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Interview with Guillaume Martinez

A while ago, I had reviewed a French short film called ‘Gratte-Papier‘ which won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale. Today, I have an exclusive interview with Guillaume Martinez, the writer-director of ‘Gratte-Papier’.

Guillaume is a graduate of Institut International de I’Image et du Son (IIIS), Paris where he studied Directing and Screenwriting. During his stay there he had done a number of student films while also working as a radio presenter. His first professional film ‘Gratte-Papier’ was well received across several international festivals and garnered an official selection at Sundance 2007.

Through our exchange of emails, I’ve found Guillaume to be a very kind and approachable person. He was pleased with the review I had written of his film and willingly agreed to do this interview.

Guillaume, you’ve lived in an array of cities as diverse as Limoges, Cairo, Istanbul, Mexico City and Paris. What were your experiences living in these cities spanning across three seperate continents and how did the cultures of these cities affect you?

I was only 2 months old when I started travelling, and made my first trip to Egypt. All my life, I followed my parents going from one place to another because of my father’s work. No, he is not a diplomat.
They have always been full of curiosity for the countries and cultures we were living in, taking my sister and I everywhere with them, for us to see, meet, taste and remember all we could. I feel extremely lucky, to a point I consider myself today part of that group of people that is growing everyday, a kind of citizen of the world. From the Valley of the Queens in Egypt to the Aztec pyramids of Teotihuacan where I use to spend most of my weekends when I was 10 years old, through the richness of the old Roman and Ottoman Istanbul when I was a teenager… Yes, I was and I am fortunate. Of course there is still so much to see, but that was a pretty good start, and somehow today, this must have an influence on me and the way I look around. I couldn’t say exactly how; sorry (because that was your question) but I feel, it can only be positive in watching and trying to understand the other.

When did you first decide to become a filmmaker? Which films or filmmakers are an influence on your style of filmmaking?

Very late. I use to have sound engineering dreams when I was a teenager, but the more I was going into, the more I felt something was missing. I couldn’t say what at first, and then I realized sound wasn’t enough for me, I needed image. By the time I opened my eyes, I was at university, wanting to graduate in foreign languages and then start sound studies. So I changed my plans, after having my languages degree at the University of Poitiers, I decided to move to Paris to go to film school.

Too many films and too many filmmakers, I would need years.

It’s too soon to try to define my style of filmmaking, gratte-papier / penpusher is my first film. 8 minutes is all I have done in the field of filmmaking. Hopefully I’ll do more.

How was your time studying at IIIS, Paris?

I assume, it’s like going to any film school in the world, there are things to keep and things to forget.

In between things, I like remembering the day I convinced director Tran Anh Hung to give me almost 6 months of private interviews for the purpose of my thesis, which I had chosen to make about him and his work. He kindly accepted and became a sort of mentor to me. I learned more about the art of filmmaking in those six months of words exchange, than in the three years of film studies.

Do you recommend aspiring filmmakers to attend film school or do you suggest against it?

As long as you keep the necessary distance to think of your own, film school can only be good. If you drink what they teach you as holy water, don’t waste your time and money.
A director diploma doesn’t mean a thing, but film school can be an opportunity to meet and share experiences with people who work or worked in all the cinema fields, and also to have access to professional equipment and experiment things. It’s what I did. Of course there is no better school than practicing, but knowing about the evolution of arts throughout mankind history, from painting to music, from still pictures to film, can only be assets. It’s obvious, but you ask me, so I’ll answer you. (no offence Dear Gautam) …The education of the eye and the ear can only be for the better, whether to push forward or break it.

How did the idea for ‘Gratte-Papier’ come about? What is your personal view on the themes of Human Connection and Chance Encounters?

The idea came naturally. I take the metro everyday, and spend so much time in public transports that I always have a book with me, with a half eaten old pencil to underline what I don’t want to forget. One day, there was that beautiful woman on my side, I was surprised because she wasn’t hiding the fact that she was reading over my shoulder every single word I was underlining. I knew, there was no doubt, I only needed to use my pencil to communicate with her. I didn’t have the courage at the time, but I thought at that very moment, that it was a great idea for a short film. I kept it in mind for about a year, because I was hoping to do some other projects. In the end I got tired of looking for a producer, and finally decided to write it in the most simple way, in order to be able to do it by myself. When the script was ready, I was happy with the result, so I still tried to send it. The answer was as always : silence, or once I had a : We like the idea but we don’t like the end, if you change it we might be interested …. So I did it on my own without producer.

Gratte-papier doesn’t have deep ambitions. It’s just a film based on one simple idea. We can say that it is about small things that look like nothing, but can make big differences. Public transports are potentially where we could meet the more people, but nothing happens. That is the reason why the first part of the film is very important, the recreation of the metro as it is everyday, and a simple spark accessible to anyone makes all the difference.

Human Connections? That is a big question, I am like you, still learning ; and I don’t know what to tell you about chance encounters, except that they do happen. Stay opened.

What genre of cinema does ‘Gratte-Papier’ belong in?

I don’t really know, but a few months ago I crossed with a neighbor in the elevator. He is twice my age, and had seen my film on french television. He spoke to me about it, and used two words to define it. I never thought about gratte-papier that way, but I liked it : Urban Poetry…….. This could be part of your answer.

What was your reaction to the overall positive reception of ‘Gratte-Papier’? How has winning the Silver Bear affected you?

Completely unexpected. After walking through the desert for five years after school, nobody interested in what I could propose. Winning the Silver Bear was the highest emotional moment of my life. I produced the film with 2000 euros. We can say that it was paid more by time and patience, than anything else. It took almost a year to make these 8 minutes. I had chosen carefully the talented people I wanted to work on the film. They kindly gave me free time, in between paid jobs, and in the end the film was born. The feeling at the Berlinale was unbelievable, and still is. First film, first festival, first award, I feel gifted. And all began there, everything changed since then, the film has an amazing career, full of surprises. Sundance was an important one. Today, producers from all over the world ask me about my projects. I finally got attention, but most of the time they expect too much. We’ll see what happens next.

What are the advantages and challenges of working on the short-film format? Would you prefer doing feature-length films?

The challenges are completely different, and both are complex. I don’t personally think in terms of short or feature, it’s the story that dictates the length. In my small experience, I noticed that no matter what format, for a director, making a film is so difficult that it is always an act of courage.

What can we expect from you in the near future?

I am preparing now my new project, a 45 minutes anticipation film. The script is ready. We are starting to look for the financing. Hopefully, the film will exist one day; I cross fingers, please cross yours too

Thanks Gautam !

Thank you Guillaume, it was a pleasure having your thoughts on cinema. For more information on Guillaume and his films you can visit his official site.