Dimitris Galatas, Fragiskos Arapai

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Hi, first of all, congratulations, you are one of the winners of the Europe Film Festival U.K. What do you feel?

First of all, I would like to thank the Europe Film Festival U.K for the chance to take part in the Festival. I feel really grateful for all our actors and crew that gave their time and energy and made this film possible. Also, I definitely feel honored and grateful for winning the “Best first-time director’” award in your festival and motivated to return in the future with another Film.  

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life creating film/acting?

The most important and obvious thing whether it’s filmmaking, acting, or anything else out there is passion. If you love what you do you will eventually get there no matter how much time it will take. A more practical piece of advice though would be, Just get out there and shoot a film, then make another one and another one. It’s the only way to get better. You don’t need any expensive equipment, my first ‘’films’’ were short clips I made with my best friend using only a cheap digital camera with just 480p resolution. Finally, I would say it’s important to find people that share your passion for filmmaking and work with them as a team, there might be people out there passionate about acting for example that never had the chance to be in a film and would love to give their best for it. 

What were the challenges in shooting this movie?
There were many challenges in shooting ‘’MAGDA’’ firstly the film was shot amidst the coronavirus restrictions at the end of 2020 which complicated a lot of things. Another big challenge was time, most of the people involved only had time once a week due to work, so the shooting had to be planned carefully. The film takes place in a pine forest with no artificial lights making the time window to keep continuity even smaller, so again time was an issue.
Finally the challenge of using CGI for the possessed statue of Magda. This added extra things in planning any shot including CGI and increased the post-production significantly.  

Are there any directors/actors/actresses that were a form of inspiration for you?

I would have to say, Steven Spielberg, as  Jurassic Park was the first film I’ve seen in the theatre as a little kid and made me fall in love with Cinema magic. Other film directors that inspired me to make my own films are James Cameron and Christopher Nolan.

Co-director Fragiskos Arapai

What skills do you need to be a filmmaker/actor/actress?

The most important skill that a director really needs is to have great imagination and creativity, that’s where the craziest and most original ideas always come from.

How have you discovered members of your team and how do you keep the relationship with them strong?

In the short film “MAGDA” most of the crew and actors were our friends, that’s why it was not difficult to find them, and the crew being friends worked together flawlessly. I know they did it mainly because they care for us and want to see us do what we love. And that made a big difference

We are all here presumably partially because we LOVE cinema. How did your love for movies get sparked and what can we — as a community — do to help others discover a similar pleasure?

My love for movies started at a young age I specifically loved horror movies. The reason is that a horror movie is more challenging in my opinion. We all know that what we see in a horror movie cannot be real or, this is why it is more difficult to make something truly scary. To achieve this result you have to have a huge imagination and understand what scares people the most, so this is why even today I love horror movies the most. In my opinion, I think you have done a lot as a community judging by how you showed your interest in our film and offered this interview, I would like you to continue like this and help young filmmakers.