07 · 06 · 09

"The most valuable thing in cinema is time," Guerín

Clara Sánchez

José Luis Guerín, director of En construcción, which won the Goya award for Best Documentary and Special Mention from the Jury in the San Sebastian Festival, said it is absurd to think of a documentary without an author. "If there is a filmmaker who thinks and sees, then there is an author," he said. "The only possible exceptions are films that are made for television or for institutions where the creative liberty of the director may be denied or limited."

Gianfranco Rosi, director of the Sundance-acclaimed film Boatman, said the author must have complete control over what is being filmed. "I choose my entire production team," he said. "I feel I would loose my identity if I had to work with a cinematographer or for a specific director. When I have been forced to do it, for example, when I have filmed with Spielberg, I always wonder if I did what he expected."

Andres Veiel, psychologist and filmmaker, student of Krzysztof Kieslowski, said there is no rule that defines the way an author´s movie is made. Each director has to find his own way and his own voice to say what he needs to say, he added.

Eugenio Polgovsky, winner of the award for Best Documentary in FICM 2004 with Trópico de Cancer, said, "An author should have a point of view about the world, a personal search that goes beyond filming whatever he has in front of him. It is a life experience that includes the filming process, from the nuisance of an insect stinging you to the risk of being caught by police for filming children working illegally in the field."

 Polgovsky, whose work Los herederos, premiered in FICM 2008, won two Ariel awards in the Best Edition and Best documentary categories, added, "It is important to differentiate between films that are made without a point of view from ones that truly have something to say."

Guerín disagreed with those who treat documentary filmmakers as "well-intentioned young people." He explained, "There are people who think documentaries are necessarily a reflection of the cause they take up and therefore their creators are not seen as filmmakers, rather as "well -intentioned young people." This also happens in relation to critics. They have difficulty differentiating between the manner in which a film is made and the theme itself, taking on a very paternalistic attitude. The quality of a film does not always reflect the worthiness of its cause."

Samuel Sosa, director of the short film, La historia de la vaca y el farsante, the official selection of FICM 2007, asked whether in the case of big productions it´s ok to negotiate with the producers. Veiel responded that "it?s a questionable struggle. I?ve told producers that the day I exhibit my film and am asked why I did certain things, I will be forced to say it was the producer?s decision, not mine, which will give a bad image. Theyve understood that problem and we have been able to come to an agreement. I?m against the idea that producers and distributors have total control over what is being filmed, or over anything that is being filmed actually."

Guerín added, "We have to be very careful in deciding how much we are willing to compromise. I think the limit is where the filmmaker still feels he is represented by the movie. If that bond is broken, the umbilical cord has been ruptured. Sometimes adversity is good." Guerin went on to recite a phrase: "the kite flies because it is tied."

Moderator María Inés Roque asked the directors what went into the creation of their films. Veiel responded: "The most important thing is to win people´s confidence. I don´t think the authenticity of an answer can be obtained the very first time you interview a person. It depends on how well prepared he is to say what he has to say. I value silence, when a person can explain what happened without me having to ask why, and he follows his internal rhythm, with its pauses, to transmit an authentic emotional moment."

Guerín said, "The most valuable thing in cinema is time, which in turn has become a taboo in cinema and society in general. There are many filmmakers who believe that their time is more valuable than that of the viewers."

For Rosi the secret is getting close to your subject. "I believe in what Flaherty, the father of documentaries, said: first you must establish a relationship with those who you are going to work with and then you can start to film. When I feel I have established that kind of intimacy with the people, then I feel comfortable to take out my camera. It is truly necessary that we distinguish between absolute time and relative time. "