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| VIFF ’06 Interview – Border Post director Rajko Grlic |
Border Post playing at VIFF (www.viff.org) |
by Jason Whyte
“Speaking about not so distant past with no nostalgia and no hatred, Border Post is a comedy about people on the verge of tragedy.” Director Rajko Grlic, director of “Border Post” which screens at the 25th Vancouver International Film Festival (Sep. 28 – Oct. 13).
Is this your first film in the VIFF? Do you have any other festival experience? If you’re a festival veteran, let us know your favourite and least-favourite parts of the festival experience.
Yes, Border Post is my first film in the VIFF. At the same time I have some festival experience. My films have been shown in competition at many major film festivals as Cannes.
Could you give me a little look into your background (your own personal biography, if you will), and what led you to the desire to want to make film?
I was born in Zagreb , Croatia and I graduated a feature film directing from the FAMU ( Film Academy in Prague ) in the Czech Republic . As director I have ten theatrical feature films.
Growing up, you were no doubt asked the eternal question “When I grow up I want to be a …” Finish this sentence, please!
A soccer player.
While you were making the movie, were you thinking about the future release of the film, be it film festivals, paying customers, critical response, and so forth?
….to survive.
How did this project come to fruition? If you could, please provide me with a rundown, start to finish, from your involvement.
This is a three year long story. To long and to complicated.
What was the biggest challenge in the production of the movie, be it principal photography or post-production?
This film is the first regional co-production of all the countries of former Yugoslavia , as well as Austria , the United Kingdom , France , Hungary and the Council of Europe's co-production support fund – Eurimages. It was hard to put them all together.
Please tell me about the technical side of the film; your relation to the film’s cinematographer, what the film was shot on and why it was decided to be photographed this way.
- 35 mm, Dolby Digital sound, and this is my third film with the same cinematographer; Slobodan Trninic.
Talk a bit about the festival experiences, if any, that you have had with this particular film. Have you had any interesting audience stories or questions that have arisen at screenings? (This can also apply to non-festival screenings as well, if you have had one.)
Border Post will be (was) internationally opening at the end of September in the Competition of San Sebastian Film Festival.
Who would you say your biggest inspirations are in the film world (directors, actors, cinematographers, etc)? Did you have any direct inspirations from filmmakers for this film in particular?
Carl Dryer, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder.
How far do you think you would want to go in this industry? Do you see yourself directing larger stories for a larger budget under the studio system, or do you feel that you would like to continue down the independent film path?
I’m making my film in Europe . It’s not an Industry – it’s (and I liked as it is) a hand made manufacture.
If you weren’t in this profession, what other career do you think you would be interested in?
Building boats.
Please tell me some filmmakers or talent that you would love to work with, even if money was no object.
A lot of them.
Do you think that you have “made it” in this profession yet?
Yes.
How important do you think the critical/media response is to film these days, be it a large production, independent film or festival title?
More or less the same as in the past.
If your film could play in any movie theatre in the world, which one would you choose?
The main square in Motovun , Croatia .
And finally…what is your all time favourite motion picture, and why?
Sunset Boulevard. It’s almost all you need to know about the filmmaking.
The 25th Vancouver International Film Festival runs from September 28th to October 13th, 2006 . To see when this film is playing, and for more information on other screenings, happenings and what is going on at this year’s VIFF, point your browser to viff.org. – Jason Whyte, jasonwhyte@efilmcritic.com
link directly to this feature at http://hollywoodbitchslap.com/feature.php?feature=1978
originally posted: 10/11/06 07:24:25
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