“A World of Stories: Diversity & Empowerment in Film”
Welcome to the latest episode of the Us People podcast! We go back in time, where our host Savia Rocks sits down with the multifaceted film director and producer, Aro Korol, to dive into the rich themes of diversity, empowerment, and the artistry behind the lens of film.
Main Themes:
This episode is not just a look at the life of a filmmaker but a mosaic of stories that speak to the heart of creativity, diversity, and the human condition. Tune in to be moved and motivated by Aro Korol’s incredible journey and artistic vision.
Stay Connected: Don’t forget to subscribe to the Us People Podcast for more insightful conversations. Share your thoughts on this episode using #UsPeoplePodcast, and keep the conversation going.
Website: https://arokorol.com/about.html
Thank you so much Aro, Let’s embrace Aro’s message of positivity, kindness, courage, and the power to leave fear behind.
With all our heart, we must generously give kindness, only then will the world feel real love and lose fear - Savia Rocks
Host, Creator & Producer: Savia Rocks
Artists of Theme Song: Savia Rocks & IAMSUUBI
Podcast Audio Editor: Savia Rocks
Creative Director: Philippa Michael
Writer & Producer of Theme Song: Savia Rocks & IAMSUUBI
Become Part of The Us People Podcast Community and donate: https://donorbox.org/us-people-podcast
Savia Rocks Website: https://www.savia.rocks/
“A World of Stories: Diversity & Empowerment in Film”
Welcome to the latest episode of the Us People podcast! We go back in time, where our host Savia Rocks sits down with the multifaceted film director and producer, Aro Korol, to dive into the rich themes of diversity, empowerment, and the artistry behind the lens of film.
Main Themes:
This episode is not just a look at the life of a filmmaker but a mosaic of stories that speak to the heart of creativity, diversity, and the human condition. Tune in to be moved and motivated by Aro Korol’s incredible journey and artistic vision.
Stay Connected: Don’t forget to subscribe to the Us People Podcast for more insightful conversations. Share your thoughts on this episode using #UsPeoplePodcast, and keep the conversation going.
Website: https://arokorol.com/about.html
Thank you so much Aro, Let’s embrace Aro’s message of positivity, kindness, courage, and the power to leave fear behind.
With all our heart, we must generously give kindness, only then will the world feel real love and lose fear - Savia Rocks
Host, Creator & Producer: Savia Rocks
Artists of Theme Song: Savia Rocks & IAMSUUBI
Podcast Audio Editor: Savia Rocks
Creative Director: Philippa Michael
Writer & Producer of Theme Song: Savia Rocks & IAMSUUBI
Become Part of The Us People Podcast Community and donate: https://donorbox.org/us-people-podcast
Savia Rocks Website: https://www.savia.rocks/
00:00 - 00:03
Hey guys, we made it to season five of the Us People podcast.
00:03 - 00:08
I'm your host Savia Rocks, and in this season, we aim to empower and embrace
00:08 - 00:13
creativity through diversity as we dive into the fascinating stories and
00:13 - 00:18
experiences of a diverse range of individuals, highlighting their unique
00:18 - 00:20
perspectives and creative endeavors.
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From artists and entrepreneurs to innovators and activists, we celebrate
00:26 - 00:32
the power of diversity in driving creativity and fostering positive change.
00:32 - 00:37
Join us as we engage in thought-provoking conversations like.
00:37 - 00:40
I made myself intentionally homeless in pursuit of my purpose.
00:41 - 00:44
We're aware that a lot of people want to present and they were in my position
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and what's worse, they weren't a white male, which is a joke.
00:48 - 00:49
That's even still a thing.
00:49 - 00:52
I think my family never ever say you can't do something.
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So full of support, full of support for whatever dream.
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If I said tomorrow I want to fly to the moon, they'll probably say
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I wish you all the best Mel.
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So guys, I just want to say thank you for supporting the Us People
01:04 - 01:06
podcast for the past five years.
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And we look forward to sharing another new theme song with you.
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Let's go.
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Hi, this is Aro Karol.
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I'm a film director.
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Welcome to Us People podcast with Savia Ross.
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Hey, guys, and welcome to another episode of the Us People podcast.
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I'm your host Savia Rocks and today I'm humbled to have Aro here with me,
01:41 - 01:44
who is a film producer and director.
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Aro, thank you so much for coming on the Us People podcast.
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How are you?
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Thank you for having me.
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I'm great.
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Absolutely fabulous.
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I mean, I'm trying to stay positive, but what else I can do?
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That's true.
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That's definitely true.
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I agree with you there.
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Funny enough, because of the lockdown, I actually finished my film.
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I shot my new film.
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So it was going to film supposed to be shelf.
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I mean, I did try before the lockdown twice to get funds.
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And because of Brexit and a couple of other problems, we couldn't
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kickstarted the film and the lockdown happened.
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And the film was about loneliness, the epidemic of loneliness.
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And the lockdown happened.
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And I had that eureka moment when I thought, now everyone understand loneliness.
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So I contacted a couple of people and I really thought no one will
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answer to, you know, a middle-aged guy asking for people to recording himself
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about loneliness.
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But the response was overwhelming.
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I have like 90 minutes of 90 hours of sorry, of testimonials
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from around the world, from a single mom from America,
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trans gentleman, lesbian couple somewhere in Wales.
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I mean, it's absolutely fabulous.
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The whole film is that people was recording themselves and sending me the
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testimonials. Now I have to edit.
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That's going to take a long time.
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Did I said 90 hours?
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No, it's nine hours of material.
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No, because when you said 90 hours, I went whoa.
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Nine hours of material, which is pretty good, you know.
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Oh, it still is good.
03:39 - 03:42
Yeah. How are you going to edit even the nine hours down?
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Well, it's a documentary.
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So, you know, first everyone has to be transcript.
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Yeah. And then, you know, I started the paper edit.
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So in the case of documentary, the editing first happen
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and on paper.
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So you literally cut pieces of paper and move and glue
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together and make a sort of like a book.
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And then you sort of see or put on a wall and then you see somehow, you know, the
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film visualized in front of you.
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And then you start editing because if you just sit in front of
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computer with 90 minutes, with nine minutes,
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nine hours, nine hours of material, you see how my brain doesn't
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function. I've been editing all day.
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So you sit there, it's so overwhelming and so much material and you can forget so
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many things people said and they're crucial, interesting.
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You just forget them, you know, you're just human.
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So you have to put them on the wall, stick stuff, you know, sort of
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Christmas tree of your flat with notes and pieces of the thing.
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But it's very, very important to do that and visualize for yourself, you know.
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And then you can edit and, you know, go with the flow.
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The funny thing with documentaries is that you don't write the story before
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you sort of have idea what you want to say and the fact, facts
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happen and unfold.
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And that's the whole beauty because you discover the story as you're making it.
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So documentary really happen in the post production process, which is beautiful.
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I love it.
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Oh, wow. So we haven't even started to get into the questions yet.
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No, it's pretty cool. No, I love it.
05:43 - 05:45
It's perfect.
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Could you tell me a little bit about who you are, where you were brought up and how
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that influenced you to be the person who you are today?
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I was brought up in Poland and Christian family.
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It was, you know, in the 80s and the 90s, mainly in the 80s.
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I'm 47.
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Oh, I was still alive.
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No, no, it's just that you don't look 47.
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I was just like, oh, wow.
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Like, it's a good thing.
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It's a great reaction.
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Oh, wow, you're 47.
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No, sometimes when people tell me their age, I'm like, are you really that age?
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But but it's good because I don't know if it's a love of life, the way you eat, you're
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happy inside. I don't know.
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I don't know what it is.
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I'm just funny person.
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Life is, I mean, you can't take life seriously.
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No one comes out alive anyway.
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You know, I have that on my door.
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That's my favorite line, actually, you know, you can't take life seriously.
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No one comes alive anyway.
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That's true. So, you know, just I was born there and raised there.
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My grandmother was working in a cinema all her life.
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And when she retired, because it was like socialist government, that was the only good
07:20 - 07:22
thing about the socialists back then.
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And she started, she will receive tickets for the rest of her life, about 10 tickets
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every month for cinema.
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So she was she will distribute among her grandchildren.
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But it was a favor.
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She would give me six, seven and then to the last favor.
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I'm losing my airport.
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So I spent.
07:50 - 07:59
All my teenage life in the theater and cinema, and there's no also which play out
08:00 - 08:07
beautifully because it was socialism, we didn't really have great new releases from the
08:07 - 08:08
West. Right.
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So we had on the on the old film were shown in cinema.
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God, God, when God wants to see that and, you know, Fellini.
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And and now when I see from a perspective, that was the best film school I could ever
08:26 - 08:30
have, because when you go to film school, you all you do, you watch classics.
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Yeah. And to see those films on a big screen for the first time.
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That shape your aesthetics, you know, shape your knowledge about cinema.
08:40 - 08:47
And that was that was a great, you know, the greatest film school, my favorite film back
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then was Some Like It Hot, Billy Widers with Marilyn Monroe.
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And I watched I went 28 times to cinema, watch the film.
08:58 - 09:00
And I still watched on video.
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And I rewatched last year again.
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From back to the 50 times.
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Oh, my God. I know.
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I know every line from that film.
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And, you know, I fall in love with the big screen and I want to be actor.
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I actually want to be actress.
09:15 - 09:16
Oh, wow.
09:16 - 09:21
I don't know. I was very feminine boy when I was when I was when I was teenager.
09:21 - 09:25
And, you know, quite masculine now.
09:26 - 09:27
But I was a weird kid.
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And that's a good message for every weird kid today that it's OK to be weird.
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It's nothing wrong with it.
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I mean, it's just I was really weird kid.
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And so, you know, that was so that was that.
09:43 - 09:49
And then we by the 80s, we start having the late 80s.
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We start having Western films coming in.
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And of course, E.T. was, you know, blown everyone's mind.
09:59 - 10:01
So E.T. was shown in cinema.
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So my biggest dream became to be an actor for Steven Spielberg.
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You know, I wanted to go to Hollywood and and be in Steven Spielberg's movie.
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And you know what? Wish would you watch what you wish for?
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Because when I was 19, Spielberg came to Krakow
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with Schindler's List and I dropped everything.
10:25 - 10:29
I went to Krakow and I see this.
10:29 - 10:32
I found them with a film.
10:32 - 10:35
So, of course, you couldn't get that because, you know,
10:35 - 10:38
police will block the whole street.
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So how can you know, how can I get that?
10:41 - 10:45
I start talking to one of the policemen and I talk to him and mumble
10:45 - 10:49
and mumble for so long that he forgot which signs I was on.
10:49 - 10:50
And I said, OK, I have to go.
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So I passed the first one.
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The second one, I don't even remember how I passed,
10:55 - 10:58
but I was in the middle of the set and there was Spielberg.
10:59 - 11:01
I didn't speak English back then.
11:01 - 11:04
And I and I've seen one person, Marek Brodsky,
11:05 - 11:07
big guy with with moustache.
11:07 - 11:10
And I thought, well, he spoke Polish.
11:10 - 11:11
And I said, I'm going to come to him.
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What I'm going to say, I'm going to tell him what I just did.
11:14 - 11:16
And I'm going to ask him not to throw me out.
11:16 - 11:17
And I did that.
11:17 - 11:21
And he was so stunned that I came through to, you know,
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private security and police security and just came to him.
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I have so much to say.
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You know what? Come to the film office evenings.
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I can't talk to you.
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And I came and he gave me a badge from this time.
11:34 - 11:38
I was, you know, on the set of the film for four months.
11:38 - 11:40
It was incredible.
11:40 - 11:43
But I still want to be want to be an actor.
11:43 - 11:47
So sometimes I was so assisting, you know, with
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extras and, you know, I want to be active.
11:53 - 11:56
So I also became extra.
11:58 - 12:00
So there was a one scene
12:01 - 12:05
in the ghetto with Ben Kingsley.
12:06 - 12:08
And we were waiting, Ben Kingsley.
12:09 - 12:13
And Liam Neeson walks into the room and says, it's external.
12:13 - 12:15
I'm looking for it's external.
12:15 - 12:18
And when he was passing, I just day before watch a film,
12:18 - 12:21
which was absolutely coincident.
12:21 - 12:24
I had no idea who the guy was, really.
12:24 - 12:25
Ben Kingsley.
12:25 - 12:29
And I saw a film where he plays Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter.
12:29 - 12:33
Yes. And I look at him and I couldn't resist.
12:33 - 12:34
And I say, Wiesenthal.
12:34 - 12:37
So he stopped. Turn forward.
12:37 - 12:39
Pointed his finger.
12:40 - 12:42
And everyone went quiet.
12:42 - 12:46
So Spielberg asked for me to repeat, but say something in Polish like
12:46 - 12:48
which mean, oh, German.
12:48 - 12:49
And I did it so badly.
12:49 - 12:53
And that shot didn't end up in the film that that was the end of me
12:53 - 12:55
being actor or actress.
12:55 - 12:57
I said, no, I want to be behind camera.
12:57 - 12:59
I want to make these films.
12:59 - 13:03
So actually that little that little episode defined.
13:03 - 13:05
I mean, make made me want to be director.
13:06 - 13:09
I knew it by then that this is not acting is not for me.
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I'm not good. I was terrible.
13:11 - 13:12
But film is for me.
13:12 - 13:15
So I start I stop being extra.
13:15 - 13:18
I start being, you know, helping the crew and watching from
13:19 - 13:20
from behind the camera.
13:20 - 13:21
And I just fall in love.
13:21 - 13:25
So that little thing made me made me want to be director.
13:25 - 13:28
And then I discovered this.
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Actually, Spielberg had exactly the same story when he sneak out,
13:32 - 13:36
sneak into Universal Studio when he was about 20 years old.
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So that's a funny coincidence.
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Oh, wow. That's amazing.
13:41 - 13:44
That's quite a good start to this, actually.
13:44 - 13:45
It's funny story.
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It's it's it's a cool story, actually.
13:49 - 13:50
It's definitely a cool story.
13:50 - 13:55
So tell me a bit more about your journey and and how it all started for you,
13:55 - 13:59
especially in the producing and directing, because you said to me
13:59 - 14:03
before we even started recording that there's a story behind you being a director,
14:03 - 14:06
but there's also a story behind you being a producer.
14:07 - 14:12
Well, you know, I'm Polish, so I moved first.
14:13 - 14:19
To France, where I lived for 12 years, and I did not.
14:20 - 14:22
You know, I couldn't make it in France because I
14:23 - 14:26
I was only always for them.
14:26 - 14:29
I you know, the Eastern European guy.
14:29 - 14:31
Somehow I want to look down on me.
14:31 - 14:37
It was really hard for me because, you know, I'm dyslexic.
14:37 - 14:40
So I couldn't write or read in French.
14:42 - 14:47
I do a little bit in English, but, you know, I'm really terrible dyslexic.
14:47 - 14:50
So I had really trouble in France and somehow in France.
14:50 - 14:54
Everyone looked down on me and they really,
14:54 - 14:56
you know.
14:58 - 15:00
It didn't bully me, you know, I wasn't.
15:00 - 15:04
So I decided I want to be there after 12 years, which felt like 25 too many.
15:05 - 15:13
I moved I moved to New York, but somehow New York was too tough.
15:14 - 15:17
You know, this competition and just overwhelming.
15:17 - 15:20
And I thought I would love New York, but I didn't like it.
15:20 - 15:22
And I moved here to London in 2008.
15:23 - 15:28
Yeah. And I moved here in 2008.
15:29 - 15:31
And I did have lots of.
15:34 - 15:38
The same problems, because, you know, London more or less the same
15:38 - 15:43
because of me being Polish and being dyslexic and have an accent,
15:43 - 15:48
I think I didn't have as much opportunities as native speaker.
15:49 - 15:54
So I will say that if you're a native speaker, you hear you have no excuses.
15:54 - 15:56
You know, you can make it.
15:56 - 15:58
There are no excuses.
15:58 - 16:01
Oh, God, I keep losing my earphone.
16:01 - 16:03
Sorry for that.
16:04 - 16:06
So I had to improvise.
16:06 - 16:11
I tried to make my film, you know, but I appeared and I tried to make one film and.
16:14 - 16:17
I tried for eight years and I couldn't make it
16:17 - 16:22
because I couldn't get the funds and just everything was going sideways and.
16:24 - 16:27
I killed that project and I came up with another project
16:27 - 16:31
and I said, I'm not going to do the same mistake looking for money.
16:31 - 16:33
I'm just going to.
16:35 - 16:38
Do it, you know, just make it happen, make it real,
16:39 - 16:44
and I'm going to produce myself and just try to convince people to work with me.
16:44 - 16:47
So this is this why I made my first film.
16:49 - 16:51
Shouldn't have nothing else.
16:51 - 16:53
Battle of Soho.
16:55 - 16:56
Hey, I'm making this.
16:56 - 16:57
That's all right.
16:57 - 17:00
I'm old. My old PC, 1973.
17:00 - 17:02
No, you're not.
17:03 - 17:04
Oh, you're not.
17:05 - 17:07
You're right.
17:08 - 17:12
So so what made you get into what made you make Battle of Soho?
17:12 - 17:14
Let's get into Battle of Soho.
17:14 - 17:20
Battle of Soho, as I knew New York from 90s, early 90s,
17:20 - 17:27
and then I lived there in 2005, 2008 to 2008.
17:27 - 17:28
I've seen how New York.
17:29 - 17:41
It has been gentrified. Places disappeared and replaced and culture just being corporatized,
17:41 - 17:52
mechanization of 42nd Street, you know, everything just became kids and family approved. And
17:52 - 17:57
when I moved to London, I started seeing the same thing with Soho, but not only with Soho.
17:57 - 18:05
You know, when, when you used to go out of the tube, Camden or whatever, you will know
18:05 - 18:09
you're a different place. Now, everywhere you go in London, out of the tube, you see
18:09 - 18:17
the same Costa, the same Petit Manger, I mean, the same three or four brands, and everything
18:17 - 18:22
looks the same. And everywhere you see H&M, and you buy the same stupid clothes in New
18:22 - 18:29
York, Warsaw, Moscow, or London. There's no difference. Everything is just the whole world
18:29 - 18:34
looks like a one big shopping mall. And so that's what is the film about? It's not about
18:34 - 18:43
Soho, which confused a couple of people. They were complaining that, oh, they're not enough
18:43 - 18:48
historical material in the film, but the film wasn't about Soho, it was about gentrification
18:49 - 18:57
of London. So. So yeah, so I just wanted to make a film. I just got an idea. I got, you know,
18:57 - 19:05
a great crew involved. And we did it. I get, you know, it took about three years.
19:05 - 19:08
Oh, wow. Three years to make it?
19:08 - 19:09
Yes.
19:09 - 19:18
How is it when you're actually making a film? Like, could you, could you kind of break it
19:18 - 19:23
down in such because if you're saying it, it depends on the film, I suppose, or what the
19:23 - 19:29
documentary is about, or how, what is the process like of making a film or documentary?
19:29 - 19:37
Sometimes, if you, for example, making documentary about, this was, it is historical documentary
19:37 - 19:42
that was unfolding. If you make a documentary about something that already happened,
19:43 - 19:52
you get the facts, you get the materials, you shoot the interviews and edit, and you do that
19:52 - 19:56
in two months. But if you actually make a film about something that is happening,
19:59 - 20:06
you have to wait sometimes for it to happen. For example, there's a story of a mom that was,
20:06 - 20:14
you know, battling over her house, flat house she was, she lost with two girls.
20:15 - 20:21
And, you know, we want to wait for a year later to see what happened to this family,
20:21 - 20:26
because otherwise we'd be interested if they win or if they succeed. So, you know,
20:26 - 20:31
so it takes a long time. And then we had, you know, we had really no budget. We have some
20:32 - 20:41
donations from people, from one person in particular, who became the biggest mistake
20:41 - 20:46
to accept donations, because he became, you know, film accept crazy people, the crazies.
20:47 - 20:53
I don't know. And there's lots of crazy nutcases associated with film production
20:53 - 21:01
that just come to you. And everyone has to be really, you know, everyone has to really watch
21:01 - 21:08
for them, have to sign non-disclosure with everyone in contracts before you do anything,
21:08 - 21:18
because then, you know, things happen. So, yeah, we, it took about three years, then the film was
21:18 - 21:26
shown in Curzon, Picturehouse Central, I mean, all over, all over, all over the place in cinemas,
21:26 - 21:32
in Warsaw Film Festival, Off Camera, Galway, which is my favourite festival, Galway,
21:33 - 21:39
Galway Film Fla. I don't know why it's, to me, it's the most important festival, because it's so
21:39 - 21:45
laid back and you meet everyone there. And it's not pretentious. There's no red carpets, nothing.
21:46 - 21:54
It's just, it looks like a friend's house party with everyone mixed together. There's no more
21:54 - 22:00
important, less important, everyone is equal. You know, the person who tear the tickets and
22:00 - 22:08
the director, they will, you know, sit together and have fun. And it's really fun. So everyone,
22:08 - 22:16
you know, if this whole social distancing, all that jazz is over, I would suggest you go to
22:16 - 22:22
Galway and see the festival. Lovely. I would definitely go and see the festival.
22:22 - 22:28
Who have been some of your inspirations for you to make and create films?
22:29 - 22:40
Ah, well, certainly, you know, I must say that Billy Whiter. And he, I mean, I loved always his
22:40 - 22:54
films. I love Fellini, Stanley Kubrick. I did get inspired, actually, my, no one noticed,
22:54 - 23:03
but Bottle of Sorrow opened in a very Kubrick way. And it's because Kubrick was,
23:05 - 23:11
shot him, his film, Eyes Wide Shut, in Madame Giorgio. And the film was, you know,
23:11 - 23:17
around this Madame Giorgio. So the opening scene is very, the camera movement is very sort of
23:18 - 23:25
Kubrick-ish. And then I wanted to give that Kubrick aesthetics, but no one noticed.
23:25 - 23:29
But that's great, because, you know, that's the whole idea. So don't tell anyone, okay?
23:30 - 23:33
Okay. But you know, they're going to listen to this, right?
23:35 - 23:39
Don't tell anyone, kids. And grown-ups.
23:39 - 23:49
Don't tell anyone. So, well, the film is available on Amazon, so you can watch it for free,
23:49 - 23:56
not Amazon Prime, so you can watch it for free with subscription. So, Bottle of Sorrow.
23:58 - 24:06
And also the film happens in Curzon, Curzon Soho, and that was cinema, and it was premiere in Curzon
24:06 - 24:14
Soho. And that's the cinema where Kubrick premiered a couple of his films. So Kubrick was a,
24:14 - 24:23
Kubrick was a big, you know, important director for me. Fellini, Kubrick. Tarkovsky, Andreas
24:23 - 24:33
Tarkovsky. And surprisingly, Bella Tarr, which is a Hungarian director. And I discovered him in
24:33 - 24:38
New York Film Festival. Maria Kornatowska, which was a professor of Lodz Film School, which,
24:39 - 24:50
I met her in New York, asked me to watch a couple of films with her. And so I watched Men from London,
24:51 - 24:56
which was there in the competition. I can't remember which year it was, probably 2006 or 2007.
24:57 - 25:05
And so we watched that film, and he is known for very, very static black and white films.
25:05 - 25:12
You can have a cow passing the screen on a field for 10 minutes, and it's just passing slowly,
25:12 - 25:19
passing, slowly, passing. So what's, what I'm watching, yeah. And then I turned to her in the
25:19 - 25:23
cinema, I said, what are we doing here? I mean, this is so boring. And she said, that's what's
25:23 - 25:30
fascinating. Look at as a picture, as a painting, you know, it's a moving painting,
25:31 - 25:38
painting. And I then understood what Bella Tarr is. It was, it's a visual experience. You go to
25:39 - 25:41
museum and you will watch a painting and it's not moving, right?
25:43 - 25:51
And so it's kind of, you know, cinema can be everything. So I kind of like this genius in him,
25:51 - 26:00
he's so boring. It's interesting how boring he is. It's interesting, but the shows are beautiful.
26:00 - 26:05
And I mean, everyone who wants to be director should watch at least one or two of his films.
26:06 - 26:11
I mean, that's the best film school, watch films, watch classic, big directors, small directors,
26:11 - 26:18
but films, good films, everything. And, you know, nothing teach you better and watch classics,
26:18 - 26:24
all the classics, you have to know all the classics, because everything you see in the new
26:24 - 26:31
films, it's just nothing done before. You think they, people think they invent stuff now. No,
26:31 - 26:38
everything has been done already. So instead of, you know, learning from Cameron or Spielberg,
26:38 - 26:43
Spielberg learned everything from Kubrick. Kurosawa, you know, Kurosawa, it's a fantastic director.
26:43 - 26:48
Everyone should watch Kurosawa films. I love his films.
26:49 - 26:54
Was there a particular event or time that you recognised that filmmaking was more
26:55 - 26:59
than just a hobby to you? It was kind of like, this is what you knew you wanted to do?
27:00 - 27:12
Oi, oi, oi. I don't know, but I was about seven or eight years old, and I
27:14 - 27:17
make the camera out of cardboard.
27:17 - 27:18
That's cool.
27:19 - 27:25
Because I wanted to have a camera and I will run through, you know, my neighbourhood and
27:25 - 27:34
pretend I'm filming. I don't know. So I probably in my past life already started,
27:34 - 27:39
if there's reincarnation. I don't know. It's just, you know, it was so organic. I don't,
27:39 - 27:42
I don't recall the moment. It was always there for me.
27:43 - 27:47
Ah, I see. So it's kind of something that was installed in your
27:48 - 27:51
soul. Do you feel like it was just installed in your soul? You were meant to do this?
27:52 - 27:54
You could describe that better than I would.
27:56 - 27:59
I'm going to use that now. It was installed in my soul.
27:59 - 28:08
Yeah, say it because, okay, sometimes in life we're given gifts, talents, and there are people
28:08 - 28:14
in the world who have to work 10 times harder than a different individual because some people,
28:14 - 28:20
it's natural talent. It will just come out. Whereas some people have to work 10 times harder to be
28:20 - 28:24
on the same level as the person who it naturally just flows from.
28:26 - 28:35
Yeah, well, for example, I'm not a technical person. I'm a conceptual artist and I know what
28:35 - 28:42
I want to do. And I always say to people, especially to directors now, because my advice
28:42 - 28:52
could be too mainly to those who want to be directors, you know, don't worry about what
28:52 - 28:59
camera you have. Don't think about camera. Don't think about equipment because you can have the
29:00 - 29:07
most expensive camera. And if you don't know how to tell the story, you are not a filmmaker,
29:07 - 29:13
you're just a guy with a camera. And you have an iPhone and you make a story and you tell the
29:13 - 29:18
story on iPhone, you're a film director to me, you made a film. So it's not important
29:19 - 29:27
the technology you use. Storytelling is the most important thing, how to learn how to tell a story,
29:27 - 29:34
how to take a three-dimensional world and put on a two-dimensional screen.
29:35 - 29:39
And so people understand what you said, and it's a language you have to learn,
29:40 - 29:48
you know, and it's as simple as that. You know, film has to have beginning, middle and end.
29:48 - 29:49
Yes.
29:50 - 29:54
You know, that's a whole secret to it.
29:56 - 30:03
Do you think that the, how can I say, the film industry, do you think it's a fair business? Do
30:03 - 30:09
you think that people get treated fairly, especially if it's, say, for instance, a woman
30:09 - 30:14
making a film and a man making a film? Do you think there's a difference between how each
30:14 - 30:20
individual gets treated? And you were talking about contracts before signing things and making
30:20 - 30:25
sure they're all in place. Could you break that down for us also?
30:25 - 30:33
I am sure that women are treated differently than men, because I am treated differently only
30:33 - 30:38
because I have accent dyslexia and I'm Polish. And I tell you that plays a big role, even here
30:38 - 30:47
in London, a civilised multicultural city, I feel pressure. I feel being rejected because of that.
30:47 - 30:53
And it happened many times and so many levels. I'm not going to even go into that. But I do not
30:54 - 31:03
going to use that as an excuse. So no one should. And if you use excuse like that,
31:03 - 31:07
you're the loser. Because if you, you know, if you,
31:11 - 31:16
I brought something about that, actually, you know, for an English speaking woman,
31:16 - 31:21
for example, there should be no excuses. Don't look for excuse, be assertive.
31:24 - 31:31
Don't use your gender or race or background as an excuse. And, you know, by saying this,
31:31 - 31:37
I'm not undermining anyone's struggle, right? Or me being, you know, Polish. I'm not undermining
31:37 - 31:43
that. I'm trying to motivate. Yes. You understand what I mean? So if you're a girl,
31:44 - 31:49
young girl wants to make film, rather concentrate on the fact that you can do it,
31:49 - 31:56
then the fact that you're a girl, you can do it. If I can do it, anyone can do it. Trust me.
31:57 - 32:02
See, no, it's good because you're giving people, you're giving people that positive push.
32:03 - 32:08
And world is changing, you know, world is changing. This thing we're gonna be,
32:08 - 32:15
it's over. It's 20th century thinking that, you know, that woman could not make films. I mean,
32:15 - 32:23
that's over. That's not gonna, that mentality is over. You see more and more women and, you know,
32:23 - 32:31
making films. Definitely. No, I understand that. What would you change in a movie that you've
32:31 - 32:38
produced that you believe would have made it better? Are there any movies or documentaries
32:38 - 32:43
that you've made? I would make it shorter. So you'll make it shorter?
32:45 - 32:51
I only make it that long because of a guy who invested money and he was really, really
32:52 - 33:00
horrible, difficult. And he was a big troublemaker. And I make the film, I would make the film 90
33:00 - 33:09
minutes instead of 10 or 100 instead of 10 or even shorter, 80 minutes, you know,
33:10 - 33:19
but I couldn't, I had tight hands. So, so I will, can I give an advice? Yeah, go for it.
33:19 - 33:28
Don't, if you want to make, produce film, don't just accept money from anyone, because it can,
33:28 - 33:34
you can, it can, you can be in trouble. I said earlier that there's a lot of crazy people
33:35 - 33:40
around this business. I mean, crazy people everywhere. But I want to give you, can I tell
33:40 - 33:46
you two, two short stories that went up. One was when I was doing the first film, and I was doing
33:46 - 33:52
it and Hitler's Daughter was about anti-Semitism Poland, which was, I learned about the whole
33:52 - 33:59
history of, of, of Holocaust when I was, you know, when I was 18, when I should have learned
33:59 - 34:06
in school, but they lied to us, you know. And so I was so angry, I want to make a film about that.
34:06 - 34:12
And then I discovered that lots of my fellow Poles were, you know, anti-Semites, and it was
34:12 - 34:19
just horrifying. And I wanted to change that image of Pol being racism to Semite, I want to make a
34:19 - 34:25
film about it, because truth is like a medicine, right? It tastes horrible, and it's hard to
34:25 - 34:31
swallow, but it's needed, if you want to get better. So I want to make that film, it was so hard,
34:31 - 34:35
so hard, and I was rejecting, you know, I couldn't make it, I couldn't make it. And then there was a
34:35 - 34:41
guy from Norway, who appears and he, you know, he says, Oh, I also know Spielberg. I said, I don't
34:41 - 34:46
know Spielberg, you know, I've been working with him on his film, when I was a kid, I don't know
34:46 - 34:53
him, I don't have his number in my phone. But you know, when you're looking for money, you're
34:53 - 34:57
desperate, you believe, you want to believe, people will tell you things you want to believe.
34:57 - 34:58
So this
34:58 - 35:04
guy tells me that he's a film producer. And he says, you know,
35:04 - 35:08
move to Norway, put all your resign from your flat in London,
35:08 - 35:12
put everything in storage, I send you ticket, we're going to
35:12 - 35:15
finish the film produced from Norway. And he sends me plane
35:15 - 35:19
tickets and you so I put everything he sent me. But yeah,
35:19 - 35:21
he sends me plane tickets. I said, you know, I put I resigned
35:21 - 35:24
from my flat because there's going to be three, four months
35:24 - 35:28
you'll be that. So I put my all my belongings to storage. I
35:28 - 35:34
come to Norway just just isn't that case. He's a crazy person
35:34 - 35:35
mentally ill.
35:36 - 35:37
Are you serious?
35:37 - 35:41
Yeah, I mean, I wanted to believe so badly. So I came there and
35:41 - 35:47
the guy was waiting on the airport in flippers. And I mean,
35:47 - 35:54
oh, God. I don't have a return ticket. It was I mean, it you
35:54 - 35:59
want to believe and you know, someone it looks so real. This
35:59 - 36:02
guy over phone was so convincing. He makes so much
36:02 - 36:05
sense. And he sent me a plane ticket, right? So he invests
36:05 - 36:09
his money only to find out that he was mentally ill. And I
36:09 - 36:13
nothing nothing told me that, you know, he was from letters or
36:13 - 36:20
nothing. Oh, so I came back to London. It was God it was
36:20 - 36:24
difficult. It was horrible. And of course, you know, I didn't
36:24 - 36:25
make that film.
36:26 - 36:28
How did you even get back to London?
36:28 - 36:33
Why? Well, I was that was a long story. I end up working in a
36:33 - 36:39
little hotel, which I became friends with. And Tatra, which
36:39 - 36:43
was a little island. The only like 15 people that live on that
36:43 - 36:49
island were 10 were nuns. And we left this island only once a
36:49 - 36:55
week for shopping. But I I helped a guy with rebranding
36:56 - 37:00
his hotel. And I make enough money to move to London get new
37:00 - 37:06
apartment. I mean rent apartment. So so I guess it
37:06 - 37:12
came. You know, came out quite okay for me. It was a good
37:12 - 37:15
experience. You know, I was in the middle of Fjord. It was a
37:15 - 37:18
midnight. I was laughing them in Mordor.
37:21 - 37:26
It was weird. But I wasn't unhappy. I met beautiful,
37:26 - 37:30
fantastic people from from Norway. And, you know, but so I
37:30 - 37:36
came here. And I knew that I, you know, I'm going to be much
37:36 - 37:42
more careful. And, well, that's what I thought. And then there's
37:42 - 37:49
another nutcase, which came to help me with bottle of Soho. Oh,
37:49 - 37:54
God, over two years, he donated 50,000 pounds, which is, you
37:54 - 37:58
know, lots of money. And he was donating. But when you think
37:58 - 38:01
about it over two years, that's that's 25 yearly, that's not
38:01 - 38:05
even salary for one person, right? So that's a big money for
38:05 - 38:08
film production, which happened over three years. So he was
38:08 - 38:11
donating and the money went to and he was giving them on and
38:11 - 38:14
say, it's we know, I don't expect anything from you. It's
38:14 - 38:19
just donation because he is he wants because, you know, he
38:19 - 38:24
because it's important for him. He was very narcissistic. And
38:24 - 38:27
all he wanted was the publicity from him giving the money for
38:27 - 38:31
the film. So this is the right discover that he makes that for
38:31 - 38:38
himself. And I gave him an executive producer title. But I
38:38 - 38:42
made him sign on disclosure, which was the best move I could
38:42 - 38:47
ever do contract. He breached his contract, and I'd never sue
38:47 - 38:55
him for it because I don't want revenge. But by the end, he was
38:55 - 39:03
bullying, attacking. He contacting people on my behalf,
39:04 - 39:08
for example, he will. I mean, he used that fact that I made him
39:08 - 39:11
executive producer, which was honorary, you know, he knew was
39:11 - 39:14
honorary, he wasn't contracted, right? I was the executive
39:14 - 39:18
producer, he was just, you know, person who donate some part for
39:18 - 39:22
some part of the film. And I was very, you know, you know, we all
39:22 - 39:27
been very happy that he did it and grateful. So he started
39:27 - 39:31
contacting and signing things with people. Like, for example,
39:31 - 39:37
he contacted BBC for interview. And he set up all interview with
39:37 - 39:43
him. And then finally, he sees me on email, saying that, um, you
39:43 - 39:47
know, I should also come to this interview was a radio television
39:47 - 39:51
interview, because he also worked on this film. I was the
39:51 - 39:56
director was my film. I mean, what? So I said, Basta, you
39:56 - 40:00
know, I'm getting rid of you. And I gave him about 29
40:00 - 40:04
warnings. You're going to do one more things. I'm going to take
40:04 - 40:08
the credit from you. You do one more thing. You're not going to
40:08 - 40:13
be the executive producer. And he will do. I think the guy was
40:13 - 40:18
taking drugs because he will be very aggressive from Wednesday.
40:18 - 40:21
No, sorry, it was very aggressive from like, Friday to
40:22 - 40:26
Monday, and Sunday evening, and he disappeared for a couple of
40:26 - 40:30
days. And he will always ask for my forgiveness on Wednesday. He
40:30 - 40:33
was very nice on Wednesday. And you see the letters he sent
40:33 - 40:36
always asking for forgiveness, how badly he act. And then he
40:36 - 40:39
attacks me again on Thursday, it was exactly the same thing for
40:39 - 40:44
like three or four months. It was horrific, horrible. I mean,
40:44 - 40:51
really, I almost pulled my hair off. So, you know, we finally
40:51 - 40:58
get rid of him, blocked him. And I took out his credit as
40:58 - 41:01
executive producer, because he was doing more harm to the film
41:01 - 41:06
than good. And so, you know, you should watch for those people,
41:06 - 41:10
you know, crazy people. You know, that's that would be my
41:10 - 41:16
advice, not what to do, but you know, what not to do. Don't
41:16 - 41:18
trust everyone only because someone gives you money, don't
41:18 - 41:22
trust him. Don't take money from everyone, you know, be careful
41:23 - 41:27
what you're signing and you know, what you you know what
41:27 - 41:27
you're getting into.
41:29 - 41:34
Wow, that's amazing. That's a wow. It kind of, it kind of in
41:34 - 41:39
a way puts you off wanting to make a film, I suppose, in a way.
41:40 - 41:44
And sometimes, because you never know who you're going to get to
41:44 - 41:48
fund your film. Because that's another thing, what is the what
41:48 - 41:53
is the, I suppose there is no right way. But in your opinion,
41:53 - 41:58
with your experience, what would you say is a good way to get
41:58 - 42:00
funding for a film?
42:01 - 42:10
I, um, well, you can apply for those plenty of places you can
42:10 - 42:14
apply. And then if you put the producer heart, you can do all
42:14 - 42:20
the kind of pre sales or product placements. Depends what kind of
42:20 - 42:26
film you do. Sorry. Let me stop for a second, because I had a
42:26 - 42:36
little procedure and my stomach is in cuckoo. Um, okay. So, you
42:36 - 42:42
know, just see what funds are available. And sorry, again,
42:42 - 42:46
take your time. I had a little medical procedure and my stomach
42:46 - 42:48
is giving me hiccups.
42:49 - 42:53
Just I always say to people anytime they feel like that,
42:53 - 42:55
please, because that's Yeah, of course. No, no, no, that's fine.
42:55 - 43:06
Anytime. So I lost my plot. Yeah. Well, JD, it's the most
43:06 - 43:10
important thing when you're starting, just do it. And you
43:10 - 43:13
know, if you in this business for money, you're in the wrong
43:13 - 43:20
business. You have to prove yourself and you have to be in
43:20 - 43:26
it for love. Try to find production, that hires people
43:26 - 43:35
and give you experience. And you start doesn't mean work for free.
43:35 - 43:39
Because you know, this is no such a thing, you know, you are
43:39 - 43:43
working for free, because we can experience and you get credit on
43:43 - 43:47
a film that get recognition. It's not like you did it for
43:47 - 43:50
free, you have something from it, you know, exactly. So it's
43:50 - 43:56
not all about money. And, you know, I had, when the first
43:56 - 44:01
film, I had a whole crew working like that hired Exley, who was
44:01 - 44:07
fantastic producer. Marco Agnelli, who was my right hand
44:09 - 44:13
assistant director, to me is the most important person on the set
44:13 - 44:23
after me, after the director, not me. And Andrea Cremonini, who
44:23 - 44:27
was, who just came to us and asked if he can work with us. And
44:27 - 44:31
he made the sound and Tobia Malaguti, who with Andrea mixed
44:31 - 44:36
the sound. You know, everyone worked very hard. And we make
44:36 - 44:41
that film and the first film and no one, no one got paid. No one
44:41 - 44:47
got paid. And that's how we did it, you know. And the film ended
44:47 - 44:48
up in cinemas and, you know.
44:49 - 44:51
Hard work pays off.
44:52 - 45:02
You know, success comes before work only in dictionary. And
45:02 - 45:07
that's very important to realise. So sometimes you have to work
45:07 - 45:11
and don't, you know, don't be greedy, because greediness is
45:11 - 45:15
what destroyed capitalism, you know. And what destroyed
45:15 - 45:18
communism, because communism was a beautiful idea of sharing
45:18 - 45:22
things. And greedy people destroy everything. And you're
45:22 - 45:26
greedy, you destroy your dreams, things about, not everything is
45:26 - 45:29
about money, you can get, you can get knowledge from
45:29 - 45:33
something or experience. And, you know, if you're good, money
45:33 - 45:37
can come. And also, it's maybe good to recognise your talent.
45:37 - 45:42
If you want to be an actor, and you see, like I saw that, you're
45:42 - 45:48
not really good. You see, my ear was decided, oh, God, he talks
45:48 - 45:49
too much.
45:53 - 45:58
No, it makes sense. No, it does. It makes sense.
45:59 - 45:59
So
46:00 - 46:04
what's the best advice you've ever received that has helped
46:04 - 46:05
you in your life?
46:10 - 46:15
It's advice I just gave to co-producer Mansi, who's
46:15 - 46:23
co-producing, and also co-writing my current film, All
46:23 - 46:28
the Lonely People. It's when people bully you, or people are
46:28 - 46:36
bosses, like too hard on you. Imagine them in the morning, in
46:36 - 46:42
their pyjamas, sitting on a toilet. Stop being scary. And
46:42 - 46:46
when you imagine them for five minutes, and try to imagine
46:46 - 46:49
picture that they having that argument they just had, then you
46:49 - 46:54
understand how they can't hurt you. You know, it's just your
46:54 - 46:57
imagination that makes you frail of them. And that really helped
46:57 - 47:04
me. And it's funny, because a 70 years old lady told me that
47:04 - 47:08
in New York, she said she was always doing that. And she just
47:08 - 47:14
came out fine. And I applied that. And you know, it's a good
47:14 - 47:16
thing. And I was, you know, I was always scared of bullies.
47:16 - 47:20
I'm not scared of bullies anymore. I always imagine them
47:20 - 47:25
in their pyjamas on the toilet. Because they're so fragile and
47:25 - 47:29
pathetic. You know, that's the whole thing. And, and also, when
47:29 - 47:34
you scared of something, imagine the worst thing that can happen
47:34 - 47:37
to you. And then you realise it's not that bad. I mean, it's
47:37 - 47:41
not that scary. So I think, you know, if it comes to life
47:41 - 47:46
advice, that would be the most important, you know. And another
47:46 - 47:50
one is just do it. Don't wait for things to happen. Just do
47:50 - 47:56
it. Just make it, you know, film or theatre play, or, or if you
47:56 - 47:59
want to make a record song, you know, just do it, you know, just
47:59 - 48:00
do it.
48:01 - 48:05
I like that. Hey, that guys just do it doesn't matter. I've heard
48:05 - 48:07
that a few times on the podcast, where someone has said to me,
48:07 - 48:11
the best thing to do in life is to just do it. That makes sense
48:11 - 48:17
to me totally. What is the one question that you wish people
48:17 - 48:21
would ask you? But they never really asked you that question.
48:25 - 48:30
I can't be serious now. Do I or do you want chocolate truffle?
48:34 - 48:35
I got none.
48:37 - 48:41
That question, I don't know, you know, I don't really know what I
48:41 - 48:44
would like people to ask me. But that would be the best question.
48:44 - 48:50
I don't, I really don't know. I don't know. I don't. It's, that's
48:50 - 48:53
the big, that's, it's not an easy question.
48:53 - 48:57
No, it's not. It's not an easy question. Because you have to dig
48:57 - 49:02
deep into yourself to find something that you really do feel
49:02 - 49:07
resonates with you. For someone to ask you, because sometimes we
49:07 - 49:09
don't know what we're missing. Sometimes we don't know what we
49:09 - 49:15
want. Humans want a lot of things. It's true. Humans want a
49:15 - 49:16
lot.
49:18 - 49:26
Especially now, we are in an era of kind of narcissistic social
49:26 - 49:32
media exposure, which I hope this is about to end because it's
49:32 - 49:36
starting being ridiculous. And people start making fun of it.
49:36 - 49:44
But, yeah, I think that people wanted to be, everyone wants to
49:44 - 49:49
be a star, where there's no place for just normal people. So
49:49 - 49:51
I want to be film director, I want to just be a normal person
49:52 - 49:54
behind camera, not in the spotlight.
49:55 - 49:58
No, that makes sense to me. And sometimes a good thing, you don't
49:58 - 50:01
need the limelight in order for people to know who you are. Some
50:01 - 50:06
of the greatest people are behind the camera. And they make things
50:06 - 50:08
happen, especially with what they say and how they say it to
50:08 - 50:11
people, which is so important in the world.
50:12 - 50:14
The greatest people are the teachers.
50:14 - 50:18
Yeah, exactly. This is why I like.
50:18 - 50:23
Teachers, schoolteachers are the greatest people on earth. I had,
50:23 - 50:32
I forgot about, to mention her, Ivona Verbahovska. She was my
50:32 - 50:39
teacher. We have a little different system than here. I
50:39 - 50:43
was, you know, school went up from seven years old to 15. I
50:43 - 50:45
don't know, whatever it's called. It was called
50:45 - 50:50
Szkoła Podstawowa. Whatever, it's the, you know, equivalent
50:50 - 50:57
here. I don't go to schools anymore. So I don't know. So I
50:57 - 51:05
was from a very dysfunctional family. And she was the school
51:05 - 51:10
psychologist or pedagogue, whatever it was called, when she
51:10 - 51:14
was taking care of children from difficult families with
51:14 - 51:23
difficulty or dysfunctional families. And she knew I love
51:23 - 51:28
film. And she knew I, my grandmother was working in
51:28 - 51:32
cinema. I love my grandmother. She was the best person in my
51:32 - 51:41
life. And finally, Ivona, she, I don't know if she did it for me
51:41 - 51:46
or it was coincidence. She created this film sort of hobby
51:46 - 51:52
group, where she took all us children from that difficult
51:52 - 51:57
family background, and she will take them for, to cinema. And
51:57 - 52:00
then we are like a discussion group and whatever. So she
52:00 - 52:05
created that. And I don't know if I will be filmmaker also
52:05 - 52:09
without her in my life. And I, you know, I very often think
52:09 - 52:15
about her. So teachers, not directors, teachers are the most
52:15 - 52:16
important people.
52:17 - 52:21
See, that's true. I like that. I can see your gratitude as well
52:21 - 52:22
towards it.
52:22 - 52:26
Oh, never forget those who helped you and guided you.
52:27 - 52:28
True.
52:28 - 52:33
And then you get very successful. Never forget those people in the beginning. Never be too
52:33 - 52:34
important for them.
52:34 - 52:35
That's true.
52:35 - 52:37
It's just you.
52:37 - 52:44
Definitely. What would you like your legacy to be when you finished in the world?
52:44 - 52:54
God. Well, I'm making my second documentary. So, you know, I started. I'm 47. I just started.
52:54 - 53:02
I'm a kid. I don't want to make only documentaries. I want to make dramas. I don't know what my
53:02 - 53:15
legacy. I just want to make films. And I would love my films to exist forever after I die.
53:15 - 53:25
It's hard to me to talk about legacy because I look at cinema merely as entertainment.
53:25 - 53:32
Films are entertainment first. And I don't want to be preaching with my films.
53:32 - 53:33
That's fair enough.
53:33 - 53:37
So I don't know about legacy, you know. I just want people to have fun watching the
53:37 - 53:40
films. My films.
53:40 - 53:45
That makes sense to me. That definitely makes sense to me. My final question for you is
53:45 - 53:50
where can people find you on all your social medias if they would like to contact you or
53:50 - 53:52
even work with you in some kind of way?
53:52 - 54:02
I'm easy to contact. I have a website. Arokoro.com is A-R-O-K-O-R-O-L dot com. And all my social
54:02 - 54:14
media are the same. Arokoro.com slash Arokoro. So you can contact me there. LinkedIn. LinkedIn
54:14 - 54:21
is the worst because people are sending me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. LinkedIn is the worst
54:21 - 54:28
because people are sending me. I'm overwhelmed with messages on LinkedIn. And I just don't
54:28 - 54:35
read them because people will try to sell me stuff and I just can't deal with it. I
54:35 - 54:39
mean, everyone is trying to sell everything on LinkedIn. I find that very aggressive.
54:39 - 54:46
I don't like it. So LinkedIn is not a good way to do that. And also don't contact me
54:46 - 54:53
if you want to sell something. Contact me to talk to me. That's the best way. So the
54:53 - 54:59
best way will be email or email support.arokoro.com. Everything is on my website. So it's quite
54:59 - 55:00
easy.
55:00 - 55:05
Yeah, definitely. Guys, go and have a look on his website. It's actually a really good
55:05 - 55:09
website. I went on there a few times when I was doing my write up. It's really well
55:09 - 55:15
laid out. So guys, you'll definitely get information about directing and producing on there. And
55:15 - 55:24
you can also watch or see Battle of Soho just as a clip if you want to. I want to thank
55:24 - 55:28
you so much for coming on the Us People podcast. You've been a great guest. I hope you enjoyed
55:28 - 55:30
it as much as I did.
55:30 - 55:36
Thank you. I loved it. I hope I hope everyone else did as well as you did.
55:36 - 55:41
No, no, definitely. Every I always love doing interviews with different guests because they
55:41 - 55:46
all give different advice. They all give different wisdom. And they all give different
55:46 - 55:51
experiences. So what more can I ask for than to have a conversation with somebody who has
55:51 - 55:54
the experience and wants to share it.
55:54 - 56:00
It was so long time ago when you contact me for the first time. Yeah. And because I'm
56:00 - 56:07
dyslexic. I read it us. What is us put something what is call it?
56:07 - 56:08
Us people podcast.
56:08 - 56:13
Us people podcast. And I was convinced you were in America.
56:13 - 56:19
Everyone says that. Everybody says that. So every time I talk to someone, I'm always like
56:19 - 56:25
it's the us people podcast. So it's a it's a I think it's okay. Actually, I really don't
56:25 - 56:28
mind it starts a conversation. Most definitely. It definitely
56:28 - 56:30
was me being dyslexic. You know, I
56:30 - 56:35
know, it's the same. So am I. That's why when you said it, I was like, yeah, someone else
56:35 - 56:41
is too. So no, it's true. I'm dyslexic. I've been dyslexic from young. Yeah. So I always
56:41 - 56:50
let everyone know, dyslexia is not a bad thing. It's actually a lot of creative people have
56:50 - 56:55
dyslexia, even people who are not necessarily so creative. But I know a lot of creative
56:55 - 57:00
people who are dyslexic. And they never turn around. One thing I love is they never turn
57:00 - 57:05
around and use it as a disadvantage. They use it as something to push them and fuel
57:05 - 57:06
them.
57:06 - 57:12
I just you know, the thing is, I don't. Like I said, I was used to a very feminine boy
57:12 - 57:20
and I was weirdo. I'm dyslexic. And I people say, Oh, what? Very often, young people will
57:20 - 57:26
say, Oh, what? What people gonna think what people gonna think? Don't Don't you worry
57:26 - 57:30
what other people think about you? I never think about other people. I mean, why would
57:30 - 57:37
you worry about what other people think? So I, I always try to make a joke of my dyslexia
57:37 - 57:42
and turn into, you know, to Joe. And I say, you know, I'm never sure if I have dyslexia
57:42 - 57:53
or sex daily. And another thing is, you know, my mind is I'm procrastinating. God, I actually
57:53 - 58:01
put pro to procrastination. But to procrastination. But I discovered on it, there's a tech Ted
58:01 - 58:08
talks on procrastination to create tech talks. And I discovered that actually creative people,
58:08 - 58:12
the most creative people are procrastinators. So yeah.
58:12 - 58:15
Yeah, that sounds good to me.
58:16 - 58:19
It's definitely lovely speaking with you.
58:19 - 58:25
Most definitely. Most definitely good speaking with you. And guys, thank you so much for
58:25 - 58:30
listening to the Us People podcast. Please remember you can subscribe to Spotify, iTunes,
58:30 - 58:35
Google Play, and any other platform that you prefer listening to. Please also follow us
58:35 - 58:40
on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And you can also donate to the Us People podcast
58:40 - 58:44
by simply going on the Savia Rocks website, or just typing in paypal.me forward slash
58:44 - 58:50
Us People podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Stay happy, stay positive. And
58:50 - 58:54
as always, please continue to be kind to one another.
Music Till End