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 When you make films and
are lucky enough to get one shown at a festival, you can then set off round the world
taking your movie from one festival to another. It’s a big opportunity, not just
for making your name–vital for those of us outside mainstream cinema–but also because
you discover other independent films and come to realize you’re not alone.
I have followed this filmmaker’s pilgrimage, and have met fellow directors in Taiwan,
South Korea, Japan and Iran. In Berlin, Nantes, Rotterdam and at Sundance, I have
also witnessed a powerful new wave of films coming from Asia that has coincided with
a revival of filmmaking in Latin America. There is no single theme or style. Each
film is different, but all are intent on depicting real life and all are made with
paltry resources.
I shot one of my films, Rapado (Close Cut), with a grant from the Rotterdam festival
to write a script outline. What pays for a synopsis in Europe can fund a whole feature
film in Argentina. Having no money isn’t a virtue, but it does focus your mind and
forces you to look for narrative solutions that fit your budget. Japanese filmmakers
agree with us South Americans that film schools should be used as a nursery for directors
and technicians, and as a way into the profession. Buenos Aires now has more than
15 film schools, a profusion that can only inspire people to make films.
Has Western cinema lost its way? Maybe, but there are still some great directors.
Films made in developed countries these days tend to suffocate you with the same
tired old plots and easy images drawn from ubiquitous television. In Iran, you can
still tackle a subject in a fresh and innocent way and film something with the feeling
that you are showing it on screen for the first time. Iranian film is rife with this
“first-time” element, and it’s what gives it special strength. Filmmakers in Taiwan
work under different conditions, but they too have managed to get down to basics
by delving into their country’s past and casting light on a society that sometimes
doubts its very existence.
You can’t say the same for the Japanese film industry, which has a long history and
is now rivalled by a fast-growing audio-visual world of TV channels and video games.
There’s no room for innocence here, only crafty, intelligent and subversive use of
current formats. Directors from Japan and Hong Kong borrow advertising, video and
other well-worn techniques to tell other stories and spark a different set of emotions.
This upsurge of “new waves” may be related to the general decline or disappearance
of government subsidies for filmmaking. Apart from the United States, where such
help isn’t needed because of the captive domestic market, government aid to local
film industries has dried up in most countries. The subsidies that remain have in
any case stagnated, with money nearly always going to the same places. It would be
tremendous if governments were to back something that has now begun to flower naturally
in so many parts of the world.
A lack of state support has perhaps given rise to another trend. This is the rise
of new producers, individuals and institutions working without any national anchoring.
It’s another form of globalization, aimed at specific film projects satisfying particular
desires and needs, bringing together people who share a love for a special kind of
cinema and a wish to see something different to the deathless fare served up by giant
distribution chains.
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