Lunch with Gaidot Jauno Gadu (Waiting for the New Year)

Interview with Vladimir Leschiov, director of  Gaidot Jauno Gadu (Waiting for the New Year)

 Can you tell us a bit more about your animation style and artistic choices? Why isn’t there any speech? How did you select the music?
I am an artist first and I am very familiar with different art techniques. I am not sure if I have a specific style for my films, since all of them are quite different, at least visually. Some people told me it is impossible to say if the films were done by same author. Since my very first film, I have discovered that I can use my skills to find the best visual solution for a certain story. When I have an idea for the film I think about the technique which fits better to visualize the story. It can be watercolors, soft pastels, oil colors, acrylic, ink or even black tea. I don’t like dialogue in animation. Because animation itself is so powerful and without any limits for expression, that many things can be explained by the language of movement, by a metaphor etc. For me, dialogue or speech in animation is an unnecessary addition. Also it makes additional difficulties for translation, since some things are too complicated to be translated because of the difference in cultures, humor etc. As a result, the story can be misunderstood by the audience. Charlie Chaplin said something similar, explaining why he is not happy with using speech in cinema. I prefer music instead of speech. I can say much more with music, I think. Actually I am working with very good composers and I trust them. They are artists too and they know how to make a good soundtrack to improve the story. Usually I explain my idea for the film to the composer first, since often it is too complicated to understand what I wanted to say on watching the film for the first time. Sometimes I share my preferences for music style with the composer, I give them some examples. But in general, I give them freedom to create (until I am satisfied by the result!). I used to say that work over an animated film and its soundtrack is similar to the process of cooking. Balance, texture, taste and… aftertaste, of course. The film must leave you thinking about it and wishing to watch it again in hope to find new details.

 The story is very moving. What was your inspiration? Is there any real-life influence?
It probably comes with age. At a certain age you suddenly discover that time is running faster every year. You start to feel that there are many things that you could have done but you haven’t. Sometimes it makes you feel lonely and in the worst case, it can take you into deep depression. This story is based on my childhood. I spent part of my childhood with my granny, who was a lonely woman working as a street cleaner. Actually she cared about me a lot. I am sure she was always dreaming about something, as many of us do. I remember, when I was a kid, I was always waiting for my birthday and New Year’s Eve, because then I could get a gift I was dreaming about. It is both funny and tragic, because with every birthday, with every New Year you become older, but subconsciously you continue living with the hope that next year can bring more positive changes to your life. In the film I used seasons as a metaphor of life to show how fragile, beautiful, strange, short and unpredictable life is.

 Are you keen to explore other genres? Live action or other genres of animation? What do you have coming up?
Yes, I am often thinking about making a film for children. Maybe live action too. Maybe I am just too lazy or trying to find justification for my laziness, but I think that children are the most difficult audience. Especially nowadays. More than us, adults, they need heroes, influence, friends they trust. You can’t lie to them. You take a huge responsibility. Also, I don’t have any good ideas for this kind of film. Almost twenty years ago, when my daughter was small, I thought about a film for her. Then I was thinking about a film for my son. Now they are not kids anymore and I still have no ideas. Live action would be more interesting for me, especially a live-action short film without dialogue. But I am not sure if I can work with actors. Especially if I don’t know these people well. My actors are my characters, I create them on a white sheet of paper. I know them better, I know how to talk to them. Now I am working on a new animated short. It will be another very different film.

 Any cinematic coups de cœur in the past year you’d like to tell us about?
Unfortunately, I must admit that I didn’t watch many live-action films last year. I am not sure if I even saw new films which could inspire me very much. But there were some amazing animations. Among them I loved Erlkönig by Georges Schwizgebel, Before Love by Igor Kovalyov, My Life As A Zucchini by Claude Barras and Psiconautas by Alberto Vazquez and Pedro Rivero.

 If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote or story from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year?
I have been in Clermont-Ferrand three times since 2003, I think. I liked the festival very much, nice atmosphere and beautiful city with its volcanic surroundings. Every time I visited the festival I had some funny situations there. One of them is actually about the brasserie next to the Maison de la Culture. It happened during my third visit at the Clermont-Ferrand festival, in 2008 I think. I had been in France several times already but had never tried the famous French-style steak. It was an extremely cold day and I was very hungry. Because of the next screening I had no time to look around for a good place to eat and moved to the brasserie next door from the festival venue, though it was not the cheapest place. Unfortunately the brasserie staff spoke no English and there were not many visitors at that time to help me. When I purchased steak with fries, the waiter asked me in French how I would like my meat cooked (blue, rare or medium). I had never eaten a steak before, honestly. I didn’t know what he wanted from me and what should I answer. Even the French woman at the next table, who spoke a little English, could not explain the difference. I was hungry and my joke was not that funny, probably. I asked her to say to the waiter that I would prefer the same style as he would use for himself. And I warned him that in case I did not like it, I would make steak from him (bad joke, I know). The waiter smiled at me and disappeared in kitchen. After 15 minutes I finally got my food… A few visitors around me were looking at my dish comparing it with their own with big surprise. My dish was looking great, different and much better than they usually do, probably. I made a cut into the meat and was shocked… The meat was almost raw inside and blood spilled on the plate. I tried it carefully and it was so delicious! Later someone told me that people in Clermont-Ferrand are very serious about good food and respect people who love to eat tasty food. Is it because of Michelin? I dunno.

More information on your film:

 Gaidot Jauno Gadu will be screened at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival as part of the International Competition. Are any other screenings scheduled?
The film will be screened at Gothenburg Film Festival almost at the same time as Clermont-Ferrand, then it will travel to Iran, Portugal, another festival in France (Roanne), Japan… There are also many screenings in the USA as part of the Animation Show of Shows. We will see!

 Are you taking part in other events during the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival? (Espressos, Conferences, other ?)
Unfortunately I will not attend the festival this year, however the film will be presented by my friend, Canadian composer Pierre-Yves Drapeau.

 Wishing you the very best!
Thank you! And very kind wishes to this amazing festival!

Gaidot Jauno Gadu is being shown in International Competition I10.