PRESS CONFERENCE
PARTS OF A FAMILY /THE PUNK SYNDROME /
WHO WILL BE A GURKHA
On Wednesday, March 20, 2013 a Press Conference was held as part of the 15th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Present were directors Diego Gutierrez (Parts of a Family), J-P Passi (The Punk Syndrome, co-directed with Jukka Karkkainen) and Kesang Tseten (Who Will be a Gurkha).
Diego Gutierrez was the first to take the floor. His film, Parts of a Family, explores the relationship between his parents as a couple. “I suppose the fact that, besides being the director, I am also the son of the protagonists added something to the film, even if I don’t appear in it. Because I am the one presenting them, the mother-son and father-son relationships emerge, among other things”. How does the director approach his subjects? “I never do interviews, even if some conversations look like interviews. I want to provide the trigger. For example, in the film I wanted to speak with my mother about how she feels with the passing of the years and seeing herself change. I didn’t ask her how this affects her, I just showed her old photos of herself while we were talking and waited for her reactions. I use “human” techniques. I didn’t feel that my parents opened up during the film, but that I had a normal relationship with them and was just talking”, Mr. Gutierrez explained. Answering how his parents reacted upon seeing the documentary, he noted: “Both of them told me the film is very depressing, but it was important to be screened. My father told me: ‘The point where you talk about us is something that happens to a lot of people, in the houses next door, to your friends’. My mother commented that people have to see the film in order to see how one can ruin one’s life”.
Changing pace, the focus switched to the documentary The Punk Syndrome, which is about the Finnish punk group Pertti Kurikan Nimipaivat, whose members have learning difficulties. One of the two directors, J-P Passi, who was present at the press conference said: “Jukka Karkkainen and I directed the film. Jukka had seen the group after their second concert in a small spot on television. I believe that what drew us both to this specific group was the energy of its members”. J-P Passi added: “There is something truly positive about them. They fight, one of them has suicidal tendencies, there is a great deal of anger and sad moments, but what predominates is a positive attitude”. Referring to the process of filming the documentary, the director noted: “We followed the group for about 18 months. The approach was very easy and we began filming immediately. The next time we visited them after the first filming, they asked if the film was ready for them to see it”. Regarding the popularity the group is enjoying the director noted: “They are aware of their popularity, but since they live in institutions, with their parents or in special apartments, they have limited independence to enjoy this popularity».
Kesang Tseten’s film Who Wants to be a Gurkha takes us from Finland to Nepal. The subject is the Gurkha brigade, a unique British army unit in which the most combative young Nepalese soldiers are recruited. What was the filming process like for the director? “It was very easy, although we didn’t expect it to be. No one had asked for permission to shoot in the army camp where the selection of the Gurkhas took place before. However, they didn’t restrict us at all. When I screened the film in Katmandu, officers of the British embassy were present and I was afraid they might have had objections, but I was surprised by their positive reactions”, the director observed. Regarding the conflicting views of the Gurkhas, Mr. Tseten noted: “I don’t support any of the views. The reasons the Gurkhas exist are historical and complex. Nepalese intellectuals believe it is shameful to fight for a foreign army, but on the other hand the communities say that at some point the state sent them there and they don’t see a reason they should stop it. I didn’t want to look at wrong or right, I just wanted to show the physical process, the relationship of power between the colonialist and the colonized, in a sense”. He added: “The Gurkha selection process reminds one of a reality show, where they are given a chance to change their lives completely. The ones chosen go to the United Kingdom are paid as British soldiers and after four years are given British citizenship. It’s like winning a lottery. Instead of becoming lawyers or engineers, they build a good body and try to be selected. In a way it is a story of immigration”. Summing up, Mr. Tseten said: “The slogan is: ‘we chase the money’. Before, when many individuals were selected to the brigade, there possibly existed bribery and illegal activities. Now there are schools which train hundreds of people for the price of 20-30 thousand rupees, in order to be among the few 120-150 who will be selected”.
The films are part of the 15th TDF program, which is financed by the European Union’s Regional Development Fund for Central Macedonia, 2007-2013.
