Rodrigo Borges. Everything in it's right place.
film still
A few words about what the movie scene looks like in Brazil. From Russia we get a very mixed soap-opera/arthouse kind of feel from South America.
There are a lot of moviemakers working in interesting projects trying to get some space, developing new ideas and concepts. In the field of animation things are quite difficult because the time that the artist needs is different from the live-action features. Besides, people understand animation as a child’s entertainment and forget that it’s only a way to tell a story.
Why Kafka? It's an absolutely European material. How did you come up with idea and the scrip for this film?
I really admire Kafka’s work. The claustrophobic atmosphere and the tension that he brings in his detailed explanations inspire my work. I always preferred the eastern European narrative because they are not interested in happy ends or explaining everything to the viewer or reader. They tell brilliant stories not worried about formulas.
For DAS CABINET, I wanted to do something like that. Use the beautiful side of loneliness and madness, two subjects that interested me a lot, and create this kind of environment. Using the aesthetic of the German expressionism mixing with Kafka’s influence, I started to write a love story different from everything I’ve ever seen.
Where did you study? Could you say a few words about filmschools in Brazil. What are the perspectives for cinema in Brazil.
I graduated myself in graphic design in 2002 and then studied animation in a post-graduation course in 2004, both in PUC-Rio. I can’t say much about filmschools because I?ve never been in one but I can say that the government is giving more support for filmmakers. This effort can be seen in the movie theaters, last year the production of the brazilian cinema had a very significant raise.
In "das cabinet des doktor K." you did everything by yourself including promotion. How did you manage that? What production and distribution hardships did you encounter? How hard it getting financed for non commercial projects in Brazil?
There are few ways to get financial support to develop a project in Brazil but for a non commercial film it’s quite difficult. They are looking for something that shows some of the Brazilian culture or characters or, at least, something less experimental. I decided to pay for everything so the film could be just like I thought so. The consequence of that decision was that I had to animate, direct, edit and promote at the same time.
Could you tell us about making of "das cabinet des doktor K" (how long it took, technique, etc)
I took about six months to write the scrip. During this process, I started to build the scenario and preparing the objects and the puppets to animate.
After 3 months of preparation, everything was ready to shoot.
Did in any way Jan Svankmajer's style and ideas affect you? Who and what nspires you?
When I first saw a Svankmajer’s short film, I knew that I had to do something like this; a dust and disturbing puppet animation. From the moment I start to study his films I discovered another directors who admire Svankmajer’s works. The Brothers Quay opened my mind for the non-conventional animation. The way they use the camera is fantastic. It’s impossible after any of the Quay’s films you didn’t ask the question; what the hell have just happened here?
Tell us about your creative and technical principles in filmmaking.
The most important issue in my work, as a director, illustrator or graphic designer, is try to bring subjects that people is used to see in a certain way and rearrange them showing in a different perspective. I like to leave tips in my work for people to understand it slowly and think about what they’ve just saw. It’s interesting for the work if it starts any kind of discussion.
A few words for your Russian viewers.
Everything in it's right place.