A panel of acclaimed documentary filmmakers come together for an evening dedicated to the art of character-driven documentary and working with contributors. Looking in detail at scenes from their recent works and discussing the various stages of building remarkable stories, our speakers will shed light on the delicate process of communicating the experiences of others.

From finding an extraordinary character and establishing a relationship of trust, to interview methods and collaboration, these filmmakers will discuss their approaches to exploring the lives of others. They will also address the ethical dilemmas that arise when working closely with a character, including issues relating to consent, authorship, and narrative.

The panel:

Beadie Finzi (moderator) is one of the founding directors of BRITDOC, a non profit film foundation supported by Channel 4 Television, Ford Foundation and Bertha Foundation as well as a number of US and European foundations. Having worked in documentary for the past 20 years, Beadie is in heaven in her role at BRITDOC – whose mission is to befriend independent filmmakers, fund great films (120 to date), broker new partnerships, build new business models, share knowledge and develop audiences globally.

Brian Hill (The Confessions of Thomas Quick, Feltham Sings, The Not Dead) is the managing director of Century Films and also directs drama and documentary. His most recent documentary, The Confessions of Thomas Quick, premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015.

David Sington (The Fear of Thirteen, In The Shadow of the Moon) is a self-taught filmmaker. He worked initially as a radio producer for BBC World Service, and as a documentary filmmaker for BBC TV. In 2007 David’s feature documentary on the Apollo astronauts “In the Shadow of the Moon” was awarded the “World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary” at the Sundance Film Festival. His most recent film The Fear of Thirteen focuses on death row prisoner Nicholas Yarris and premieres at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival.

Edward Lovelace along with co-director James Hall, operates under the creative moniker D.A.R.Y.L. Their critically acclaimed, award-winning third feature film The Possibilities Are Endless (SXSW, London Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival) traced the mental and physical journey of singer/songwriter Edwyn Collins following a life-changing stroke. The film was awarded 5 stars by the Guardian, won Best Film at Solo Positivo Film Festival and was named Film of the Year 2014 by indie bible MOJO.

This screening will be preceded by a discussion with author Mariusz Szczygieł, translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones and chaired by Bloomberg News writer Doug Lytle.

The Frontline Club is delighted to partner with Czech Centre London, the Polish Institute and the 13th Kinoteka Polish Film Festival to bring you a screening of Gottland, directed by Viera Cákanyová, Petr Hátle, Rozálie Kohoutová, Lukás Kokes, Radovan Síbrt, and Klára Tasovská. Gottland is a cross-genre film based on selected parts of the international bestseller Gottland: Mostly True Stories from Half of Czechoslovakia (European Book of the Year 2009) by Mariusz Szczygieł.

After reading his book about their compatriots, a group of young Czech filmmakers approached the Polish author to ask for his thoughts and advice on a film project based on five of the true stories he tells. Szczygieł replied that for a filmmaker, the best author is a dead, or at least a silent one, and that he would prefer to leave them to interpret his stories in their own way. The result is a film in five very different parts, each episode a spin-off from Szczygieł’s originals, rather than a retelling.

This event combines the literary and the cinematic versions. The screening of the Czech film will be preceded by a discussion with Mariusz Szczygieł about the source of inspiration for his moving and at times shocking accounts of the life stories of: the film star who was Goebbels’ mistress; the despotic founder of a shoe-making empire; the sculptor who lost his life creating the world’s biggest monument to Stalin; the writer who reinvented himself for political survival; and the ‘human torch’ who copied Jan Palach’s fateful gesture as recently as 2003.

Born in 1966, Mariusz Szczygieł has been a reporter for Gazeta Wyborcza since 1990. He is the recipient of numerous awards for his writing on Poland and Czechoslovakia, including the Europe Book Prize and the Prix l’Amphi for Gottland. From 1995-2001, he hosted his own talk show (Na każdy temat – ‘On Any Topic’), and he runs the Polish Reportage Institute in Warsaw together with Wojciech Tochman and Paweł Goźliński.

Translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones is the pre-eminent translator of Polish reportage: the authors she has translated include Wojciech Tochman, Wojciech Jagielski, Jacek Hugo-Bader, and Ryszard Kapuscinski. She received the Found in Translation Award from the Polish Cultural Institute in 2008 for her translation of Pawell Huelle’s novel The Last Supper.

This event is organised by the Polish Cultural Institute in London as part of the 13th Kinoteka Polish Film Festival in partnership with Czech Centre London.

Gottland (FILM)
Directed by Lukáš Kokeš, Petr Hátle, Viera Čákanyová, Rozálie Kohoutová, Klára Tasovská, Radovan Síbrt
Duration: 100′
Year: 2014
Czech Republic/Poland/Slovakia

Gottland: Mostly True Stories from Half of Czechoslovakia (BOOK)
By Mariusz Szczygieł
Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Published by Melville House
Year: 2014