Peter Entell
What a pleasure to listen to Peter Entell at the masterclass in Belgrade in connection with the Magnificent7 festival. Well prepared he showed clips from his previous films, talked about them and about his way of filmmaking, especially related to his latest film, ”Shake the Devil Off”. I made some notes that I will share with you.
I dont know what I am filming, he said. I am going there to find the story. My cameraman for the New Orleans film wrote with his camera. I had the second camera, did the reaction shots and together we were filming all these unrepeatable moments, hoping that we could get something in which we could find the story. I sense the emotions but I dont really know what goes on when I am on location. One take, thats all. This is storytelling, I dont believe in reality, there is none, there is perhaps a truth, but truth is not reality. I love the editing process. I go over the rushes again and again, I ask friends to come in and give me their reactions to what they see. I never do rough cuts, I edit the scenes immediately. I love the revealing silences in a story.
It is sick to think about an audience and I dont want to pretend that I am targeting such one, Entell says. I dont ever set up anything, I aim for the emotional possibilities.
I had seen a couple of Entell’s films in beforehand, the masterly told story ”Rolling” and the reflective essayistic ”The Tube” about the impact of television. American born Entell, who lives in Switzerland, has now added another great work to his filmography, ”Shake the Devil Off”.
