FILMS/
OTAR IOSSELIANI, THE WHISTLING BLACKBIRD
Documentaries
France, 2006, 90 minutes
SHOWTIMES
Fri, Apr 27 / 04:00 / Kabuki / OTAR27K
Thu, May 3 / 08:45 / Kabuki / OTAR03K
Wed, May 9 / 06:30 / Kabuki / OTAR09K
CREDITS
- prod
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Xavier Carniaux
- scr
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Julie Bertucelli
- cam
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Julie Bertucelli
- editor
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Josiane Zardoya
- cast
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Otar Iosseliani, Michel Piccoli, Martine Marignac
- source
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Audiovisuel Multimedia, International Production, 52 Rue Charlot, 75003 Paris, France FAX: +33-1-48-87-40-10 EMAIL: amip@amip-multimedia.fr
“If He decides, up there, that you should make a film,” says Georgian filmmaker Otar Iosseliani, pointing heavenward, “all you’ve got to do is make it.” Divine intervention apparently is a common occurrence for the acclaimed 73-year-old Paris-based director, who has spun cinematic gold for more than four decades. Assistant director on Iosseliani’s Brigands, Chapter VII (SFIFF 1997), documentary filmmaker Julie Bertuccelli gains intimate access to her friend and esteemed mentor’s artistic process, following him through the production of his latest feature, Gardens in Autumn (also screening at this year’s Festival). With a cigarette perpetually extending from his long, narrow face, Iosseliani casually welcomes us into his inner working world and a creative mind crammed full of images and ideas, of which, he says, “maybe ten percent” will end up on screen. Wine and vodka flow freely, and arguments range from heated to jovial as he works closely with storyboard artists, production designers and his longtime cinematographer William Lubtchansky, painstakingly mapping and timing each scene. Often emphasizing composition and camera movement over dialogue, he is unwavering in his preference for working with “real” people rather than actors, whom he finds “unbearable.” Snippets of his films are interspersed throughout as wonderful teasers to the idiosyncratic humor and musicality of Iosseliani’s oeuvre. Like any great auteur, Iosseliani’s strong opinions about his filmmaking process reveal little patience for minor details such as budgetary limitations or scheduling. “I’m not really a director. I’m a ballet master!” he bellows with a smile, for it is amid the chaotic and surreal moments of the shoot that Iosseliani is truly in his bliss.
—Joanne Parsont
U.S. Premiere. Sponsored by TV5MONDE, Alliance Francaise of San Francisco and the Consulate General of France. Presented in association with the French Cultural Services, Consulate General of France and the French-American Cultural Foundation in San Francisco.