Within the framework of the 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival's tribute to Storytelling, director, screenwriter and editor, Dora Masklavanou, delivered a masterclass on Monday, November 6th, at Pavlos Zannas theater, titled “Screenwriting: Unlimited Freedom, Unlimited Constraints”. The experienced filmmaker, who works in the fields of film and television, spoke to the audience about the beginning of her career and her journey in such a male-dominated environment. She also discussed the ways in which the screenwriter is required to identify and establish the constraints to adhere to in a competitive space, while keeping the vision of dramaturgy alive. As a screenwriter, Dora Masklavanou has created award-winning films (Tomorrow Is Another Day, Coming as a Friend, Unfair World, Polyxeni), as well as popular TV series (The Red River, Our Best Years, Postcards). The masterclass was moderated by the Festival's events and activities coordinator, Leda Galanou.
The event was prefaced by Panos Iosifelis, screenwriter and professor of scriptwriting at the School of Film of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. "Thessaloniki Film Festival and I have the great honor and joy to present Dora Masklavanou. I met Ms. Masklavanou as an actress. She is an excellent writer and director and has filmed three feature-length films in recent years - Tomorrow Is Another Day, Coming as a Friend and Polyxeni."
Then, Leda Galanou took the floor, starting her speech with a reference to Dora Masklavanou's dedication to cinema and to her love for the filmography of Takis Kanellopoulos, whose work is showcased as part of a major tribute hosted by this year’s Festival. On account of this, Dora Masklavanou launched the masterclass, stating "I was thinking about what interesting things one could say about the screenplay. Yesterday we saw Takis Kanellopoulos' Excursion, an excellent film, with a very contemporary model of storytelling, very advanced for its time and even for today. With absolute frugality, which is what I stand for, where every shot is both precious and necessary."
But why are people driven to write stories? "It's our innate need to tell and hear stories. In their everyday lives, people tell stories. Everyone wants to share things that impressed, excited, or scared them. The way people narrate something that has preoccupied them is cinematic; it has a cinematic flow. That is, people are narrating as if they are editing at the same time. They describe an atmosphere, whether it's day or night, they share what is behind, they describe a moment, a character, mention something else, create a background, and circle back. That's a cinematic flow. David Mamet, whom I love very much, says for example, that we desperately need to make sense of the world, that's the reason we write stories. Essentially, other people's stories move us. If we didn't bother with other people's stories, ours wouldn't make sense either. We are not alone; we share life with others. I am very preoccupied with other people's stories."
Dora Masklavanou said the following about her start in the field of cinema: "I went to drama school and started working as an actress. At some point, I felt the need to write, to create a female role that I would like to play myself. It's a little crazy, but that's the truth. I started in a time where male roles were the ones driving the movies. Of course, there were also very nice female roles, but they were merely accompanying or supportive. To be honest, I don't know if much has changed today. Therefore, I decided to write a female role exactly as the ones I wanted to portray myself."
Immediately afterwards, Dora Masklavanou described how, while writing the script for her first film, the role that was created escaped its narrow boundaries and took on a new form, ending up being played by a different actress. In response to a question from Leda Galanou, concerning the resources she had during her first writing attempt, the screenwriter noted that it was her personal experience she used as raw material for the script. She recounted how the transition from the short film she had made to the dual role of screenwriter and director in a feature film was not an easy task. The script, which centered on a woman and a young boy wandering around Athens in search of a new home, did not receive funding. "My attraction has always been the actors, the living substance of the thing. I thought of changing everything. I altered the script and chose an unorthodox writing. I created a set of guest roles, all of them very small, for a single shoot. That's how I found a group of important actors who illuminated the leading lady”
When asked by Leda Galanou about the elements a script must possess in order to seem appealing or true to the audience, Dora Masklavanou remarked that in our present and ever-changing era, the screenwriter must write stories that he himself believes in. "There are always the classic models that have worked for decades. But there are now so many freedoms and new ways of expression that anyone can give birth to a new model of screenwriting. In film you have to believe a lot in what you're doing, it's a one-way street. You have to be committed, to support what you are doing despite all its limitations. For every genre there are fans and fellow travelers. Even if you don't manage to find support from institutions, you have to keep doing what you want to do. You decide on your subject matter. In general, the circumstances are not easy. Every time you must start from scratch."
Right after, Leda Galanou asked the filmmaker if screenwriting can be considered as a form of political act, capable of influencing others. "The story is a choice, your own position and attitude about things," Dora Masklavanou replied; "Every film is political, even if it is indirect or underplayed. Every story holds a political stance. It is the writer who reveals himself through the story they write, determining first the genre and style of a film," the screenwriter clarified.
"The script is a tool, not a literary work. Therefore, it does not abide to the freedom literary works have", mentioned Dora Masklavanou, when asked by Leda Galanou about the creative freedom of the script in contrast to the freedom of literature. "The script is an inflexible goal; it has to be realized. So, you have to know how to go after it and where to take it. Through which competent bodies you will pursue a project It is a different art form to direct as a creator and another approach to write a script that will be submitted somewhere."
When asked about the differences between a script intended for a film and a script written either on commission or on the writer's initiative for the television audience (mini-series or multi-episode series), Dora Masklavanou stressed "The film script is your own inspiration. In Greece, this requires effort and time and is usually unpaid. Nobody commissions you to write a script, unless it's a commercial film," she said, explaining that cinema requires personal initiative. Television works mostly with commissions, said the screenwriter. "The aim of television by its very nature is entertainment. Therefore, it puts a lot of constraints on itself. On the other hand, it is a source of work, which nobody can disregard. Most screenwriters today have worked for television. I have worked for television in various circumstances, as well. In this field, you are assigned something that has been predetermined for specific reasons."
Regarding the screenwriter's imprint on the TV script, she added: "Television is harshly criticized by default. But when you're working in it, you have to look at how you're going to heal yourself from the start, it's neither smart nor useful to be critical. You have to weigh your position and find two or three things that concern you, a hero, a condition. There you cannot follow your own style nor your own stance. However, you have to find a way to add your own elements."
On the subject of how a literary work should be transferred to the small screen, Dora Masklavanou cited her personal experience of adapting two series for television, Charis Tsirkinidis's The Red River, directed by Manousos Manousakis, and Cartes Postales from Greece, a series of short stories by Victoria Hislop. "The way you handle a living author's material is difficult," the screenwriter admitted, explaining later that she had to make changes to the original material. "But the core stayed the same," she continued. "You just add what is necessary. In a book, you have to make changes. But that requires trust on both sides."
Regarding Leda Galanou's question about adapting a character from one story to another, Dora Masklavanou referred to her collaboration with Filippos Tsitos and how the idea for a loser police officer in a German crime film that was never realized transformed into the character played by Antonis Kafetzopoulos in Unfair World. It was based on the common love the two shared for the Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki."Different climate, different culture, different environment, different light, but it had the same core. He was also a failed cop trying to find his place. A failure, disconcerted, not knowing what he wanted from his life. It was the same story again, the same core."
On her experience in long-running TV series where cooperation with a team of screenwriters is required, Dora Masklavanou referred to the series Our Best Years, in which all the key aspects were already defined. "You could add your own touch to the little things. You didn't have to do anything else," the filmmaker commented. Then she added: "It's not an easy task to intrude on other people's work while simultaneously developing what already exists. I like dialogues, I have the ability to strengthen them, I like to add punchlines. You may not have to carry the weight of the plot, but you do have the weight of the words, of the style. Every series, in accordance with its genre, has its own style.”
Having had years of experience, Dora Masklavanou stated in relation to her own experiences in the field of television and to the people involved in the industry for years: "Television is like a psychological and psychiatric study for the audience. You realize you can write a script for cinema and a script for television and be targeting the same audience. Therefore you figure it's not necessarily for the viewer who gets dressed up, leaves his house, arrives at a theater and buys a ticket to see a film. When it comes to television, you are entering someone else's house. You enter that person's environment and that's something you have to respect to a certain extent. This results in a set of unwritten laws and rules in television. As a screenwriter you have to make sure that the audience doesn't forget the story. These are product models that have been researched."
Every aspiring screenwriter should know from the beginning where they are addressing and that what they write is achievable, according to Dora Masklavanou. "In Greece I learned through experience to charge for every page I write. It's valuable and useful," the screenwriter confessed. She noted: "It means that as a screenwriter you essentially become the primary organizer of the production. It's also a form of first-time direction, you enter production to support what you write. I have done a great deal in this field; I worked ten years with Mr. Tsiolis. A director with his own audience, idiosyncratic, who threw away anything superfluous. The screenplay was always a tool that he could modify at any moment with an admirable composure, adhering to the motto 'you can't throw away what life brings you'. I discovered how important this was from my very first film, back when I didn't even have the luxury of choosing the shooting locations. Under any circumstances and any budget, do not make compromises on the core of the story, your inspiration. I am naturally in favor of listening and seeing other people's stories. From there, you take things, 'steal' and find your own way."
