Interview with Nadya Staneva
Interview with Nadya Staneva
Question: What do you think about the idea to launch a website devoted to women film directors in the Bulgarian cinema?
Nadya Staneva : I think that it’s a very good idea! As far as I know, there is no such website, but the idea, as I understand, is to turn it into an informative site, and not only this, it will provide a deeper insight into the past from a present day perspective by means of presenting the films. It’s an awesome idea!
Q: Why did you become a film director?
N . S .: If you grew up in a family of filmmakers, you can hardly escape the idea and the magic dream, that it is your destiny... Since the time I can remember, I knew I would go in for the cinema. Although I had passed through other options - for example, in an essay in the fourth grade I wrote that I wanted to become a film actress or film director as a last resort. But the last resort became a reality... I've always said that there are no men, nor women directors, just sometimes it's more difficult for women. But the truth is that I grew up in a family in which the cinema was at home every day. My father Lyuben Stanev wrote many books and about 15 screenplays, including "Men on a Business Trip", "Tsar and General", "Sofia Story" - the latter being the script for my film...
My mother had been second assistant director for 25-30 years and she was very good. Currently "second assistant director" means "casting director" and "first assistant director" - a key position in creating a movie. She is credited with the right choice of actors in major Bulgarian films likeDoomed Souls, The 13th Fiancée of the Prince, The Black Angels, The Queen of Tarnovo – she was just a person with an incredible sense of actors and characters, and not only of the protagonist but also of the actors for the cameo roles. For this reason the great Bulgarian filmmakers respected her very much. She worked with Valo Radev on two films, with Yanko Yankov, Mariana Evstatieva, Ivanka Grabcheva ... Generally speaking; she lived very actively in and for the cinema. The scripts written by my father were very often discussed at home. As for me, doing something different from filmmaking has always been out of the question.
When I was admitted to the Higher Institute of Theatre Art, I realized that maybe it wouldn’t be so easy. I was not admitted from the first attempt and was very unhappy. But as it usually happens, it turned out that it had been for the better and I needed one more year to reconsider many things. Then I worked for 7-8 years in the National Film Centre as an assistant director. Then I made my debut film Sofia Story, which was released at a difficult time - the so called The Winter of Lukanov in which we experienced power cuts, people felt the cold and going to the cinema was their last concern. There had been no advertising, the film distribution was tragic and despite that, the cinema halls were full of spectators. I remember that the "Slaveykov" cinema hall was full and people liked the movie. On the one hand, as if the film was discordant with the then time, but on the other one, it provided another insight into our day, into our lives...
Since 1991 I’m not exclusively dealing with filmmaking, my life took a different direction ... But I had the chance of making another documentary while working at the Peace Corps, where I occupied different positions for over 10 years. My Filmography is very brief - one feature and one documentary film ... But, one way or another, the cinema has always been present in my life. I believe that creating a film is literally a magic. A piece of paper which turns into reality ... While you are shooting a movie, you have the feeling that it is so real that sometimes it becomes even more real than life. While assembling the film, you tell yourself that many different films can come out of it - assembling is also a kind of magic. Finally the film begins living its own life - absolutely separately from you and it bears the marks of time, the sensations, it is something very magical, indeed. I am very happy for having had this start in life.
Q: Do you think the world view of women is different from that of men? And what is it?
N . S .: When I finished the film and it came out on screen, I heard some people saying: "Oh, that is a female film" because it is made from the perspective of a woman. And my film is about relationships between men and women, about love, about the complicated situation of a love triangle, even of a quadrangle. And when it comes to a woman’s point of view, a film cannot but bear the feminine sensibility and perspective. In life too, I avoid division of things into female and male. Because in the end, it all comes down to whether we are good people. And no matter how sensitive and the way we recreate sensitivity on the screen, goodness is what will save the world. And people can very easily feel this in a film. And a film can inspire people...
Q: In this sense the film director bears a great responsibility...
N . S .: Yes. Without noticing it, the cinema can change your point of view. Because it is a very powerful weapon. All we know it is true ... Sometimes I wonder how I would have made the film now. For sure, I would do it differently because I'm a different person, I am 20 years older... But about what I am glad is that while making the film then, I was 100% sincere. It had its risks, because sincerity is a very personal topic and can make you vulnerable. On the other hand, this sincerity and openness helped me personally - to grow, to see myself from aside, to accept myself and move on. So that in some sense art was a tool for growing up, it is a therapy. And not only something that you leave as a creative product.
Q: Nobody has told us this so far...
N . S .: The film is very personal ... Extremely personal. My father is the script writer, he wrote a book that has been in my mind and heart all my life. But I added to it a lot of personal attitude and vision which is quite different from that of my father, because his perspective is that of a male. And the result was something that helped me to go ahead.
Q: Did you have to make sacrifices and was it worth it?
N . S : I was 30 when I made Sofia Story and I remember that for two years - from the moment we started working on the script and to the end - I had nothing else in my life. It was a 100% dedication. To such an extent that I had the feeling that the reality of Nona and Zora (the characters in the movie "Sofia Story" – editor’s note) was something more real than what happened outside. Those two years gave me much, but they took me a lot. And when I returned to real life - that was during the transition between socialism and democracy, a very difficult time, from the point of view of my life philosophy, I had the opportunity to choose and I said to myself, "No, it’s not worth it!" To give out so much energy, to give all my energy... And I became a teacher of children in a kindergarten. I needed those 4-5 years there to again recharge the batteries. If I had a child, or had I been married - I gave birth to a child, but many years after that – it would have been very difficult for me to balance, to keep the balance and not go from one extreme to the other. This is probably one of the reasons why there are not too many women film directors, because they just have to make their choice. It is not an 8 hour working day, from 8 to 5. If you want to produce something real, what you've got as a feeling and thought, you cannot go home and continue with things there. So, my choice was not particularly difficult. I felt that in those years I missed something in another respect. I have received a lot, extremely much, because for me the process had been very intense...
Q: Being a woman, have you had any professional difficulties?
N . S .: I've had ... I was 30 and looked like a schoolgirl - very young and very immature. It was not so, but it was how I looked like. I was the daughter of the script writer and the second assistant director was my mother. At the end of the first shooting day all looked at me in a strange way, "Well, what's going on here?" But at the end of the two months in which we made the film, I received the greatest recognition which anyone has ever given me professionally. It came from the man who kept the focus of Hristo Totev, the cameraman, he had been in the cinema industry for 35 years and had worked with many directors. He said: "My dear girl, I want to congratulate you. From the very beginning I understood that you know what you're doing. I've never worked with a director with whom I have had my lunch at home" . It was such a compliment! We completed work at 14:00 o’clock. They had given me a very good film tape, though it was not too much – it sufficed just for two takes and because everything was in my head and the actors knew what to do, we finished very quickly. Then the meals arrived, they were distributed and everyone left the film set! We completed the film 15 days earlier. But in the beginning there had been tremendous resistance – a certain girl, the child of parents engaged in the cinema industry, a girl who has just graduated - although I had worked as an assistant for five years... From the very start the actors trusted me and in their person I enjoyed great support. The cameramen too ...Having watched what I was shooting and that I had been aware of things, Hristo Totev came to me and said: "You're a film director, bravo!"
Q: S omehow t his film went unnoticed ...
N . S .: There were about 30,000 views of the film in the Internet, but this link does not exist any more. Surely, YouTube occasionally removes what is viewed a lot, because otherwise FILMAUTOR must take up its duties. Because this is copyright. The film is occasionally removed, but someone has again uploaded it and for several months it has been viewed by about 1000 people. There were good comments like "That is Sofia ... No one remembers it like this any more", etc. And because it is Sofia Story – there is a lot of Sofia in it. Although it is different now, it is good to remember it in every way ... Now I realize that there is a lot of self-pity in the film, which had been typical for us. Our generation had been in a trap. At the age of 30 a new path appears suddenly and you don’t know how to walk along it. Until then, in one way or another, you haven't had any other choice but do what you are told to do - and all of a sudden the choice is in front of you. This greatly confused us. Self-pity had been part of our growth and I am very glad I already have the feeling that people have the power and control over their lives, that they can do everything they want to. You may not succeed from the first or second attempt, or even if it does not happen five times, you will eventually achieve it, as long as you haven’t given up! Things are in your own hands, no matter the system - there's always some system. Things have never been as clear as under that particular system, i.e., every frog must know its pond. In this regard, women also felt themselves as a minority, because there could not be many female film directors. One way or another, women directors had to be supported by someone and the fact that they were women didn’t matter any longer. As for myself, I did not feel much supported. Making the film was difficult, there had been enormous resistance, I felt that many were surprised that, from a professional point of view, the film was so good. And that made me feel ready to part with that world. Because the struggle to reach certain positions, to reach the chance to make a new movie does not always include only honest means.
Q: You mentioned that you had also made a documentary film ...
N . S .: Yes, its premiere was in 2012. I worked on it for almost a year with the idea to show in a summary plan the activities of the Peace Corps in Bulgaria. I worked there in training and teaching Bulgarian to the volunteers, then I was PR. But at one point there emerged the need of a film. And the fact that I had experience gave me a chance to do this film. It was a very interesting experience - from Bulgarians' point of view the film is about young people who come here for two years, because they do not know what to do with themselves. They help, but along with it they also help themselves and the result is a mutual enrichment between the Bulgarian way of life and the American way of work. They work a lot, we know how to organize parties and this combination is perfect. And this is also present in the film ... Of course, it was made with a non-professional camera, the sound is not very good, but the film had its official premiere with guests from America who came especially for the premiere. The film was produced and funded by the Peace Corps and remained in the archives as a document of what this particular organization is doing in Bulgaria.