JUST TALKING 17-3-2010
On Wednesday, March 17, 2010, at the Excelsior room of the Electra Palace Hotel, Just Talking explored the activist element in documentary filmmaking, the degree to which the filmmaker gets involved in events and his interactive relationship with his subject. The conversation was moderated by Toby Lee, and the participants were the directors: οι σκηνοθέτες Dirk Simon (When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun), Saki Mafundikwa (Shungu: The Resilience Of A People) and Kimon Tsakiris (Sugar Town – The Day After).
Kimon Tsakiris explained that Sugar Town – The Day After is not a sequel to Sugar Town – The Bridegrooms, which he directed three years ago. “It’s not a sequel in the sense that it doesn’t deal with the same subject. On the other hand, this is not a film about the fires and the destruction in the Peloponnese. I would say it’s more about democracy itself. I wanted to show the condition of the country through showing what happened in Zaharo. That is, that everything doesn’t start from “the top”, there is collective responsibility. My wish was to start at “the bottom” and gradually rise, since that’s the direction the government dysfunction follows, such as for example a small political favor, which we ourselves ask for”, noted the director. When asked about the familiarity he had with the area’s mayor and his experience in filming people who had lived through such a catastrophe, Kimon Tsakiris referred to the Greek idiosyncrasy. “When the situation is very tragic, it is typical of Greeks to have a sense of humor about it. I didn’t have any problem with the mayor of Zaharo, quite the opposite, he even gave me directing advice when he saw something differently…”. He also noted that this description of Greek society is very timely in this crisis we are going through, but he noted an important exception: “Every filmmaker wants his film to be timeless and universal, so this timeliness is not the goal. What interests the artist is to see something change after his work, to feel that he contributed a bit to solving the problem. In our case, from the moment the law stepped in to look into the illegal activities that took place in the area, we can see it as a positive development”.
Saki Mafundikwa’s motives for making Shungu: The Resilience Of A People were a little different. The film follows the lives of ordinary people living in Zimbabwe, while their country is suffering an economic meltdown and there is a serious political crisis. He explained: “The reason we made the film is because our country is being destroyed. When a friend of mine asked me ‘what are you doing when everything is being destroyed around you?’ I realized I had to react and tell this story through my camera. We never had a budget for the film and never got one. Basically all the expenses came out of our own pockets, or we found money due to the good will of the professionals we contacted, who were probably sorry for us. But this wasn’t important because we simply had to make the film. We knew we were living the end of an era”.
The director’s resolve was not shaken even when he approached president Mugabe’s opposition in order to get an interview and was refused. Mugabe, internationally known for the corruption and problems he has caused his country was one of the reasons for making the film. Finally Saki Mafundikwa decided to record the daily lives of the country’s people, whose lives drastically changed as a result of their opposition to the government. “In Zimbabwe you can only film a specific event, for which you must have permission. If, five minutes after shooting you dare take out the camera again, you are in danger of being arrested and immediately sent to jail. In contrast, things were different when it came to people talking to us. We explained to some of them that the film would not be screened in Zimbabwe, while others didn’t care if we filmed them. They told me ‘they have already killed us, what more can they do?’. But we tried to keep a balance in the documentary and not shed blame on any particular side. In any case, the truth is that I can leave at any time and go to the USA, but the consequences of the film would fall on those left behind”. He admitted that, in spite of the hardships, he made a film that he wanted to make and not something that western producers would expect. “Because there are certain cliches about African films, western producers expect certain things from African filmmakers. We didn’t fall in that trap. My wish is to be able to help filmmakers from Zimbabwe find their own way, even if I’m still searching for a way for my own film”, he concluded.
Dirk Simon spoke about the worldwide issue of Tibet’s independence, which is dealt with in his film When The Dragon Swallowed The Sun. He destroys the myth which sees China as totally responsible for the situation. The director was concerned with the issue for seven years and as he said at the Press Conference, he ended up with 800 hours of material. “I first started dealing with this issue 15 years ago, when I graduated film school. I already knew then that I would make this film at the first opportunity. Finally, I found myself in a story that was constantly evolving, just like the documentary’s subject. You know, it happens that when you get an answer to your question two-three other questions spring up. Finally, my goal was to show the struggle of today and the question about tomorrow in my film”.
The Tibetan people helped Dirk Simon a great deal, in spite of living in period of foment and great restrictions. “I felt their support and their appreciation. It was my privilege to spend so much time with them. In this time we developed relationships which allowed me to shoot exactly as I wanted, even though I didn’t get any permits from anyone. Of course, it was often necessary for me and my crew to disguise ourselves as tourists. In Tiananmen Square we had little Chinese flags on our cameras, or if anyone asked us about the film we said our subject was completely non-political. You know, we’re talking about a place that contains 50 ethnic groups, things are not simple. Everyone is repressed, even the Chinese who don’t agree with the regime”. As he admitted, the film has the power to annoy everybody. Does this fact make his effort activist? “When I was in East Germany I didn’t try to change anything, I didn’t even know if it was worth the effort. I don’t know if I can be considered an activist, but if my film inspires someone, I would be happy. The truth is though, that seeing the film it’s most probable that someone would feel useless”, the director concluded.
