According to the organizers of EUShorts, “good things come in small packages”. And they seem to be right (just think of túró rudi or a box of matches). We knew Budapest was a cinema-city, but it’s lacked an international short film festival.
So far.We had a little chat with James Lees, much-acclaimed short film director, about the recent EUShorts Festival, short films, challenges and apologies.
You’ve been to many short film festivals around Europe and the USA. How did you find this one?
This is really quite special. There’s a great programme for shorts; they’re all proven and successful films. And it’s in a city like Budapest, such an important cultural city. Budapest needs to have an event like that and the short films need Budapest, too. The city is very much part of the festival; locals and Budapest, I feel, have really embraced it. I’ve got a feeling that this festival could really grow quite huge.
The organizers of the festival say that short films are the cinema of the future, as they’ll fit more into our lifestyle. Do you think that’s true?
To a certain extent, I think short films are becoming more popular; you see more and more short film festivals, a greater consumption of them on the internet and a bigger audience for shorts generally.
Do you think shorts will move more towards the mainstream, too, like feature films, eventually losing their artsy vibe?
I’d like to think not. Because they’re so short and you can have such variety. And the nice thing about short films is that you want variety, you don’t really want to watch the same genre and style over and over again. And with shorts, there’s so much room for experimentation.
You’ve begun work on your first feature film. How do you think that project will differ from your previous short films?
They’re two very different disciplines. Making something that lasts an hour and a half is so vastly different than making something ten minutes long. It’s all about the story, the narrative flow, character development… With features, you’ve got more time to meet characters; you can go through the ups and downs. With shorts, you need to get the audience to sympathize with characters, to get to know them instantly. It’s really difficult to go from one discipline to the other, but challenges are always needed.
Is there a particular James Lees genre or style?
No, I like to keep changing genres, stories and styles; I love to do things that push me to see what I can do. I think it’s really important to constantly challenge yourself. Sometimes I take the classic love story and twist it, like in The Archivist, but sometimes I get an idea from an art project, like in The Apology Line.
James’ picks from the festival:
– Manon on the asphalt – Élizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont / France / 14‘
– Skhizein – Jérémy Clapin / France / 14‘