We chatted to Estephania Bonnett, the creative producer and director of Playlab Films, about “Filming in the Amazon”, a one-of-a-kind seminar with master of cinema Apichatpong Weerasethakul (see the news).

Cineuropa: Can you tell us what the “Filming in the Amazon” seminar, which you’re organising for this coming June, consists of?
Estephania Bonnett: It consists of a practical and immersive workshop where, for ten days, we will enable 50 emerging talents from all over the world to get closer to Apichatpong’s universe, through a film retreat that takes place in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. The main principle behind the lab is to take us out of our comfort zone in order to enable the creation of a short film with as few tools as possible. Each creator will have to bring his or her own equipment (camera, sound equipment, computer and so on), as each person will make a short film, getting involved in all stages of the process, from the development of the idea right up to the editing of the resulting short. As for the lab, we will have conducted a painstakingly meticulous scouting process, courtesy of Apichatpong, in order to offer the best locations, and likewise, we will have a portfolio of local/native actors who will be available to work with the participants.

In parallel with the making of the 50 shorts, we will have personalised sessions with the maestro, Apichatpong, where they will work hand in hand on each of the movies. In turn, we will have nighttime sessions where we will have relaxed chats about individual topics that Weerasethakul wishes to bring up and to convey to the directors.

Who is eligible to take part?
The workshop is open to film directors from all over the world. The only two prerequisites are that you feel a burning need, with all your heart and soul, to have a film-based encounter with Weerasethakul, and you need to have demonstrable knowledge enabling you to craft a short film at all stages of the process, from the development of the idea, the shoot and the scriptwriting, to the editing of the resulting short, as the participants will take on all of the roles involved in the process of making a film.

The idea is to learn and share things with all of the participants coming from various different places, and embrace the wisdom of Apichatpong through his experiences and supervision throughout the entire workshop.

Why did you choose to invite Apichatpong Weerasethakul to be the tutor?
All my life, I’ve followed and admired the work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul; his gaze is so unique and special, and it’s precisely that which we wanted to channel during the workshop, through his sensibility and experience. Whenever we design our workshops, we imagine who could be the masters of film with whom we dream about conducting a workshop like this, and so far, I couldn’t be more grateful for having had the wonderful experience of working, creating and producing these workshops with the collaboration of Abbas Kiarostami, Werner Herzog and now Apichatpong Weerasethakul. I feel as if they are directors who happen to have a special, sensitive gaze, and who possess a great talent: they are able to convey their magic to the directors, sharing their myriad points of view, universes, experiences and unrivalled knowledge.