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www.festival-cannes.COMCANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
(70th edition, May 17 – 28, 2017, France)

 

   

Interview with Michal Blaško

 

Meet Michal Blaško (*1989), student of film directing at the Academy of Performing Arts – Department of TV and Film Production in Bratislava. His bachelor project Atlantis, 2003 competes in Cinéfondation and has been selected for the Future Frames at the 52nd Karlovy Vary IFF. The story is based on real events and opens discussion about the dilemma of moral values when a person finds him/herself in a border situation. His earlier short Fear (2015) opened at 63rd San Sebastian Film Festival and won several prizes including Best Short Film Award at the 21st International Film Festival in Vilnius.

"
People nowadays tend to lose their moral barriers faster when chasing their goals, often they are ready to do whatever it takes to achieve them."

Atlantis, 2003 is based on actual events from fourteen years ago. What was it about a young girl who got betrayed and sold into prostitution by her own boyfriend while illegally crossing Ukrainian-Slovak borders that inspired you to make this film?
I was fascinated by the fact that someone with whom this girl went through the strenuous process of border crossing and with whom she was planning a future in the free Western world betrayed her for the prize of granting this new life only for himself. Both characters in this story had their own motivations to get abroad, but one of them was willing to go further in the pursuit of this dream than the other. Although the story took place in 2003 it is still a prevailing issue today.

You had carried the story in your mind even before you became student at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. How long did you develop the film and what was the most interesting for you in the shooting process?
I had the motivation to turn this project into a film for about four years up until its completion, but real time preparations to shoot Atlantis, 2003 took about one and a half years, the second and third year at the Academy. We knew from the beginning that it would be problematic to shoot in Ukraine; therefore it took us a very long time to find the right locations that would correspond with the Ukrainian ones. That is why, together with DOP Adam Mach and line producer Jakub Brychta we travelled through all of Czech Republic, Slovakia and parts of Poland, until we were sure about every location. In the end we only shot one scene in Ukraine.

The film convincingly portrays the protagonists in a border situation. Tension unfolds gradually and peaks in the final scene. Did you consult the situation of the protagonists and what they could have gone through?

Even though we have spent a lot of time in the Slovak-Ukrainian border area, it was a real problem to get into a deeper study of this phenomenon. There is a lot of taboo around this precarious topic. We have tried to contact refugee centres that admit girls with similar destinies, but meeting them is almost impossible. Luckily, we were able to integrate all the information that we gathered into the original story, which contributed to the formation of the final structure of the film.

The film touches multiple topics: peddling, migration in quest for a better life, borders as limitations. Do you think it can contribute to a common debate? How?

Regarding the way in which we approach this topic I assume that it will open up the question of moral principles – what is a man willing to do to achieve his goal. Crossing the border in Atlantis, 2003represents a certain breaking point, which I wanted to use to express the partial understanding of the main hero; the first impulse towards the change of his character. Because the film is not only about the Slovak-Ukrainian border, the whole storyline about border crossing provides a space for the thorough examination of both characters equally, something I have been a bit scared of from the beginning.

The female protagonist experiences joy and fear at the same time while waiting to cross the border and embark on the dangerous journey. You have been dealing with the topic of fear already in your previous films. (Fear, The Wall) What is it about this topic that is still interesting for you?

I don´t think it is so much about fear than of conscience. In my films, I like to confront my characters with border-line situations, when they can truly unveil their real selves; when their emotion does not arise only from a concrete situation, but as a result of the previous development of situations. That was the case in Fear, and I think it is the same inAtlantis, 2013. It´s important for methat the spectator develops a relation with the characters and understands them be it protagonist or antagonist. We unveil the motivations of both characters in Atlantis, 2003 very early on, at the beginning of the film and therefore in my opinion it is interesting to gradually observe their development and their actions, when being confronted with the situation introduced earlier.

You are the fifth representative of Slovak Cinema in the prestigious competition of Student films Cinéfondation throughout its entire history of 20 years. What does the selection mean to you and what are your expectations?

First of all it is a great honour for us. I highly esteem all Slovak films that have participated in this competition before, and therefore being connected to them in this manner is really great. I believe that the premiere in Cannes will start a whole new life for the film that it might not have had otherwise.

What do you think it was about your film that captured the interest of the Festival? What might made them pick your film to be one of the 16 competition titles selected from more than 2600 student works from all over the world?

In the confirmation email that stated the admission of Atlantis, 2003into competition, the curator of Cinéfondation congratulated us on our “disturbing and moving” film. Certainly the topic of migration and illegal border crossing played a role in the decision process. I hope that the film will capture the interest other audiences as well.

The title of the film,
Atlantis, 2003 is an allusion to the well known homonymous song of Slovak singer and songwriter Miroslav Žbirka that can be heard also in the film. But the song mainly refers to a promised land. How do you imagine it?
I see this land as a place where any person from any part of the world can get to without having to give something up. But in that case it cannot be seen as land of dreams anymore.

Favorite (personal) quote: I am a human, and that is enough.

Favorite word: blyat
A Film you could watch a million times over: Au Hasard Balthazar (d. Robert Bresson, 1966)
Favorite meal/food/dish: pelmeni

published:
updated: 06.05.2019