A recipe for a brave film
The fifth interview from the series FemGems in the Arts, featuring writer/director Kristina Grozeva
Kristina Grozeva first studied journalism at the University of Sofia and later graduated as a film and television director from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, where she is now a guest-lecturer. The documentary “Parable of Life” (2009) marks the start of her cooperation with Petar Valchanov. Their short fiction “Jump” (2012) was nominated for the European Film Awards 2013 at Clermont-Ferrand ISFF 2013, making it the first Bulgarian short film ever to be nominated for EFA. “The Lesson” (2014) is their debut feature-length film and it was selected at the Toronto IFF (Contemporary World Cinema) and the San Sebastian IFF (New Directors), among many other festivals. “Glory” (2016) premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival. Their last film, “The Father” (2019), recently won the biggest award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July. “Not all filmmakers can say they’ve carved out a distinctive niche for themselves after just three features, but the Bulgarian writing-producing-directing duo are among the few who can.“, wrote Jessica Kiang for Variety after its world premiere.
Kristina’s acute sense of truth and ability to find the absurd and the paradoxes in life is soaked through all of their films. She and her partner in life and in filmmaking Petar Valchanov have unnoticeably inserted some personal experiences in every film they’ve made, but that’s most visible in “The Father”, where the plot is based on a family story and making the film had a “therapeutic effect” according to the duo. “The Father” turns out to be one of the most intelligent comedies in the last few years to deal with family reconnection, in the line of Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” and Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann”. They all show that life, with all of its craziness could be sometimes quite enjoyable. With its extraordinary story, light atmosphere, witty dialogue and hilarious moments “The Father” works as an antidepressant, bringing humor and some healthy dose of madness into our routine life.
You have initially studied journalism. What made you switch to film directing?
Journalism wasn’t a consciously made decision by me. When I was 19 I wanted to study acting or psychology, but for a while I was deterred from this idea by my parents. They told me that I can’t be an actress because I can’t sing well. Psychology was accepted as a plan B. That’s how I came to journalism and my parents were pleased for the moment. Actually, I don’t regret anything at all about this period.
During my studies I worked in several media, including the Bulgarian National Television. I’ve met a lot of people — politicians, gangsters, criminals, police officers, artists… That was the time when I realized what I wanted to do in my life.
The same year that I graduated as a journalist, I secretly applied to the National Film and Theatre Academy. I was accepted into the Film directing class of the great master Georgi Dulgerov.
Since almost graduating from NAFTA you and Petar Valchanov have been co-directing your films together. How did you start working side by side and how do you complement each other?
At first, we were just helping each other. Soon we realized that we are in the same artistic tune. We acted as creative provocateurs for one another. We upgraded our ideas. We realized that working together makes us more productive, more creative and liberated. The most important thing was that during the co-working process we had more fun. It’s very interesting how we did change each other mutually. In the beginning I was the comic writer, Petar was more serious and even dark sometimes. Now things have changed — he is more drawn to comedy and I became more dramatic.
How did you shape your specific manner of storytelling? Do you think you’ve found your own personal voice?
To explain your working model is like trying to explain your breathing mechanism. If you start analyzing the functioning of your own breathing system you would probably start suffocating. We prefer not to contemplate on our working methodology. We act mainly intuitively.
We learn from our mistakes and we follow some basic principles. For example, we try to be sincere in our films as much as possible, we try to break out from our comfort zone, and we try to run away from banality and clichés.
We are looking for the truth. We are constantly searching for our own personal voice.
Your profession takes a lot of time and sacrifice. How do you find balance between being a parent and your work? You’ve made your most significant films after the birth of your daughter.
It’s definitely hard to be an active filmmaker and a parent. I’m extremely happy that we are our own bosses and we don’t have a fixed working time. That gives us the opportunity to be more flexible and to comply with the needs of our child.
How do you usually start your creative process: with a basic idea of the plot, with a vision of a specific character, with a strong visual reference or with a particular feeling that should be present in the film?
We usually start from something concrete that has impressed us and has stuck in our minds. Sometimes it is a real-life situation, sometimes it is an interesting person we’ve met. Whatever it is, at some point it starts haunting us — our thoughts and conversations, even our dreams. And when we have this, let’s call it “irritator”, we try to find a way to get it out of us. We start making fantasies around it, to create a story bit by bit. Sometimes, in the end, just a small part of the initial plot is left, but at the same time, the core of the idea has remained the same.
Which part of the film creating process is most challenging for you?
Every single part of the filmmaking process has its own difficulties and hardships. I used to think that the script is the most challenging part.
Gradually, I’ve realized that every film is a completely different experience and the obstacles you have to go through are different every time. Sometimes you struggle trying to finish the script, sometimes the real battle is on set or in the postproduction. Every story hides its own risks and traps.
What are the important elements that a good film must definitely have? For example, how important in your opinion are the social background and the sense of humor in the storytelling? Do you like to mix genres and how do you usually do that?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a recipe for a good film. A colleague once said that to have a good film you must have a kid and a dog in it. Yeah, but I’ve recently seen a very silly film about a kid and a dog. There is no single element or ingredient that can guarantee that the film will be good.
We create solid social background in our films because we see it as a drainless source of paradoxes and absurdities. That’s the reality we live in.
If we were born and lived in some other part of the world, we would have probably been interested in different kinds of stories.
We use humor as a contrast to the dark subjects we work on. We like humor which origins from the absurd and merges with the sad and the woeful. In Bulgaria we have a popular expression, which translated in English, would sound something like this: “You don’t know if you should laugh or cry.’’ With our films we want to take the audience to that emotional state. The mix of genres, the fusion of the comic and the tragic is something that we are deeply interested in.
We like to experiment, to improvise and to search for the right proportion. I can compare it to preparing poached eggs “Panagyurski” style.
And since I can’t give you a recipe for mixing the genres, I can give you the recipe for poached eggs “Panagyurski” style. Break the eggs into boiling water with a little bit of vinegar. The mastery is not to spoil the white of the egg when it mingles with the boiling water. If the white don’t turn sour, you cook it for another five minutes and it’s ready.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But when it works it’s absolutely delicious.
What do you find inspiring?
When I think about the origin of my artistic inspiration I am always reminded of a famous song by Vladimir Vysotsky „Посещение Музы“ (“The Visit of the Muse”). In that song the protagonist is angry because the Muse visited him only briefly and then went away, while she stood for days with Blok and she even dared to move in with Pushkin for good. It’s hard to say what exactly inspires me. Inspiration is a subconscious process. I know that I really like the form of the parable and I’m always on the lookout for those kinds of stories. Sometimes the sparkle of inspiration can be inflamed by music.
When we were editing “The Father” we felt blocked for a while. Despite the useful comments of our great co-producers Konstantina and Rena from Graal Film, despite the great advice of the amazing Yorgos Mavropsaridis, the white of the egg was always curdling in the boiling water with the vinegar. And then Schubert and his “Andante con moto” came into the picture. This music helped us not to get lost and led the film towards its final version. Even though the Andante is not present in the film, we believe that its melody is built in the rhythm of the movie.
What do you think of contemporary cinema? There are trends and successful models, but what does it take to create something really deep and brave which speaks with a strong and unique voice?
For me as a filmmaker, the most important things in art are honesty and sincerity, the raw truth. During the working process the artist must ask himself constantly, “Is this what I’m really interested in? Is this my truth? Is this what I really want or I do I choose this because it is trendy or easy?” If the former is true the artist could create something authentic, genuine, original and veritable. If it comes deeply from the soul then it would have the power to touch the hearts of the audience on an invisible level. Your deeply hidden truth would meet the truth of everyone in the audience. This is the real connection. This is the goal: to awaken what lays deep inside your audience.
How do you define “honesty” in art?
I don’t like theorizing, but if I have to give my explanation about honesty in art, I would say that this is overcoming the fear of self-revealing.
Bravery lies in the ability to dig for artistic material deep in the secret shady spots of your mind and soul.
How do you deal with hesitations and fears in your professional life?
Hesitations and fears go along with the artistic process. It’s part of life as a whole. Those emotions shouldn’t be ignored or pushed aside, because they are helping us be awakened and have a sharp eye. But we shouldn’t let them capture us entirely, because if we do so, we are sabotaging ourselves.
Have you faced some restrictions, prejudices or difficulties in your professional path as a female director? During the last decade in Bulgaria, approximately half of the young and upcoming directors were female. What do you think is the explanation for that?
I, personally, haven’t faced problems with the fact that I’m a woman. Usually I hear some gender insults only when I drive. It’s true that there are many talented female directors in Bulgaria: Ralitsa Petrova, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Maya Vitkova, Nadejda Koseva, Mina Mileva & Vessela Kazakova… There are some young girls who have made a strong impression with their short films — Slava Doycheva and Antonia Milcheva, for example.
My explanation is quite simple — it’s just that the women in film are talented.
What’s the connection between the three films in your trilogy (“The Lesson” (2014), “Glory “(2016) and “Triumph” (in pre-production), apart from the fact that they’re all based on newspaper titles?
These three stories are focused on the absurdity of contemporary life. We’ve tried to create contemporary social parables. All of them are snapshots of the actual state of our society. They unfold in reverse chronological order, in search of the basic reasons for the moral collapse of Bulgarian society during the last 30 years in the transition from Communism to Democracy.
“The Father” (2019) is your first film that includes personal elements. In your previous films your characters were based on real people, whose personal stories had become a public sensation. Did you have a different approach in creating your characters this time around? Do you find it easier or, on the contrary, more difficult to use personal experience in your films?
We actually use a lot of personal elements in all of our films. We use personal experience to make our characters or the plot more consistent, more real.
My professor, Georgi Dulgerov taught me that there is no better script writer than life itself.
It’s not only that we’ve used a personal story in “The Father”, we’ve put a family experience, which was embedded in our minds for quite a long time in the very core of the film. We needed to make a film so we can get rid of it.
Which of your projects have you enjoyed working on the most?
Every new film becomes dear to our hearts. We definitely have a personal urge behind every project and we put all of our energy and emotions in everything we work on.
This portray is the fifth of the FemGems in the Arts series, proudly part of FemGems, whose mission is to foster female entrepreneurship.
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