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FunTranscript
00:00:00 Thank you. Thanks all for being here.
00:00:03 Also, a warm welcome on my behalf and on behalf of all the partners.
00:00:09 Diana from Deadline, she couldn't be here, so I took over hosting this today
00:00:16 with our wonderful panel.
00:00:18 My name is Louise Johansen, I run the initiative SANE Cinema.
00:00:22 I would like to tell you just briefly a little bit about the context
00:00:28 of what we're doing today.
00:00:31 Today we're building on learnings from last year's panel discussion
00:00:35 here at Kallarby Vardy, which was called "Staying safe and sane
00:00:39 in the film industry".
00:00:41 And we're also indirectly building it on other international events
00:00:46 on the topic of mental health in film that have been taking place
00:00:49 throughout the last few years.
00:00:53 As organizers, and I'm looking at you Hugo, we feel it's important
00:00:57 to really learn from each other and to connect with other people
00:01:00 who are invested in the topic.
00:01:07 What we concluded last year is that leadership is key.
00:01:12 It's really key to any change in the film industry.
00:01:17 Mental health, mental well-being, work-life balance,
00:01:23 these are finally a conversation in our industry we feel.
00:01:27 How do we make sure that it doesn't just stay at that?
00:01:31 How do we make sure that we take the next step from the awareness,
00:01:35 which is highly important, awareness on the topic,
00:01:38 on how we're all doing working in film, but from awareness to action.
00:01:43 How do we better ourselves and our working conditions for ourselves
00:01:49 and our teams and make sure that everyone can go to work and feel safe?
00:01:56 That's the context.
00:01:58 Today we are really lucky to have a set of leaders from the industry,
00:02:03 creatives, filmmakers, who are going to help inspire this conversation
00:02:08 and we will hear your personal experiences.
00:02:13 The panelists are, we put it up here also, but I will just say your names,
00:02:18 Ada Solomon and Alexandru Solomon from Romania, welcome.
00:02:23 You are actually here with the premiering of a film also.
00:02:26 You've been running here to this panel just now,
00:02:28 so congrats on your film and the program.
00:02:31 It's a world premiere, Arsenie, an amazing afterlife.
00:02:37 Then we have Maria Rascute, producer and writer-director,
00:02:43 Andreas Blasevicius, yes.
00:02:48 You are here, Maria, with your film "Slow", which is a European premiere
00:02:52 and you premiered it internationally in Sundance earlier this year.
00:02:58 Congrats on your film, you're also on a jury.
00:03:00 Thanks for taking the time to do this talk.
00:03:03 In advance, I want to say thanks for being here
00:03:06 and opening up about your personal journeys as filmmakers.
00:03:10 I just want to say the disclaimers are, this is being recorded for Quiff TV,
00:03:17 now you know that.
00:03:19 We are not filming audiences, we are filming the panel only.
00:03:25 We would like to take questions as we go,
00:03:27 if you feel like you would like something more in-depth information
00:03:30 on what is being said, and if you have a different topic
00:03:33 than what we're talking about, maybe save it till the end.
00:03:36 We have 90 minutes, so we will definitely save some time for questions in the end.
00:03:41 And I also want to mention that if any of the conversations or information
00:03:45 that you hear today feels triggering or uncomfortable,
00:03:49 you are welcome to leave the room and we will also be here afterwards,
00:03:52 after the talk, if you feel like having a talk afterwards.
00:03:57 That was the disclaimers, so let's get to it.
00:04:02 I think it would be great to hear a little bit about your company structures,
00:04:07 to begin with. Maybe Ada, you want to tell us firstly about HiFilm
00:04:12 and also Microfilm, you're running two companies.
00:04:16 Yeah, actually I started with HiFilm, which was one producer structure,
00:04:25 and it went on up to a moment when I had severe burnout
00:04:35 and other events around this was happening in 2015,
00:04:44 in the last part of 2015.
00:04:47 And then I have a kind of revelation, like a holy understanding of the fact
00:04:57 that I don't know how to live alone, I don't want to live alone,
00:05:05 and why am I putting all this weight on my own shoulders.
00:05:13 And this was not because I didn't believe that the others are as capable as I am,
00:05:22 but I felt that it's my responsibility and now over the time I've learned
00:05:29 from my therapist that most likely I do have the characteristics
00:05:35 of a saviour type of personality, so I'm jumping in doing things for others
00:05:44 even when my help is not requested.
00:05:48 But anyway, so the revelation and the big thing that happened
00:05:55 during this severe down moment in my professional life, but not only,
00:06:02 was that I need people around and that I don't want to work alone
00:06:09 and I want to share and I need people around.
00:06:13 And that's how actually Microfilm, that it's the only active company now,
00:06:19 I mean HiFilm continues to exist with its catalogue,
00:06:22 and "Metlatent", like "Sleeping".
00:06:25 - Since 2004, am I right? - 15.
00:06:28 - The company HiFilm USA established. - Yeah, the company was created in 2004.
00:06:32 Probably it's also this circle of decades, like in a marriage, you know,
00:06:39 that after 10 years you have a crossroads every 10 years.
00:06:46 So I created this and we started with one producer,
00:06:55 then came the second one, very different personalities, much younger than myself.
00:07:00 The first one was Diana Peroiu, very structured personality,
00:07:08 I've learned a lot about setting up boundaries and looking into my own personal interests
00:07:19 more than in the general interest or putting the project before my health and well-being.
00:07:29 So I'm very, very grateful to her.
00:07:33 And the second one was Carla Fotea, she's continuing to be with us.
00:07:41 Carla brought in a kind of positive thinking and intuitive,
00:07:51 a lot of social skills that are somehow closer to my type of personality.
00:08:01 And so they are kind of completing each other.
00:08:09 And then a bit later on came Diana Karavia, the youngest in the gang,
00:08:17 who is coming from a different type of education,
00:08:24 has nothing to do with filmmaking in her background,
00:08:28 but she traveled around the world, she studied in different countries.
00:08:32 I mean, also Diana Peroiu studied abroad, which is not my case.
00:08:37 And I think that it created the perfect mix for me to diversify and to share decision-making,
00:08:51 also responsibilities, and of course, Aleksandr is a partner in the company,
00:08:57 so now we are a real collective.
00:09:00 I'm cutting it short, we added also two junior producers at this moment,
00:09:07 and Aleksandr is not involved in the everyday work of the company,
00:09:13 he is more involved in the creative part of the documentaries, his specialty,
00:09:18 while the rest of the gang, we are sharing everything,
00:09:23 and now the decisions are made only together.
00:09:28 And it's very, very open, and also it's comforting me,
00:09:35 because I'm very, very afraid to not get rusted and dusted in a model,
00:09:43 and not keep the pace with the changes, with the major changes.
00:09:51 So having these partners, they are partners in the company,
00:09:59 with a completely different vision, different gaze, different generation, different background,
00:10:06 it allows me to stay fresh.
00:10:09 I was saying also the other day that I'm coming from the country of Dracula,
00:10:14 and I always need fresh blood in order to maintain in good shape, to keep the pace.
00:10:22 And I'm curious about the style and the taste of your company,
00:10:27 and the choice of projects that you work on, do you share that,
00:10:31 or is that also something that is diversified with such a diverse team of partners?
00:10:37 Yeah, we are slowly moving, I mean, we stay confident to Art House for the moment,
00:10:46 but we started to develop series as well,
00:10:50 and there the creative input of the producer,
00:10:55 as opposed to the Art House, the author-driven cinema, it's much concrete.
00:11:05 So that's the biggest change.
00:11:08 We stay confident into our credo of looking for new talents, new voices,
00:11:16 and we continue to support debut features and emerging talents,
00:11:25 continue also to do small projects like short films.
00:11:33 But also we are looking into a kind of more international constructions,
00:11:39 not that actually almost all our productions are co-productions,
00:11:44 but to get into a more, let's say, mainstream Art House with international potential constructs,
00:11:53 also bringing in more creative input in terms of the setup of the project from the producers,
00:12:02 so these are the changes.
00:12:06 And maybe we should reveal now, you mentioned Aleksandr already,
00:12:11 a documentary filmmaker with a long career behind you,
00:12:16 you are also a couple privately, and I think that's important to mention,
00:12:21 because we are talking work-life balance today, you have children.
00:12:25 Aleksandr, do you want to talk a bit about your perspective these days?
00:12:30 What is your role now in collaboration with Microfilm?
00:12:39 Well, with Microfilm, as Ada said, I'm more of a creative consultant,
00:12:46 whenever it comes to documentaries, luckily, all the bureaucracy and budgeting are on their shoulders.
00:12:56 Somehow, I mean, for me, the main stress factors don't come,
00:13:06 if we want to list, do we want to do a list of stress factors?
00:13:10 Don't come necessarily from filmmaking, but from not making enough films,
00:13:19 because I'm involved also in a festival, and I think the festival stress,
00:13:24 and there are people in the room that know that,
00:13:26 I think sometimes it's even worse than the filmmaking stress.
00:13:31 And we should pay tribute to the festival people for doing this effort.
00:13:37 I would love to hear more about your work with One World Romania a little bit later,
00:13:41 also maybe in conversation with Andrius,
00:13:45 because I think more of you wear more hats than just being filmmakers,
00:13:50 but maybe just introduce our Lithuanian guests as well,
00:13:54 and Maria, maybe you can talk just briefly about M-Films,
00:13:59 and what's your structure in the company?
00:14:04 So, I started my company in 2008, straight after university,
00:14:11 and there's like important disclaimer that I didn't go to the film school.
00:14:15 I graduated Business and Economics, and by chance,
00:14:20 the very last year of my studies, I had a possibility to produce a short film,
00:14:26 and I really, really liked it, and I felt that the university
00:14:30 gave me so many good assets and tools, but I didn't know what to do with that in my life,
00:14:36 and the chance to produce a film gave me like a vision,
00:14:40 where I actually want to use those assets and tools
00:14:43 that the university gave me, like in management,
00:14:46 in all the Excel sheets and whatever.
00:14:51 So, suddenly there was like, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel,
00:14:57 because I was quite lost.
00:14:59 So, straight after the university, I started my company.
00:15:03 I was young and very ambitious, and I really wanted to just produce my own films
00:15:11 within my own company. I even never considered that I should go and work for someone else.
00:15:15 So, that was me in 2008, and it was not an easy start,
00:15:21 because I also, the crisis started in 2008.
00:15:26 I started a family, I had kids, so it was like...
00:15:31 At the same time.
00:15:32 Everything was at the same time, but I think I was also very energetic
00:15:40 and very ambitious, as I said, because I thought like,
00:15:44 "Okay, there is a crisis, but then I can start developing films and do this and that."
00:15:50 I also had a lot of hats at the beginning.
00:15:53 I wasn't only producing, I worked for a festival,
00:15:56 I worked for some industry days, I did programming, I did this and that,
00:16:00 just to get myself into the industry.
00:16:02 Because at the very beginning, I really felt such a big void
00:16:07 of the fact that I didn't go to the film school.
00:16:09 I felt I'm not as good as everybody else, and I have to somehow just prove myself
00:16:15 and everyone else that I can be a producer without going to film school.
00:16:19 So, I was doing a lot of stuff just to establish myself better,
00:16:24 how I assumed that at the time.
00:16:27 And I worked as a one-man band in my company for around seven years.
00:16:33 And it was also the moment when I was like, "Okay, I just...
00:16:37 Either I die doing that all alone, because my company started growing,
00:16:42 I started doing features, not because I started with the short films at first,
00:16:46 my projects became international co-productions, etc., etc.
00:16:50 And I was also doing the balance between the family and the kids.
00:16:55 So, at some point, I really reached the moment where I was like,
00:16:59 "Okay, either I just close the company and I start, I don't know,
00:17:04 just whatever other stuff, or I just start hiring people and start delegating."
00:17:11 Because I really pushed myself to some limit where I was not able to handle it anymore,
00:17:15 and I had to accept it myself.
00:17:17 Because at first, I really wanted to prove everyone that I can do it,
00:17:21 I'm capable of.
00:17:23 But you had actual active thoughts about quitting the industry
00:17:27 at that specific point already?
00:17:29 To be honest, yes.
00:17:30 I was like, you know, when you are just too tired, everything is over the top,
00:17:35 and you're like, "Okay, I have two options."
00:17:38 You always have plan A and plan B.
00:17:40 Plan A was to find a solution, how to stay sane in the industry.
00:17:46 And plan B was, if I don't find that answer, I just quit,
00:17:49 because I don't want to torture myself and others around me.
00:17:54 So, that's how I started hiring people.
00:17:58 So, now we are a company of four people, so we're not big, anything like huge,
00:18:03 but I also come from Lithuania, where if you work for independent films,
00:18:08 if you're not doing commercials, if you're not doing big commercial TV series,
00:18:13 you will be a company of two, three, maximum four people.
00:18:18 So, for our country, it's like a mid-sized company in the film industry, let's say.
00:18:24 And I think it was the best decision I made to start hiring people and delegating.
00:18:29 And I think it was also the moment when I realized that I became a leader
00:18:35 without knowing I became a leader, you know,
00:18:38 because you do things because you just need to do them,
00:18:41 and suddenly you see that there's like, you are hiring, I don't know,
00:18:45 50, 60 people for the shooting, and somehow they listen to you,
00:18:49 and somehow they do what you ask.
00:18:51 And then this realization came that, OK, I'm actually, I am a leader to these people,
00:18:57 and when I realized that, I was like, oh my God, you know,
00:19:00 I don't know if I'm prepared for that, and I'm already doing that.
00:19:04 So, this was also like, as I said, the university gave me so many great tools and assets,
00:19:09 but those were like really more like technical ones.
00:19:12 But this soft part was, I felt it was missing, and I also was like confused,
00:19:17 like, am I doing good leadership? Maybe I could do better, maybe I could do lots of questions.
00:19:23 I, of course, have them still now sometimes.
00:19:28 Yeah, but that's how many years into your career as a producer,
00:19:32 was it before you were like, you got that revelation that, hey, I'm also a leader?
00:19:38 I think it was like maybe four years or something, when I was just, you know, I did what I want.
00:19:46 I think I was doing it like a hobby, you know, it was a passion, it was my dream to produce films,
00:19:52 and I'm suddenly producing them, and I'm not thinking that I actually run a company, it's a business.
00:19:58 I have, you know, people who work for me, and then suddenly you realize that, oh, it's actually serious,
00:20:05 you know, it's like it's happening.
00:20:07 And yeah, so it was a kind of surprise to myself what I have done, you know, in a good way.
00:20:15 Andreas, how did you and Maria connect initially?
00:20:20 You've been doing your first feature film and your film since then together with Maria, am I right?
00:20:28 Yeah, so I finished film school in Lithuania, also it was during financial crisis, the crisis in 2009,
00:20:37 I finished in 2009, but the crisis was, you know, still very strong, and that was really tough time.
00:20:46 And yeah, and I knew Maria for three years before, and I knew that she has an interest in producing,
00:20:56 because she produced one short film of my course mate, and I had opportunity to see how she was working
00:21:05 in that short film, and, you know, I was really impressed, because at that time the producers from our film school,
00:21:15 I mean, they weren't very great producers, and, you know, what she was doing, it was something, you know,
00:21:24 extraordinary, and when I finished bachelor, I just went to her, or somehow even simultaneously,
00:21:32 I think somehow we just met and we said that we need to work together, and then we started that,
00:21:38 and we did a short film, which was in Lithuania quite successful, and then the first feature,
00:21:44 then the second feature, now we're developing a third feature, and yeah, the work with her is really, really, really great,
00:21:54 and the thing about leadership, what I wanted also to add, that the thing is, and probably it's not very good for director to say that,
00:22:02 but I never, I don't like to be a leader, and to work with Maria, it's such a great, well, pleasure, I think,
00:22:13 because she takes lots of that leadership responsibilities, because somehow when I, sometimes when I see other Lithuanian directors
00:22:20 working with their producers, I see that they do much more things by themselves, and for example, have a big privilege that I don't have to do,
00:22:27 you know, I can, you know, just transfer responsibilities to Maria, and she really, she's, you know, amazing for the kind of a person and a director I am, so yeah.
00:22:44 But Maria, you also told me in the prep for this talk today that when I asked you how do you find your own support, and what sort of your, like,
00:22:55 you know, what, how do you, what choices do you make, you know, in situations where you need support, and you said like, so basically,
00:23:06 choosing my team, choosing my partners is my safety, or my support as a starting point. Can you elaborate?
00:23:15 Yes, I think I'm, like, right now, we are working with four film directors from Lithuania, which we did short films, and then features first, second, third.
00:23:28 So, I really like to focus on, like, something long term, in both in private life and in professional life. I really like to stick to people whom I like,
00:23:41 and not try to jump and, you know, if I like someone, I like to stick around. So, I think with Andris, we've been working 13 or 14 years together.
00:23:50 And I think it's also helps you to stay healthy and sane when you work with people whom you know very well, whom you trust, whom you know you can always be very, very honest.
00:24:04 And like me and Andris, I think we never had an actual, like, argument where we would argue. We discuss a lot, and sometimes those discussions are hot,
00:24:15 but we never argue because we are very, very open with each other. Because of the years we worked together, we really built this open thing,
00:24:25 and I can talk to Andris really about everything, and he does the same. And this openness and trust in each other, I think, helps us to really avoid so many troubles between us.
00:24:39 And then the team, when they see that, that we really have this, like, huge, like, we are like a fist, we're like partners.
00:24:48 We're not like, I'm not above Andris, and Andris is not above me. We are partnering for a film, and we try to pass it to other heads of departments,
00:25:00 that we are like, you know, super open, super transparent, and we encourage everyone else to be that kind of partners in that film.
00:25:11 Alexandra and Ada, I guess your situation is a bit different because you are also a married couple, and so you've said yes to each other at a certain point, and for life,
00:25:22 but when it comes to work and the relationship, the work relationship that I presume has developed sort of organically over the years,
00:25:34 were there a certain point where you realized that you also have to look at it like, really, like, what is the structure between us?
00:25:41 What hats do we wear? What's our, you know, our roles as partners on a film? Like, did you verbalize that towards each other, or has it always been like, just a natural progress?
00:25:56 I think it was getting personal. I don't remember having an argument about filmmaking. We had arguments about the private life where filmmaking is bringing all sorts of things, you know,
00:26:16 because you can't stop working when you go home. It's not that kind of job. And this is always negotiable, and it's a source of tension, and why are you bringing this at home?
00:26:29 Why do you work so late? Why, you know? I used to, you know, work more abroad when I started making features internationally, co-produced.
00:26:42 I went for editing for three months, or stuff like that, and this was tough for the family, and the kids were young at the time, and, you know, there's a certain guilt around that, that will never go.
00:26:59 But, you know, it's a balance that is...
00:27:05 Can I ask, did you have to sort of, like, choose who was the one pushing his or her career at a certain point? Or did you ask for help? Did you have an au pair? Or, I don't know, like, what kind of tools you could, you know, like, how did you handle kids also early stage of your career?
00:27:24 Au pairs, grandfathers, grandmothers, sure. Yeah, but I mean, we were younger also, and probably you want to do more and more, and filmmaking is this kind of second nature. It's not a profession.
00:27:44 Yeah, and I think it was never about filmmaking. It was always negotiating what we do with the rest of our lives, you know, how did we learn to do better, probably. But it's a process, you know, you never stop into that.
00:28:09 Yeah, of course, it's a process like everything in life. But on the side of the personal life, because, okay, he had the films that he was traveling for longer periods in editing and post-production and this and that.
00:28:29 But I had my current travels, markets, festivals, this and that. So, somehow I feel that I was more away. And Aleksandr, I always said that he is the best Jewish mother I know.
00:28:55 I was looking much more over the kids when they were young. I was, as a mindset saying, no, they have to figure it out for themselves. Let's not pamper them too much. Let's not control them too much. Let them do.
00:29:18 And when they need support and help, they should come towards us. And I still believe in this type. Of course, we were showing love. We were appreciating them. We were following their successes and their eventual small problems.
00:29:37 I won't call them failures at all. They are lovely kids. But I felt now that I'm looking back that I was more absent during their childhood than their father.
00:29:53 Now when we have talks with them, sometimes they are accusing us that we were overprotecting them. Okay, that we were too present, too protective. They were too comfortable.
00:30:10 Which is really weird to hear. Absolutely weird. But then in the partnership, indeed, I'm picking the people that I'm working with and not the projects.
00:30:32 Or at least up to this point, especially for this author-driven cinema, it's the person, the values that we share. And of course, we share the same values.
00:30:47 And of course, it came organically for the projects that we were making and we were doing the best for this temporary kid in the family, the film.
00:31:01 And no, no, no, we never argued about going like this or going like that. There were some moments when he was losing the confidence in some of the projects that they will be possible.
00:31:22 Or some achievements like for Cold Waves, one of Aleksandr's film, I had this idea that we need to have riders on the storm in the film as part of the soundtrack of the film.
00:31:42 The doors track? The doors. And we were listening and we said, "Yeah, it will be fantastic." But no, we don't have the money for that. No, it's impossible.
00:31:54 And I was going on on my idea and managing to get that. At that time, it was fantastic. And then for Capitalism, the moment that you were thinking of giving up on the project, even though it was a fantastic project and he worked a lot.
00:32:16 But the financing was not coming in place. It's not coming, not coming. And there I think I was what I am for my directors, the back of the chair in terms of keeping them.
00:32:32 And then I think that there is also something else in the relation and I would be curious to hear also how it is for Odrios to be one of the directors.
00:32:51 And the feeling of, let's call it jealousy when your producer is focusing on the other director or it's getting, you know, that's very sensitive.
00:33:09 It's like the siblings in a family. Mama loves more this one. Daddy has more time with this, the little one and doesn't allow me to play with the little one.
00:33:24 And, you know, it might sound childish, but it's not. It's very human. And yeah, I would be curious.
00:33:41 Because I mean, I was never jealous of the other directors that you deal with. But I must say that we had discussions about her, let's say, thinking of herself as keeping the backs of the directors.
00:33:56 And I think she's much more than that. And I think we are, you know, elevated or educated in cultures where there's this author driven blah blah about film, which is becoming more and more toxic.
00:34:11 And it's, you know, we had discussions about this. You mean the author, the author as the God, as the core.
00:34:24 And the producer seeing herself or himself as a sort of, you know, support. And I'm working on Ada to, you know, accept that she's much more than that.
00:34:38 And she needs to stand up more for this, I think, with all the things that she did. Sorry.
00:34:45 Andreas, you have some thoughts on this topic?
00:34:51 Yeah, but maybe I shouldn't share them. I mean, I remember because, you know, I was basically the first director. Of course, I had, you know, some feelings whenever I appeared.
00:35:04 And, you know, they did the film and it, you know, got into better festival than mine first.
00:35:12 But now, I mean, I'm just, you know, very happy. And, you know, Maria is, you know, sane, clever director and she understands, I think, all those dynamics.
00:35:25 And she probably, you know, sees when something is, she gives you attention, you know, so everything is fine about that.
00:35:34 OK, so if we can jump back to sort of the professional path, both Maria and Ada, you've been, you actually both, I hear you both say we didn't, I didn't do film school, I didn't study abroad.
00:35:47 But you did all these, you caught up later, if I can say it in brief.
00:35:55 And Maria, you mentioned you were part of Maya first, then Eave, then Ace, and then last year, Ace Producers Leadership Special, which Ada was also part of the same year, which is actually a bit of a coincidence.
00:36:10 We didn't choose you because of this to sit on this panel. But I would like to hear about your some of your learnings from this, that process, that kind of the after education that you sought out.
00:36:21 And that international training, what it has given you. And also, if you can spill some beans on what they what they teach you over at Ace Producers Leadership, I would love to hear more.
00:36:36 So it's true. I did like every three, four years, some kind of producers workshop because I was feeling this gap of not going to the film school at first.
00:36:51 Later, I became just, you know, I did it because I felt like I need to know something more.
00:36:57 I'm curious to meet people, to network because I started working internationally. Then I wanted to, I had some other goals.
00:37:06 So I was always like curious. And I think we have to learn all of our lives. It's like never ending process again.
00:37:17 Like if I stop learning, I feel very bad. So I have to always do something about it.
00:37:26 This is very personal thing for me, but I always like have to. Yeah, I'm just a curious person, I guess.
00:37:34 So last year, the last thing what we did was Ace Leadership. It was 10 producers that run their companies.
00:37:42 They run them at least for 10 years or something. And we spent like almost two weeks, like a week in June and a week in September with some homework in between.
00:37:55 Talking, first of all, identifying what kind of leaders we are, like really professionally, because leadership is like as wide as this world.
00:38:06 So what kind of type of leader you are, how do you work with your team, how do you manage your company as a business, not as a hobby and etc.
00:38:15 So this was like taking off like a holiday or a treat for yourself as a leader from going away from everyday work and routine.
00:38:25 And actually really revisiting what we've done, where we are and where we want to go.
00:38:30 Because with this, where we want to go, we very often we have it in our guts.
00:38:36 But when you need to spit it out and say to everyone, so my vision is and you're like so and my vision is, yeah, I want to be a good producer.
00:38:45 But there we really have to say, what is my vision as a company? What is my vision as a leader?
00:38:52 And when you need to put that into words, you really have to prepare. So this made us think, this made us do a lot of homework.
00:39:01 And also on top of everything I said, this gave us such a nice feeling that there are another nine producers in the room that have similar experience
00:39:14 or also different experience that have similar struggles and successes.
00:39:19 And we could all share that in this very, very intimate and safe environment.
00:39:26 So it was a very well crafted gift to myself as a leader, I would say.
00:39:34 I mean, you're already established producers, you're award winning filmmakers.
00:39:38 But getting to that, was it the first time that you kind of like looked at your own career with that perspective or sort of like taking a step back and sort of reflecting on the bigger picture?
00:39:53 No, no, it wasn't the first time. But I think it again depends, you know, when you first do it like three years after producing, it's one thing.
00:40:01 When you do it, now it's 15 years when I'm doing it. So it's a different perspective when you look back what I've done and how I've done it, all the mistakes I learned while doing it.
00:40:15 And so it's and you need to revisit every now and then, because the vision I had five years ago is out of date.
00:40:22 Now I have slightly different one. Maybe in a year I have a new one again.
00:40:27 But I have to ask myself if I'm still in the, you know, where I want to go.
00:40:33 And if my team knows where I want to go as a leader of that company or of that business, do the directors know?
00:40:41 So we had to revisit and do the homework.
00:40:46 And in brief, if you can sum up your conclusions from that workshop, which, you know, really speaks into your life and your future as a producer, what is good leadership to you personally?
00:41:03 For me, good leadership is like vague.
00:41:08 But I think if I'm working for like I have my company for 15 years and I have four directors, I've been working all that years with me.
00:41:20 I think it's a proof that they know most likely where I'm going and what's the vision that we are following.
00:41:29 So I think having this intention, like leading with intention, the name of the panel is a sign of a good leadership, because there are leaders who just want power, leaders who want money, leaders who want both.
00:41:43 But that's the goal, money and power. And I think that's for me, it's not a good leadership.
00:41:49 For me, if you first of all have some kind of direction, money and power go along.
00:41:55 But you have to, that for me, money and power is never a goal.
00:41:59 It's just a tool to reach the goal I want to go.
00:42:03 So for me, it's like, yeah, knowing the direction is one thing.
00:42:10 And then for me personally, it's also like I'm not kind of like very vertical leader.
00:42:17 I really like when things happen horizontally, that we work more like in this horizontal leadership way.
00:42:23 Yeah, so I really work closely with my team, though I'm the only one owning the company, but I really involve them a lot into all the decisions, the most important ones about the projects.
00:42:36 The same with the directors, as I said, we partner for the film.
00:42:40 And it's not like me telling what to do or the director telling what to do.
00:42:44 We partner and we work. So this communication, trust in each other and having the common vision.
00:42:56 Ada?
00:43:00 Yeah, well, I'm also I've learned a lot and it was really wide eyes widening in discovering how similar we are, despite our backgrounds, different cultural background.
00:43:24 I mean, I didn't knew Maria. I mean, maybe we've met once or twice, but really briefly.
00:43:32 Hello. Hello. I am and you are. But we spent these two weeks and now I feel that we are buddies for a lifetime because we are also very similar in a way.
00:43:50 And our what we felt like weaknesses, we were talking, for instance, a lot of the Eastern European complex that we are not at the level and we are downsized, auto downsized because we are coming from a small territory and this and that.
00:44:10 And then we understood that it's not really like this and that there were so many lessons. And it was for me, it was also a journey to to to better understand myself and what on earth I do want and and that I'm not alone in that.
00:44:34 And yeah, it's it's it was very, very inspiring. And I wish that this I was also talking with some colleagues from other sectors in our business.
00:44:51 I think that this is something that that would be very helpful also for other type of organizations, markets, festivals, stuff in terms of what it is, leadership and how, because it's such a collective work.
00:45:07 But in the same time, it needs the vision and to answer the question regarding the vision and what I discovered or consolidated during the workshop.
00:45:23 I think that for me, the most important thing and I completely agree, power and money are tools, not scope.
00:45:35 The scope for me is to leave a trace and to to to to get the energies around me together to leave a trace on my path on this earth.
00:45:49 That's my goal. That's my charity and my profession, I think.
00:45:55 Is it also nerve wracking to to change your way after doing certain things successfully, but but but kind of learning by doing for years and then stepping back and looking and maybe concluding that you need to change specific things in your company or in your within yourselves?
00:46:17 No, I mean, I like changing because then I feel that I'm learning.
00:46:23 And this is a very good feeling, because if I would need to do all the time, everything the same, I would feel like I'm not going anywhere.
00:46:32 So it's like I think we need to change because times change, because the situation is different. And I tell to my friend that you can you cannot learn produce a film because every time the film is different.
00:46:50 So it's like every film requires different kind of producer on one hand.
00:46:56 So this learning curve, this need to change, I think is important and we have to adapt.
00:47:02 It's necessary to be able to.
00:47:04 I think so, because if you want to sustain, if you want to keep your company running, you have to adjust because we know what happened with the COVID, post-COVID, financial crisis and everything.
00:47:16 So we always all of us, we had to find our ways out of those.
00:47:22 And I think for me, yeah, I was I learned a lot from my own mistakes.
00:47:27 Then I started learning from other mistakes, others mistakes.
00:47:31 And I think it was like it was important because I'm also that kind of person that I really want to.
00:47:40 I'm not afraid to risk. I'm not afraid to take the responsibility.
00:47:45 And then I know that the price will be that I will have to learn from my own mistakes.
00:47:49 So I'm I'm fine with that. And yeah, now I think I'm way better at doing it.
00:48:00 If we can talk, we've talked about you as as leaders and sort of the maybe also the personal toll that your careers can take on you.
00:48:11 But you are also leaders to two teams, two crews.
00:48:16 And I want to ask you if you feel that your your productions and your companies are safe places to work.
00:48:22 And do you have the necessary mechanisms in case of if something happens, mental health issues on set?
00:48:31 Do you feel that you have those so to those tools at hand or, you know, what number to call in case of emergency?
00:48:40 I'm not talking physical emergency, but obviously the psychological aspects.
00:48:48 I think we can always do better. We don't have like regulation by the law.
00:48:54 We don't have unions who would imply this on us or anything.
00:48:59 So it's basically left on the responsibility of the producer to do something about it.
00:49:05 But I always like for me, it's really important that people feel safe, comfortable and they feel valued.
00:49:14 And they feel that it's really a safe environment where the work is appreciated.
00:49:20 So, again, here we invest a lot in talking to the team and communicating daily so that we can see if there's like any problems coming and not just to see how it explodes.
00:49:33 So I think, again, communication is very important.
00:49:36 And when it comes to the production already, of course, it's much harder because the team gets really huge.
00:49:42 So then we do the work with the production manager who's much closer to the team on the set so that we can address this topic.
00:49:50 We try to work with, of course, like when necessary, intimacy coordinators.
00:49:56 And we always have consultants for one or another question who comes to the meetings with the team so that we can have it.
00:50:04 But like, yeah, as I said, we don't have like regulated mechanisms.
00:50:10 We have a clause in the agreements with all the team that we as producer, we do our best to ensure the safe environment for them.
00:50:20 And they can always approach the production manager and the producer and the rest of the production team whom they feel they are safe to talk about issues that worry them.
00:50:33 But, yeah, I think what I said we could do better is like maybe like in other countries who have this like regulated.
00:50:42 And I don't know, for the moment, it's like really on the shoulders of the producer and on our responsibility.
00:50:51 Andreas, I wanted to ask you about the kind of similar question, but you in the role as a director, many eyes on you.
00:50:59 But I also know you have specific experiences from your first feature.
00:51:03 You want to tell the story maybe?
00:51:06 Yeah, so we had a lead actor in our film and I worked with him since I was in a film school.
00:51:15 He's in every film of mine.
00:51:17 And like a month before a shooting, he got a very severe psychotic episode and it was like a total bad surprise in every way.
00:51:34 Because, first of all, he's a human being and your colleague, your friend.
00:51:40 And then you think also about your film and that role was written specifically for him.
00:51:46 And at that time, it was 2015.
00:51:50 It was like eight years ago.
00:51:52 It's not that long ago.
00:51:53 But in Lithuania, there was no much talking about mental health issues like at all.
00:52:00 And it was also really challenging for us at the moment to understand how to navigate the situation.
00:52:09 And of course, we talked to him a lot.
00:52:17 And of course, we were thinking maybe we should change the actor, but we didn't want to do that.
00:52:23 And we had agreement with him that he will... because after a week of that episode, he got better.
00:52:33 He got some, I don't know how to say correctly, like a sensible mind, because it was a really severe episode.
00:52:43 And why I'm talking about this publicly? Because he's very public.
00:52:47 I just need to say that.
00:52:49 In Lithuania, the story is really well known.
00:52:52 And he became like really outspoken about the mental health situation on one of the most outspoken voices in Lithuania.
00:53:01 Because he's a kind of celebrity in Lithuania.
00:53:05 So he decided he wanted to do that part.
00:53:08 And then it was again another challenge how to... how we should work on a set.
00:53:18 And of course, there were lots of talking with people from the crew.
00:53:24 And also between the two of you basically making the final decision, are we continuing with him?
00:53:29 Yeah, because it was very risky.
00:53:32 For what reasons? For our own sake or for his sake?
00:53:35 Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like really so many complications.
00:53:39 And plus, there was no written notebook of rules of what we should do.
00:53:47 And somehow after eight years, I think that we went a good... we chose a good path.
00:53:56 And everything worked out well.
00:53:59 And somehow I even think that process of shooting helped even somehow for him.
00:54:04 Because at that point, he felt probably extremely weak.
00:54:08 And maybe he will lose his career even.
00:54:12 Because he didn't understand what was happening in his brain.
00:54:16 But that month of the shooting, he got much healthier in a way.
00:54:25 And it worked out really, really nice.
00:54:28 So it was really interesting and tough.
00:54:32 And I don't have a conclusion of the story probably.
00:54:37 But did you find support sort of externally to make any of these decisions?
00:54:43 Or was it more like between the two of you that you just had to like basically have this conversation for the first time?
00:54:50 How do we handle a situation like this?
00:54:53 Well, of course, first of all, we were talking a lot with Maria, with actor, Marius.
00:54:58 But of course, I was talking with doctors a lot.
00:55:04 And they said for me that it's his choice.
00:55:09 I mean, he can do that if he wants. He can do that.
00:55:12 And maybe it will even get better. Maybe not.
00:55:16 But it's his choice.
00:55:18 Like basically what doctor said that you don't need to --
00:55:23 If you will say that he can't do that, it will really be probably --
00:55:29 It will make a bigger harm for him.
00:55:32 It could harm him.
00:55:34 And so you need to just let him choose what to do.
00:55:39 And let him choose to work.
00:55:42 No, it was just a very short note that we felt huge responsibility with Andrus.
00:55:49 Yes, we were in talks with his doctors, also with his wife and his family himself.
00:55:55 So it was like the whole council talking about it.
00:56:00 And we were all very open that what if he gets worse if we go to the shoot?
00:56:06 He will feel terrible because we kind of take him into that.
00:56:10 But then we were thinking he will feel immediately very down if we say no.
00:56:16 We are taking another actor just because you have this mental issue.
00:56:21 So that will immediately put him back to a very, very bad situation.
00:56:27 And he was like, I really need that role.
00:56:29 That will really help me.
00:56:31 And we were like, we could never be sure that it's true.
00:56:34 But we thought, yeah, we trust ourselves, our guts and what he says
00:56:40 and what the other people say.
00:56:42 Nobody said that it's forbidden to do that.
00:56:45 So we were like, OK, we will try to prepare the team because he was open about his health.
00:56:50 So we talked with the team about it so that everybody would be very attentive to him
00:56:55 but not too much at the same time so that everybody could help him to make this role happen.
00:57:02 And I agree with Andres that now from this perspective, I think it was a better decision
00:57:07 to allow him to do the role because it really helped him to heal and be open about it.
00:57:15 This opens a conversation about working with vulnerable contributors,
00:57:21 as it is called professionally.
00:57:24 I think maybe also when working in documentary,
00:57:27 you're really working with sometimes difficult content, much more one-to-one,
00:57:34 difficult material maybe to edit, to look through for a long time.
00:57:38 And also, Aleksandr, you also work for One World Film Festival.
00:57:42 And I know that people working in mental health film festivals,
00:57:46 the programmers, teams, filmmakers, audiences, it's not easy content.
00:57:52 It's challenging content.
00:57:56 So there is this--
00:57:59 What I'm doing with Stay in Cinema, I'm partly building it on the data that is out of the UK,
00:58:04 the Looking Glass reports, surveys among the British film industry.
00:58:08 We don't really have any surveys like that in the rest of Europe.
00:58:11 Hopefully, they will come at some point.
00:58:14 But when you look at these numbers that are quite alarming,
00:58:17 how are people doing in film, working in the film and TV industry,
00:58:23 there is also a point looking at people in greater risk.
00:58:28 And these people are women, it's freelancers, which is a big part of a majority of our industry,
00:58:34 and these different subcategories of people working in film.
00:58:38 And among these are also people working with vulnerable contributors,
00:58:42 maybe working with the subjects that are--
00:58:46 or lead actors that are already challenged,
00:58:51 or you're working with--basically with difficult content.
00:58:54 Aleksandar, can you recognize any of this?
00:58:59 Is it--I mean, you work in documentary mainly.
00:59:04 Have you ever felt kind of challenged by the content that you're dealing with
00:59:09 and having to think maybe also about your team,
00:59:12 your editors sitting and watching material over and over again?
00:59:18 Was it ever an issue for you?
00:59:20 There are so many issues there that you are mentioning, very different, you know.
00:59:23 So, I don't know where to start.
00:59:25 But I think you slipped something.
00:59:27 You said mental health film festival, One World Romania is human rights.
00:59:31 Human rights film festival?
00:59:33 You can call it like that, yes.
00:59:35 There are mental health film festivals around the world?
00:59:38 No, but I'm going to tell my guys in Bucharest that we can call ourselves a mental health film festival.
00:59:44 It's true.
00:59:46 Coming back to filmmaking, you know, in documentary--
00:59:50 and this is why I ran away from fiction.
00:59:53 I was doing--I was photographing fiction, and then I ran away
00:59:56 because it usually gets a madhouse there.
00:59:58 It's too many people, and I want to be alone most of the time.
01:00:02 I'm not like her, you know.
01:00:05 And documentary teams are small, and it's four or five people,
01:00:09 and, you know, the subjects, it's always a very close relationship.
01:00:14 And usually the people I deal with are more powerful, so I'm fine with that.
01:00:21 I'm the vulnerable person.
01:00:23 All this is what I like to--I have the power of the camera, but not other things.
01:00:30 And I avoided--on the last film, we did the casting for these pilgrims,
01:00:35 and there was somebody that I thought he was mentally disturbed a bit,
01:00:41 and we didn't take him, you know, because it's so difficult to protect somebody
01:00:47 that is in a film like this where you expose him,
01:00:51 and it's different than when an actor, which is a different persona,
01:00:56 this guy would have put himself as himself in the film.
01:01:01 So, no, I don't think there's a way to--
01:01:06 I don't have the courage to do this, you know.
01:01:10 And then coming--sorry, coming back to festivals, yes, that's where the stress is,
01:01:19 and what we were trying to build in One World Romania was a structure
01:01:24 that is not only working for the festival, which is, what, ten days a year,
01:01:29 and then people are off to other jobs, and they have to run for other jobs,
01:01:33 so we wanted to build other programs that keep them busy
01:01:36 and also paid for a longer period throughout the year,
01:01:42 and that also gives them a sort of purpose that is permanent, that we--
01:01:48 also, you know, my role there, it's on one hand to keep a bit the memory
01:01:55 of the organization and the vision that we had 15 years ago,
01:02:01 and also to, you know, transfer it to the new guys,
01:02:04 and I hope that one day I will transfer it for good, and trying and working on that.
01:02:11 But there is a lot of burnout in festivals.
01:02:14 There is--what I've been trying to do is downscaling.
01:02:21 Downsizing?
01:02:22 Downsizing.
01:02:24 And usually it's difficult because when people arrive in the organization,
01:02:28 they want to do more, and they have lots of ideas,
01:02:32 and why don't we do this or that, and there's no money,
01:02:36 there's no people enough, no resources, so all this falls on the same people,
01:02:42 and in the end, they burn out.
01:02:45 So, you know, I'm trying to play that bad guy part that says,
01:02:52 "We can't do this, sorry."
01:02:54 You know, we try to make it smaller.
01:02:58 It's going to be good.
01:02:59 But it's tough, you know, because ambitions are high,
01:03:03 and of course younger people want to achieve stuff.
01:03:06 Sorry if it was long.
01:03:09 Maria, you wanted to add something?
01:03:14 Do we have any questions or comments from you?
01:03:20 Yes?
01:03:21 And we have a mic.
01:03:22 Please wait for the mic.
01:03:26 Hi.
01:03:27 I would like to take this opportunity that we have two couples of director-producer.
01:03:33 I would like to know how you work together.
01:03:36 What's the mechanism?
01:03:37 Because, you know, as leaders, producers, and directors,
01:03:41 you are both leading your teams, and that necessarily leads to a conflict.
01:03:46 Sometimes there must be a conflict.
01:03:48 So do you have some special mechanisms when you get into this place
01:03:55 when you clash and you know you have to go further?
01:04:00 How do you resolve these situations?
01:04:02 Do you have some special mechanisms that you develop throughout the years
01:04:05 because you keep working together?
01:04:07 So there must be some kind of way how you do it.
01:04:15 I don't think I would call it a special mechanism,
01:04:18 but let's say our way of doing it.
01:04:22 I think me and Andrés, we kind of--
01:04:29 I briefly mentioned at the beginning that we really show
01:04:33 that we are equal partners in this film
01:04:37 and that we are very open and transparent.
01:04:40 Like there is no stuff just for the producer
01:04:43 or Andrés doesn't hide anything from me.
01:04:47 And we really present this to the team that we want to work this way.
01:04:52 We want to be open and communicate to each other,
01:04:55 address the problems when we see them,
01:04:58 and that you can't have and you don't need to have any taboos.
01:05:02 If you--I don't know if you have a question about the budget
01:05:06 and you want to ask me, come and ask.
01:05:08 I will show you everything.
01:05:10 I'm super transparent. I have nothing to hide.
01:05:12 And the same goes to any kind of questions.
01:05:16 Of course, sometimes problems arise,
01:05:18 and I just had a very recent situation with one of my productions
01:05:23 where a person with whom we worked for many years,
01:05:27 and you know the person and you trust the person,
01:05:30 but things happen and people change,
01:05:32 and this person was a different person this time.
01:05:35 And we had--it wasn't a conflict,
01:05:39 but we had a clash, and it was a fundamental clash.
01:05:47 And it was very difficult for me that someone with whom I worked
01:05:51 for so many years and I trusted and I thought this is like a partnership for life,
01:05:56 and it wasn't.
01:05:57 So it was like I really tried to invite that person to talk about it.
01:06:03 I asked if something happened, if I did something,
01:06:06 or if someone else created some problem.
01:06:11 But he was really reserved and made a block and didn't want to talk,
01:06:15 so then I tried again, and in the end we had to finish the project together.
01:06:20 We did it, but again, I'm that person who wants to be very straightforward
01:06:26 and talk about problems if we have them.
01:06:29 After the production, I again invited him to have coffee.
01:06:33 I said, "Okay, we breathe now, everything's over, let's meet and talk
01:06:37 because I can't leave it like that because you're a nice person
01:06:40 and I don't want this to be in the air."
01:06:44 So we kind of talked what happened, but I think it was also some kind of
01:06:52 maybe ego clash as well.
01:06:55 From today's perspective, I think it was like when you are in position,
01:07:01 you'd like to be a bit higher and then you start kind of finding your ways out.
01:07:06 It's really hard to avoid that.
01:07:08 I try to encourage everyone and delegate a lot,
01:07:11 but sometimes this just happens and you can't avoid that kind of clashes or conflicts.
01:07:16 But my way is just to really address the problem when I see it,
01:07:21 not to hide behind someone or just talk with someone.
01:07:25 I come to that person and I say, "Look, can we have a talk and let's talk over it?"
01:07:30 It happens during a production, right?
01:07:33 So either you have to take it face on or you will have to say it out loud,
01:07:38 "Let's save this for later."
01:07:40 No, no later.
01:07:42 Because if you see the problem rising and you leave it for later,
01:07:46 it will explode sooner or later and then you have more problems.
01:07:50 So I'm the one that I really like to...
01:07:55 Yeah.
01:07:57 Ada?
01:07:59 Yeah, it took me a long time to learn to discuss the issues
01:08:10 and not protect the filmmakers to the end of the world.
01:08:18 Really, they have to create.
01:08:22 We don't have the money, but we will find a way.
01:08:25 And not sharing.
01:08:27 In the last years, and I think that this is part of my growth in the last period,
01:08:34 that I'm able to address and discuss and find...
01:08:40 With him, I never had this problem.
01:08:44 Probably also because I consider him that he's powerful,
01:08:52 he is not as vulnerable as my other directors.
01:08:57 And we will find a solution together.
01:09:03 So I was never hiding things from him or not talking about them openly.
01:09:12 Because somehow, weird enough, I trusted him more,
01:09:19 that we are together in it and we will cross the bridge together.
01:09:24 It's falling, but we will cross it together.
01:09:28 We won't sell our house, you know, in the end.
01:09:31 We stay in the same house.
01:09:33 Yeah, and on top, we are not selling our house.
01:09:36 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:09:37 This I remember once a discussion when I wanted to make a loan
01:09:42 and it could have not been possible without putting some property warranty
01:09:50 because the system in Romania is very weak still.
01:09:54 And he said, "You know what?
01:09:56 You do whatever you want for your directors and for your films and so on,
01:10:00 but up to the house."
01:10:03 That's the limit.
01:10:04 That's the limit.
01:10:06 This, for no film in the world, I'm sorry.
01:10:11 Yeah, and we found another solution.
01:10:13 But I'm a very shy person and I'm a non-conflictual person.
01:10:24 So it took me time to learn to address problems and discuss them.
01:10:33 And also, it's another thing that it's coming out from communism
01:10:37 that we were teached that no is not an answer.
01:10:44 No, it's not polite.
01:10:46 No, it's--so until I learned to say no, it took me quite some time.
01:10:54 But I'm very proud of myself that I'm getting there
01:10:58 and I'm still able to change and to learn and to address things.
01:11:03 Sometimes the best ideas are coming from my directors.
01:11:08 But you've learned to say no to projects also or to specific--
01:11:12 I've learned this as well.
01:11:15 I understood at a certain point that I can't do all the things
01:11:20 that I felt enthusiastic about.
01:11:25 It's not possible.
01:11:27 But it's difficult to make a choice even in a restaurant for me
01:11:31 to pick this or this plate.
01:11:33 So he's getting crazy sometimes.
01:11:37 But just to sort of generalize across the panel here,
01:11:42 you do wear many hats.
01:11:44 You're readers for your fund.
01:11:47 You are consult in film.
01:11:49 You teach in film.
01:11:51 You run a film festival also.
01:11:53 And you are independent filmmakers.
01:11:57 So there are also many interests at stake here and in play.
01:12:02 And if I may ask about like--with all that in mind
01:12:08 and looking at a topic like mental health and sort of health and safety on set,
01:12:14 do you feel that, you know, let's say that it would be helpful for you
01:12:23 as filmmakers and as film producers to have more codes of conduct
01:12:27 or regulation to lean on?
01:12:29 Or are you more seeking a way in your local industries where there is sort of,
01:12:35 let's say, a choice to be made but the information is there,
01:12:40 the information where to go in case of emergency,
01:12:43 in case of a mental health situation?
01:12:45 What kind of like--what could help your local industries, do you feel?
01:12:52 I don't know.
01:12:54 I really don't know if regulations, especially in our part of the world,
01:13:01 I mean rules are made to be broken.
01:13:06 And I don't believe in this.
01:13:08 I think that--I believe much more in education per se and common sense
01:13:18 and kind of community blaming or excluding the aggressive behavior
01:13:33 or the lack of respect.
01:13:38 I think it's a--at the end of the day, I think it's a civic action
01:13:45 that we can do together as a community and we should treat it like so
01:13:51 in terms of respect, in terms of, you know, vulnerabilities,
01:13:56 in terms of everything.
01:14:01 More regulations, I don't see them as bringing more.
01:14:09 More discussion, yes, more openness and, you know, not necessarily--
01:14:16 but in groups we had in ACE, these sessions, not necessarily in the workshops
01:14:25 but sometimes we get together and we exchange ideas and,
01:14:30 "Hey, what do you think about this? How should I approach it?
01:14:34 Have you encountered this type of situation?
01:14:37 Do you have any recommendations?"
01:14:39 You know, this kind of professional exchange but that can stay into a room
01:14:44 and it's intimate and you allow yourself--we had it also in Eva Network,
01:14:50 this kind of discussing the subject and then putting on the table
01:14:54 whatever weaknesses we have or problems or unanswered questions.
01:14:59 And I think that this is really this kind of confessional
01:15:05 without necessarily the solution coming from the other
01:15:09 but by discussing it and expressing it, that's my type of approach.
01:15:15 Yeah, that's my take.
01:15:17 I'm obviously asking because the whole subject of mental health
01:15:20 and mental well-being is still kind of like taboo in some environments
01:15:26 and it can be stigmatizing to be the one who's speaking out,
01:15:31 to be the one who's vulnerable on a team or on a crew.
01:15:36 I think there's one more elephant in the room, you know,
01:15:40 because I think our nerves are wrecked in filmmaking
01:15:44 mostly by the political and social environment.
01:15:50 Most of the time, and Ada does much more than this in the sense,
01:15:55 it's the governmental policies in filmmaking that they keep, you know,
01:16:01 shitting around, excuse me, for the world.
01:16:06 So, there's always a new bad thing happening in policies
01:16:13 about culture and filmmaking that you have to organize people,
01:16:18 you know, start a mutiny, go and make a demonstration,
01:16:22 make a petition, and this is above all the things in production and filmmaking.
01:16:28 And this keeps us busy, you know, for the past 20 years.
01:16:32 We've been in so many meetings and petitions and demonstrations and whatever
01:16:37 that I think it sucked our blood a lot.
01:16:41 And, you know, even now people come and say,
01:16:46 "Why don't you make this because others rely on Ada or somebody else to start it,
01:16:52 to organize it? This shit happened. You need to do something about it, Maria."
01:16:57 Why don't you do it?
01:16:59 And then this keeps you constantly busy and mentally disturbed in a way, you know,
01:17:07 above this personal thing, human basic thing.
01:17:13 And I agree with Ada that it's a, you know, a film set,
01:17:17 it's somehow sort of ground for abuse sometimes, you know.
01:17:24 It's usually the director who practices it, not the producer.
01:17:29 I haven't seen much on that.
01:17:32 Yeah. So, yes.
01:17:37 And this has to be sanctioned, you know, as much as you can by the rest of the team,
01:17:45 not by some governmental bodies or policies that aren't there anyway, you know.
01:17:52 You're not going to call the police because the director is swearing at the cast or whatever, no?
01:17:59 What do you think from a Lithuanian standpoint and in your industry?
01:18:04 Yeah, well, I think it could be nice to have, you know, regulation,
01:18:11 but I still totally agree with Ada that I just can't imagine, for example, how you…
01:18:17 I think, I mean, you need to educate, first of all, of course,
01:18:21 but, you know, when I'm trying to imagine practical the way how you can do that,
01:18:28 like, for example, camera crew and electrician, like lighting department,
01:18:32 how you can educate those guys, I mean, how you can put them in the room to listen,
01:18:38 because, I mean, we don't have unions, which can help with such things,
01:18:46 because it's like basically producers should bring all those guys, bikers, big dudes,
01:18:53 and put them in the room.
01:18:56 I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, because, yeah, so somehow we should do that,
01:19:03 but I have no idea how at the moment, and also what you said about country and government things,
01:19:10 yeah, it also has a toll on your mental health a lot in our country too,
01:19:15 and to deal with all those things, with changes,
01:19:19 and sometimes you don't understand why those changes are happening, you know.
01:19:25 I think some kind of regulation, which would be much more advisory one,
01:19:32 that could be something helpful, especially for young producers who just start,
01:19:37 and sometimes it's good just to have something to lean on,
01:19:42 when you need advice, when you need some ideas,
01:19:45 but totally this shouldn't be like, you know, put on top of us,
01:19:49 because appreciate each other, work together, respect each other,
01:19:53 that should come from your, I don't know, family, school, life in general,
01:20:00 you should be able to do that when you're a grown-up person,
01:20:03 and for me I think the best mechanism is to show good example.
01:20:07 Like, I really, like, as a producer, I know that it's also,
01:20:14 and I like it to show good example to my team, how we should communicate,
01:20:20 that there is no taboo topics, that there is like, we should be kind to each other,
01:20:26 we shouldn't swear, we shouldn't shout at each other,
01:20:29 even if I'm angry, I can say it in a professional way.
01:20:33 Set an example.
01:20:34 Yes, so for me this is my way of doing it, and because we work together,
01:20:40 I would like you also to do it in a nice way.
01:20:44 Yes, we have a comment down here.
01:20:52 Hello. Everything what Ada said resonates with me so much.
01:20:56 I'm also helping people without being asked, and I'm very shy.
01:21:00 It was so hard to me to ask this question, but I overcame my fears,
01:21:03 and I'm going to ask two questions.
01:21:07 How do you work with the authors, like, writers?
01:21:11 And the second question about LGBT content in Romania and Lithuania.
01:21:16 Would you take the film in production with a storyline about, like,
01:21:22 people of one gender being in love?
01:21:25 Sorry, if it's not related to the topic, but…
01:21:29 Did you hear? I heard the first part is about how do you work with writers, authors?
01:21:36 The first one I got it, how do I work with the writers and the authors.
01:21:39 And another one is about the attitude of society in two countries to LGBT content in the films.
01:21:46 Would you take one film with the storylines about that?
01:21:49 LGBT plus content?
01:21:52 Yeah.
01:21:54 It's just because of acoustics and the speakers.
01:22:00 So how do I work with the authors? That's what I was saying a little bit.
01:22:05 It's like we need to share the same values,
01:22:11 and I need to see the motivation in an author to go along this long path.
01:22:22 I care less about a finished script or this is fixable.
01:22:28 I want to know that he or she knows why they want to make the film.
01:22:37 And then the work itself, I mean, that's also something that I said,
01:22:43 and probably Aleksandru is right by now,
01:22:47 that I'm not only the back of the chair for them,
01:22:52 but I position myself like this, I support your vision,
01:22:59 and do everything for your vision.
01:23:03 Probably I contribute more by putting the questions that I'm putting
01:23:08 without giving them hints because I'm not a creative person,
01:23:12 and if I want to become creative, I will do my own film.
01:23:16 I'm not interfering in the film of my filmmakers.
01:23:22 But I question things, and I want them to make the best film
01:23:28 that they could eventually make.
01:23:31 And this is also questionable because what I think is the best film,
01:23:37 maybe it's not what they think is the best film they can make.
01:23:40 And here again, it's a long debate.
01:23:43 Then the LGBT thing, we produced a film that is called Soldiers,
01:23:53 a story from Ferentari.
01:23:56 It was a debut feature, and it was supported by the Romanian Film Fund
01:24:03 with quite an impressive amount.
01:24:07 There are many bad things in the Romanian system,
01:24:13 and the way we relate with the authorities,
01:24:18 and how much they care about culture and cinema in special,
01:24:23 but there is one thing that I treasure,
01:24:26 and it's for the time being absolutely there.
01:24:30 It's the freedom of expression,
01:24:32 and there is nothing political or the lectures,
01:24:39 the members of the selection committees that are changing every session,
01:24:44 they are not at all pushed by anything else than their own convictions.
01:24:51 So, which sometimes are not the best,
01:24:57 but there is no intrusion from the authority
01:25:02 into the freedom of speech of the filmmakers,
01:25:05 and that's invaluable.
01:25:08 Not many people understand precisely what kind of extraordinary thing is that,
01:25:15 but I promise you that for this I'm really happy that I'm living in Romania today
01:25:22 and not in Hungary, for instance.
01:25:26 On the same topic, I think I can very briefly just echo to what Ada said.
01:25:33 The relationship with the authors, writers, is very, like, again,
01:25:42 I just would say I need to question a lot of things and bring issues on the table
01:25:49 and see what kind of argument I have and what kind of argument the scriptwriter would have,
01:25:56 and we briefly discuss and sometimes find a third argument together,
01:26:02 why we should change or not change, and etc.
01:26:06 So, again, this is the process of the development, the usual one,
01:26:11 so I think it's very healthy to share and to listen to each other
01:26:17 and to hear it as well, not only listen but also hear.
01:26:21 And you learn this process and it gets smoother and smoother with the next films
01:26:28 because you know each other better.
01:26:31 About LGBTQ+, I produced two films,
01:26:36 and "Slow", which is here, is also LGBTQ+ film,
01:26:40 so I was always open to...
01:26:44 I think for me the most important thing is the story.
01:26:48 There was a question, comment. We have a mic. Yes, front row.
01:26:54 Hi, thank you for this discussion.
01:27:00 I'm a screenwriter and a director, and I just wanted to ask you,
01:27:06 because Maria, I had the chance to see your film yesterday, "Slow",
01:27:12 and I found it really beautiful because the director,
01:27:17 at the beginning of the projection, she said,
01:27:20 "I hope that you will feel the love with which we made this film throughout."
01:27:27 And I was very touched by that, because for me cinema is about feelings.
01:27:33 It started like that, but the process around it,
01:27:38 I found it sometimes very spineless and very painful and insecure
01:27:46 in the day-to-day life because you don't know what's going to happen.
01:27:50 And I wanted to ask you, and it was beautiful because I felt it really much,
01:27:56 how you comment on how we work together on the set with people,
01:27:59 how you communicate during the project.
01:28:02 It was all there, not just in the story,
01:28:06 but I could feel how the people shooting the film felt.
01:28:10 And it was pure love, and I wanted to ask you, how do you, or everybody,
01:28:16 how do you preserve this fragility and this love for the medium
01:28:23 throughout this process? Because I sometimes, it's very painful
01:28:28 because you open yourself a lot, but you have to close yourself a lot also
01:28:33 because it's very hard to get it done.
01:28:36 So, just what makes you continue? How do you live for it?
01:28:42 Okay, first of all, thank you for your kind words for "Slow".
01:28:48 I think with "Slow" and with every other film that I produce,
01:28:53 it's really like there are a lot of great talents,
01:28:57 but you have to choose the right ones for the right film.
01:29:00 And then to see how those talents match together.
01:29:03 So, it's really like we do schedules, we do shooting schedules,
01:29:08 we do budgets, and you need to do a schedule for your talents,
01:29:13 which is more like matchmaking schedule.
01:29:15 So, I think it's very important that you are very honest that,
01:29:21 okay, this DOP is great, but not for that film.
01:29:24 We need the other one. And then you kind of,
01:29:28 we need that composer that we worked with another one for 10 years.
01:29:32 But for this film, we need that person.
01:29:35 And you do the professional and personal match
01:29:40 that could really do the chemistry, not just between the actors,
01:29:44 but behind the camera as well.
01:29:46 Because if we're going to fight behind the camera,
01:29:48 the actors can do whatever chemistry they want,
01:29:51 but we'll just destroy it with what's happening behind there.
01:29:56 So, I think it's like really overseeing everything
01:30:01 and not underestimating anything while creating the team
01:30:07 and especially the heads and the rest of them.
01:30:12 So, I think that would be the answer.
01:30:15 And again, respecting each other, being kind to each other,
01:30:21 and being open, communicate the problems,
01:30:24 and solve them before they become problems.
01:30:28 I wanted to add, thank you for this question,
01:30:34 I wanted to add as a final question maybe to you,
01:30:37 working in this industry for many years and making it to this point,
01:30:45 what is your, do you have some sort of mental hygiene tips
01:30:51 to our colleagues in the room?
01:30:54 How do you unwind? Where do you go?
01:30:57 Who do you talk, what's your trick?
01:30:59 Actually, to put it short, it's insane.
01:31:03 But you're still here.
01:31:07 I'm still here because I don't know anything better
01:31:10 and there is a lot of satisfaction.
01:31:12 And this, yeah, the fact that you, the Q&As,
01:31:19 the reactions or the letters that I receive from audience
01:31:24 of what this or that film made into their decisions,
01:31:32 their life, their behavior, their understanding,
01:31:37 I think it's nothing more precious than this on earth.
01:31:41 Then for the other activities,
01:31:46 for the fact that I'm sharing my experience and my failures
01:31:50 and I'm doing this and I'm doing a lot of mentoring or consulting
01:31:55 or I'm present in this because I want to give to the others.
01:32:02 I like it, I feel comfortable by that.
01:32:05 And when they come back and also it's not only a thank you,
01:32:12 but they say, "Well, you know, you really got me out of shit.
01:32:16 I didn't get him or her out of shit. They did it.
01:32:21 It's on them."
01:32:23 But to be an inspiration, it's something that is motivating me.
01:32:28 And then it's also, it's, yeah, the whole community around,
01:32:38 all these people, all these cultures that you discover in this,
01:32:43 with this job, it's not, no, and also I don't have passions
01:32:48 and I don't like routines.
01:32:50 And with the filmmaking, it's for each and every project,
01:32:57 it's different challenge, different construction,
01:33:00 different, so different experience that it's never boring.
01:33:04 You find the energy there.
01:33:06 Yeah, but at least you are not getting bored.
01:33:09 It's all the time alert.
01:33:13 Aleksandr, are you ever off from work?
01:33:18 Yeah, yeah. Well, she doesn't speak about the routines,
01:33:22 but there's gardening and then she does these crosswords all the time.
01:33:27 If I may sell from the house.
01:33:30 So there is, yes, it's a privilege in fact.
01:33:35 We're complaining, but we're doing a privileged job, whatever.
01:33:40 Doing this, it is a privilege and I'm trying not to forget that.
01:33:45 And yes, exchanging things and getting the reaction,
01:33:50 this is feeding you a lot, sure.
01:33:53 You know, for me, it's actually quite hard thing in the film,
01:34:03 being in this filmmaking life,
01:34:07 what you said in the very beginning,
01:34:10 my first film was released in 2016,
01:34:16 the second, 2021, five-year gap,
01:34:22 probably the third one will be 2000, if I'm lucky, '26, again five years.
01:34:28 So that causes the toughest thing on my mental health.
01:34:35 And because of the way life is happening,
01:34:40 I don't see how I could make it faster,
01:34:43 because for a living I need to do other jobs.
01:34:46 So yeah, and what helps me is just reading books.
01:34:56 That's it, that's the only thing.
01:34:58 I'm envious.
01:35:00 Me too.
01:35:02 He always says, "Oh, I read that many books this year.
01:35:05 How many books did you read?"
01:35:06 And I'm like, "Don't ask this question."
01:35:08 Less than you.
01:35:10 But what helps me, lots of different things.
01:35:16 My family, time with the family, really.
01:35:23 I think my kids are a very, very precious thing to me,
01:35:29 so that really helps me to stay sane.
01:35:32 If I feel pressure, I run.
01:35:36 And this really helps me literally get rid of it,
01:35:40 just to sweat it out.
01:35:42 Then I have two dogs, so cuddling two dogs is also very helpful.
01:35:47 Really, it's like the best therapy for me.
01:35:52 Then I really, and I have to say thanks to Andrus for this.
01:35:56 He really, he can, because we know each other so well,
01:36:00 he can see if something is wrong from my face,
01:36:03 and he's like, "Okay, what's wrong? Say it."
01:36:05 Because again, I would, I'm first of all the person that,
01:36:09 my personal problems I would keep to myself.
01:36:12 I'm like, "Okay, I'm not just putting it on others."
01:36:15 So Andrus is like word by word taking it out,
01:36:18 and I'm like, "Okay, I just could have told you."
01:36:21 So he's also a friend and helps me to stay sane.
01:36:25 And I think also I've learned through those 15 years
01:36:31 to feel when I'm like getting too tired,
01:36:35 to, when the atmosphere gets too hot, and to step back.
01:36:42 But that's again learning by doing,
01:36:44 and when you feel it's okay getting too much,
01:36:50 to step back, take a week off,
01:36:53 or just delegate a bit more to my colleagues,
01:36:56 and then I'm like, "Okay, I need to breathe.
01:36:58 I need to breathe, and then I can come back."
01:37:01 So these things like really helps me to do the job,
01:37:07 which is not easy,
01:37:08 but also very, very challenging in a good way.
01:37:15 Like you said, you never bored,
01:37:16 and I appreciate that a lot.
01:37:18 I'm like, I love my job, really,
01:37:21 and I want to continue for at least 10 more years maybe.
01:37:25 I will revisit my vision.
01:37:30 Let's keep it at that positive end note.
01:37:36 Thank you for sharing all your professional insights,
01:37:40 but also personal stories.
01:37:42 Thank you to our partners,
01:37:45 APA, the Czech Producers Association,
01:37:48 and ACE Producers for really supporting this topic,
01:37:53 and thank you so much to
01:37:54 Kaloviváry International Film Festival
01:37:56 and Hugo Rosák Industry Team
01:37:58 for again opening the doors to this important topic.
01:38:02 Thank you so much for being here.
01:38:04 And I would like to thank Deluise for leading the discussion.
01:38:07 Thank you so much.
01:38:08 [Applause]
01:38:12 [APPLAUSE]