Marcin Koszałka and Franco de Pena about freedom and sentence for life
_ I'm interested in the future, not in past - summarized his film 'Sentenced for life" Marcin Koszałka. - In the press I'm described as a man, who uses cinema as mass destruction weapon - confesed Venezuelian Franco de Pena.
- I'm interested in the future, not in past - summarized his film 'Sentenced for life" Marcin Koszałka.The characters in his documentary think alike - they look with hope in the future. They work, they play, they fall in love, they plan family life and they await the sentence to end.
"Sentenced For Life" is a trial to confront the stereotype. According to Koszałka the prisons are seen as dehumanized places. The film shows that prisoners after all are ordinary people. The director fight the suggestion that he manipulates the reality:
- There will be never authenticity in documentary film - he said - the camera always catches only the fragment of the reality and the characters change their behaviour in front of the lens.
The film is about women, however in the very beginnig the plan was different. Koszałka wanted to make a documentary about men leaving the prison. The director changed his plans, when it occurred that prisonis a very hermetic enviroment. - Everyone out of the prison is considered a loser.
Making the film took a year, but shooting lasted only two weeks. The longest stage was getting know the characters and letting them tame the camera. The director achieved it by long talks and stories about himself and his earlier films.
- In the press I'm described as a man, who uses cinema as mass destruction weapon - confesed Venezuelian Franco de Pena.
His "King Hugo and his damsel" is a documentary revealing the political situation in Venezuela nowadays. To shoot it director has to change his name, as in Venezuela he is considered the enemy of the state. Film includes many scenes from authentic riots, which had been filmed by students.
In Venezuela the film was very - 800.000 people have seen it.