MANOS ZAKHARIAS MASTERCLASS
Manos Zakharias’ work focuses on man and his great dilemmas, moral or legal. The great Greek director spoke of these central themes of his films and his general approach to filmmaking during his masterclass on Friday November 21st.
“This one-to-one meeting stands as the climax of a retrospective that was for a long time owed by the Festival to Manos Zakharias and to the audience as well, as the sold out screenings of his films can attest”, said TIFF president Georges Corraface.
Film critic Yannis Bacoyannopoulos, the co-ordinator of the masterclass, described Manos Zakharias as a “complete and ideal man, whose principles have their roots in moral philosophy”.
“You cannot teach film direction, and for that reason I’m not going to present you with a lecture, but I’m going to share with you my thoughts on cinema”, said Manos Zakharias. “My professor Mikhail Romm told us during our first class that anyone, even someone with a basic education, can become a director. Indeed, someone who knows the filmic language can make movies, but in order for him to take his art further, he needs to have talent too. You can’t teach talent. It is nourished with work and experience but one cannot teach it. Directing film is ultimately your world view, the way you absorb the world around you, your moral values”.
According to Manos Zakharias, two are the main issues a filmmaker has to deal with: choice of theme and its depiction in images. “The issue is history, the future and moral values, and for these, film education is not enough. A director should be knowledgeable in science, psychology, the arts. The more one broadens one’s horizons, the more possibilities his choices have. How a theme will be delivered in images is determined by aesthetics, morality, and rhythm. Stanislawski used to say that a theatre director should dissolve himself within an actor. A film director should dissolve himself within the actor, the scriptwriter, the art director, the music composer. You need to have the gift to guide all these people according to your needs and goals”.
During the masterclass, the director screened clips from two of his films: A Member of the Firing Squad and The Town of First Love. A Member of the Firing Squad takes place during the Greek junta, where a soldier who had taken part in the execution of a political prisoner faces a moral dilemma. Manos Zakharias mentioned that, when the film was shot, during the period 1968-1969, he came up against censorship from the government.
The director received a lot of questions regarding the issue of film education. He commented by saying that if a film academy is not created soon enough the future looks bleak. “An education system might not have immediate results, but the more we keep delaying the worst it’s going to be. Young people should have strong education foundations”.
When asked why he has never made a film about the Greek civil war, he said: “The Greek civil war didn’t have international consequences, it was the first civil war after the 2nd World War, it was a class war. It’s a traumatic, harsh subject. I won’t hide that I’m afraid of it”.
