Death, happiness and audiovisual techniques
Can a film about euthanasia be optimistic and is it possible to show depression on the screen? It appears that yes. The participants of 'Integration You and Me' Festival had an opportunity to see this. We're talking to the jury president, a well-known film studies specialist professor Wojciech Otto.
Mateusz Różański: I must admit that I wanted to start the interview with a different question. However, the jury's verdict had changed my plans. The winner in the feature film category is a Dutch film 'Nena' about a 16-year-old girl whose paralised father wants to commit suicide at all costs. The film evokes great emotions for example because of its problematicity. Why have you decided to award the film about euthanasia?
Wojciech Otto: The topic appears in the media more and more often in the context of disability. The same happens in films, for example at the Festival. The awarded 'Nena' tells about death and euthanasia in a very subtle way. The film is not devoid of deep reflection concerning other topics – we have here an incredibly interestingly shown relationship between a father and his daughter – extremely important because these are the most important emotions in our lives. The third element which has led us to award the film is the motif of a dilemma that the main female character needs to face. The film is made and developed in such a way that we realise that the female character had to make up such a decision.
Why then was it 'Nena' that won, not 'Me Before You'? It was touching the same topic and started a real heated debate, while 'Nena' was almost unnoticed.
Firstly because 'Me Before You' is a Hollywood film which fits in popular culture and has much better distribution than 'Nena'. In our opinion 'Nena' is a much more moving film than a typically mainstream film which is 'Me Before You'. The second film is extremely sweet with some twist at the end. 'Nena' is something totally different. The idea of our Festival and every other festival is to show unique things, different, offering something new to the viewer. And 'Nena' is like this. It represents a totally fresh way of approaching the topic, there's no fast narration, there are calm shots – it is a very consequently and well made film. 'Me Before You' is a popular film. Of course it touches the viewer profoundly but only for a moment and 'Nena' definitely stimulates reflection.
Aren't you afraid that because of the verdict there may appear an accusation of promoting euthanasia or encouraging people with a disability to make their decisions about suicide?
I think there isn't such a threat – 'Nena' is a feature film and it tells a made-up story. Each intelligent viewer understands what the differences between film fiction and a documentary are. We do not promote euthanasia at all but we promote good cinema provoking reflection and showing a particular topic thoroughly not only sliding on its surface.
If we compare 'Nena' with the last year's winner – the Lebanese film fairy tale 'Ghadi' then we see a huge difference in the attitude towards disability. What does it stem from in your opinion?
Firstly, I'd like to stress out that 'Nena' isn't a dark or pessimistic film. In the end the main character reaches his happiness – this is what life is about. Reaching a higher level of a compromise with his daughter is the most beautiful moment in the film. The fact that the father and the daughter understand each other without words and they have become, as Stachura wrote, 'like one' is the highest level of a relationship which happens extremely rarely even to the healthy. The film makers have shown it in a fantastic manner and in this matter I think 'Nena' is very optimistic. When it comes to the evolution of the attitude to disability, we can see that it is happening, for example on the basis of films which we show at our Festival. There are more and more films touching the topic of euthanasia or depression. These are the topics which we have less frequently seen on the screens. Secondly, they are shown in a different manner.
What manner?
I think the authors move towards subtlety, intimacy. For example, films about depressionuse an audio-visual diary. The character is given a video camera and films his life. Similarly to the film which has won our Festival in the documentary category – 'I'll Send you a Postcard' by Anna Duda-Ziętek. The main character suffers from cancer, she says how she feels what she thinks and what her life looks like. As a result, we experience a kind of intimacy. I think that this the appropriate way of showing a topic – aiming at being close to the character. Another interesting tendency is an attempt to reach the interior of the character with a disability. There is used a so-called intermediary strategy. Moreover, there are used some devices to show thoughts or emotional states of the hero. Sometimes these are animations, surrealistic pictures. The direction is the same – we try to get as close as possible to the character, his consciousness and emotions that trigger him.
Let's change the topic a bit. It is believed that the best way of making a film famous or even receiving Oscar is filming something about a lethal illness or disability. Every know and then there appears 'a disability film' with a fantastic cast, budget and an advertising campaign which later gets awards at the following festivals. Is it visible in the niche, author film which is represented at your Festival?
I think that no sensitive artist, and we had a pleasure to talk to such artists during our Festival, is triggered by a financial profit or easy fame. The same when it comes to actors, what counts more is a stage challenge, and playing a person with a disability gives such an opportunity. These are difficult roles because of the fact that even nowadays we have a rare contact with the people with disabilities. Besides, they often behave differently, they have different gesticulation. All these aspects need to be learned, observed. The actors very often do this – they spend time with the people with disabilities, get to know their lives, often start friendships. This is how our this year's jury member Wojciech Mecwaldowski worked while preparing to a role of a man with autism in a film 'A Girl from a Wardrobe'. If such an actor receives an award, this is not due to political correctness but because these are most often great roles demanding thorough preparation, empathy and sensitivity.
It's worth referring here to a question if the characters with disabilities should be played by able-bodied actors. Such opinions appeared with the film biography of Stephen Hawking 'The Theory of Everything'.
I am for the people with a disability to play in films whenever it is possible. If there is such a possibility of a person with a disability to fulfill this task well, then I do not see any counter-indications. I encourage to engage such people in films. We've seen social campaign spots where in wheelchairs sat able-bodied actors and there could have appeared sight-readers with a disability. When it comes to films we need to bear professionalism in mind. If we want to make art, high-quality films, then we need to engage professional actors. In the cinema not everything needs to be presented in a real way but it needs to be probable. Therefore, it is important for a film to be well played so that viewers are able to believe in what they can see on the screen.
Let's move on to the question which I wanted to ask at the beginning. The Festival coincided with the Paralympic Games. Is it possible for festivals like yours to get through to the mainstream similarly to the Paralympic Games which have become a media event broadcast by the public television?
I would really like that. However, everything depends on numerous factors. Firstly, on the decision-makers who decide what will be on tv and what not. Much depends also on the journalists who need to have particular awareness. And the awareness is knowledge which you gain through a contact with the surrounding. In order to know the topic, you need to have an intercourse with it. This applies to the people with disabilities. Secondly, our Festival means cinema which is art, high-quality art. We promote the art for example through our verdicts. I believe in the viewer's intelligence. It is often said that people do not want to watch ambitious cinema. It's not true – judging from the popularity of such films as 'Edi' by Trzaskalski or 'Reverse' by Lankosz. This cinema is on the one hand viewer-tailored but has a deeper message. The same applies to our films presented at the Festival. In my opinion the viewer accepts such films and will appreciate them and watch them eagerly. From that point there is a small step to show EFF 'Integration You and Me ' by the public television. This would consequently have a great influence on what I said at the beginning – awareness. And this is how the circle closes. What is needed is the first step.