����Ӱ��

Estonian films give you a clear vision of their country.

Gabriel Dettre from Hungary is one of new faces in Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School. This director, writer, and producer in one person, has received numerous awards at different international festivals. His movies starred at the Nyon Film Festival, European Film Awards, at the festival in Karlovy Vary. In Baltic Film and Media School he is teaching directing and editing. He came here through the DoRa Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation programme.

You first studied Law at the New York University. How did you decide to produce and direct movies?

These are quite different fields. I never wanted to be a lawyer. Since I was fifteen I always wanted to become a filmmaker, but my family pushed me into something safe. My father was a doctor and he wanted me to study at medicine, but you need to study a lot there. I decided to study law. I finished Law and after that I studied Art History. I almost finished that, but then I finally got into Film at the New York University. After I finished Film studies I was invited to teach there. I worked there as a producer and I taught editing.

Do you have experience only with teaching video editing or also something else?

I first taught editing. I also led a directorial, writing, and acting workshop. I’m not an actor at all, but acting is a necessary part of creating films. And as a director I have been working a lot with actors. Once I even taught Film History.

Does the knowledge form Law studies help you out in your current profession?

Law doesn’t help me in directing at all. Being a lawyer helped a lot when I started to produce, especially when I was only an assistant to the producer. I was dealing with many legal aspects. I still have a kind of corporate mentality.

Can you produce and direct movies at the same time?

Whenever I seriously produce, I’m not really able to write or direct at the same time. It isn’t only because I don’t have time, but it also requires very different mentality. I can teach and I can do creative stuff next to writing and directing. But as soon as I’m producing, I have to stop my creativity.

Where do you see the main difference between Hungarian and Estonian film culture?

I don’t want to compare quality. I don’t know enough about Estonian film making. But as much as I know, I think Estonian films are more realistic than Hungarian. They are not able to deal with reality of “today”. They create symbolic movies. Estonian films give you a clear vision of their country. On the other hand Hungarians have a stronger way of acting. For some interesting reason I seemed to think that acting is a little bit of a weak point in Estonian films.

Do you think that staying in Estonia will have an impact on your work?

Of course, that is why I came here. We shot a film during last summer in Estonia. It is inspired by Estonian writer Bernard Kangro. When we came here, we were absolutely fascinated by the land and the people. Estonia is very different from the rest of Europe. It has a big influence on me and my wife. We will probably establish a company here.

Want to know more about TU Baltic Film and Media School where Gabriel gives lectures, click . BFM offers degree programmes in English both in Bachelor's and Master's level.

 

Interview by Beáta Baranová, Erasmus intern at TU's Baltic Film and Media School. Student of Journalism and Art Studies at Palacky University, Czech Republic