The History That Repeats Over And Over: Patrik Krivanek On His Short "Quiet Crossing"
Director Patrik Krivanek is an award winning Czech film director, producer, and writer. His latest film, Quiet Crossing, focuses on three East German students who try to flee to safety as their political views put them in danger. This historical drama has received 7 film awards including Best Student Film at Florence Film Awards, Favorite Film at Film Only Film Festival and an honorable mention at Berlin Flash Film Festival.
Set in 1967, East German students, opponents of the communist regime, are trying to emigrate to West Germany hidden at the back of a food delivery truck. They must remain quiet or they will be discovered and executed for their anti-political activities. Anna's and Yans's sleeping baby on board is a time bomb that can explode at any time, and something unexpected happens.
The film has already screened in 11 different countries at 24 film festivals, including the New Renaissance Film Festival in Amsterdam and Miami Independent Film Festival, and it was scheduled to screen at several others, which were waylaid by the coronavirus. We had the opportunity to chat with Patrik about the film, the challenges of creating a period piece on a limited budget, his influences, and much much more.
Where did the concept for Quiet Crossing originate?
Our short film began simply as a university project at the Westminster Film School in London. The writer, Rik Hulme, came up with an idea after reading a book called Stasiland and was interested in trying to write a short story about the horrible, life-changing choices people in Berlin had to make during Communism. The most important aim for me as a director and for Ella Eddy as a Producer, was to deliver a thought-provoking, moving, and emotional story which could be understood by audiences of all ages and backgrounds. We wanted to remind people of history. The history that repeats over and over again, but in altered forms. Even though Quiet Crossing is set in 1967, it tells a timeless tale that is still applicable to many people's struggles worldwide today. Oppressive political regimes still reign. Families have no choice but to flee the tyranny of their home nations.
What was it that drew you to this specific era of German history?
We kept the story set in 1967 as East Germany in the ’60s represented for us a “wall.” Exactly the same type of wall like those sadly still being built between nations all around the world. I was born in Czechoslovakia in 1987. The country at that time was still heavily oppressed by the Communist regime in the same way the people in East Germany were. It was a very personal story for me. Stories like this were all around me during my childhood, but at that time I was very young and couldn’t understand the fear of the people in my home country (and that felt by my family living behind the Iron Curtain). I heard many stories of people trying to escape, and it has always been very interesting for me to research the reasons why people are risking their lives to do so. Due to my schooling and also from reading articles and books, I was well educated about this subject, but I wanted to observe it myself through the medium of film. I was always looking for the right story to start to observe this topic more and Rik’s screenplay was very captivating for me.
The opening title cards with information about the specifics of the Berlin Wall is really eye-opening. What were some other mind-blowing things you learned researching this project?
I always research subjects and events which I am making films about. This helps the overall believability and credibility of the films I am directing or producing. I always want to be historically accurate to avoid confusion or inaccuracies. I found many stories and articles about people who were escaping or were even killed whilst attempting to. Many happy but unfortunately also many sad stories too.
For me, it was a very interesting and emotional research as I was digging much deeper than into the history of East Germany. I was reading articles from all around the world, different political regimes, and time periods. I was reading articles and stories of people trying to escape drug cartels in Mexico and together with the whole family trying to emigrate to the United States crossing the dessert dying in the heat. Stories of people trying to escape from North Korea. Stories of Jews trying to escape the Holocaust or stories of families escaping war-torn Syria. I am a very empathetic person and while watching many documentaries and reading many stories in books and articles, I was experiencing pure fear and learned much from the despair of people. We are experiencing migration all around us for all our lives. From the experiences of our ancestors, but also from watching TV, listening radio or reading the news. We have it deeply written in our DNA.
What were some of the challenges you faced trying to create a period piece with a limited budget?
Our budget was very low, under $1,000, but the University of Westminster gave us equipment and supplied us with film stock, which helped us to keep costs low. We also only had about three weeks for pre-production. In this short period, we had to hold auditions, cast the film, rehearse with actors, design and build the set and also do technical rehearsals.
To save money, we ended up shooting only in one set in the studio and we used captions to suggests the time and place of scenes. All crew and cast members worked for free, so we could invest more money into our set build, which was a fundamental part of our story. The set for our period drama was built in one of the studios at our university campus in Harrow, London. Together with my talented Production Designer, Emily Roberts, we had to figure out how to bring the illusion of movement to the static scenery to create the conjecture of a moving car. We were able to create some movement in the set with strings and wires pulling decorations. To enhance the feeling of movement, I also had to choreograph actors so they could deliver performances that were evoking a feeling of a car moving. We also had to work effectively with the camera to get a dynamic picture that follows the action. The believability of the set and claustrophobic feel representing life behind the Iron Curtain was the most important goal to achieve for Emily and I. Sophisticated sets like this always require time to build, but also a higher budget. Emily made impossible possible and — on a small budget — she delivered, in my opinion, one of the best sets I have ever seen in a micro short film.
Apart from the low budget, there were other struggles and challenges we’ve faced while we were making this film. It was the first film I directed in London and I didn’t know many people there. Everything was very challenging for me. For filming, we were also using an old Arriflex 16SR camera and we were using a vintage filmmaking style. For instance, we didn't use any external monitor, “shooting blind” and making the action in the small set almost impossible to monitor. Sometimes there wasn’t even space to fit all essential members of the crew to see the action. For many shots, we worked without the Script Supervisor. There was simply no space. We also had only 800ft (2 rolls) of 16mm film stock available. We didn’t have enough material to allow many re-takes so we had to be very organized. To make everything even more difficult, we also only had eight hours of studio time available, which was split into two days, so — in terms of time — the pressure was very high.
I love the atmosphere you and cinematographer Deen Gomez created on the film. How did the two of you arrive on the film’s visual aesthetic?
Thank you. Together with Deen, we spent a lot of time on meetings to support each other’s ideas with visual references. I wanted our audience to feel claustrophobic while watching the film. My aim was to make an audience feel that they are sitting in the van together with the characters, unable to escape this uncomfortable situation. I wanted the camera frame to be filled with very dynamic, intense action — camera close to the actors (mostly in mid-shots and close ups) to see their facial expression, their emotions, their fear, their struggle. I didn’t want to have much dead space to be around. I communicated this to Deen and Camera Operator Federico and we decided to use the an Easyrig to achieve a feeling of disorientation with a shakycam and quick panning.
How did you find your cast?
Our pre-production time was very short — about 3 weeks only — and the most important part of your films is the cast; you always have to find the right actors who are not only talented actors but who are also people able to analyze the story the same way you do. There are many talented actors in London, but not everyone could do this. I watched tens of hours of showreels to discover talents before inviting actors for auditions. After that, we spent a couple of days auditioning many great actors.
For the auditions I also invited my friend Matej Paprciak who didn’t have experience with film but was studying theatre acting at the Giles Foreman Acting School in London and was also experienced from filming TVC’s. Matej’s enthusiasm for acting convinced me to give him a chance to show us his potential for screen acting during our auditions. His performance blew our casting team away. He was very well prepared and his performance was very believable, fitting my ideas for the character of Yans.
For the role of Anna, we have decided to cast very talented Tullia Pagano, who just graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. In one of the scenes, our script said that “Anna is crying” and we have auditioned many actresses who were crying on auditions but Tullia wasn’t. I could see a lot of fear and sadness in her eyes even without crying. It was a very powerful performance.
For the role of Marcus, we were looking for someone who would be able to deliver a believable “choking” performance, and we have found only one actor who convinced us in terms of believability. Apart from his acting job, Jack Purkis, a graduate of RADA, is also a writer and he was great in analyzing the script in the same ways I did which resulted in our cooperation.
Finding good actors always needs some time which I and the producer Ella didn’t have. However, in a very short time, we have managed to cast actors and have some time left for rehearsals with them, which helps them to deliver great performances, which were crucial for our story.
Are there any films or filmmakers that either influenced this film or your overall approach to the medium?
Some of the films of Steven Spielberg are very close to me. For example, I like how Spielberg works with tension in his films Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, or Bridge of Spies. Also, I always love to work around the psychology of the story, but also with the psychology of the audience. Making my audience captivated, but also making them want to escape at the same time. Making my audience for most of the time on the edge of its seat. In terms of a visual style, I was also inspired by the almost documentary visual style of director Paul Greengrass and his use of the camera in films like United 93 or Captain Phillips. My other visual inspirations included films like Son of Saul (Dir. László Nemes, DoP. Mátyás Erdély), Babel (Dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, DoP. Rodrigo Prieto), Panic Room (Dir. David Fincher) or A Few Cubic Meters of Love (Dir. Jamshid Mahmoud).
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
I hope that audiences who watch Quiet Crossing will be captivated by the story and the journey of our characters. I hope that it will make our audience think about the story and make them want to compare it with similar stories that are still happening all around the world. I want our audience to see the world differently than before. I also hope that the film will be reminding people that there are still people struggling worldwide today and remind them that oppressive political regimes still reign. I would like this film to make people aware of the fact that there are still people fighting and trying to escape to save their lives but also the lives of their families.
Word on the street is that you’re planning to develop Quiet Crossing into a feature. What are you most excited about expanding on?
We believe that Quiet Crossing has great potential to be a feature-length story. Together with Rik Hulme, I would like to write a story that establishes the life of the characters both before and after the events of the short. Showing the fear of living under the oppressive Communist regime, but also dealing with the consequences of their actions after they escape. Making it a feature-length story now depends only on the finances and potential producers interested in the story. For the story development of the script written by Rik and potential feature, I made a background story making these East German students opponents of the communist regime. It is a story of their attempt to escape the consequences of their actions and rebellious fighting against the political regime in their country. I always loved films of Milos Forman and how he worked with difficult topics in them. How he often was making “small” people big and how he was making films about people rebelling against something bigger than themselves. Fighting against authorities, political systems and institutions to win a better life for themselves or others.
Aside from making the short into a feature, do you have any upcoming projects in the works you can share with us?
I am always picking projects which challenge me and my crew the most. I simply don’t like simple things. I always want to make every new project bigger. At the film schools in the UK, professors were always teaching us “do not film with kids” or “do not film with animals” but in my career, I experienced both and paradoxically found it fulfilling. My next two projects are called Muddy Shoes, which is a short 20-minute film written, directed, and produced by me, and a feature film called Two Words as the Key that I’m Executive Producing.
Muddy Shoes is a powerful and personal story about an important time in history, told from a unique viewpoint. It is a psychological description that depicts the atrocities that were carried out on defenseless people during WWII. It will be shot in two different formats; 35mm digital and super 16mm film. Each section will be shot in an equally distinctive format to separate the two different time periods as the film’s story is based in 1943 and 2010. This film is full of kids and has a little cat so it has everything I was taught not to do! To make it even more difficult, I have written rain and burning houses into the screenplay, and it will be a low budget film!
Two Words as the Key is an independent feature film directed by the Czech Film Director Dan Svatek and with a production budget under $2.5 million. It will be shot all around the world (USA, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Japan, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Poland) in 2020-2021. Together with Dan and Josef Formanek (the writer of the book the film is based on), I have promoted this film at The Marché du Film Producers Network in Cannes during the Cannes Film Festival 2019. If you were enthralled by the atmosphere of films such as Magnolia, Life of Pi, Baraka, or Babel, then you have something to really look forward to!
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!