大象传媒

What is more important, story or character?听听

Story. But it鈥檚 extra hard to tell a good story without a good character.

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What made you first want to explore the subject?

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I first read of the Pink Panthers in the New Yorker magazine. I emailed the journalist David Samuels and he was very helpful, giving me some key numbers. He had spent a year on the article 鈥� I picked up where he had left it.

The story was one of those wonderful, multi-layered narratives: it is about the world鈥檚 most successful diamond thieves but it is also about the history of Yugoslavia, the effects of war, the diamond industry, and modern day criminal gangs. I had never understood the Balkan conflicts of the 90s - now seemed a good time to go back with a bit of perspective.

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How long did it take to get the film off the ground?

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大象传媒 Storyville were very quick to come on board and give me some development money. It took a long time however to confirm the access 鈥� I had to do numerous trips to the Balkans and make sure the gang members were on board and that we trusted each other.

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What were you most surprised to learn in the course of production?

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1. That you can鈥檛 predict who will talk to you and why. A number of Panthers were willing to talk, but each for very different reasons.

2. I learnt a huge amount about animation. This was the first big project in which I have used animation: here we used digital rotoscope techniques but developed them to suit us. It is a very specific and detailed process, but at the same time is incredibly creative and liberating. Strange to be so imaginative and so disciplined at the same time.

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What have been the differences in reception to the film in countries it has now travelled to?

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The differences have not been between different countries but to do with audiences. Audiences who see documentary as a rigid and pure form have reacted differently to audiences fresh to the genre. This is not a traditional documentary: we have experimented with form a lot.听

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Which documentary has most inspired you?

鈥溾�� by D. A. Pennebaker, was inspirational in my early days as a director. 鈥溾�� by Alan Berliner is the last thing I've seen that really resonated.

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Favourite website/blog?

: it鈥檚 fascinating to see how people review films 鈥� and how irrelevant that often is to their success!

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Person you鈥檇 most like to interview (living or dead?)

Mahatma Gandhi. Or better still, the next Gandhi to come. Let鈥檚 face it, we need a new one.

Best piece of filmmaking advice you鈥檝e ever been given?

Love your character.听 By which I mean your audience has to spend 90 minutes with that person. If you don鈥檛 like them, they won鈥檛 either.

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Best piece of filmmaking equipment you can鈥檛 live without?

Notebook and pen.

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If money was no object, what is your dream documentary subject?

The film I鈥檓 making at the moment: the life and death of . She was a beautiful Lebanese pop star brutally murdered in 2008 on the orders of an Egyptian politician.听

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Favourite film of all time?

That鈥檚 impossible. There鈥檚 a long list of blindingly brilliant films.

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Most difficult access?

The Pink Panthers were quite tricky!

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Best recent read?

鈥溾�� by Deborah Levy and Junot Diaz's latest collection, 鈥�.鈥�