Choursoglou Interview - Clip 3
Dia Philippides:
Have your [feature] films circulated outside of Greece, and in what ways?
Periklis Choursoglou:
My [feature] films have circulated [outside Greece] to film festivals. Eyes of Night was taken on by an American distribution company, Echelon Entertainment. The films have been shown mainly at festivals — both Dimakopoulos and Eyes of Night; also The Man in Grey and The Building Manager. They have participated in very good festivals and not so good festivals. Namely, Eyes of Night was shown at the AFI Film Festival in 2004 — a very good festival. The Building Manager went to Karlovy Vary, this year. The Man in Grey and others have gone to Moscow, to Montpellier, to Montreal… They have participated in a fair amount of festivals. Namely, Dimakopoulos must have gone to around thirty or forty festivals, The Man in Grey to somewhat fewer, The Building Manager to a reasonable number, likewise [Eyes of Night].
My films are not so ‘festival-esque’ in nature, in the sense of being avant-garde, investigating new roads in the cinema, and searching for the cinema’s expressions. Most consist of simple stories. What I try to find in the films is the sense of the human factor — that is (I would say), for the films to be full of humanity. It is hard for me to judge if this is realized in my films. Some friends have told me that the films have this sense of human emotions; they depict people who lose heart, others who are happy, and some who wait.
I remember that a few days ago I watched Fellini’s Amarcord. I mention this experience because it took place recently. When I first saw this film in 1972, just as I first started appreciating the cinema, it has gotten an Oscar for Best Picture and I didn’t understand it at all. I then wondered, why did it get this award? I saw the film again and it didn’t even seem very funny. I saw the film again in 1994 and I still didn’t value it much. I saw it again last year and this year. It was on the occasion of the [TV] series I was filming on “Happy Craftsmen”. I had located craftsmen that made specially laid pebble floors on Chios. The images from Chios reminded me of images in Amarcord. The film contains amazing scenes, for instance the one where a man climbs up into a tree and cries out, “Voglio una donna” [I need a woman]”. Now at last I understand a scene that takes place at a village by the sea; one summer, at night, the entire village comes out in small boats because an ocean liner will be sailing by. For the first time I understood the desire that is so simply presented. Of course it’s a very expensive production, but then there’s this image where the entire village, at night, goes out two or three miles along the shore, just to watch a passing ship. That is, as the years pass…, I’d say that Amarcord is a film that takes you years to begin to understand and to actually feel it.
Have your [feature] films circulated outside of Greece, and in what ways?
Periklis Choursoglou:
My [feature] films have circulated [outside Greece] to film festivals. Eyes of Night was taken on by an American distribution company, Echelon Entertainment. The films have been shown mainly at festivals — both Dimakopoulos and Eyes of Night; also The Man in Grey and The Building Manager. They have participated in very good festivals and not so good festivals. Namely, Eyes of Night was shown at the AFI Film Festival in 2004 — a very good festival. The Building Manager went to Karlovy Vary, this year. The Man in Grey and others have gone to Moscow, to Montpellier, to Montreal… They have participated in a fair amount of festivals. Namely, Dimakopoulos must have gone to around thirty or forty festivals, The Man in Grey to somewhat fewer, The Building Manager to a reasonable number, likewise [Eyes of Night].
My films are not so ‘festival-esque’ in nature, in the sense of being avant-garde, investigating new roads in the cinema, and searching for the cinema’s expressions. Most consist of simple stories. What I try to find in the films is the sense of the human factor — that is (I would say), for the films to be full of humanity. It is hard for me to judge if this is realized in my films. Some friends have told me that the films have this sense of human emotions; they depict people who lose heart, others who are happy, and some who wait.
I remember that a few days ago I watched Fellini’s Amarcord. I mention this experience because it took place recently. When I first saw this film in 1972, just as I first started appreciating the cinema, it has gotten an Oscar for Best Picture and I didn’t understand it at all. I then wondered, why did it get this award? I saw the film again and it didn’t even seem very funny. I saw the film again in 1994 and I still didn’t value it much. I saw it again last year and this year. It was on the occasion of the [TV] series I was filming on “Happy Craftsmen”. I had located craftsmen that made specially laid pebble floors on Chios. The images from Chios reminded me of images in Amarcord. The film contains amazing scenes, for instance the one where a man climbs up into a tree and cries out, “Voglio una donna” [I need a woman]”. Now at last I understand a scene that takes place at a village by the sea; one summer, at night, the entire village comes out in small boats because an ocean liner will be sailing by. For the first time I understood the desire that is so simply presented. Of course it’s a very expensive production, but then there’s this image where the entire village, at night, goes out two or three miles along the shore, just to watch a passing ship. That is, as the years pass…, I’d say that Amarcord is a film that takes you years to begin to understand and to actually feel it.