Thessaloniki's blog

On Thursday, March 13, at the Excelsior room of the Electra Palace Hotel, the following directors shared their experience of making their films during Just Talking: the directors Sylvain Biegeleisen (The last card), Tiffany Burns (Mr Big), Simon Brook (Generation '68), Dimitris Vernikos (The Mirror and the Knife) and Parvez Sharma (A Jihad for love). Peter Wintonick, producer, director, journalist and co-producer of the film Be like others coordinated the discussion.

Opening the discussion, Peter Wintonick said: "I've been a fan of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, I've been coming here for the last seven years. The film Be like others, which I co-produced, is about sex change operations in the Islamic Republic of Iran".

In the film The last card a painful relationship between mother and child is repaired. This is the relationship between the director Sylvain Biegeleisen and his 87 year old mother. "During the three years it took to shoot the film, I discovered secrets, things that had happened 60 years ago and had affected my family. My purpose was not to simply make a film, but to listen to my mother, perhaps for the first time in my life", said S. Biegeleisen.

Tiffany Burns, director of Mr. Big said: «My purpose was to show the way the Royal Canadian Mountain Police tricks people into looking guilty, when there is an absence of incriminating evidence. My brother is a victim of this method, and has been in prison for 13 years", she noted.

Simon Brook commented on his film Generation '68: "I wanted to show the multifaceted dimensions of the cultural revolution that happened in Europe at the end of the ‘60s, through events and conditions that marked that era, such as the Vietnam war and the fight for civil rights".

Dimitris Vernikos said regarding his film: "In The Mirror and the Knife, the life, work and philosophy of Manos Hatzidakis is presented". He continued, "Amont other things, I tried to describe how Manos Hatzidakis discovered Rebetika, the source of Greek music, and how he influenced the specific type of music".

"The documentary A Jihad for love explores the relationship between Islam and homosexuality. But first and foremost it is a Muslim film and not a film about homosexuals", Parvez Sharma clarified, and added: "I filmed from the perspective of a Muslim, at a time in which Islam is being greatly attacked."

Peter Wintonick asked the directors what they tried to achieve through their documentaries, and they each gave their points of view. Specifically, Sylvain Biegeleisen answered that he wanted to capture spontaneous authentic moments, while Simon Brook said that he tried to make the invisible, visible. Dimitris Vernikos noted that what he wanted was personal expression, Tiffany Burns that she sought the truth, and Parvez Sharma to highlight issues that have not been raised elsewhere.

Then the Just Talking participants referred to the difficulties they had in getting financing, but also to the power of the documentary. Parvez Sharma stressed: "The world is complicated. Two or three things are not going to change everything, but I believe that they have an effect on the audience."

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