Filmfest DC Returns For Its 31st Year of International Cinema and Cultural Discovery

From the press release

Take a spring break vacation and travel abroad without leaving DC! Filmfest DC is back for its 31st year in Washington, DC, bringing new and exciting international films to the community. Filmfest DC strives to bring films of current interest and debate to the culturally curious and diverse DC community. This year, the festival will bring 80 films from 45 countries to show across 11 days for 1 exciting festival.

The Opening Night film is This Is Our Land from France/Belgium with a reception following the film and the Closing Night film is Lost in Paris shown at the Embassy of France.

The films span across a variety of categories, including World View (international), The Lighter Side (comedy), Trust No One (thrillers), Rhythms On & Off Screen (music and dance), Justice Matters (social justice), Shorts (international and women-produced) and a new feature: Division and Debate. Recognizing the current issues being discussed across the world, Filmfest DC will feature select films that discuss these themes. Numerous directors and filmmakers from many of these features will be present throughout the festival for questions and/or discussions.

Locations will be Landmark's E Street Cinema, AMC Mazza Gallerie Theaters and the Embassy of France. See the website for the full schedule, call 202-234-FILM for questions or e-mail filmfestdc@filmfestdc.org.

The Cinema Lounge

Adam’s Rib Delves Into Film’s Greatest Last Lines

After the Storm: Q&A with Writer/Director Hirokazu Kore-eda

By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member

After the Storm (Japan, 2016) was screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016 and the writer/director Kore-eda did a brief question and answer discussion. A third-rate detective visits his aging mother after the death of his father. Although divorced the detective's ex-wife and son still visit his mother and on the coming event of a large storm the deadbeat dad faces some realities about his failed dreams in life and his success as both a father and husband, but hopes to somehow to reconnect with his family again. Kore-eda’s other famous films have included Our Little Sister, Still Walking, and Like Father, Like Son. After the Storm won the Golden Hugo award for Best Feature at the 2016 Chicago International Film Festival.



TIFF Moderator: You mentioned that the film was shot in part in a housing complex where you spent your own childhood. Why did you pick that particular place again to shoot this film?
Kore-eda: At first, I thought using this housing complex might be too personal and seems like it was about my life and not the storyline. I asked for permission to film at several other complexes but I was turned down at all of the other ones, so I had to film here. It was a very practical solution. But when I wrote the script this was the visual image I had in mind. The exterior and the way the building looked were exactly like my imagination so it did create a funny feeling. This film is a very personal film for me. I lived in this area from age 9-28 years old, so filming here has many memories in my life. This particular film is about a family that is somewhat broken. It is similar to my other home drama Still Walking. You may see yourself or your family in it also and your experiences.

Audience Question: As a child dreams what he/she wants to be when they grow up and getting to that point and realizing what has really happened, I think that is the theme of the film. I wonder as a person do you think you have fulfilled your dreams to become the person you wanted to be also or imagined?
Kore-eda: As a child, I really remember I don’t want to be like my father and I wanted to be a proper adult. But now I find as an adult, I am more like my father and that makes me more unsure about things.

Audience Question: Have you seen Francois Truffaut’s films like Stolen Kisses that were sensitive films about people not fulfilling their dreams or autobiographical in nature. Did you see those films or were you influenced by them?
Kore-eda: Of course I have seen many of his films, but I would not say they have influenced this particular film.

Audience Question: Your films are quiet and many times have lots of sadness in them. Where does that sadness come from?
Kore-eda: I’m not sure where it comes from. When I write a family drama I always keep two things in mind. They are bothersome and troubling, two opposing elements exist.

Audience Question: I liked the grandmother character, was she inspired by someone?
Kore-eda: Yes it was based on my mother (laughter).

Audience Question: I personally find when I go home again everything seems smaller, the house, the doors, etc. I wondered if that was true for you also going back to your old neighborhood. Did things seem smaller or different or did you just use your director’s sense of space to go beyond that?
Kore-eda: I had not gone back for a long time. I noticed the trees after 20 years the trees that were small years ago were now really large, larger than the houses. Years ago there were many children in the area and now I found there were not many children but many older residents. My mother passed away in 2001 so I felt it was important to capture this place and picture before it changed even more.

Audience Question: Did the father sell the ink stone or not?
Kore-eda: I would say he did not sell it at this time. At that moment he straightened his back as his father had done and scraped the ink and the stone and honored his father’s memory. But what he does later I do not know.

The film opened in the DC metro area on March 31, 2017.

The Zookeeper's Wife: Q&A with Director Niki Caro and Producer Kim Zubick

By Annette Graham, DC Film Society Member

The Zookeeper's Wife was shown at Landmark's E Street Cinema on March 23. After the film, Director Niki Caro and Producer Kim Zubick answered questions from the audience; the discussion was moderated by Catherine Wyler.

The film is set in Warsaw at the beginning of World War II. Jessica Chastain stars as Antonina Zabinski, Johan Heldenbergh plays her husband Jan Zabinski, and Daniel Bruhl is Lutz Heck. After their zoo is destroyed by the Nazis, Antonina and Jan Zabinski shelter Polish Jews on their way out of the country. A book written by Diane Ackerman serves as basis for the film and the book is based on Antonina Zabinski's published diary. Angela Workman did the screenplay.

Catherine Wyler: I know we all feel really lucky to have been able to be at this screening today. Such a riveting, fascinating movie. Let me tell you a little about them both [the director and producer]. As a director and a screenwriter, Niki Caro is certainly one of the most successful filmmakers to have emerged from New Zealand. After completing a BFA at the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland as well as postgraduate work from Swinberne in Melbourne, Australia, she wrote and directed a number of highly acclaimed short films. Sure to Rise (1994), which was screened in 1994 in Cannes, and footage whch was shown at the 1996 Venice festival. Her first feature film, Memory and Desire, was shown at the Critics Week in 1998 Cannes festival and went on to win four New Zealand film and TV awards including Best Film. Her second feature, Whale Rider (2002), explored the Maori community of Whangara on New Zealand's east coast. It was a huge success seen by millions of people, won over two dozen prizes around the world, including top honors at film festivals like Toronto, Sundance, Rotterdam etc. And the film's star, Keisha Castle-Hughes received an Academy award nomination for Best Actress and at the time she was the youngest actress to do so. She then directed North Country (2005), a drama set in the U.S. on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. The film starred Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand, Sissy Spacek and Woody Harrelson. Theron and McDormand were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA, etc., among other honors. Continuing to strive to depict real lives and real communities on screen, she directed the sleeper hit, McFarland, USA (2015), starring Kevin Costner and set in California's Central Valley. She is currently completing and directing a bold new vision of the Anne of Green Gables story. It's a telefilm which will begin a new Netflix series exploring the classic character of Anne who will be portrayed by Irish-Canadian actress Amy Beth McNulty, growing up in the 1890s. Let me introduce you to Kim Zubick, the producer who has been working under her banner Zubick Films. She is particularly drawn to true stories and spent most of her formative years in Europe, which makes The Zookeeper's Wife a passion project which she has been working on for the last nine years. Previously she was president of production for Tollin Productions, for the Robert Simonds company and for StewArt Pictures. She was producer on License to Wed (2007), starring Robin Williams and John Krasinski, and Raja Gosnell's Yours, Mine and Ours (2005) starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo. She was also part of the filmmaking team on films like Steve Carr's Rebound (2005) and Tim Story's Taxi (2004) starring Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon. And prior to beginning her producing career, she was a studio executive at MGM and an agent.

Catherine Wyler: Did you always want to be a director, Niki, or when did that start?
Niki Caro: When I grew up in New Zealand that wasn't really an option, but I would dream about it and I certainly came from a family, particularly my dad "you can do anything." It wasn't until I got to art school that I realized that film was where all the things I loved came together: writing, performance, music, photography. So I just started to do it and figure it out as I went along. And I still feel like I'm figuring it out, to be honest.

Catherine Wyler: How did The Zookeeper's Wife start and how did the two of you got together?
Kim Zubick: This book [by Diane Ackerman] came to me in late 2007 and I felt like it had to be a film and everyone else thought I had fallen on my head. I was told by everyone in Hollywood, "You'll never get this made." I found a brilliant screenwriter to help turn it into an idea that I could sell. The thing that actually made it happen was finding Niki who in a very strong but quiet way just informed us what the movie should be. And she was right. And this is the version of the movie that we had all intuited but didn't know how to put into place until joining forces with Niki.

Catherine Wyler: Was this something you knew right away was for you?
Niki Caro: Yes, at end of page one. Antonina sits in a rocking chair, feeding two lynx kittens. And really, they had me at lynx kittens. It was such an unusual war story, it was a true story, with a female in the center of it, and really commited to the female experience in war. War doesn't just happen to men; war also happens to women, children and animals. This was such a fresh way of considering that horrific time and a way of talking about it that focused on the sanctuary that Antonina was able to provide, the healing and the hope.
Kim Zubick: It is a timeless story not just a timely story.

Audience Question: Do you have parents or grandparents that were part of the Holocaust?
Kim Zubick: No.
Niki Caro: No, but my elementary school was in a synagogue. I was completely convinced that I was Jewish until I was 11. So I felt very at home, I felt I understood the responsibility, because as a little girl I was made very aware of this time in history. I remember the first time that I was told about it, because a gentleman was brought to our school and he had a number tattooed on his arm. I can't remember what he said, but I can remember where I was and I can remember how I felt. And I feel the same way now, talking about this period in time.

Audience Question: Two children were thanked in the credits. What are they doing now? And how much of the animals were CGI?
Kim Zubick: Both of the children live in Warsaw. Teresa who is very much like her mother is in her mid-70s now I think and actually was in the film. Niki put her in the opening party scene. She was a huge supporter of the film and it was wonderful to have her involvement. Ryszard Zabinski is also still alive and in Warsaw. He is 11 years older than Teresa and less able to participate. We interviewed them at the actual villa in Warsaw and discovered in the process that since the war, he has never had another pet, he's never had another animal because it was so traumatic for him to lose so many of them throughout that experience.
Niki Caro: Only one animal in the movie is CG. I couldn't conceive of how to make this movie, this real story and make an authentic movie and use fake animals. All the animals you see on screen are real unless they are babies. The babies are puppets mostly and all dead animals are puppets. The one CG animal is the baby elephant. It was made from a real baby elephant that was born. We were really interested in all the elephants. We took thousands of photographs so we could build it.

Audience Question: Why did you shoot in the Czech Republic?
Kim Zubick: A couple of reasons. Unfortunately Warsaw no longer resembles Warsaw of that era. We weren't actually able to shoot it there in a way that represented that time. It also turned out that the Czech Republic is a fantastic place to shoot, practically in terms what is available in crew, and financial aid. It was clearly the place to go.

Audience Question: Did the actors talk to any of the survivors? Did you get any background to prepare the actors and what kind of things did they say?
Kim Zubick: Jessica met with Teresa and talked to her about her mom and discovered little nuances. She did a lot of research to ingest that time and that family and discovered things like her mother never wore pants. She always wore lipstick but that Jan didn't like nail polish so she refrained from that. Little nuances that helped her learn who that character was. All the other characters who were in the basement, except for Ursula were based on true characters as well. All the names you see on the wall represent those people who were real guests at the villa. We did an infinite amount of research. Diane Ackerman, author of the book was incredibly helpful. We took more than one trip to Warsaw and did a lot of exploration into that time period. I don't know if Niki has survived it yet--the research she did on this--but for example, little details, like the idea that people would take their pictures in front of the gates to the ghetto, as if it were a zoo. So yes, a lot of research. The parents passed away in the 1970s. The parents were adamant that they were not anything other than normal people, they were not heroes, that this is something that anyone with a conscience would have done. So the kids think of the parents more as heroes than the parents themselves did.

Audience Question: Everyone said you would never get this made. What was the tipping point that changed people's minds? How did you pitch this to get it made?
Kim Zubick: There were a couple of tipping points actually. The first was work by the screenwriter being willing to write up a treatment that turned it from a historical piece of nonfiction into a movie. That allowed me to find financing for the script which then having a script allowed us to find Niki, having Niki allowed us to get Jessica, having Jessica allowed us to get Focus [Features]. You build it and you build it and you build it. So there isn't one tipping point, but I do think it important having a visionary leading the charge, and that would be Niki. So that was the difference in getting the film done.

Audience Question: Has this story ever been told before? Is this novel the first time the story has been told?
Niki Caro: It's amazing isn't it? Diane Ackerman was researching something else when she went to the zoo. And in the zoo she became aware of the Zookeeper's Wife and the fact that she had written a diary and the diary had been published. But it wasn't read very much even though it was published. She obtained the published diary and had it translated. It strikes me that how many more stories are out there in history that are centered on a woman's experience that are yet to be told, because somehow historically the female experience has been considered less relevant. So that's really depressing but also very exciting because there are more stories to learn about.

Audience Question: You have the book to screenplay, then script to the movie. How did you translate the script to the movie?
Niki Caro: It's more of an organic process I think than people appreciate. Particularly on this because we were using real animals. The philosophy was very strongly to let them be animals, to let them be themselves, to work with their natural behaviors, to not have them do tricks, or learn things for the camera to be done at a certain time. It was a pretty organic environment. You have to be pretty confident, certainly in your actor when you work in that way. Jessica was the single biggest gift to this movie because she loves animals so much. She whispers to them in a spooky fashion. I could just create the environment and just observe with the camera, instead of the camera being active and running the show. It's very intimately observed, this movie.

Audience Question: How long did it take to shoot and do you each have a favorite story from the set?
Niki Caro: It took 46 days. And two second unit days. I would go on my days off and direct the second unit which is where all the stuff is being blown up. [To Kim]: What's your favorite story?
Kim Zubick: I have so many favorite stories. It took so much effort to convince all the powers to be to make a more feminine WWII movie and yet one of my favorite moments was when Niki came with such delight on her face and said, "I just blew that up." She was so excited to blow things up and tear things down.
Niki Caro: I loved every second of it. Lots of things happened. Everyone was saying to me that it was scripted that the zoo is bombed and the animals run away and are roaming the streets of Warsaw and how are you going to do that? How are you going to get a lion in the road? It was really simple. It was as simple as "I'm going to put the lion in the road." (audience laughs). The only difficult thing was securing the perimeter so the lion was safe and figuring out the ways to shoot it that didn't require anyone operating the cameras within the perimeter. What a great time for the lions and tiger! And the birds and kangaroo and everyone we had in the road, just to see the animals running and their curiosity. They had such a splendid time. And it's nice to create those images really simply and organically. You don't see those images very often. You certainly don't see them in a non-CG or visual effects way.

Audience Question: How did you direct the scene with the elephant and baby?
Niki Caro: This is what I mean about working with animals' natural behaviors. We shot it over two nights. Elephants are so intelligent that they get bored very easily. They can only work for two hours before they have to have a 45 minute break. So logistically, scheduling that sort of thing--it's freezing cold, there's Jessica, barefoot, on her knees, on the concrete, in a tiny little outfit, covered with elephant mucus. But the elephant wasn't particularly interested in this scene. Jessica realized the elephant really liked apples and she had been feeding it apples. Just before we would roll, she would hide the apple in and around her, so that the elephant's trunk was looking for the apple. So she's acting her ass off and the little baby she's trying to resuscitate, a puppet, and hanging out of this puppet is a really skinny tattooed Czech guy. It's marvelous the way we create this stuff. All these sequences are created in a very old-school filmmaking way.

The Zookeeper's Wife opened in the DC area on March 31.

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