Film
festivals often reflect the interests and experiences of their founders, which contributes
to their great diversity around the world and even within individual cities
that are big enough to support them. Some
festivals emphasize particular film genres, modes of production, or aspects of
identity such as gender or ethnicity. I
spoke recently with Vera
Mijojlic, who founded and runs a festival here in L.A. that is dedicated to the films
of South East Europe.
James Latham:
You founded the South East
European Film Festival (SEE FEST) in 2002.
Tell me about its programming and mission.
Vera Mijojlic:
We show films made in or about South East Europe, which includes the
countries of the former Yugoslavia along with Greece, Turkey, Albania, Romania,
and other neighbors. SEE FEST is a
leading venue in the U.S. for the presentation of the cinematic and cultural
diversity of this region. The annual festival
and year-round programming bring to American audiences films that tell a larger
and more complex story about South East Europe than would otherwise be
available. We help to unlock
the doors to understanding human existence in this troubled region. SEE FEST also serves as a hub for cultural
exchange and a resource for scholars and filmmakers on the cinema and cultures
of the region.
JL: I’d like to
discuss those aspects of the festival. But
first, can you give me a sense of the diversity of the films you’ve
screened? What are some of the key
trends or issues among them?
VM: The films include
features on subjects such as marriage in harsh economic environments, young
people caught up in ancient blood feuds, and noir films about suicide. There are also gentle and melancholic
comedies on recent turbulent regime changes as seen by ordinary provincial
protagonists. We’ve also had
documentaries on topics such as endless Balkan fights over claims (Whose Is This Song?); a road
movie about Roma musicians traveling to India to reconnect with their traditions;
and films about the tragic and humorous quest of the people struggling to
assert themselves against the intense pressures of defunct empires and new
regimes that are equally divisive. So,
some key trends or issues are harsh, black humor and depictions of human
struggle and subterfuge; it’s no wonder that black comedies are a trademark of
the region.
JL: I remember
teaching college-level film history, with even some pretty knowledgeable students
being unaware that the 1920s Soviet Union had a domestic cinema at all, much
less a highly innovative and influential one.
What's one of the biggest gaps or misconceptions you find here in the
states about the films or cultures of South East Europe? How does your festival work to counter such
misconceptions?
VM: The biggest
misconception is South East Europe as more or less the same as the rest of
Eastern Europe, and identified only with the Eastern bloc. The legacy of communism is there—but, in a
large part of the region that used to be Yugoslavia, that system was quite
different from other Eastern bloc countries.
Two other major forces that preceded communism have also shaped the
region, namely Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Without knowing about all three of these
systems, it is impossible to understand what is going on in South East Europe
and why. SEE FEST takes particular care
to provide diverse points of view and present a layered picture of the
region. Our main goal is to give our
audiences as much of the context as possible, to highlight as many cultural and
artistic currents as we can, from music to dance, from humor to mind-boggling
combinations of ethnicities, religions, languages, and intertwined histories. There are many subcultures, minorities within
minorities, with overlapping and often surprising cultural phenomena—when
possible, we include films highlighting them.
JL: These films are a
far cry from—almost the opposite—of Hollywood sensibilities. And Eastern Europe is literally quite far
away from L.A., though we have a very diverse population here. If the films primarily come from overseas,
and your local audience is relatively small, how do you target potential
filmmakers and audiences?
VM: Through outreach,
collaboration with a variety of cultural organizations, and year-round research
of potential new partners.
JL: Part of that
outreach involves serving scholars and other people interested in the region
with programming that includes conferences and retrospectives. How successful have you been in attracting or
developing this part of your audience?
Or in working with the many educational and cultural organizations that
are listed as partners / sponsors on your website?
VM: Our audience is
as diverse as our films, but generally well versed in international affairs and
knowledgeable of the issues. The
festival is a resource they can draw upon for the variety of fields they’re
in.
Whenever we
sent out calls for volunteers, or did some kind of outreach, many of the
responses were inquiries from young scholars with some specific interest in the
region we cover, such as film historians studying this relatively less familiar
terrain. There were also many people
interested in issues that transcend our particular region, such as tradition
vs. modernity in societies in transition; or the burdens of violent histories
on small nations, and the legacies of ethnic or religious conflict stemming
from them. Cultural diversity and the
influences of many invading cultures that left deep imprints in all kinds of
ways—this is an important subject for us at the festival, for our audiences,
and for many outside scholars and other researchers. And, of course, for our filmmakers, who
address these subjects with such great conviction and artistic expression in
their work.
Our outreach
also has been successful in other ways, like partnering with organizations
engaged in clearing landmines left from recent wars in several Balkan
countries. And with groups committed to
the cultural and economic development of the Roma people, who are one of the
culturally most interesting but also troubled minorities in the region. And with film schools and sister film
festivals from Eastern Europe; and cultural groups that, like SEE FEST, bring
together different nations and cultures to establish and promote dialogue and
understanding.
JL: How has the
general economic downturn affected filmmaking in the region? Has the festival seen a reduction in
submissions, or a shift in subject matter?
Is it harder to get filmmakers to travel here from Europe?
VM: We haven’t yet
seen any decrease in film production, except in Hungary, and that is largely
due to an overhaul of the entire funding system. Incidentally, the famed Hollywood producer, Andy Vajna, is now head of the
Hungarian Film Fund.
I wouldn’t
call this a full-blown trend, but we see more attempts at genre films. Another interesting development is the emergence
of ultra-low budget films, with some production companies making features for
EUR70,000 (about 90,000 US dollars).
JL: How about
distributors? Here in a company town,
how easy or difficult has it been for you to attract distributors to attend?
VM: It’s difficult to
get them to attend. Coming to festival
screenings in a town which has several festivals, events, premieres, and special
screenings every single day of the year is not the most efficient way for them
to watch movies. We have to find other
ways to get our films in front of them, and getting distributors interested in
a particular filmmaker, or a story that fits a distributor’s niche.
JL: What kinds of
opportunities for distribution are there for filmmakers in South Eastern
Europe—how is it the same or different there than in the U.S. or Western
Europe?
VM: We’re talking
about a very small market except Turkey, which is the only significant
territory with robust film and TV production and distribution. For the rest of the region, film sales are
bundled and one local distributor buys the rights for several countries. Commercial domestic films are doing very well,
and everyone is doing co-productions to minimize the risk. Art film, like here,
has a hard time finding an audience. There
are very few arthouse cinemas. International film festivals are therefore well
attended, and many screenings are standing room only.
JL: What, if any,
elements would you like to add to SEE FEST, or expand upon?
VM: We have started
organizing retrospectives of national cinemas and plan to follow up with series
on some of the major filmmakers, as well as expand presentation of films by
up-and-coming filmmakers exploring new ways to tell uniquely flavored SEE
stories. This work takes a long time and
effort and needs substantial funding. We
would also like to set up our own distribution, non-theatrical, primarily for
the educational market. And, down the
road, we plan to establish a SEE Fest Resource Library for the cultural study
of the region through film.
JL: What parting words
of advice would you have for filmmakers who want to submit to your festival,
or, more generally, who are making films about South East Europe?
VM: Trust your
instincts to tell your own story. Do not
try to make films using cultural or cinematic references that are not from your
own experience and cultural traditions – it always backfires. For example, we’ve seen a lot of films
depicting Eastern European gangsters, and are not particularly interested in
these blatantly exploitative films. We
are looking for original stories and culturally relevant films that are
representative of the countries and cultures they come from; films that open at
least a small window into the lives of the people there and their everyday
struggles.
JL: OK Vera, thanks
for your time and insights.
VM: Thank you.
----
The seventh
annual South East European Film
Festival is scheduled for May 3-7, 2012 in Los Angeles. To contact the festival, send an email to info@seefilmla.org
For more on
The Valley Film Festival, visit our website or Facebook page. If you’re involved with independent film and are
interested in possibly being interviewed, or otherwise contributing to our
blog, contact us anytime at info@valleyfilmfest.com
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