UK Film Network

THE TIMES BFI 53^RD LONDON FILM FESTIVAL:

14-29 October 2009

Published by: Tremayne (Potter)

Monday 26 October

Ander

Dir-Scr.: Roberto Caston / with Josean Bengoetxea, Christian Esquivel, Mamen Rivera / Spain 2009 / 129 min.

I was lucky enough to receive a personal invite by its director Roberto Caston to the UK Premiere of the Basque-style Brokeback Mountain. I had spoken to him earlier that day at The Filmmaker Afternoon Tea at The Mayfair Hotel.

Q & A Session held at the end of the film

The director of the film, Roberto Caston, starts by giving a background to the film and how it came about.The Housing & Social Affairs Association commissioned the film, which is a rarity.  He began: “They wanted me to write something which dealt with social integration within the gay community.  And given this opportunity,I decided to make the characters very real by placing them in a rural setting.”

How did you find your actors?

“The casting warranted a good bunch of actors who were believable and spoke fluent Basque, which could have proved difficult.  Luckily Jose (Josean Bengoetxea), who plays Ander, was also The Secretary to Basque Actors and could make a few suggestions, which resulted in a closed Casting.”

“The actress who played Remi was an old friend of mine and a lead in my first short.  I still got her to do a screen test.”

“ As for Christian’s character, it was hard to find a Peruvian actor in Spain but then, I had a friend suggest Christian (Christian  Esquivel) who he’d seen in a T.V. series.”

Christian Esquivel, himself, at this point adds: “For a Latin American, to be given this opportunity was really quite something.  Also experiencing what happens the characters and the intensity that surrounds them.The director devoted a lot of time to each character’s development.”

Roberto Caston, the director, continues to speak about character development, “The actors were taken to a rural cottage, the same as you see shot in the film.”

Why do you think there were distribution issues for the film in Spain?

“Not only is the film concerning a gay relationship, it doesn’t come across in a very humourous way as is often the case with gay characters.

A proportion of the film would, also, have to be subtitled for a Spanish audience, to enable them to follow the scenes spoken in Basque.

I’m not that well known to the commercial circuit but I hope to have distribution in Spain before the year is out.  We will find we experience the same difficulties all over Latin America, as well as Brazil and Argentina.”

How do you see yourself moving forward?

“To continue on a similar vein, not like in ‘Babel’ though but with a few stories which interweave, as ‘without emotion, there’s no cinema.’ “

THE TIMES BFI 53^RD LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 14-29 October 2009

Published by: Tremayne (Potter)

Saturday 24 October

Don’t Worry About Me

dir.: David Morrissey (his debut feature length film)

London lad David travels up to Liverpool to hunt down the girl from last night’s one night stand.  After he’s told where to go, he finds himself wandering the streets until he comes across a betting shop where a shy and slightly reserved Tina gives him a tip on which dog to place his bet on.  On his win, David invites Tina out for coffee and encourages her to take the rest of the day off work.  She shows him the hot tourist spots but behind those smiling eyes of her’s, lies locked-up pain.

Q & A Session at the end of The World Premiere

David Morrissey gives some background in to the film.

“Don’t Worry About Me is an independent film which I raised the funds for myself.  The film couldn’t have been made without the help of its producer John Maxwell.

It was originally a play called ‘The Pool’ and was written by the two principal actors you saw in the film tonight.”

Did you find it easy to give up your story to a film production company? (directed at principal actors, Helen Elizabeth & James Brough)

“It was originally a 2-man show we took up to Edinburgh, written in rhyming couplets.  It was easy to let go of, having started off as a little play we had made no assumptions about what it might turn in to.”

How did you achieve the look you did in the film?

 “James Wright, the cameraman.  It was also shot on Sony, HD.

Right now, in Liverpool, a modern city is immerging from out of the older part of the city and I wanted the film to reflect that.

What took its time was being granted permission to shoot in different locations but people were most accommodating which lent to itself.”

Were you looking for a project that would be shot in Liverpool?

“Yes, or at least the North West as that’s where my production company is based.”

Can you tell us about the leap from T.V. to film.

“With the film there was no financial help. All of it had to be raised by my own means, which meant constantly doing deals, which, of course, uses up a lot of time.

The advantage I had, however, was there was no executive producer getting in the way of my own creative vision.

I also had to keep within a budget.”

 How did you come to write together? (directed towards Helen Elizabeth & James Brough).

“We both knew each other from Drama School and came up with the story when we were poor.”

 What would you advise any one coming in to the acting profession?

“I would advise those just starting out to watch all of their footage as much as possible as what they think they’re doing, can come across very differently on screen.

You won’t get much rehearsal time in your career but it’s something

I made sure there was enough of in my own film, two weeks in all.”

What transformations did the characters have to go through to make that shift from theatre  in to film? (directed at actors, Helen Elizabeth & James Brough).

“On stage we played for caricatures.  Whereas with David (David Morrissey) he would say to us ‘I can see what you’re thinking.  Change your thoughts.’ ”

James Brough adds: “They are very real, flawed characters. 

David (David Morrissey) helped us to see the good and the bad sides of each character.”

How was breaking in to acting relevant to when you came round to direct?

“The director of ‘One Summer’, my breakthrough movie, gave me a great grounding.  It was from then on I knew I wanted to focus on acting.  I learnt about lenses, set-ups, cameras and, the fact,

that it’s not all about the actors but the whole team.”