Girard’s Indie Life
SARA WALLER
With action blockbusters, vampire trilogies and new-age special effects taking over Hollywood, we rarely pay attention to films that value the pure craft of cinematography and natural beauty. Film producer, Ilann Girard asks us to ignore the big budget franchises and take a look inside his indie world. For 20 years, Girard has been shaking up the Hollywood formula with films like March of the Penguins, Lebanon, Goodbye Bafana and Summer Games. His films hope to achieve a deep connection through emotions in order to cultivate an alternative perspective on the subject. As he says, “I must be emotionally connected to the story to produce it.” Girard describes the typical modern blockbusters as films that rarely challenge their audiences. They are just another form of escapism. “Show them a way to think outside the box,” Girard says loudly, “Does Spiderman open your mind?” Films can be more than just a medium of visual stimulation. They can create meaningful relationships between the characters and the audience, they can inspire, they can lead people to take action. And those films that are often left unnoticed by major audiences are the ones that hide treasures of cinematic beauty and meaning behind their small budgets. “Financially and emotionally it’s challenging but even if it’s just a few people touched it’s worth it, and I feel the reward,” says Girard. His films prove they are worth all the effort.
AU G U ST
Oya Festival
Pukkelpop
Creamfields
6TH -10TH Norway Rock and Metal
15TH -17TH Belgium Rock and Hip-Hop
23RD -24TH England Electric and Dance