Havana Marking

IONCINEMA.com’s IONCINEPHILE of the Month feature focuses on an emerging filmmaker from the world of cinema. We dig into their filmmaking background and look at the nuts and bolts of that person’s upcoming feature film release. This month we feature: Havana Marking and her Sundance Film Festival award winning documentary film, Afghan Star. Click here to see Havana’s list of top ten films of all time as of June 2009.

Eric Lavallee: During your childhood…what films were important to you?
Havana Marking: I remember a very early Christmas we watched Gone with the Wind as a family – all the women of all generations went crazy for Scarlett’s Red Dress. But mostly I remember films my parents took me too at a very early age. I went to see the epic Ghandi with my father and I cried and cried – everyone was a little worried that perhaps I’d been a bit young. My mother took me to seeFahrenheit 451. Both films contained the desired propagandic effect: I believe in social justice and standing up for what you believe in, in a non-violent manner. 

EL: During your formative years what films and filmmakers inspired you?
HM: David Lynch probably was my favourite director when I was a teenager. There’s an innocence of love that always sears through his horrible, violent weirdness. I always found them hopeful in an odd way.

EL: At what point did you know you wanted to become a filmmaker?
HM: My mother was a filmmaker and when I was seven we made our first short film together. It was brilliant – about a beach ball that gets lost and tries to find its way home. I didn’t go to film school though but learnt working my way up the industry. I did do an MA in Creative writing though – it taught me everything I needed to know about structure, narrative tension, character building etc. I use it in documentary making more than anything else. 

EL: How did you get involved in this journey? 
HM: I had always wanted to go / explore Afghanistan – all my life. I had a great friend who went to work for an NGO there after the fall of the Taliban and she kept telling me how amazing the country was. I tried to pitch lots of ideas – just to get there. Luckily none of them were commissioned, but in the process I talked to a British war journalist, Rachel Reid. She in fact told me about the new TV series Afghan Star and put me in touch with the Local channel owners. I knew instantly that it was a genius idea – I have always loved Pop Idol (I always cry!) – and knew it would be the perfect vehicle and way in to such a complex and extraordinary place. 

EL: What kind of characteristics/features were you looking for your “main characters”?
HM: It was a mixture of choosing good characters with interesting back stories and ensuring that each character also revealed something about a different aspect of Afghan culture – tribe, poverty, gender, religion. Obviously we also observed what was going on in the show’s process. A few very interesting contestants that I focused on at the start were evicted from the show early on and so I couldn’t use them. Setara became the main character when she danced on stage: here the film completely changes, and as she realises the implications of her actions the reality of modern-day Afghanistan is revealed to the film’s audience. 

Luckily people who want to be on a TV show also were happy to be in my film. The amazing access we got however was to their families. It is very rare to film inside an Afghan home with all the women. Setara’s family were so proud of her despite the danger that they let us in and allowed us to film incredibly intimate moments. 

EL: What ideas did you have for the style of the film? Did you draw upon for the look/style, aesthetics of the film?
HM: In many ways the environment and conditions we were in shaped the film for us. Limited electricity, kidnap threat, dangerous situations: all these affected the way we worked and in the end I think made it a better film. We couldn’t light, or set scenes up. We couldn’t plan who and where we would be – we just had to follow the action as and when it happened. It was loose – many hours drinking tea waiting – but it was sharp because we when action took place we were on it. Practically everything is hand held and spontaneous. There is an energy and heart as a result.

EL: Can you discuss the collaborative process you had with the Executive Producer, Mike Lerner?
HM: I had a very close and vital relationship with Mike. I think people often miss the importance of having an exec that works on the editorial content of the film with you but from a remote distance. When you are absolutely engrossed and enveloped in the film you often can’t see the wood for the trees. Your exec can take a step back, gets the wider picture and make a suggestion that seems genius, just because he was able to think laterally. It was just as important during the filming as in the edit – I would ring him from Kabul “There’s been a bomb, a Warlord’s kicked off, I can’t film that scene that I had set my heart on…” He would suggest an alternative that was usually better!

EL: Can you discuss the collaborative process you had with the film’s translator (Nasim Karimi)?
HM: I was worried about Nasim at first – his English wasn’t perfect. This is often a problem in Afghanistan – the military have all the best translators. But Nasim has a personality and sensitivity that is brilliant. Plus he was a natural gossip and would sniff out stories I wouldn’t have dreamed of. I would always work this way now – much better to have a personable, emotionally intelligent translator than someone who speaks perfect English.

Zeitgeist Films releases Havana Marking’s Afghan Star in theaters on June 26th.