Interview: Vladan Nikolić, a film director

Shaking hands instead of contract

A serious cinematography expert whose films were being shown from New York, San Francisco, Oldenburg, via Chicago, Barcelona, Geneva, Moscow, to Frankfurt, Venice and Belgrade, reveals how, following his dreams, he went to America with 500 dollars in his pocket, not giving up, because his wife Dušica helped him in his realizations; how he came into contact with powerful producer Jim Stark, and how he had no idea that during a reception he spoke to Penelope Cruz for an hour, and that during the shooting of "Love" a man was in charge of waking Sergej Trifunović up


By NEVENA ŠARČEVIĆ
from Belgrade, SERBIA


Vladan Nikolić (45), awarded film maker from Belgrade who lives in New York for fifteen years, is not a graduate of the Faculty of Drama Arts by education, but he is a Professor of German Language and Literature - graduated from the Faculty of Philology in his home town. His dreams were different from his academy choice, but they were exceptionally strong and imaginary to enable him to enter the world of film. Subtitling his first pirate films he began to show his talent for a big screen, while cutting negatives and shooting short films and documentaries, music videos and commercial slogans, he came to the position of a director/editor of cultural programme at Velja Pavlović's Studio B channel, where he worked until 1992 and his departure for U.S.A.

He became Master of Arts in film direction at New York University New School. He is a winner of TV Sarajevo Award, Zeta Film Award for the best scenario, Eastman Kodak Award for the film Serendipity, Telluride Indy Fest Award for the best film (Burn, 2001). He won acclaim for the best film director at Tiburon - the international competition in California. Film "Love", shot in 2004 with a total budget of 50,000 US dollars, had its premiere at New York festival Tribeca Film Festival and during the competitive part of the programme. After that it was successfully presented at Mostra Internazionale Del Cinema festival in Venice, where it had the world premiere within the programme Days of Authors. Since then he became a favourite of the Italian press, where in his interviews he is regularly asked if he has had a connection for reaching a prestigious producer, Jim Stark, well-known even from Jarmusch's films. In his interview for Wave magazine a competitive director explains that the contact was made by accident.

- Jim is one of the last producers who belong to this endangered species, the old school of an independent American production and he simply does not have a firm, he works on his own. We met by accident ten years ago. At the time I had shot a short film which had been shown and even awarded at some festivals. According to the fact that this small project had reverberations, superiors decided to open a door for me and first they connected me with Richard Peńa, the director of the film centre within Lincoln Centre in New York, and who is also one of the major selectors of New York Film Festival. Till then I had many interviews with various companies and from all that nothing had ever happened, so I asked Peńa so directly if there was anyone normal of the producers in America to whom I would be able to talk to. They referred me to two men: James Shamus and Jim Stark. They gave me their telephone numbers, which was really unbelievable. First I called James Shamus, who is a producer of Ang Lee, but he was too occupied, so that we have never met each other. At the same time I called Jim who told me to send him my scenario for which I was looking a producer, as well as video tape of the things I had done till then - Vladan Nikolić explains his route and he continuous - First, I sent shots together with scenario, that was some other old scenario which I wanted to do at the time, and he called me back after a week and told me that he liked my work very much, but that he did not like scenario at all. He offered to me to stay in contact if I wanted to do something else with him, and I accepted. He always really supported me in everything I did; he also supported my first film "Burn" which he liked very much. What is so uncommon for today's business is the fact that we started working on the film by shaking hands with each other, we did not have any contract - in America it does not exist anymore. I suppose it was done like that some time in the past, maybe 30 years ago. Of course, it is obvious that for the film which totally cost 50,000 dollars, the contract was not very important at all; if it had been about five million dollars, the situation would probably have been different, but, on the other hand, it also emphasized the trust on which the cooperation was based, what is so pleasant and rare.

The thing that makes Vladan such an exceptional interlocutor is unlimited affability, honesty and openness so it does not surprise that the students of a famous film school in Philadelphia, where he was a lecturer, lose in comparison with the students of a well-known NYU and The New School. He regrets having been late to make a good brand. While he is regularly waiting for the dawn in an editing room, he is listening to punk which he has not overcome. He fights against stress by watching the sky or water, and the conversation with Stephen Bogart is especially pleasant to him.

- New York is a combination of chaos and order with its clear dynamics, and all that mixed with a constant crowd and throngs of people who have a dialogue with themselves in the streets. Abundance of races, nationalities and many of those who speak English in their own way made me a man who had to get used to all of that pretty fast. I did not feel like an alien because all are aliens here. Let's paraphrase Stefan Milenković, who also lives here - this is a city of exceptional individuals where everyone mind his own business, but there is one mutual understanding - Nikolić points out the atmosphere of a city in which he currently lives.

Which high-quality actors have you worked with so far?

- My very good friend is actor Jason Robards III, actor Jason Robards's son. In my new film I cooperate with Stephen Bogart, Humphrey Bogart's son, and with him I like to talk about our job, not over alcohol, but over Coca-Cola, because it is his favourite drink.

Which film was lighter for a pocket: Burn or Love? And which one do you personally like more?

Burn was really an attempt done "with great difficulty", with the help of many associates and friends, practically without money; for Love we have already had support and budget, a lot of donated techniques and services; Jim Stark was the main producer, but there were also German, French and Italian co-producers and a marvellous help of legendary Patrick Lindenmayer in transfer from digital video into film. Otherwise, both Burn and Love are related to the war and breakdown of Yugoslavia, but from human point of view and from some outer perspective, where that story serves as a background, it determines characters and their destinies. Burn is about the meaninglessness of that violence, while Love is about the marks that people wear after such happenings. I simply had a physical need to make something about it, only now I can deal with some other things.

Did Sergej Trifunović come on time for the shooting of Love? Who did you have doubts about most?

- Yes, he came on time, but we had a man who was only in charge of kicking him out of bed in the morning. I thought I would have problems with Didier Flamand, the legend of French screen, who worked with over 100 production companies, and he was also nominated for Oscar. Those data encouraged my mistrust, but it showed to be completely needless. He is a great actor, colleague and man. Nothing was hard for him to do; he did not behave as a big star. He helped others in everything. And with all his energy he supported the film. Sergej Trifunović was also glamorous. While shooting Love we were like a large family. We are all still in contact, although the team was made out of people from more than 20 different countries from all continents. Otherwise, Love was unbelievably acclaimed here, in all famous media, starting from New York Times to Variety, which is quite uncommon because most often there are various opinions of critics, depending on their orientation.

What occupies you at the moment?

- I produce the film of Darko Lungulov, There and Here, documentary Fire under the Snow; I have finished the feature-length documentary film about New York which I have also directed: "The City", I prepare a new feature film for the next year and I give lectures at the faculty.

The moment you are proud of?

- The premiere at Tribeca Festival in New York in front of a packed audience, around 1000 people, with actors and main team, it was wonderful. Only after the applause which was very long, we realised that a good film was made, almost out off nothing.


(Published: 10.08.2008.)