Broken Hallelujah is a family affair. A beautiful and moving story about love, it was written and produced by one of the film’s stars Vanessa Riddell, and directed by her husband Alastair Riddell in his directorial debut. It’s no easy feat completing and distributing an independent film, and in this thought-provoking interview Alastair kindly shares his experience of bringing Broken Hallelujah to life, and talks about the ups and downs of making films in New Zealand.
Rialto: First tell us what to expect from your film?
Broken Hallelujah is an 'ensemble' film, so it is unusual in that the plot follows the interwoven lives of several protagonists and not just one (although the inter-lacing story lines do move particularly around Kirsty Preston and her husband Gary). The film is set in West Auckland in early to mid 2000's with a cast that reflects ethnic mix of the area (Maori, Chinese and Pakeha) and where the drama and the ebb and flow of these stories finally culminate in a life challenging crisis that changes everything. The film is not a love story but rather a story about love and the power we have to find meaning from our trials and exultations. In the end and despite the elements of tragedy in the film, the story is a positive and life-affirming one.
Rialto: What was the biggest challenge you faced making the film, and how did you overcome it?
An ensemble film was an ambitious style to take on straight out of the blocks and the post-production process was an interesting and oftentimes steep learning curve. Finally, and despite the huge effort of filming and post-production, the biggest and toughest hurdle was releasing and publicising the film. Getting the word 'out there' and creating an interest in the release was very hard. We took to contacting cinemas ourselves directly and to our surprise the response was very positive. Not only did we get a decent run at Rialto Cinemas, we also managed to get screenings in well over twenty boutique cinemas throughout the country. The film was picked up by Air New Zealand for international in-flight and we have a deal for DVD release in Australia and New Zealand (with likely UK release pending). The Producer, Cinematographer and myself went on a small tour of several North Island cinemas and enjoyed positive feedback from viewers at Q and A sessions (something we will definitely do again for our next feature West of Eden).
As a result the film has achieved a 7.1 rating on IMDB (and without any shill voting) which is high rating for a New Zealand film.
I would like to see a sea-change in the acknowledgement and encouragement of independent filmmakers in New Zealand. Sometimes I feel we are an irritation to the state-funded film industry people (and I am sure most independent film-makers would say the same). Also, and oddly, I don't think many people realise that most films made in NZ are created through a sort of 'design-by-committee' process through the NZFC.
One of the biggest problems with making films through group analysis and dissection is the tendency towards making risk adverse decisions; I do not think anything dangerous or inspiring naturally flows from that kind of approach. Personally I would not have produced Out on the Street (my number one hit song) had I written it with a committee of other people. Creativity is something that wells up from the unconscious mind, from a synergy of personal inspiration and experience; the personal muse. Call it what you will, but my entire stage persona and branding (in modern parlance) was something that evolved out of my creative impulses, my passions, and a disregard for formulated and scheduled planning. No ticking of boxes was involved and I think this goes for the 1960s and 70s in general, when there was a flourishing of creativity in all the arts. Without overstating it, I think real creativity is being stifled today through a preoccupation with branding and a prescriptive, formulaic approach to creativity. It is interesting that there is a re-vitalisation in American television because they are breaking those 'rules'. I can't see a production like Mr Robot, The Night Of, Breaking Bad, True Detective or Fargo, being made in NZ for exactly the reasons I give. The same principles apply in film.
Art and personal expression should be helped by creative funding agencies and not defined by them. Film making does involve a balance between the necessary business requirements and artistic demands; still film should be in its highest aspirations, an art form, and the history of creativity shows that inspiration flows from individuals not collectives.
Books like Save the Cat and screen-writing Gurus like Syd Field, have become the benchmarks for story and structure and sadly that produces prescriptive blueprints for film-making. We then become incensed and bewildered when our films are not picked for distribution overseas. I suppose it can help to learn the rules before you break them but the result of approaching creativity in this way is that we lose the opportunity to develop many distinctly individual voices or for that matter, a truly national style in cinema. Diversity and experimentation are positive and productive qualities and should not be micro-managed into oblivion.
Personally I prefer to make films about ordinary people and their dilemmas; films that offer a small light to real human existence. As Ken Loach said about Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) "It wasn't a film about stars, or riches or absurd adventures". Our next film is a period piece set in 1960 – that points up the changes that have occurred socially in NZ since that time when being gay was a crime.
Rialto: How did you fund your film, and was any crowd funding involved? If so, would you recommend it?
Most feature films are so expensive from concept to cinema that deep pocket investors, studios or state funding are still the best option. The problem with any other form of funding like Crowd Funding, is that involves many people, a lot of time and imponderables like how to create excitement about your project...more often easier said than done. Crowd Funding is ideal for short films. In fact, short films should probably be funded this way to free-up money from studios and state funding organisations for feature films. It also allows young or novice filmmakers to find out how important marketing is; contrary to some myths, even Crowd Funding does not work without clever marketing and too often an additional contribution from the filmmakers themselves. Generally, as the saying goes, there is “no free lunch."
Rialto: How many roles did you juggle on this project?
The nature of making an independent film (with limited resources) is that you inevitably have to put on a few different hats. Mine were: Director, Editor, Composer.
I particularly enjoy directing actors and the challenge of writing the music for the score.
I have juggled more roles with Broken Hallelujah than I would like to in future, but the upside is that it has given me a great understanding of how to get a project of this size from beginning to end. I now know what I didn't when I started: what is required and what is worth spending extra time or money on to better expedite the completion of a film...no small thing.
Rialto: Can you tell us your best dinner party story about the making of your film?
Funny in retrospect but not so funny at the time: we were shooting a beach scene at Kariotahi Beach north of port Waikato. We had a digital feed to a blacked out van for checking shots from the camera as we progressed through the days shot-list. I was sitting in the dark in the van with our data wrangler Ciaran and a large 50 inch screen, which rather dominated the space as you can imagine. It was at the time displaying what was coming through live from the camera, which was pointed out to sea. It was framing a close-up of the waves. Suddenly Ciaran said "is that a large freak wave?" To our astonishment, we could see a large wave heading straight for us. We tumbled out of the van shouting our lungs out: the screen close-up had given us an early warning and no-one else, cast or crew, had spotted it. There was a mad scramble by everyone to pick up all the gear and the set (mainly picnic paraphernalia). Rather terrifyingly a rogue wave that came up to our knees, swept through the whole set washing everything away and when it subsided it carried some of the set off out to sea, never to be seen again. We did manage to keep all of the expensive gear dry, but the set was literally a wash-out. The makeup/costume tent further in shore remained unscathed but the van went down to its axles in the sand and we spent the next hour digging it out and then towing it out with the help of a friendly 4x4 owner. Needless to say it was the end of shooting for that day and it added another day on to our schedule. They say don't film with animals and children if you can help it so perhaps 'on beaches' should be added to the list (certainly the stories of freak waves on West Coast beaches are true!). In the event Broken Hallelujah has animals, children and beaches in it.
Rialto: If you were giving a talk to a group of filmmaking students, what would you tell them about their chosen career path?
Trying to stitch elements of vision, action and sound together to create a powerful and cohesive story can be immensely satisfying and hugely frustrating. It is a little like a juggling act where the elements have to be drawn together to create (you hope!!) some magic in the incandescent illusion.
As far as actually making films is concerned, I thing the only really important thing is to get going and start making doing it. There are some wonderful high definition cameras out there now, and if you can beg or borrow one, get going. There is nothing like actually making a film to teach you what you need, and don't need, to do. Read Werner Herzog on that subject. By actually doing it you will not only gather the knowledge on how to handle actors, shots, and schedules but you'll develop the confidence and faith to stand by your own decisions and vision. Developing and maintaining a body of work will put you in good stead for the future and as you move along you should view mistakes as an opportunity to learn and not dwell on their negativities.
The world has moved further and further in the direction of networking. There has been huge and emphasis put on the need to develop contacts and stratagems to get ahead, and whereas those things are no doubt important, I think too much weight has been put on them: concentrating on social media like Facebook can mean you are talking to a lot of people who are only really interested in what they are doing. We can lose our creative insight, and all important intuition, being overwhelmed by the stream of 'successes' posted online daily. Actually making something tangible can say more about yourself than a ton of words or self promotion. Again some balance needs to be found in that, but finally results have a way of informing the world.
Although film making can be hugely satisfying and creatively rewarding it is obviously a financially difficult undertaking. The best thing I ever did, as a creative person, was investing what income I received in the good times, into my security. That put me in better stead when times got harder. It is a difficult thing to confidently give advice on: on the one hand you have to follow your dream and have faith but on the other, economic reality can be a cruel mistress. To further compound matters the scope for making a decent living in the arts in NZ is always a tough one, so I suppose it's finally a balancing act. Having other interests outside of your chosen field is important to help you get through the tough times.
It helps a director I think, if you are interested in the other creative arts, particularly painting and music. I found my Art History major was hugely helpful when it came to understanding composition and framing as well as light. My career in music was also hugely helpful in understanding how to use music to develop and evoke mood and emotion.
Finally, I would say that film making is a collegial process and life is short; surrounding yourself with enthusiastic supportive people makes all the difference about how you feel about yourself and your achievements, in an often fickle, indifferent, and competitive world.
Rialto: If you could pick one New Zealand actor or actress to work with, who would it be and why?
Well there are a lot of terrific actors around; it is an area where New Zealand has a particular store of wonderful talent.
Still I would like to direct my old mate Russell Crowe (does he count?). We were friends many years ago and I'd love to find out what happened to the Randall amp I left with him when I went to England?!
Rialto: If you had to describe in three words the current state of the NZ film industry, what would they be?
Sorry to say they would have to be: enthusiastic, (but) formulaic and self-congratulating.
Rialto: What’s the last film that moved you?
Well I see a lot of films I like and appreciate, but being actually moved when you know the tricks is a little more difficult.
Surprisingly perhaps I got a wee bit emotional at the end of Lady in the Van. I've always had a soft spot for Alan Bennett. It was finally a very touching story (though I would have edited the end a little differently haha...!!), and of course all made possible by a brilliant performance by Maggie Smith!!
Don’t miss Broken Hallelujah, Wednesday 12th October at 8.30pm on Rialto Channel.