a rebirth and the nurturing of a new life, reinforced by the encounter with the pregnant woman. But none of these are the reason why I initially chose milk. The reason was simply that I needed Brian to leave his flat for narrative reasons. I figured something as mundane as getting milk was as good as any other idea. The other connotations emerged and evolved after that. The fact that it is mundane sits perfectly with the themes of the film. Brian s life-altering event occurs doing something where he s been hundreds of times before, only this time, it’s different.

Q: What was the casting process like?

I loved it. Every actor that auditioned contributed to the evolution of Milk Man because they showed me stuff that I didn’t write, couldn’t write. I know that only once I’ve seen it in the hands of an actor will things really start to take shape. Brian was already cast of course but it was great to see Henry spar with the other actors and put to bed any doubts I may have had about his ability to bring Brian to life. For Marina I was pretty sure I’d found someone who gave me just what I needed, and it was Delia Remy who thankfully I had the sense to cast in the end

Q: Tell us a little about the soundtrack how did you choose your music?

It was obvious from the edit process that Milk Man was a more subtle film than I had appreciated when I wrote it and finding the right timbre and balance in the music proved that again. Gerald Clark (my composer) and I decided from an early stage that we wanted to use saxophone. It suited the genre and setting, the loneliness of Brian and the element of intrigue we wanted to evoke. Pretty good going for just one instrument!

I had a clear source of inspiration in Bernard Hermann s theme from Taxi Driver and Gerald drew inspiration from Vangelis Love Theme from Bladerunner. The rest of the music was arrived at a lot more organically. On the other three projects the music fell into place with very little trouble, but that wasn t the case on Milk Man. I have to credit Gerald for hanging in there while I struggled to either be satisfied or to articulate what I wanted. The recorded music tracks were equally tricky to arrive at. To a large extent the tracks chosen were chosen because we didn’t have the money to pay for any music. Although the music chosen was chosen because of financial constraint I love it and I m glad we had those constraints. The vintage sounds add strangeness and character to the film. It was damn hard work to find the music that was out of copyright, but well worth the effort!

Q: Were there any difficulties that you encountered?

Sure. I’d been an Assistant Director until Milk Man and so although I was very familiar with life on set, it was still a massive learning curve for me, especially post production. Probably the hardest thing for me was working on my own as writer, producer and director. I m actively seeking above-the-line collaborators now so if there s any writer s or producer s out there looking for a director to collaborate with, give me a shout at james@rumjamfilms.com.

In general, the difficulties that were encountered end up being stories of triumph over adversity.

It wasn’t straightforward to find a convenience store that would let us loose in their business over night. When we found one, like all convenience stores, it was located in a residential area. We had a generator to power some of the lights and could only afford a noisy one. So the challenge was how to avoid waking the neighbourhood and risk being shut down. Luckily, I found solace in a kind-hearted local businessman who had a forecourt and workshop by a busy roundabout about 150 yards from the shop. His generosity staggered me. Not only did he let us park our generator there, he also allowed us to stage make-up and wardrobe at his workshop and even bought us all curry as it was his 50th birthday on the night of the shoot.

Q: Where was the location of your film?

Milk Man was shot in North London. My flat in East Finchley was Brian s flat. Marina s flat was my neighbour’s. The convenience store location is about a mile down the road from my flat on the border between Highgate and East Finchley. In a film that is about a man that does all he can NOT to connect with his neighbours, going out into my local community and finding such generosity and warmth was one of the most rewarding parts of filming the local paper even did a report from the set, and it’s the edition that Marina is holding in the final scene.

Q: Tell us about your next project.

Festivals! I m a one-man-band and that s taken a lot of time since finishing [post-production] in May 2009. I completed a two-minute short in June 2009 for the Virgin Media Shorts competition called The Proposal. Delia and Henry turn up again as very different characters in a very different film to Milk Man. It’s a cheeky comedy invented so that the Milk Man team could collaborate for another project, quickly and inexpensively. I’m currently developing several projects side-by-side with different collaborators in the hope that at least one of them will find backing. There’s a short form opera set round a craps table; a supernatural black comedy featuring a goat and a gangster; a mock-reality TV show, a psycho-thriller about a questionable paparazzi photographer, and a comedy based on the mythology of the jin or genie as popularised by Aladdin. The recurring theme of all the ideas is the existential question of responsibility in relationship to the debate around freewill versus determinism. In other words, choice.

“Recto Recto Gancho”, directed by Santiago Maza, is a recent submission the European Independent Film Festival’s Student Film category. check out this teaser!

Having recently won Best Art Film at the Monaco International Film Festival, we asked director Carmen Rozestraten to elaborate on the inspiration behind her submission to CU 2010′s European Experimental film category, AFTER THE WATER THE CLOUDS.

By Lindsay Mayer

Q: I love the opening shot in this film. How did you get the idea for it?

The opening shot? The original title was Dreams Of Sleepy Feet. I love water. I also love feet. I tried to use the feet to meet and *feel* the different characters. The dance in the fountain became problematic because there was a drought in Barcelona so they turned off the fountains one by one. In the end we only had 2 hours to do the fountain dance. If we had had more time I probably would have elaborated a little on the underwater shot.

Q: What was the source of inspiration for the storyline?

A friend of mine claims it is autobiographical. Maybe he is right. A dancer meets interesting characters during her career then in the end takes off her shoes (quits dancing) and goes on with her life.

Q: Where was the film shot?

Barcelona. Location is very important for me and I spend a lot of time looking for the right ones. I tend to hang around the different locations for a while to feel the place. I did not think of Maureen (the dancer) opening the iron grit in front of the fountain to find the apple. One of the homeless used this place to store his foot ball and food. I just happened to see him do it.

Q: The dancer, where did you find her? Why the choice of contemporary dance vs. other styles?

Maureen is an amazing dancer. I had seen her on stage years ago and was dyyyyyyying to work with her. I feel incredibly lucky we finally could and I hope there is a lot more to come. All my characters are the most amazing wonderful and unusual artists and my friends. My cameraman, Enric Miro did an amazing job and for no pay. It was a very low budget film so he borrowed a camera for a bottle of cognac and a tripod for a bottle of wine. Also, when everything went wrong (the roses were being blown over by a hurricane, the taxi didn t show up when I had to take 4 huge balloons to the shoot and no [one] would take me, the guard at the library wanted to destroy the film material because we had been shooting illegally etc. etc.), he kept saying ‘No te preoccupas’ (Don’t worry!), a very good trait for a cameraman to have. The style of choreography? My choreographies tend to be more neo-classical leaning towards modern. This time I was solely inspired by Maureeen and the music and something very different came out.

Q: The color red appears often in the film. Is it as symbolic as much as it is visual?

The color red? I am not sure. A coincidence? At one point I tried red apples but I didn’t like the way they looked against the stone. The green ones worked better. I did imagine Maureen in a beautiful red dress though, am not sure why.

Q: This film is very tactile in that as I watched it, I couldn’t help but think about touch, feeling, and sensuality. Was this one of your goals for the audience?

Am glad you felt that way. This film was actually a kind of fore study for a docudrama I want to make about the children of Iran. I thought the children would enjoy playing with these kind of materials. Every character in the film identifies with an object and after Maureen runs into them, she absorbs their instinct, knowledge, feeling and continues her voyage.

Q: The music to this film is haunting yet whimsical. How did Antoni Marti come up with the soundtrack?

I had asked Toni (Marti) if he had some music I could use for a choreography I could not use it but I liked his music so much that I decided to make a film based on it. It became ["the red dress dance"] and set the tone for the whole film. We did have some trouble composing the rest so I ended up using some of his existing music. His music is wonderful and whimsical and sometimes reminds me a little of Nina Rota.

Q: Tell me about the meaning behind the title, After The Clouds ,The Water.

For me, after the water the clouds is an inspiring positive title. I think about clouds as the puffy white soft shapes that hang in the sky and look so inviting to disappear into at the end of the film Maureen floats off into the sky. My friend pointed out that clouds could have a negative connotation and it hadn’t occurred to me. It’s also a title of one of Magritte s paintings.

Q: Tell me a quote that has always inspired you.

I get more inspired by nature, life. Things that are happening in the street, people I meet, books.

Q. Tell me briefly about your film. Where did the idea come from to have a hit man finally outdone by his victim?

The hitman has no empathy for others. The only soft spot the hitman has, is losing money, which Tatyana realizes during the film. He destroys other people s life, so Tatyana fights back on that soft spot.

Q. The film has some fairly violent moments. Tell me a bit more about the scene where Jan is shot?

It was 3 separate shots:

1. The actor gets shot.
2. Theater-blood [is] thrown upon the wall from a small cup.
3. A hardball and pistol shoots small plastic-bullets, while the slade moves backward.

Then in editing those 3 shots and some fire was added [to] the barrel of the pistol. And finally I borrowed a pistol that fires blanks, and made some sound recordings of that gun.

Q. Tell me about the casting process. What was it like working with such a small cast?

I ve seen the actors in other short films, and thought they would fit perfectly. Even though the schedule was tight, we never felt we were behind time-schedule. All 3 actors were so well prepared, focused and ready.

Q. The action of the film spans real time. But how long did the filming process take?

1 day for light-setting, 2 days for filming

Q. The majority of the film takes place in one confined setting. Where was the location? How did you go about choosing the warehouse?

The warehouse is actually the studio on Media College Denmark (Medieskolerne i Viborg)
Because of the tight schedule, I chose a story where I used the same light-setting for the majority of the film. In addition I had some small lamps I could move around with, to [add] some extra light when necessary. I was originally thinking of another story, but that story would have needed several locations and light-settings. And with the tight schedule, it would have been too difficult.

Q. Is there significance in the fact that the woman succeeds in outdoing the hit man? Is this a message today for liberated women?!

I haven t thought of it in that way. I was thinking of a victim that happens to be on the wrong spot in the wrong time, with fatal consequences. But she manages to destroy the hitman’s day at least.

Q. What is your next project?

I would like to make a story, with an anti-hero who goes through a lot of struggles. But in the end, things work out for him. You know a happy ending.

Mirel Bran is an extremely well-regarded and experienced journalist. During his career, he has acted as Romanian correspondent for French paper Le Monde and French radio station Inter. His submission to ECU 2010 is Vanaturol de Securisti (Securitate Hunter), a documentary that follows Marius Oprea who, after growing up under the oppressive communist regime in Romania (1945-1989), is determined to bring those who committed war crimes to justice.

By Edward Caffrey
Translated by Lindsay Mayer, Eliza Gauthier

Q: What is your documentary about ?

After WWII, communism was installed in Romania by Soviet tanks. Some tens of thousands of Romanians went underground to organize an armed opposition against the new regime. This shadow army resisted ten years and then withdrew to the Carpates [a mountain range on the eastern side of Romania]. The Securitate, the political police of the regime, tracked them down and some 10,000 supporters were executed without a trial and thrown in mass graves scattered throughout Romania. Marius Oprea, nicknamed in Romania the Chasseur de la Securitate (Hunter of the Securitate) created in 2005 The Institute of Investigation of the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romaniaafter the model of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Washington. The hunt for the Nazis inspired the hunt for the Securitate. Marius Oprea and his team of archeologists criss-crossed Romania to exhume the follower s belongings and to return them to their children and grandchildren. At the beginning of filming I thought I was telling a tragic story. The story is indeed tragic but what is most notable to me is the coping of the descendants of the victims who recuperated their belongings to bury them with a mass service. This film is the story of re-found peace and a mourning that took place 60 years later.

Q: How did you find out about Marius Oprea?

My journalistic work brought me to meet this man. I had told his story in the pages of the newspaper Le Monde and in a book published by Cygne (Paris) but I always had the feeling that it was an unaccomplished mission. The visual potential of this history was enormous and I came some years later with the idea in mind to make a documentary. It became a bit of an obsession.

Q: Why did you decide to make a documentary about his work?

I was 25 years old when the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu fell. I grew up under the terror of The Securitate. When the regime fell, I felt an enormous void in my life. I had bad luck finding the link between my life under the dictatorship and my life after. For twenty years I had been marked by this void. (I hope) the film about The Securitate Hunter allows me to reconcile with the past. I had already made films with French production companies but this time, I wanted to make a film without the usual constraints the television chains impose. I decided that my French production company would finance this project to allow me total liberty. And I don t regret it. Obviously, you can t be crazy all the time, but from time to time it feels good.

Q: Who were the Securitate?

The Securitate is still present not only in the imagination of Romanians but also in the economy and Romanian politics. The old torturers converted to business, others to key positions in political parties and the administration. Romania has never had the political will to free itself (from this). The disorderly transition to democracy divided the country between a rich minority who had connections in the world with la police politique (political police), and the poor masses who get by today with an average salary of 350 euros in the European Union.

Q: The documentary suggests that members of the Securitate, who perpetrated these crimes, still have significant political power in Romania. Do you believe that in making this documentary you have put pressure on these individuals?

This documentary will surely put the pressure on the former torturers of The Securitate. The Romanians think they know what happened. Myself, I was persuaded. But in making the film I discovered that I didn’t know as much as I thought. I was amazed by the reaction of young Romanians who had known communism directly and who previewed the film. They wish today that justice be made they re more radical than their parents. It’s logical because they don t have a direct connection with the dictatorship. They do not have the feeling of collective guilt still present in their parents generation. It’s the new generation who will be capable of putting pressure on the judicial system to settle the problem. But these youth will not do anything if the true story of their country isn’t told to them. It’s what the documentary La Chasseur de la Securitate intends to do. People often tell me that it s necessary to film the pages of the past. I am the first to do it on the condition that people know what is written on this page.

Q: Do you think that international awareness of these atrocities will put greater pressure on Romanian politicians to prosecute perpetrators of war-crimes in Romania?

International pressure can play a very important role. Look at the surveys and you notice that the majority of Romanians are more confident in the European Commission and other international organizations than their own political parties. They are persuaded only exterior pressure is capable of putting their country back on track. Remember what happened with the Holocaust: It took a generation to realize the scope of the crime against humanity. For the victims of communist dictatorships it will be the same. It’s today, a generation after the fall of these regimes, that one can finally start shedding light on the past. The former torturers were cleared until now because the prosecutors considered that their crimes were ordinary crimes that were dictated. It only takes a single procurer to have the courage to see these atrocities as unforgivable crimes against humanity. When that happens, you can start talking about a Nurenberg for (Romania). I hope that we will be able to put a sufficient amount of pressure to create judicial precedent.

Q: Are you working on a new project?

My next documentary is connected to « Chasseur de la Securitate ». In 2010 I will continue the second part of the story. In the spring, Marius Oprea and his team of archaeologists will resume their work of to find the (bodies of the supporters). This time he will be accompanied by American volunteers impassioned by history and archaeology. This allows me to have a different angle on the story. 10,000 followers executed by the Securitate went underground with the conviction that the Americans would come to relieve Romania of the Soviet clutch. But the Americans did not come. What s ironic is that they arrive 60 years later to exhume their posessions. And there you go, another film.

“Last Supper for Malthus”, directed by Klaus Pas, is competing in ECU 2010′s European Documentary Feature category. Check out this teaser!

TURNSTUNDE, from director Hannes Rall, a recent submission to the ECU 2010 Animation category, is about the adventures of a young boy and his unusual nightmare: the gym lesson! Anna Takayama finds out what inspired the director, and more.

Q: What is your film about?

A chubby little boy is faced with the the recurring traumatic experience of attending a gym lesson. He is confronted by his evil and slightly sadistic sports teacher. A deeply melancholic and sad autobiographical re-telling of some of the darkest moments in my life. Did I mention that it is a funny cartoon?

Q: What was the source of inspiration for your story?

Well, my own experiences as the bespectacled overweight nerd in class might have played into that.

Q: How did you come up with your characters?

Drawing some inspiration from real life characters, throwing a good measure of cartoon exaggeration into the mix et voila! The best friend of the little hero is modeled on a real person as well especially his prominent front teeth. The character design was also influenced by my admiration for the wonderfully artistic films of the famous UPA animation studio from the 50s.

Q: Can you name a few favorite comics and cartoons that you grew up with?

The list is so long that it is actually hard to pick some favorites, but here they are: Tintin by Herge, Prince Valiant by Hal Foster (the fulfillment of my dreams to become a knight in shining armor), crazy Warner Brother cartoons with Coyote and Roadrunner, Tom and Jerry, all things Tex Avery, the Disney Jungle Book, Spirou et Fantasio (preferably by Franquin) the list could go on forever!

Q: Tell me about your next project?

I am currently directing a 25 minute adaptation of the famous German fairy tale The Cold Heart as an animated short film. It is a wonderful story set in the mythical black forest in the 19th century: A young coal miner trades his warm heart for a cold stone to an evil spirit to become rich. We have already completed 60% of the animation and are hoping to have this new movie ready for release in January 2011.

FOUR ROSES, a recent submission to the ECU 2010 European Dramatic Feature category, explores themes of isolation, love, and being. Director Kris De Meester talks to Anna Takayama about the charm of police sirens, the color of black and white, and flying hippos in France.

Q: What is your film about?

Four Roses is about everything and nothing, the unbearable lightness of being and the eternal sense of every passing minute. As Henry David Thoreau once wrote, As if you can kill time without injuring eternity, this film is about the fact that every passing moment affects your life s course. Some of the characters are in seek of love, others are just plain dead and living on auto-pilot. I see Four Roses as a tragic comedy. My goal for making Four Roses was to create a true distraction for people like me, the undistracted .

Q: What was the source of inspiration for your story?

My girl and I love to sleep in hotels. Not just when we re abroad, but also in our own country. Staying in a hotel is almost like being in another world, even if it is for just one night. I live in a rather quiet part of the city, but I like hearing and seeing city life, so I go to a hotel. I mean, waking up with the sound of a police siren. It doesn t get better than that.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the casting process. How did you choose/meet your actors and actresses?

My day-to-day job is being a casting director, so I already knew most of my actors from earlier castings or shoots. I also love to take chances that makes life interesting, right? There was just one character which I found difficult and for which I organized a casting: the part of Lubke, a.k.a. the extremely beautiful naked girl. Her play needed to be very subtle, as real as possible, which is extremely difficult when you combine that with scenes in which the character always is naked or having sex. Mieke Daneels was perfect for the part. Besides being a wonderful actress she also has a killer body. She was 28 at the time and mother to three lovely kids, but she never looked older than 18. Truth is that I fell in love instantly. I had found the most beautiful woman on earth: the girl I always dreamed about, but never thought I would find. I never approached her during the production in any way but professionally. Months later, after the first test screening, we met each other again during an interview about the film. We went to see Inland Empire that same evening and stayed luckily confused ever since. Two years later, we re still a couple. How s that for a story.

Q: Why did you decide to shoot in black and white?

I love black and white. Because of the grey background of a hotel room, shooting in black and white was also the only way to give it all some color .

Q: Where was the location?

The story takes place in the outskirts of an industrial city. Besides using footage of New York, my main location was Antwerp, Belgium.

Q: There is a lot of nudity and open sexuality in the film. Were any of the actors or actresses hesitant? How did you as a director overcome this?

All of them were open to the idea of nudity. I also never made a big deal of the nudity in the script. Although, I must confess that most actors didn t get to see the script up front. I gave them an idea of what we were going to shoot, but handed the lines and all details of the script on the set. It gave it all a certain forced reality the thing I was looking for.

Q: Your film was officially selected at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival. How did this make you feel?

I couldn’t believe it. It was the first festival I had entered and not only did I get selected, I even won an award: Best Foreign Feature Drama. (Smiles) It s unreal. I was scheduled to go to Atlanta, but I got cold feet. I was convinced that no-one would show up at the screening or that people would walk out in the middle. I wouldn’t have been able to handle that. Looking back I m sorry that I didn t go, because not only did I miss my own world premiere, it turned out that Four Roses was one of the public s favorites.

Q: Tell me about your next project?
I m currently in post-production of my second feature. It s a project which Mieke and I have set up with the three kids, a real family project. We shot it in four days, this time in France. It s going to be a fairy tale about talking rabbits, invincible vampires, flying hippos and a woman getting over the suicide of her husband.

Jamil Dehlavi is an independent filmmaker of Pakistani and French origin. He studied film directing at Columbia University in New York and in 1975 he wrote, directed, and produced his first movie Towers of Silence. Since then Dehlavi films have released eight other movies, the latest being Godforsaken. Godforsaken is an intense thriller which follows a fallen angel who is forced to live with the consequences of allowing a child under his care to die for the good of the world.

Q: What inspired the film?

The film was inspired by a novella written by Yolaine Destremau, a friend of mine who is a French writer. As we developed the project, the screenplay evolved and the final result is quite different from the original work.

Q: The production values of the film are of a very high standard. Was it an expensive movie to make?

You should never ask a film producer what his film cost, he will always lie to you. However, I ll let you into a secret if you promise not to tell. My film was made on a microscopic budget. After all these years of filmmaking, I’ve learned to put whatever little available money there is on the big screen.

Q: There is obviously a strong religious presence in the film. Does it have a message?

The message is that there is a fine line between good and evil.

Q: The angel in your movie is pretty badass. Do you think angels are that tough?

The angel kills a little girl who is destined to cause the deaths of thousands and restores its soul to her mother in the body of another child. He believes that what he is doing is right. Does that exonerate him from guilt?

Q: Was it difficult finding a man beautiful enough to play an angel?

Casting for the part was not easy. I auditioned a number of actors until I met Nick Ashdon who I felt had the right aura to interpret the role.

Q: Are you working on any new projects at the moment?

Yes, I m starting a new film AN ATOM S WEIGHT. It’s the story of an Arab sheikh’s daughter who escapes an arranged marriage in Dubai to study medicine in London and the devastating repercussions on her family and friends.

By Lindsay Mayer

Q: Tell me about the storyline. How did you come up with the idea?

I went to Yazd city in Iran. I knew that there is a ceremony going on every year in one [of] the villages. Although, I went there to make a documentary about that ceremony for a TV programme, I suddenly saw that old man living in the ruined place, being isolated and living his solitude life. Then [it] suddenly was like snapping one s fingers and [I] thought that might actually be a good idea to film this old man. Because I thought his life should be so interesting to many people either living in Iran or abroad. I mean it should be even be more interesting to so many people living in Europe because of [the] completely different culture.

Q: The landscape is a big part in this film. Where does the film take place? Did you have any difficulties or trouble filming any places?

Well, I think I have [had to face] so many troubles. First of all, it was the people who lived [in] that place. I could hardly get their permission to make this film because they were all against it. And this was all because most of the people [in] that city are not educated enough to understand the content of the film. They have actually thought that I am making something against [their] religion. The other problem was that city is one of the warmest [cities] during the summer. The degree level of the weather was 46 centigrade. Very hot! So it was [quite] hard to work there for 20 days. And you know because I did not have much time to make this film I had to do the storyline in two days. Also the roads were so narrow hardly two people could walk and it was quiet hard to decide where to place the camera to get different shots and positions in [a] scene and I hardly and fortunately managed to do that.

Q: The processional trumpets halfway through the movie are awesome! Where was this filmed?

That’s the way the ceremony was. People were well prepared for that and I just filmed it from different positions.

Q: Which brings me to my next question: Sound plays a crucial part in this film, from the music to the sound effects. What were you guided by in choosing the music and amplifying certain sounds and not others?

This music also comes from the ceremony. That [is] how they play the trumpets and drum for this ceremony and I thought I should definitely use them in my film.

Q: Explain a little bit about the parade/procession that takes place at the end. It was provoking to see the men openly shedding tears. What footage was this from?

This ceremony is going on every year in Iran. Almost in every city of Iran. However, the Yazd and Qom city always had the best parade among the others. This ceremony is going on for the dreadful death of a holy man called Hossein that [took] place about 1500 years ago. And people are shedding [tears] because they believe someone like Jesus, innocent, has been killed by some tyrant and cruel people. And also it [has] to do with the culture as well. Iranian people are very emotional, very caring and if they see someone is upset about something and crying, helping them first to relax they will start to cry with them as well. So, I can say by seeing [these] scenes they can easily burst [into] tears. This ceremony is also [a] traditional event and many people made miracle plays from it, which are [quite] traditional.

Q: Ultimately, what message do you hope comes out of the film for audiences?

There are basically so many messages that audience can get from the film. One [of] the important messages was the love between that old man and the camel. A camel is given to him every year [a] few month before the ceremony to [be taken] care of and when the time of the ceremony arrives the camel [is] given to people to kill it. So the old man is quite upset because he is going to become alone and isolated again. And you know he was only sharing the love between a little girl from neighborhood and the camel and solitude, because they were the only things he had [in] his life. Therefore there are so many things which this film contains: Love, solitude, culture, tradition, poverty, religious people, and also the accent that people from that city have is hardly understandable for an Iranian person who hasn’t been [living] there.