#inthepalace

Dieter Deswarte embarked on a voyage and by doing so allows us to understand his take on the world and experience the same as he did with a car that many consider the very worst. Read on what the first winner of  BLACK SEA COMPETITION had shared us before IN THE PALACE 2014. 

Tell us about your film. What inspired you, or led you, to create this short film?

This film was part of an international competition. 7 Filmmakers were selected to participate in the documentary project called Cinetrain. Each of us was asked to make a different short film about a Russian Stereotype. In my case I was assigned the “LADA”.  The project was inspired by the Russian Filmmaker Medvedev, who travelled by train through the country to document life in his country.  As him we embarked on a month long journey by train through Russia stopping in several towns with the aim to have by the end of it a short film that represented our stereotype. The whole project took place during the month of January. In deep winter we travelled from Murmansk, the largest city in the Arctic Circle through to Siberia where we spend our last few days on the island of Olkhon, a small island on Lake Baikal.  When I learned about this project I was completely appealed by the challenge of trying to make a film within one month while travelling through a country that was largely unfamiliar to me. As a filmmaker I’ve always been interested in trying to take a very simple idea and turn it into an interesting film. With this project I was able to do exactly that.

How would you describe your artistic approach in your work as a director?

In my work I value strongly the intimacy between me and my characters.   I always try to observe human nature in its most pure form.  I never try to hide my presence as a filmmaker but try to let the viewer see a new world through my gaze.  For this film in particular I wanted to have the majority of the film take place on the inside of the LADA car, as if the viewer was riding along with the different characters that I met across my journey in Russia. Through my edit I really wanted to play with the uniformity of the car and edit the film in such a way as if everybody was travelling in the same vehicle.

How long did it take you to make your film?

As the aim was to complete our film during the period of the Cinetrain project, the film was near completion upon our arrival back in Moscow.  We edited the movie on the Trans-Siberian express on the way back to Moscow, which took five days.  The film was then screened upon arrival for a first time to a large audience at the documentary center in Moscow.  Afterwards, we worked for a few weeks still on adjusting the edit, doing audio postproduction and color grading.

Where would you go and on which set of wheels?

At the moment I’m really keen to discover China. Once there I’d try to get around by public transport. Being on a bus or a train with strangers for a long time is often a very good way to meet people.  I’m also very keen to return to St-Helena, which is a small island in the South Atlantic that can only be reached by boat.  I’m currently making my first feature about a few inhabitants of this island. 

Have you ever been to Bulgaria before? Is this your first time running for this Festival? What do you know about this Festival?

I have to been Bulgaria several times before.  I have a good friend in London, who’s from Sofia and I’ve had the luck to visit the country on a few occasions. However, I had never had the chance to attend the festival and don’t know much about it.

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Lada

/dir. Dieter Deswarte / Documentary / Russian Federation / 2013 / 18’ 40’/

Synopsys - A movie about an iconic vehicle and a few of its last remaining drivers, “Lada” takes you on a Russian journey. It explores people’s affinity to a vehicle that is stereotypically considered as one of the worst in the world. A humorous and intimate insight told from behind the steering wheel.