ISTANBUL EXPRESS - Nisi Masa

Almost no one is taking notes about
the learning process, at least not in
real-time, but hopefully they will remember
and appreciate it in the future.
Many are vegans, while one girl
‘doesn’t like vegetables’. As we are
entering carnivore Balkans, ordering
food, which usually generates more
enthusiasm than discussing films, will
become even more time-consuming,
pending serious gastronomical ultimata
on my behalf.
Respect for the travel experience as
a whole and for locals in particular
(hosts, coordinators, fixers, waiters,
drivers) has been equally understated,
i.e. ranging from chronic touristic apathy
to ephemeral docmakers empathy,
so another extracurricular part of my
job turns out to be creatively excusing
myself on behalf of the whole group,
so that the local volunteers feel less
exploited. Again, tighter discipline is to
be expected, especially as we enter my
home territory and its own notorious
ways. But hey, we are also drinking our
kilometers away and sliding our way
through many anecdotic turbulences,
and yes, we’re also making films.
From the initial dramaturgy sessions
and wasted sunshine in Torino to the
rainy shooting days in Ljubljana, from
bed bugs & moments of truth in Zagreb
to hedonistic thermal bath &
goulash indulgence in Hungary, from
Belgrade nightclubbing to Greek sailor
havens, filmmaking was turned into
an integrated, daily practice, just as it
should be.
The main premise of the Istanbul
Express project being “young filmmakers
travelling low-budget, making
highly-obstructed films with no
budget, and relying solely on unpaid
local coordinators & fixers”, I would like
to reiterate the following: young filmmakers
travelling low-budget – OK;
making thematically and temporally
obstructed films as an exercise – OK;
making them with no-budget – NOT
OK [think trigonometry of the classic
Good-Fast-Cheap triangle, where only
2 out of 3 options are possible at once]
relying on probable unpaid coordinators
& volunteer fixers – ABSOLUTELY
NOT OK, for both us & them.
In real life, you should NOT accept to
make documentaries under those
conditions, nor expect others to devote
their time, energy and limited
research credits just for the sake of
feeling altruistic.
In the end, it all worked out fine, despite
of the above. All five of our films
got selected for the Istanbul Express
omnibus, and each had its own specific
added value. The two groups that
prepared the most suffered the most
in editing -- life proved predictable
indeed, but not editable enough. The
last minute tectonic changes that had
to be imposed were greatly cushioned
by all the research and premeditation,
but again, these would have been
masterpieces without the artificially
imposed limitations.
On the other hand, the team that took
everything lightly, ‘location scouting’
on bicycles all day long and waking
up with the lunch hour church bell,
ended up creating the most impressive
film on the whole project – with
one twist in the edit room. Minimalist
tableaux, casual metaphysics and impressive
sound effects work wonders,
especially in short form. The trick, as
shown, is to not make it gratuitous.
The group that was initially the most
clueless about their story, discovered
the strongest inner motivation as the
director was instructed to take advantage
her own special communicative
skills, artistic expression and views on
sexuality. Any topic, however stale, can
be lit up from within.
Finally, the group that had the most
‘personal’ problems, i.e. a nervous
breakdown of the director who eventually
quit, came out with the most
complete film, as the reduced ‘crew’
excelled in emergency multitasking,
coming up with a pop-anthropology
film idea halfway through the journey
and imbuing it with the most humor
and passion.
After the final whistle, I have only one
thing to say: Congratulations to all, and
my apologies for having been sometimes
too demanding. Don’t make
films this way in the future, but don’t
waste any opportunity to learn either.
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