JUST TALKING 16/11
Vladimir Perisic (Ordinary people), Pepe Diokno (Engkwentro),
Ralston Jover (Children Metal Divers), Esther Rots (Can Go Through Skin),
Dan Geesin (sound designer της ταινίας Can Go Through Skin)
The major issues of film financing amidst financial crisis, differences between amateur and professional actors, as well as shooting conditions were among the issues addressed by participants in the second “Just Talking” event, which took place on Monday, 16 November, at the Old Pump Station, coordinated by journalist Ms Elena Christopoulou, in the framework of 50th TIFF.
The event brings together professionals of the film industry, aiming at the fruitful exchange of views and experiences; participants were directors Vladimir Perisic (Ordinary people), Pepe Diokno (Engkwentro), Ralston Jover (Children Metal Divers), Esther Rots (Can Go Through Skin), as well as Can Go Through Skin sound designer, Dan Geesin.
Among the most interesting questions discussed were the difference between professional and amateur actors, a point aptly raised in the case of Filipino filmmakers Pepe Diokno and Ralston Jover. In the motion picture Engkwentro, showcased in the framework of the tribute to the New Philippine Cinema in the Independence Days section, 22-year-old director Pepe Diokno addresses a taboo subject for the Philippines, the so-called “death squads”. “Death squads” act independently as “avengers” with the unofficial consent of the government and are charged with many unsolved cases of young gangsters’ murders in the streets of Manilla. The director dared use teenage professional actors, thus breathing unaffected spontaneity and authentic realism into his film. On the other hand, scriptwriter Ralston Jover in his directorial debut titled Children Metal Divers, a feature film competing in the 50th TIFF International Competition section, opted for amateur –children- actors (partly as a means to cut down costs), so as to project on the big screen the harsh everyday life of children in slums. The director, however, admitted that at times he had to abandon the script and urge the children to act however they saw fit.
Serbian director Vladimir Perisic in Ordinary People, a feature film screened in the Balkan Survey section, follows the dark paths of his country’s civil war, “led” in his narrative structure by a troup of soldiers impersonated by actual actors and not real-life soldiers, as the young director himself pointed out. Next, Dutch director Esther Rots also relied on amateur actors in her feature film Can go through skin, the story of a woman undergoing a traumatic experience who attempts a fresh start in her life, only to gradually lose control.
During the talk, the issue of a film’s budget was also addressed. When the two Filipino directors mentioned their budgets (20,000 dollars for Pepe Diokno’s Engkwentro and 40,000 dollars for Ralston Jover’s Children Metal Divers, respectively), the discussion was further led to shooting conditions, too. Their European colleagues wondered at such low budgets, but the Filipino filmmakers explained that their accomplishment was either shooting their films very quickly – it took Ralston Jover a mere eleven days- or implementing cost-saving means - Pepe Diokno used DV cameras. At this point, Esther Rots underlined the difference between “hard money” and “solf money,” namely money borrowed by the filmmaker (even at interest) and non-refundable funds allotted by an organisation for the making of a film; this point highlighted another aspect in the discussion of young creators regarding the financial means required for filmmaking.
