“Being a film junkie has occupational hazards!” – Interview with the program-director of Titanic Film Festival

We have a good news for movie lovers in Budapest: this year’s Titanic International Film Festival will start in just 3 day, on the 7th of april and will last for 9 days. Just like last year, we made an interview with the program-director of the festival, Allan Sørensen.

Daily News Hungary: What do you think how this year’s Titanic will differ from the previous one(s)?
Allan Sørensen: We have trimmed the program, which means fewer sections. For instance, I decided to combine music documentaries and ‘regular’ documentaries into just one section this year. In addition, we are very pleased to be able to present a Hungarian film premiere at the festival this year – it will be Liliom ösvény. I have had my eye on Bence Fliegauf’s new project ever since I saw his previous film Csak a szél for the first time at a film festival in Copenhagen in 2012. Finally, I am extraordinarily proud to have such a fresh and exotic film as Tanna as the opening film this year as well as a highly anticipated title as closing film: A Bigger Splash, which boasts a stellar cast of fascinating actors.

Daily News Hungary: Being the program-director of this festival, you probably have some thoughts about the changes in the film industry. What kind of tendencies do you see these years?
Allan Sørensen: That is a really tough question to answer, as the world of movies consists of many different levels. There is the studio, meaning, the blockbuster level, for instance, which has its very own trends and tendencies, whereas the pool of mostly independently made films that I select for the purpose of presenting them at Titanic is on an entirely different level and very much inhabit a corner of its own, but with no other distinguishing traits in common as such. Thus, it is nearly impossible for me to point out any general tendencies in movie making these years.

Daily News Hungary: Which festivals did you visit, what kind of experiences did you get there?
Allan Sørensen: As I have a daytime job and only work for Titanic as a freelancer, there is unfortunately a limit to how many festivals I can visit. But I did attend the London Film Festival in October, which serves as a good starting point for my selection process, as it includes a lot of the films that have premiered at leading festivals such as Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto and others over the course of the year. For instance, both Tanna and A Bigger Splash were featured in London, as well as a host of other films in this year’s Titanic program.

Daily News Hungary: How did you collect the movies for this year’s festival?
Allan Sørensen: I do research all year around and keep a continuous and ever-growing list of films of interest. It is an occupational hazard of being a film junkie anyway!

Daily News Hungary: How successful was the festival last year and, speaking of which, how do you personally measure the success?
Allan Sørensen: If you measure success as sold-out screenings, we had some very successful films at the festival last year, for instance Ex-Machina and Still Alice, to name a few. Not all films have the potential to be sold-out, and that is okay, but naturally my aim is to see as many people as possible at the cinema screenings, because that is the whole point of selecting films – to transfer the joy I have felt in discovering these films to film lovers here in Budapest, and to see each of the films appeal to and find their respective audiences here.

by Noémi Gangel

Source: Daily News Hungary