Film still from Battleheart
Culture.pl catches up with Tomek Matuszczak about making Battleheart
Battleheart tells the story of two young people – Julka and Maciek, who live in a dangerous housing estate in Poland. For years now their neighborhood is being threatened by hooligans supporting two opposing football clubs – Czarni and Pogoń. The protagonists are caught on the two opposite sides of the conflict are now desperately trying to find a place for their love.
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Culture.pl: where did the idea for the film come about?
Tomek Matuszczak: I was looking for a way of recounting a classical story in a contemporary way. I started thinking about the film from a visual and audio perspective. Then I was looking for an appropriate emotion, and the story appeared in the end, as a consequence of this search. I deliberately sought a well-known story, and tried to tell it in another way.
How did your personal experiences influence the story?
This film is fictional from beginning to end, so it is in no way autobiographical. On the other hand, personal experience is one of the tools used by actors and directors working on a film. Probably, in some subtle way, this film is related to my personal experiences and those of the actors.
How much support (or lack of it) did you find in producing your film?
Producing a short film – with a small budget and virtually zero commercial value – is always based on the goodwill of many people. I am lucky to have experienced a lot of kindness.
What has been the early reaction to the film by foreign audiences?
The audience's reactions are strongly polarised. I met with an emotional reaction especially from young people, but there were also opposing reactions. It rarely met with indifference. People either like this film, or reject them, but it's always a reaction.
Battleheart was made within the Munk Studio 30 minutes programme in cooperation with Vostok8. The film won a distinction at the 2012 Locarno Film Festival
- Battleheart / Serce do walki, Poland, 2012. Direction and screenplay by: Tomasz Matuszczak, cinematography by: Bartek Kaczmarek, edited by: Tymoteusz Wiskirski (PSM), music by: Marcin Macuk, sound by: Kamil Radziszewski, production design by: Katarzyna Jarnuszkiewicz. Executive production by: Dawid Janicki, Wojciech Kasperski. Cast: Marian Dziędziel, Maciej Barski, Angelika Paszkowska, Lucyna Malec, Robert Kuraś, Jan Zmit, Rafał Iwaniuk, Jakub Konstantynowicz.
Interview by Roberto Galea.