Edited by Sarah Cooper
sarah.cooper@
emap.com
DIARY Braden King broke two ribs during filming TheArmenian indie King
BY SARAH COOPER Shooting on US indie film HERE didn’t get off to the most auspi- cious of starts, when director Braden King broke two ribs on the second day of filming in Armenia. “I was literally swallowed up in
an unmarked hole on a night shoot. I should probably think of a more glamorous story though,” laughs King, who has made the switch from documentary films with HERE, a love story about a US map reader and an Armenian photographer, which has its Euro- pean premiere in the Panorama section tonight.
PROFILE:SHOOTING STAR
During the festival, Screen is profiling the 10 young actors selected for EFP’s Shooting Stars
HERE US actor Ben Foster and Bel-
gian actress Lubna Azabal lead the picture, which King says was born out of “wanting to make a film which reflected my travel experiences and the road trips I did in my 20s”. HERE is the first US film to shoot in Armenia and King admits
it was not always easy. “The chal- lenge was making a film in a place with very little film or business infrastructure. But there were also some incredible advantages. We could do things in a spontaneous way that you can’t in the US or western Europe.” But with stories from the shoot
including an encounter with a deadly snake and a run-in with the Russian military, would King rec- ommend Armenia as a filming location? “It depends on your level of interest and adventure. For this film, it was perfect and I wouldn’t have traded it for anywhere.”
All White on the Night
BY JASON GRAY Yoshihiro Fukagawa’s noirish crime saga Into The White Night (Byakuyakou) will have its first screening in Panorama today. “I’m thrilled but it’s also daunt-
NATASHA PETROVIC
(Macedonia) Credits Shadows (2007), As If I Am Not There (2009) First time in Berlin? It’s my first visit to Berlin and my first time as part of the Berlinale. What makes it so special is the fact I’m the first actress from Macedonia to represent our country. Plans for the festival? I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to be near and even meet some of the greatest actors, producers and directors in the world. What’s next? I’m working on my graduation play in my last year at the faculty of dramatic arts.
ing to walk on the same world stage as Japanese directors that came before me, whom I look up to,” says Fukagawa, who is mak- ing his Berlinale debut with the film’s international premiere. Into The White Night first
screened at October’s Tokyo Inter- national Film Festival and opened in the top 10 at the Japanese box office on January 29. Distributor Gaga Corporation is handling sales at the EFM. The film is based on the 1999
novel of the same name by Keigo Higashino, which has sold two million copies and spawned a veritable franchise in Japan, including a stage production and hit TV series in 2006. Before Fuk- agawa’s take there was also 2009’s Korean feature adaptation White
n 14 Screen International in Berlin February 12, 2011 Yoshihiro Fukagawa
Night, directed by Park Shin-woo. But what will Western audi-
ences unfamiliar with the book and Into The White Night’s popular young stars (Maki Horikita and Kengo Kora) make of this two- decade tale of murder and family? “The film captures an ugly, dark
side of human nature that’s univer- sal. Audiences in Europe are highly cultured so I’m interested in their reactions,” says Fukagawa. Into The White Night is eligible
for accolades including the Fipresci and Ecumenical Jury prizes, as well as the Panorama audience award. If Fukagawa wins a trophy, despite the film’s acts of patricide and mat- ricide, he says he’ll “keep it in my parents’ bedroom”.
Victoria Mahoney
The US film-maker talks about her directorial debut, which screens in competition today
Are you happy to be screening Yelling To The Sky in Berlin? Beyond happy. It’s incredibly dreamy. There are things we do for business and things we do out of sheer love, and the Berlin film festival falls under love. It is a personal marker in my own life as a film-maker.
You produced, wrote and directed this film. How did you juggle all three roles? It turns out that all the things I got in trouble for as a kid in school are assets to film-making. I have the ability to do eight things at once and compartmentalise and actually enjoy it. I have more difficulty with basic things like tying my shoes and getting out the house.
The film is semi-autobiographical. Did the need to tell the story outweigh the difficulty of having to reveal personal details about your life? A great deal of the film is based on my own experiences, but I would say the more brutal components were removed. It’s like a PG version of my life. I needed to tell this story and that need went past my ego. Even before I went to the Sundance Institute, I had written so many drafts that I had kind of put a lot of that vulnerability about personal exposure to rest.
Was it also about making a film with a mixed-race character at its centre? Yes, crucially. Even more than just being a director, I wanted a reflection
of individuals similar to me. I didn’t really want to be the one to get up and do it, I just didn’t see it. And then I thought, “OK I’ll take that banner”.
The lead character is played by Zoe Kravitz. Did you know she was the one straight away? When Zoe walked in and auditioned and cut open her chest cavity and bared her soul, then it was easy. I knew I was sitting across from someone who was going to murder this role, she was out for blood in the same way I was.
Your film is about a young girl facing a tough upbringing in New York, with Precious actress Gabourey Sidibe as one of the leads. Are you bracing yourself for the comparisons? Precious broke a lot of barriers and is something monumental in so many ways for so many different people. If Yelling was not semi-autobiographical, I maybe would have had a little bit of nervousness. But I don’t really think about it as I wrote this script some 12 years ago, and it lives and breathes on its own.
What’s next? I am in pre-production on my second film, Chalk, about a person who goes on a hunt for murder suspects. That’s all I can say. But it’s a really exciting story, and about 180 degrees from Yelling. I needed to push myself to what I knew I was capable of. Sarah Cooper
Today
Sunny, high 2°
Tomorrow
Sleet, high 1°
One On One VICTORIAMAHONEY, YELLINGTOTHESKY
Yelling To The Sky
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