I do not subscribe to the usual approach to documentaries. In my films the lives and faiths of individuals are observed, described and portrayed with authenticity. I achieve this true likeness through artistic composition and, more importantly, dedicated and precise work.
In ordinary circumstances, people do not have the opportunity to face, sense and experience human nature and reality in their truly diverse manifestations. By making my documentaries I do the “dirty work” for them and thus help them to make up for this lost opportunity. I work with maximum interest and sensitivity, investing all my efforts into creating intimate contacts with my characters. This is my method of getting as close to people as possible so that the essence, which is life itself, may be revealed. This is highest ambition that may be aimed at in the genre.
The film takes a step forward, and by holding your hand, it leads you closer as well…
As a viewer, I am still the enthusiastic university student that I used to be; I am ready to watch documentaries from morning till night and have high respect for the creators.
In my opinion, even thoughtful and intelligent people tend to believe what the meaningless, fanciful but untrue films tell them. The reason for this is that we are all interested in those special, new things that are unknown to us. We either laugh or get surprised, weep or get shocked, not realising that we do not make the “step forward”, we are not helped or encouraged to reach a meaning, an understanding, or an enrichment.
I make these statements about documentaries of artistic motivation, not about the false – or true – images reflected in the trash produced by the mass media.
Because continuous and careful attention is needed while working with real people one comes dangerously close to the borders of intimacy. One may even cross this border to discover not only the effect but the cause itself. For me, a film after which I feel: “Okay. And so what?”, does not provide real experience.
Of course, the task is difficult. It is charming and it attracts, some claim, millions of people if a film influences the audience by stimulating their deepest instincts through bloody and tearful scoops.
Similarly, it is sometimes very difficult not to misuse one’s confidence, not to exploit a character and at the end of the shooting not to throw them away.
The director has to address ethical issues all the time. Very often, there is only a thin line between “this side of the fence” and the “over the limit”.
Furthermore, it is important whether we laugh with or at the expense of the defenceless characters exposed to the camera, whether we live with them as they are trying to express something or we abuse them; whether we use them as parables, as icons of a moral message without insulting their personality or we misuse them. At any rate, I believe that a humiliated person is humiliated even if he or she does not know about it. It is enough for just one person to know…
Should you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact me…
