Čtvrtek 28. března 2024, svátek má Soňa
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Lidovky.cz

New European cinema struggles with identity

  17:42

European filmmakers say digital technology has made life easier but hasn’t solved all the problems facing national cinema production

Ada Condeescu, left, stars in ‘Loverboy’ but she is skeptical that recent Romanian films are really a new wave. foto: © Strada FilmČeská pozice

New European cinema is finding itself at a crossroads, according to a panel of international filmmakers who spoke at Febiofest, Prague’s bigges film festival. Several countries have seen growing interest and investment in domestic production, but competition from Hollywood and other distractions are making it hard to build a steady audience.

Some countries are still struggling with the concept of a national style. “From a Finnish perspective, there is a lack of self confidence in a way that people are trying to copy American cinema rather than trying to find something original, so that is sometimes the problem,” said Jan Forsström, the co-writer and editor of “The Good Son,” a Finnish film that is part of the festival’s New Europe competition.

“It is hard to say what is American and what is European. These are really artificial differences. It is important not to emulate one model as the only model,” he added.

Zaida Bergroth, director of “The Good Son,” had a few ideas for defining European cinema. She said it should be “something daring, honest [and] somehow personal.”

Film producer Jiří Konečný, whose film “A Night Too Young” is also competing in the festival, had a more pragmatic viewpoint. “I am a producer, not a director, so [the film] should be well-financed. but it should be as close to the original vision of the artist without compromises.”

Each film, though, bears a burden as a box office failure can be seen as a sign that the national cinema is too weak to take on Hollywood. Small countries feel the pressure the most, Forsström said. “The main obstacle is that with small countries every film has this mission to save national cinema in a way,” he said. The small number of films made means that each film is looked on as a barometer of how a small country’s national cinema is performing.

Filmmakers said they feel the whole cinema industry depends on the success of their film. “With bigger countries there is more variety,” he said. “It is hard for an artist to be aware of how [their work] might represent something very abstract like the Finnish cinema industry.”

Finding an audience

For some countries such as Romania, the reputation of the national cinema was been growing. As a result the situation with obtaining international financing has improved recently. Cătălina Mitulescu, the director of the Romanian film “Loverboy,” said that when he was in Cannes in 2001 to promote a short film, he had no success in finding anybody who would be willing to discuss helping to make a Romanian feature.

“Trying to talk about a Romanian project in the Romanian language was sort of like science fiction,” he said. “Now the market is more open for us. There is a lot of talk of a ‘Romanian New Wave,’” he added. But he is not sure whether it is something that really exists or is just a good marketing ploy. “Every director is [working] in his own way, and we will see if we have this Romanian New Wave.”

Actress Ada Condeescu of “Loverboy” was also not so sure if there was truly a movement. “I cannot say as an actor I am part of the New Wave because from my point of view it does not exist,” she said, adding that it was an easy way to group Romanian films together for marketing, but the productions are quite diverse in themes and styles.

Finland has also seen a boom in local production, but director Bergroth is cautious with her outlook. “We have had a very successful first part of the year and everyone is writing about it,” she said. “I think people are really worried about competition with big Hollywood films. … So at the moment the situation is quite good, we will have more premieres than ever before,” she said. The volume might be its own problem as there might not be enough of an audience for all of the films, she said.

“I think it is healthy that we have these new daring feature films side by side with more traditional productions, and it seems these little films can be big surprises and they can get a lot of audience, so I think something interesting is happening in Finland at the moment,” she said.

Finding viewers can be a problem in Romania as well. “In Romania, the most difficult thing is to convince the Romanian audience. We don’t have a past tradition for the audience,” Mitulescu said. Some films before 1989 were successful but there was no competition from television.

“After 1989 the whole relationship with the audience collapsed and we came as a new generation [of filmmakers] with very personal movies and very hard things to say, and it was hard for the audience to get this without entertainment, without sometimes a comic side, so we have an audience of 10,000 people who are following art house movies,” he said. “Now we have try to think how we can convince the Romanian audience.”

His experience is not unique. Konečný sees something similar in the Czech Republic. “We have this problem in our country, too, and even though we do have a tradition in our country and Czech viewers go to see Czech films, the problem is between commercial and [art house] cinema,” he said.

“As a producer if I make a commercial film that viewers will see and Czech cinemas and television will love, then usually it will not be of interest to international audiences and vice versa,” he explained. “If you have something that is ‘art house’ here, local national audiences will really not go to see it in large numbers. But then it will be interesting abroad.” As an example he mentioned “Matchmaking Mayor” from director Erika Hníková. “[It] gathered far more viewers in international festivals than with local audiences,” he said.

“I think the solution would be to somehow promote the culture of movie going. The problem is not the selection of films in our cinemas. You can basically see whatever you want to see,” he pointed out. “It is also a generational thing; the older generation is used to spending time in cinemas. The younger generation does different things with their free time. So perhaps it would be worth it to try to somehow regenerate this culture of going to movies with a passion,” he said.

The digital divide

New digital technology has made it easier for filmmakers, but not some filmmakers aren’t fully enthusiastic. Finnish director Bergroth saw it as a great leveler. She made “The Good Son” on a low budget with two small digital high definition cameras, after previously working with traditional film.

“I think it is healthy that we have this new technology. It made ... some new problems, but I think it is very good that it lowers the threshold to get into production. It is not all about the money in the end so that is good,” she said.

Romanian director Mitulescu sees digital as just a new option. “There are more possibilities. What you can do in digital and what you can do in 35 [mm film] is different. It depends on your story, on what you want to do.” he said. “It is good that digital became more powerful so it is another possibility when you want to express yourself.”

Czech producer Konečný was the most downbeat on digital. “This will sound strange coming from a producer but … for the classic formats such as 16 mm or 35 mm, you will find that if you are shooting on film stock you get more concentration on the set,” he said.

“If you shoot on digital you end up with such a huge amount of footage that when you encounter an editor from the old school they are really quite desperate about what to do with it,” he added.

But he sees no turning back. “Our film was shot on 16 mm but unfortunately the traditional formats are on their way out. Our next project will be on digital, but right now there is chaos because there are so many new digital formats,” he said.

The amount of digital footage was not a problem for Forsström, but he warned that filmmakers still need to plan their projects. “It isn’t like you can let yourself get away with anything because [filming on digital] is cheaper. But then again from the editor’s point of view we have twice as much material as usual … and for me as an editor I loved it,” he said.

“Of course it is more work, but it means you have many more possibilities. It means you have to have thought about what you are doing,” he said, adding that you couldn’t just “go and shoot whatever.”

As a screenwriter, Forsström saw no difference between digital and traditional filmmaking when it came to “The Good Son.” “We didn’t really know [how] were going to shoot … when we wrote it,” he said. But they still had to do all the required planning. “You can’t just go [to some location] and shoot and hope to make a story. In that way the creative process has to be as concentrated with digital as with film,” he said.

Febiofest
Runs until March 30
Cinestar Anděl, Radlická 3179/1E, Prague 5
Ponrepo
(film archives), Bartolomějská 11, Prague 1
Tickets:
2D films Kč 89; 3D films Kč 99;
Febiofest Jr. K
č 49 (2D) and Kč 79 (3D) ;
Ponrepo K
č 60
Music festival: free entry
www.febiofest.cz

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