3.13.2015

Interview


FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY
interview with editor Dortih Vinken 
Auteur: Lotte van Geijn
13.03.2015 


  Filmstill 'Brozer' 2014











In the afternoon I sit down with Dorith Vinken. She is a Dutch editor with an impressive list of films, documentaries and series to her name. Twice she was nominated for a ‘Gouden Kalf’ for editing. The last few years she worked on a huge project that resulted in the incredible movie ‘Brozer’. The film started as fiction and ended as a documentary. It is about one of the actresses; Leonoor Pauw dying of cancer. ‘Brozer’ is a sequel to the movie ‘Broos’ (1997) about five sisters struggling with family relationships. It was clear when they started to shoot ‘Bozer’  Leonoor Pauw was terminally ill. This was also included in the fiction script. At a certain point the movie would end and Leonoor would be able to spent the last period of her life with her family, but she decided that she wanted to continue filming. At this point the fiction became reality. The actresses started to use their own names. But how do you edit this transition from fiction to documentary in such a way it is clear to the viewer?


Lotte van Geijn:

Why did you choose to become a film editor?


Dorith Vinken:

My first choice was camera when I studied at the Film Academy in Amsterdam. But when I was asked to edit a graduation movie I found it incredible to do.
The most exceptional thing of editing is that you write the movie again. The scenario has been written, the film shots are made, but in the editing room it is possible to explore the idea again. There are always things that have to change in order to create a good film.
How do we find solutions for certain problems? This puzzling is what I really like about the process of editing, as well as the co-working with the director I really prefer in this job.
Also it is away from the hectic set. I don’t like the process on the set with all the people running around all the time. My heart beats faster to see the final product of the film. The moment I chose editing instead of camera at the academy it felt like a big relieve. Then I knew I made the right decision.


Lotte van Geijn:

What is the relationship between you and the director? The most final decisions are made in the editing room.


Dorith Vinken:

You have to be able as an editor to take a modest position. Because it is the director who must lay his or her egg. You have to work together, but in the beginning I was so convinced that I knew the right way to do it and I put all my energy in the fight with the director. Now I know with all my experiences that if I keep giving good arguments about how I receive it, because I am the first viewer, the director is maybe at first not convinced, but after more people have watched the material during the process of making and also agree with my arguments, the director changes his opinion and I often get my equal without fighting.
I often work with directors who have the same taste as I do and then I don’t have to make concessions.


Lotte van Geijn:

You have been working on different kind of movies and series, both fiction and documentary. Can you explain the differences within the working process? The choices that you make?


Dorith Vinken:

The big difference between fiction and documentary is within fiction you work with a scenario, the story is fixed. With a documentary there is also a story but it is more like a schedule. There are assumptions how things will work out, they have done research, but there can happen something halfway that makes you decide to chance the whole story. With fiction I often start working alone, I follow the script, later the director joins. With a documentary this is not possible and I start together with the director.

Lotte van Geijn:

Do you prefer fiction or documentary?


Dorith Vinken:

No I don’t. I really like the variation. What I learn from documentary I can use with fiction and the other way around. It has to do with the technique. How you edit. With fiction there is a plan how to record the scenes; mise-en-scene, if it starts with a close-up or a total shot. In documentary it is more following. It influences the way I edit, and I can use the different techniques for different films.

Lotte van Geijn:

In the movie 'Brozer' of Mijke de Jong fiction and reality intersect. How did you experience this process?


Dorith Vinken:

This was the biggest problem of the film. It was for us the major challenge. The film was intended as fiction. Of course we did know that one of the main actresses  Leonoor Pauw was going to die. We didn’t know the end of the movie yet. We did know that Leonoor looked at the project as a beautiful challenge, but she was going to spent the last period of her life with her family and not on the set. Over the course of three years we did recordings and editing. Leonoor often came over to watch the editing process. She had a wish to go the Norway to see the northern lights and that would be the end of the movie. So they went, I edited it afterwards and then Leonoor said; ‘We have to continue. We cannot stop here. We have to continue until the end.’ It was her decision to continue filming, but also of her husband and children. And at that point everybody had to become their selves and the actresses had to change there fictional names intro there own names.  For some of the actresses this was a very difficult process. At a certain point one of them asks herself; 'What am I doing here? I’m just a colleague of you, don’t you prefer a good friend next to your bed now?'  There was a shift from profession to private. It became a huge responsibility for all of use. The switch from fiction to documentary was difficult. We asked the actresses to film themselves with their I-phones and they explained their troubles with the process. ‘Is it fiction? Is it documentary? What is my position? But what am I worrying about compare to Leonoor; she is dying.’ It shows their dilemmas and their difficulties, it makes it very sincere. It is very sincere. And this material made it possible for me in the editing to make the transition from fiction to documentary clear to the viewer.

Lotte van Geijn:

Is it the role of a filmmaker/editor to stay as close as possible to the reality within documentary making? Or showing a fictional personal view on the world around us?


Dorith Vinken:

The most important thing is to tell the story in the best way possible. In this case the reality was of course extremely tough and merciless. But the choices are; what do you show? This was an interesting process. The husband of Leonoor had a big influence. He told us not to be to gently, show how sick someone is, how much pain she can have. The responsibility of me and the director (Mijke de Jong) was to know where to draw the line. To keep it tasteful and intangible. There was a lot of material that was crossing the line, that we couldn’t use. We are very proud how we found a solution to show the moment that she passed away. It is not a shock but a gentle transition.

 Lotte van Geijn:

Is a movie a reflection of our world? Or are we so used to watching movies that it is the other way around? That we expect our life to be as in the movie?


Dorith Vinken:

When you talk about film and reality the strange thing is that the reality is very difficult to catch in a movie, because it is often more incomprehensible, more shocking, more insane, then what you can show in a film. It does happen sometimes in documentaries, that there are situations that are real, but when you put them in a movie; you just don’t believe it.
Film have had a big influence on us. It is the strongest art form, of course a painting, music or dance can touch the heart, but a movie can be a real experience. It is beautiful way of telling stories. It is a modern way of storytelling. 

 Lotte van Geijn:

What is your opinion about the influence of movies at our society? And does this bring responsibilities? Or is the filmmaker free in his/her process?


Dorith Vinken:

I think the influence is incomprehensible, it is bigger than most of us think it is. I think moviemakers should not be too aware of this fact, because then they adjust to much, but of course they also have a responsibility. But there are also very headstrong directors like Lars von Trier. It is important that there are innovative moviemakers as well. 

Lotte van Geijn:

On what subject would you like to edit a film of in the future?



Dorith Vinken:

There are so many subjects! It happens often that I see a movie and wished I had made it myself. The last time I felt like this was with the film ‘Mommy’. It is about an autistic boy and his mother. It is fiction. I love the way they act, with an intensity and no bullshit. A very beautiful movie. I prefer to make that kind of movies, instead of being so aesthetic in image. To tell a story that  really touches people in the heart. When I make a movie I need to be touched myself and I don’t stop editing until this happens.



'Brozer' http://www.brozer.nl                          
Dorith Vinken http://www.dorithvinken.nl/       

-Lotte van Geijn 

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