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David Dusa was born in Budapest, grew up in Sweden and South Africa, and studied film in Göteborg. He has won awards for his short films in festivals worldwide, including Rotterdam, Berlinale Talent Campus, and Clermont-Ferrand. Dusa is currently preparing his second feature, Cacheux Malor.
Film Guide: Flowers of Evil
David Dusa is no longer answering questions
How is social media influencing the world of film? And vice versa?
Trixie
Brooklyn
, New York
Like This
Answer ThisApr 06, 2011
04:11 AM
I think that social media is influencing all walks of life, including cinema. Your question is very vast. Of course, filmmakers (or the Tribeca film festival for that matter) use social media to promote films and make people talk about them, but to use social media as a dramaturgical tool in a film is less evident. Normally computers and internet are considered anti-cinematographic (someone sitting behind a computer is rarely dramatic) This is what we tried to change in Flowers of Evil; to transform social media into a dramturgical tool driving the storytelling. the second part of your question is: Does cinema influence social media? Not sure. Cinema is kind of old school, but it is trying hard to catch up :)
Hi David, Please tell us more about where the idea of the film was born ? Watching the trailer makes me want to see the film! http://www.youtube.com/user/DusaDavid EB
Anonymous
Brooklyn
, New York
Like ThisAnswer ThisApr 06, 2011
04:00 AM
The inspiration for Flowers of Evil comes from the Iranian uprising that followed the hotly contested re-election of Mahmud Ahmadinejad in 2009 and the subsequent media event. As foreign journalists were forbidden to work, ordinary citizens used mobile phones with cameras, YouTube and social networks to show the world what was happening, as well as to organize their struggle. I was amazed by the avant-gardism of the Iranian people, feeling that they were changing the way we would use these tools forever (the modus operandi of the revolutions in the Arab World today is largely inspired by the Iranian experience). I started collecting these videos from Iran (I have over 8000), knowing that I wanted to make something with them. The other key to the film is Rachid Youcef, (the main actor in Flowers of Evil) who I casted a year earlier for another project called FRANCE. While working together we became intimate and he told me the story of his life. So as I was watching these videos, I thought of Rachid, who despite growing up in an orphanage has this crazy energy and a lust for life. This is where Flowers of Evil comes from, in the meeting between Rachid’s life story and the images from Iran.
What is the significance (in your opinion)of film festivals for the films being shown?
Henry
Brooklyn
, New York
Like ThisAnswer ThisMay 12, 2011
06:05 AM
I think that festivals are very important for Arthouse movies. As it gets harder to convince distributors to bring our films to the big screen, film festivals give us a rare opportunity to show these films to audiences worldwide. Beyond that, prestigious film festivals (like Tribeca) also create media attention so that an even greater number of people will hear about the film. If the press is good this will influence distributors to consider picking up films they wouldn’t normally have considered. Also, festivals are excellent in discovering new talent and create exposure; this usually facilitates the financing of a new project.
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