Sunday of Zen submitted to film festsivals

I just submitted "SUNDAY OF ZEN" to different Film Festivals via #FilmFreeway! Though I did't really find any festivals the genre of my film typically fit, but  maybe a few jury members understand the meaning and have chance to be  selected at least for screening. The film is a homage to Abbas Kiarostami and represents the "contemporary contemplative cinema (CCC)" or as most of the people know "slow cinema". BUT even there's differences between CCC and such a kinda films as Sundays of Zen or my other films as well as Karma, Invasion, Ways, Everywhere, In Search of Lost Time or my first Holocaust film Requiem for the Forgottens. The Still Life is a bit different, because I was working with an "actress" or let say someone who were following my instructions, therefor this film a bit closer to the so called CCC.  The other above mentioned films I made it could be rather a sub-category of CCC and call "Devotional Cinema". These films are closer to Peter Hutton and James Benning styles though when I was developing my style I have't heard about these two great filmmakers. I was influenced the most by Chantal Akerman and Jonas Mekas. Usually I don't use fix shooting time as most of the filmmakers. I mean my films start at a certain point and finishing at an other certain point.

The lengths of time between the beginning and the end is an important element of my films but as a director I have to be patient and wait for the right moment to start and finish the film within one long take even if I work without "actors" on certain locations only with natural elements, birds, trains, trespassing people, etc...

That not means I don't cut the final starting and ending point in post production but the story must have a clear beginning, a middle and the end. Using small and medium size digital cameras are quite convenient and much cheaper than shooting on 8 mm, 16 mm or 35 mm, but the colors and the outlook of the film is totally different. I'm not the only one who simply can't afford shooting with film cameras but maybe in the future this can be changed as I have chance to direct more formal slow films.

Making of Sunday of Zen

Making of Sunday of Zen

And about the Sunday of Zen; it was an excellent occasion to shoot this experimental short film and capture a moment close-up from a shy and suspicious dove's daily life. It took weeks to observe patiently the behaviors of the birds (titmouse, pigeons, doves, magpies) living nearby our apartment. They seek shelter in the trees and regularly are coming to visit us for food and some water.

The outdoor traffic sounds, the passenger trains recedes in background all part of our rush of everyday life. We must stop for even short moments despite pressure from powerful forces around us trying to persuade us to take other paths. One day we all will be able to hear the chirping birds and understand the Zen of life. Some of you could ask why the title is Sunday of Zen, ...not only Zen?Here the "Sunday" is referring to Yasujiro Ozu.   

What makes an artist

I don't consider myself an artist though 'm doing various things. I wrote my first book "Dick Monday's Tokyo Adventures" (published in Budapest 2012) and a few short stories and synopsis for screenplays, not to mention the dozens of songs from my teenage years :-) I'm taking experimental photos, making documentary, experimental, shorts, etc... films. When I'm photographing or filming not photo-journalistic images I love using artistic elements as reflected lights or shooting through colored glasses, liquids, plastics, textiles, creating distorted or foggy, grainy images combining reflections, long exposures, single take sequences and using minimalist camera movements to capture the zen of life and unexpected occasions of grace.

Sometimes people ask me "what camera I use"? Doesn't matter what color of the pencil, typewriter, computer, camera we use. More important that try to express our-self on our own creative way and achieving our dream if we have something to tell or show to others. Takes years developing our skills and to find our own style. To reach the audience is not as easy as most of the people think. Neither opportunity nor the success come easy. There are many online sites offering platforms and provide support for creative people and "artists" to showcase their work. Using social media incl.crowdfunding is a big advantage but of course maintaining personal relationships are not forgettable.

....but for the question "What makes an artist?" I suggest you to ask the internationally acclaimed  film director Won Kar Wai or one of his long time cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Dukefeng).

Below I share with you a few names of my favorite visual artists:

Photographers: Saul Leiter, Alex Webb, Andre Kertesz, Brassai, Robert Capa, Henry Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka, David Alan Harvey,  Ed Kashi, James Nachtway, Bela Doka...

Cinematographers: Mark Lee Ping Bin, Christopher Doyle, Benoit Delhomme, Yuhara Atsuta, Vadim Yusov, Raul Coutard, Roger Deakins, Janusz Kaminski, Elemer Ragalyi, Lajos Koltai, Zsigmond Vilmos, Laszlo Kovacs, Janos Kende, Matyas Erdely, Zoltan David, Zoltan Huszarik, Robby Muller, Fred Kelemen, Vittorio Storaro, Tonino delli Colli, Carlo Di Palma...

Directors: Wong Kar Wai, Jia Zhangke, Tsai Ming-Liang, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Edward Young, Tran Anh Hung, Abbas Kierostami, Jafar Panahi, Theodoros Angelopoulos, Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Takeshi Kitano, Kaneto Shindo, Andrei Tarkovski, Satyajit Raj, Bela Tarr, Peter Gothar, Zoltan Fabri, Miklos Jancso, Laszlo Nemes, Istvan Szabo, Pedro Costa, Lisandro Alonso, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Lav Diaz, Roy Andersson, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Michelangelo Frammartino, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Sharunas Batas, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda, Milos Forman, Jiri Menzel, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Luis Bunuel, Rithy Panh, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch...

Experimental filmmakers: Chantal Akerman, Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Jerome Hiler, Nathaniel Dorsky, Peter Hutton, James Benning, Stan Brakhage...

Click here to to see my experimental works on Instagram  

My films on Vimeo  

Fallen Angel

Shadow on the wall

Zen

The fish goes to heaven

Cambodia's Film Industry in a nutshell

Establishing a film industry in Cambodia was a special concern for King Sihanouk. He made all together almost 50 fiction and documentary films. Cambodia was a Sleeping Beauty waiting to be awakened, but today the film industry's glorious days are returning, thanks to such Khmer filmmakers as Rithy Panh, Chhay Bora, Kulikar Sotho, Davy Chou, Kalyanee Mam, Kavich Neang, Daron Ker, Thet Sambath, Rithea Phichith, Sothea Chhin, Polen Lee and Sok Visal and those foreign film directors who chose the country for filming location:

Won Kar Wai in the Mood for Love (2001) The final scene was shot inside Angkor Wat temple.  Simon West: Lara Croft –Tomb Raider (2001); Matt Dillon: City of Ghost (2002); Jean-Jacque Arnaud's Two Brothers (2004); Guy Moshe: Holly (2006); Ferenc Moldoványi: Another Planet (2006); Mike McCoy/Scott Waugh: Act of Valor (2009); Detlev Buck: Same Same but Different (2010); Almayer's Folly / La Folie Almayer (2012); Kieran Darcy-Smith: Wish you were here (2013); Régis Wargnier: The Gate (2014); Angelina Jolie: First They Killed My Father (2015)

…not to mention the various travel documentaries like the popular Bicycle Diaries (Sg), Jobs Without Frontiers (B), Rayil Sneham (Sg) or the chef Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape (UK) and the Survivor Reality TV Show (US).

Cambodia is known to be the Land of Smiles. You can experience the kindness of Khmer people even if you’re working hard on the set for many days or even weeks. Khmers are not only hard workers but often speak even good English. Thanks to the Cambodian Film Commission (CFC), first of all to Mr. Cedric Eloy and Mr. Sovichea Cheap, the hard working Khmer film crew members now have a chance to work on international productions already for a while. CFC itself is organizing intensive film making workshops and also providing adequate info to help major producers and line producers. Although those film making training courses are getting more and more popular there is no film school in Cambodia as yet. With the help of the Cambodian government, jointly with foreign investors, this will may change in the near future.

PSE orphanage created a film school for orphans residing at their center. Whilst the Department of Media and Communication (DMC) of the Royal University of Phnom Penh specializes in journalism.

Production infrastructure in general is not quite as developed in this country as in the neighboring Thailand but filming equipment, cameras and lighting devices are available in limited selection. Dry hire, however, is not always possible and equipment mainly come with assigned operator and supervisor. Rates vary by rental lengths, budget and availability. Obtaining filming permits is bureaucratic, it takes from a few days to weeks and provided by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. For documentary and commercial shootings it can be obtain also from the Ministry of Interior.

Note: The Apsara Authority is entitled to deliver filming permit for the temples inside Angkor Archeological Park only after the General Filming Permit was obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. It takes time and very costly. A story-board, script or detailed description of treatment, included the desired locations is required in order to perform a database search.

Cambodia is one of the fastest growing economies in the region of South-East Asia, easily doubles Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar or the Philippines. Its picturesque landscape has made it already a popular location for international filmmakers, especially for small-scale projects, but not only, occasionally is it chosen also for high-profile, big-budget shootings.

Phnom Penh’s scenery changes quickly. Today there is luxury building boom and skyscrapers are growing from nothing like mushrooms. Since last summer trains are running again to and from the capital and there are a huge number of luxurious cars on the streets. Tuk-tuks and motodops easily navigate in the traffic jam, while cyclo drivers ply the streets with great craft. The beautiful riverside landscape of the Mekong River provides a good choice for filmmakers to show a different face of the city. Pagodas, slums, 5 star hotels, casinos, skyscrapers, the Chaktomuk Hall and the Royal Palace, they are all on the menu.

10 years ago, in 2006, when we filmed director Ferenc Moldovanyi’s multi award winning feature documentary ‘Another Planet’ about child labor, we showed the darker side of the city. We portrayed the life of scavenger children on Smokey Mountain, Steung Mean Chey, Phnom Penh’s municipal rubbish dump and in a brick factory at the outskirts, where dozens of young children were making bricks all day.

Last year we shot Rayil Sneham’s 2nd Season, a travel documentary for MediaCorp / Vasantham, the Singapore based Tamil language television network. We traveled around the country to show real Cambodia.

The mixed Indian and Singaporean crew arrived on mainland from Thailand and crossed the border at Poipet. Although they came later then expected, we successfully managed custom clearance, even after official opening hours. Filming itself took three weeks, featuring some of the most famous temples in Angkor Archeological Park, the young artisans of Siem Reap , Kampong Kleang floating village, in Battambang the “prahoks” and spring roll paper makers and the modern life of Phnom Penh, then we moved to Kampot and up to the Bokor Hill. The Phare Circus was also on our list and the world-famous pepper plantations. Next stop was Kep, filming the sea salt harvest and the crab market. Kep is Cambodia's gem on the Gulf of Thailand, where the royal family and government officials would vacation back to the early twenties. We then headed to Sihanoukville to enjoy the sunshine on sandy beaches and finished our mission hundreds of miles farther, at the Hill tribes of Mondulkiri, before the crew crossed the border to Vietnam.

Another interesting reality series project we finished just a few months ago, together with the Belgian Sputnik Media. We showed how Cambodia’s Yantra tattoo masters teach tattooing the basics of their sacred ancient art to four Belgian (male and female) candidates. After a few months of pre-production the crew arrived to Cambodia. Those candidates day and night lived and breathed with their local masters for a week and learned how to tattoo the specific “magic patterns” first on fruit and/or pig skin before touching humans. Two directors were in charge to direct the show with two different crews on different locations. Our local Production Managers, with a small numbers of extra crew members, handled all the directors’ requests to everyone’s satisfaction.

Note: pre-production is the key towards your goal. It saves you time, money, and nerves. Please feel free to contact me if you're planning a shoot. I'm flexible, out of the box thinker and available to work all around the globe.

Original article was published on The Location Guide

Photography out of the beaten path

It was a good occasion to accept my old fellow the Siem Reap based Dutch photographer Eric de Vries invitation to join for a street photography session. We spent a few hours before sunset in a dusty BUT SAFE area at the suburb of Siem Reap far from the tourist crowds. We were not invisible but it was a great opportunity to team up with Eric again and get a bit closer to a the local Khmer community. Children were playing everywhere on the streets and the backyards. It wasn't a problem there's no electricity at all.

The pictures below were taken by Canon 5D Mark III and the Lenses I used: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM and Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

No flash of course. Only natural lights.

I didn't use neither Photoshop nor Literoom or any other editing software to alter or retouch the pictures.

March of the Living 2016 Hungary anti racism march

Tens of thousands of participants are expected for the 14th March of the Living in the Hungarian capital on Sunday, 17 April 2016.

Some among the speakers: Hungarian Chief Rabbi Robert Frolich, Ilan Mor, Israeli Ambassador to Hungary and protagonist of the Oscar Award-winning Hungarian movie “Son of Saul” Géza Röhrig, also appeared at the event.