Filmmaker Series – Part 4 Q&A with Daniel Wirtberg
For the fourth instalment in our Q&A series with last year’s Aesthetica Short Film Competition winners we speak to filmmaker Daniel Wirtberg about his film Kärleksbarn (Love Child) for some insights about the film and about growing up in Sweden. Daniel’s film is a sweetly comic look at what happens when a couple’s affection for their new cat begins to replace their love for their daughter.
Love Child was a finalist in the Aesthetica Short Film Competition 2010. This year, the Short Film Competition has been further developed into a festival and the deadline for submitting to the Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2011 is 31st May 2011. Selected entrants will receive screenings at ASFF, Rushes Soho Shorts, Branchage Film Festival and Glasgow Film Festival as well as inclusion on the Aesthetica Shorts DVD, to be distributed with the December/January issue of Aesthetica.
One winner will also receive £500, training with Raindance and membership to Shooting People and our runner-up will receive £250.
All genres of films are accepted, the only restriction is that films must be 25 minutes long or less.
To submit visit http://www.asff.co.uk/submit.htm
Deadline for entry: Tuesday 31st May.
Please note, we will accept delivery of DVDS until 14th June, as long as they have been entered by 31st May.
Q&A with Daniel Wirtberg
How did you begin filmmaking?
I grew up in a small, rural community. There was no one around who was into filmmaking. My best friend’s father had this camcorder that he kept locked in his mini bar. So when he was out of the house, we picked the lock, we got the camera and went out in the night to shoot something. We shot everything that moved. Then step-by-step it developed into some sketches. So it involved a lot of playing with this camera at the beginning.
What was the most challenging aspect of making Love Child?
It was 2 weeks prior to shooting and I still did not have the lead actress. I just could not find her. It was very problematic to find a 5 year old who was willing to do it or whose parents would allow it. So I desperately browsed the Internet and found a casting agency located in my region. And there was this headshot of this angel. Tindra. So I called her mother and step-by-step I managed to befriend her. We hung out, played around. I took her to play mini-golf and we had some candy. She was very professional from the very beginning. But she did not want to rehearse. She said: “I want to do it for real; I do not want to fake it. When everything is there, I promise I will do it for real. But I do not want to do it now.”
What makes a good short film?
A good short film is a film that takes the audience somewhere they did not expect. It’s important to play with the form. You have so much freedom in the short format. You can play with everything-- the editing, the image, the sound-- in a totally different way than you can in a long format. There are no restrictions. Love Child is actually quite conventional in its form. It has the structure of a feature film in a way. But it plays on just one single emotion, like a strong piano key, and that is something a feature can never do.
What are your future plans?
I’m developing scripts for longer fiction films, directing music videos and commercials and I’m working hard on getting the earlier films I have produced out in the circuit in the same fashion, or preferably even better, as with Love Child (which has now been invited to 120 international film festivals since 2009), a film that I also distributed myself and will continue to do with new projects – and all my plans somehow add up to the same ambition, to get the means to reach the long format filmmaking. With hard work and devotion, it’s just a matter of time.
Find out more about Daniel’s work at www.daemonfilm.se. Find out more at ASFF at www.asff.co.uk
Aesthetica Magazine
We hope you enjoying reading the Aesthetica Blog, if you want to explore more of the best in contemporary arts and culture you should read us in print too. In the spirit of celebration, Issue 40 includes features on James Turrell, Wim Wenders, sculptors Alice Anderson and Kate MccGwire plus an extended feature on the Making is Thinking show at Witte De With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam. You can buy it today by calling +44(0)1904 479 168. Even better, subscribe to Aesthetica and save 20%. Go on, enjoy!
