8 FINAL SCRIPTS . USA . FRANCE . GREECE . KENYA SLOVENIA . ICELAND . ROMANIA . GERMANY S T
SCRIPT PITC H #5
20 NOV - 26 NOV 2017 INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL INTERFILM BERLIN
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Storytelling through film thrives on images strong enough to stand on their own and create new worlds purely in the way they are staged and shot. The authors in this year’s Script Pitch have come up with the most diverse possible range of stories, replete with metaphors, allegories and symbols. But it’s the striking film images that form the core, the origin of these stories, and they are what ultimately stay with us. Young Maissa senses a new world helping her to overcome old, deep-seated anxieties and opening inspiring new possibilities as she explores the ocean bays of Catalonia. Kjartan liberates himself from the blazing fire and thereby from an aging artist’s eternal quest for meaning. Ioana goes all in when she intentionally sets off chaos in the big city’s daily traffic routine to make an unmistakable stand against ignorance, condescension and plain old stubbornness. Josip’s last chance to find independence and break out of his restrictive everyday life is a car. Even in the scripts, detailed pictorial compositions speak with their own, as yet unseen power. There’s the comprehensive description, microscopically precise, of the look in the enemy’s eyes as he systematically hems in and cuts off his victim, told in a way that makes the air almost too thin to breathe. Take the defined muscle outlines of an expertly trained dog, a veteran fighter, suddenly transformed from pet to master of the situation whose actions control the sequence and pace of the narrative. Whether images speak in broad symbols or fine detail, they are brimming with suspense, they take stands, feed us premonitions and question assumptions with a dramaturgical strength that stokes intense curiosity about the proposed films.
Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write?
ELISABETH CHATELAIN Where do you live and how do you start your day? I live in Brooklyn, New York. I start my day with a cup of coffee and reading. From my window, I observe the life outside: people on their way to work, the birds nesting in the trees, and the condition of the sky that day. If I have the morning free, I write for a few hours. If not, I take the J-train over the East River and into Manhattan for work. USA . PAPER GEESE
My writing is often dictated by my work schedule. For better or worse, I think the constraint has trained me to be productive during the small hours I have the time to write. It has also forced me to ruminate over my stories in the quiet moments throughout the day that I have during train rides, lunch breaks, and walks between destinations. Which piece of art, which moment, which person or story has made a significant impression on your writing career? A colleague once pointed out that artists will often return over and over to the characters and themes they are trying to understand and work through. Looking back at my work, I know that my family, and my sister in particular, have had a great influence on my writing and films. I may spend my entire life trying to work out the mysteries of my family. Which story would challenge but still tempt you? When my niece was only a few days old, her father passed away. I’ve often thought of writing an animated screenplay for her and children who have gone through a similar experience, about a girl finding her father in the underworld and coming to terms with losing him before ever knowing him.
If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? As a child, I remember visiting the last of a small community in Maine called the “Shakers.” One of their core beliefs was celibacy, and so there were only two older women left in the community. They lived a life of simplicity, egalitarianism, and non-violence. They left a distinct impression on me, even as a child. I’ve always thought they would make for an intriguing story. I... a) am always tiping ideas for stories and first lines in my phone. b) never leave the house without my pen and notebook. c) hate to write and use the voice recorder instead!
L E A TRIBOULET Where do you live and how do you start your day? I m between the South of France and Barcelona, Spain. In the week, I start the day with a big breakfast and tea and I go to write. Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write? I really like to write in the morning. I feel more focus. Most of the time, I write at home, in my office. I like to be there surrounded by post it, notes, references I wrote or I found. About the writing process, I work first with images. My first intuition goes to the sensory, the atmospheres and the sensations. In this process, I’m searching in these images the emotional truth of my characters and of my story. After I go deeper in the structure and the narration, questioning what I want to tell and how.
FRANCE. MAÏSSA
Which piece of art, which moment, which person or story has made a significant impression on your writing career? I got the opportunity to study under the director Bela Tarr‘s mentorship in Sarajevo in his Film Factory program. This experience changed me and my approach of filmmaking, encouraging me to go deeper in my intuitions, my approach of stories and places, and to continue to search the truth in my actors eyes... Which story would challenge but still tempt you? A thriller maybe... But I think every story is a challenge. If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? For me, lot of magic moments have a special connection with light and sound : what we can see and what we can‘t but also what we can hear or not. I‘m very sensitive to this approach which creates different points of view of a situation. It‘s a great way to start a story, very visual and sensitive: how is the character and how this situation brings us in the film and in his/her story...
M A N O S PAPADAKIS Where do you live and how do you start your day? I live in Petralona a neighborhood close to Acropolis in Athens. Every other morning I take two spiroulina pils (with a sip of espresso) just before I start my breakfast! Time will tell if its too much. For now I just can‘t stop! Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write? There is a great university library close to my house. It has big windows from where you see only trees and no buildings. This is a great privilege. Early morning in the library with ambient music with earphones is a paradise! Apart from that great writing comes late at night or you could say...really early in the morning. Waking up at 3 o’clock
I... b) never leave the house without my pen and notebook.
GREECE. THE MEANING OF AUGUST
by night and working until the sun comes up. The feeling that you are working when everybody sleeps gives a feeling of isolation which is just what I need! Which piece of art, which moment, which person or story has made a significant impression on your writing career? Although it sounds cliche, I think that inspiration is coming from every detail in everyday life. All you have to do is question what you see, question what seems to be the obvious. Apart from that there are many pieces of art that are really influental for me. Its a tough question actually! I will just say that the movie that first gave me the urge to become a filmmaker was “Apocalypse Now“ and one of the books that made me want to write was ‚“Seeing“ by Jose Saramago. Joy Division is a band that gives me the chills and helps me in writing. But of course since then there were so many films and so many books and a lot of music. Tough question... Which story would challenge but still tempt you? I think multi-character stories are pretty tricky. Also stories with a lot of voice over. I love it when its done well but its actually really difficult to make it work. Apart from that, a strong, memorable female character is always a challenge! For a man its always more difficult to write about a woman. But female protagonists are so important nowadays! Look at where Men has brought GREECE. THE MEANING OF AUGUST
us! I believe strong feminin charachters is the future both in fiction and in real life! If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? Again...tough question! This summer a goat was coming everyday in the backyard of a house we were renting for vacations. I had these thoughts, that if we would follow the goat we would meet her owner, a lonely man (or woman) leaving alone in the mountains, enigmatic and charming at the same time. A friendship would start... Something like the ‚‘Mud‘ Greek version! But the owner wouldn‘t be like Matthew McConaughey. He would be an old man (or woman). Does the goat meetings seem ‚‘magic moment‘ enough? I don‘t know. Tough question... I... am always tiping ideas in my phone, I sometimes leave the house without a pen and a notebook and I use the voice recorder of my mobile phone whenever writing is not possible (or I don‘t have a pen and a notebook)!
Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write?
MUTHONI WAIGWA Where do you live and how do you start your day? I live in outskirts of Nairobi, where the Ngong Hills are vividly displayed within view every day. The Ngong Hills were famously depicted in the memoir - Out of Africa - by the Danish author Karen Blixen. I start my day by thanking God for waking me up and hurriedly check what is happening in the social media world.
KENYA . THE DUAL
I prefer writing when it is silent. Silence enables me to hear my thoughts. Further, silence allows me to hear the dialogue of the characters, visualize the scenes that the characters play in and the ending of the story. Morning hours are suitable for writing as this is when I am more alert and present. Which piece of art, which moment, which person or story has made a significant impression on your writing career? Woody Allen’s films always make an impression on me. The stories are unpredictable and they leave me questioning the endings; which cause me to ask myself: “Would I have written a different ending?” or “would I carry the story forward from the point that Woody Allen left it?” His characters are so memorable and distinct which inspires me to write characters that leave a significant impression on others. Which story would challenge but still tempt you? When I had a car accident and all of us (passengers) survived without any major injuries. Developing a story out of this incident would be challenging yet tempting because there is a hidden gem in this moment – a miracle. We all survived.
If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? A magic moment that I can remember is seeing the ocean for the first time as a child. I was full of joy and glee! The story would begin when I see palm trees and catch a whiff of the ocean breeze – salty, fresh and new while the car is gliding through the streets of Mombasa and heading to our holiday residence.
N I N A B L A Ž I N
I... a) am always drawing inspiration from watching films. b) never force myself to write a story if I can’t visualize it. c) hate feedback that doesn’t build the story or carry the story forward.
Where do you live and how do you start your day? I live in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I start the day with a cup of coffee. I prefer to get up early and to do as much as I can during the morning. Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write? Before I actually start writting, it takes some time the idea to get started. When I have a story, a scene, I think about it all the time – while washing the dishes, sleeping, eating,…unconsciously it is there. Sometimes I see something on the streets ,read an article and this connects to my thoughts and from there it grows. I make notes, takes photos with my phone to remind myself of things that inspire me and are visually strong so to trigger something in me. I someSLOVENIA . BROTHERS
times wake up in the middle of the night and have a situation, a scene in my head and I have to write it down. I start by writting scenes, beats on small papers and arrange them all over the floor, sometimes on the wall. At the beggining there is no structure yet, it is just scenes I feel should exist. After that I think about scructure, flow, begginings, endings. It slowly grows, connects like a living organism. It gets clearer and stronger. Which piece of art, which moment, which person or story has made a significant impression on your writing career? When I’m working on a story I try to read a lot about art, arhitecture, listen to music, watch photographs, go to museums. I open myself to a certain material which coresponds to the writting. I see fragments of a situation, a dialog, a scene – take notes and then turn it into some beats in the script. Which story would challenge but still tempt you? I believe every story can challenge me, it has to correspond to my inner self. Maybe some stories are stronger at one point in my live. But then I change and something else talks to me because I’m a bit different. The main thing is to be open to details, to be able to hear, to see.
SLOVENIA . BROTHERS
If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? A start of a story is usually made from the moments in time, details, small pieces of life: a woman takes her old dog for a walk and talks to the dog, a man at a bus stop uses a magnifying glass to burn the ants while waiting for the bus, a woman drives in a car and cries at the red light, the colours of the forest, the sounds of the city at 4 o’clock in the morning. These fragments have something that touch me, they make me wonder, think. What happened? What could be the story? And I start to create a universe. Sometimes a trigger is a painting in a museum, an article in the newspaper, a great song, a part of a forgotten dream, an old family photo. I... a) am always tiping ideas for stories and first lines in my phone.b) never leave the house without my pen and notebook.
me it’s very effective and satisfying. Most of the time.
RAGNAR S N O R R A S O N
Which piece of art, which moment, which person or story has made a significant impression on your writing career?
Where do you live and how do you start your day?
I´d like to adapt and direct Fan-Tan by Marlon Brando and Donald Cammell. It´s fun, weird, eccentric and even a little perverse.
I split my time between Prague, Czechia and Reykjavik, Iceland. Both places require an hour of snoozing and a strong cup of coffee to start me off and after that I‘ll usually opt for the gym or maybe a run. Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write? “Slowly but surely“ or at least thats what I tell myself. Usually I write at cafés or pubs at around 2 o‘clock till 5. I feel I get the most done when I´m isolated in a crowd. For
Nothing, never, no one and none is my first though, which is probably dead wrong. I‘ll have to think on it. ..Maybe, in a different order; My fathers bedtime telling of his version of Robinson Crusoe. His take on setting and characters for his own ends, twisting the story to get his kid to go to sleep, catering to my interests and needs. The retelling of a sort, of some timeless myth. To me, thats inspiring. Which story would challenge but still tempt you?
If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? Once, at daybreak on a grouse hunt in the mountains I saw an arctic fox up close. Nothing in particular happened, I just stopped to ICELAND . FORGER
watch him and admire, and he stopped to acknowledge me for a short moment. He then went down a ravine and I kept going upwards to the snow-line, on our separate ways and means of looking for a meal. I... a) Can´t whistle. b) Am having a hard time with not lying, making up something weird for these questions. I promise I haven´t though. c)My handwriting shifts between my grade school handwriting and writing in all capital letters without me thinking or controlling it.
RALUCA D A V I D Where do you live and how do you start your day? Bucharest, Romania and always with a cup of coffee. Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write? The place and moment are not so important, it can be whenever, the most important thing is to have the idea clear in my head and then the story writes itself. After I write the first draft I always leave it to rest for a while and then I go back and reconsider it. After I assess it myself, I decide if it’s a win or it goes to rest in the drawer.
ROMANIA . 6PM TRAFFIC
Which piece of art, which moment, which person or story has made a significant impression on your writing career?
side has at least one potential story to be said. The beauty with this stories is that when they happened you never thought of them as a potential film subject.
That person would have to be my screenwriting teacher from University, she always told me to put myself in the character shoes, to question everything and to have an explanation for all the characters actions and motives. You should know how your character has his coffee even if he never drinks coffee in the film.
I...
Which story would challenge but still tempt you? One of my dearest scripts kept in the drawer is a story about a coroner doctor who has to carry through the autopsy of his sweetheart girlfriend. While his old feelings and memories come back to life, he struggles to perform his duty as a doctor and is put in the situation to interact with the woman‘s husband and family. If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? These magic moments are my childhood memories, each summer I spend with my grandparents at countryROMANIA . 6PM TRAFFIC
a) am always tiping ideas for stories and first lines in my phone.
ry has made a significant impression on your writing career?
SABINE REDLICH GERMANY . GET LUCKY
Michel Gondry – for creating funny and fantastic worlds out of simple materials. Raimund Krumme – for making minimalistic lines become complex storytellers Pixar‘s “Inside out” – for finding wonderful metaphors for what’s hard to imagine Which story would challenge but still tempt you? A story about synesthesia and how letters are colors positioned in space.
Where do you live and how do you start your day? I live in Berlin and start my day with a cup of tea in bed. Tell us about your writing process! How, where and when do you write? Sitting down at a comfortable spot with a piece of paper and scribbling on it all over the place. I allow myself to think through the pen and end up with a messy paper full of arrows, additions and highlighter marks. Which piece of art, which moment, which person or stoGERMANY. GET LUCKY
If you try to remember a magic moment (a memory, an encounter, a special piece etc.) that could set a start for story - what would that be? The first kiss with somebody and how two people get there is something magical to me. I could imagine an animated documentary about many different people talking about how they experienced it. I... am always tiping ideas for stories and first lines in my phone.