SILENT SNOW Directed By Jan van den Berg

Indie Express: Tell us about your film?

Jan: Silent Snow is a short film about two girls in Greenland who are confronted with the silent destruction of their beautiful world, which is being poisoned by the rest of the world.

IE: How did you come up with the idea for the film?

J: We were researching for the feature length documentary and decided to shoot a short which could introduce the topic. We’ve been working on the feature length for quite a while because we think it’s very important to get international attention to this terrible problem and do so by means of a creative documentary which touches the heart (in stead of the talking heads documentaries we often see when its environmentally focused).

IE: How did you assemble your production team?

J: I’ve been working with this crew in previous productions. But in fact I shot most of it myself, because this beautiful trip through the icy waters of North West Greenland started when I was there alone for the research. Which was a great experience.

IE: How did you find your cast? 

J: Researching in Holland, talking to all experts on the arctic and the pollution there, I was in Amsterdam introduced to an Inuit from Greenland. He invited me to come to Uummannaq and there I met his family, and that’s how I got introduced to many villagers.

IE: How long did the film take?  (From conception to final edit)

J: 5 months

IE: Tell us a little about your process of directing (writing) this film.

J: I met an Eskimo in Amsterdam and he told me his village is the most beautiful place on earth. After I’ve been there I think he could be right, it’s a marvelous place, especially in February when the light is extremely good for filming. 

IE: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?

J: Staying stable on the dog sledges.IO had to make close ups of the kids and had to run from one sledge to the other. But they were great and we had a lot of fun.  

IE: Any particular moments from filming that stand out for you?

J: Seeing ice bergs the first time in my life, was a real experience.

IE: Tell us about the film’s festival experience so far?

J: It’s been great, we won two awards and the film has been selected to screen in every continent now. It’s an amazing tour for such a short film. The festivals have been very enthusiastic and I’ve been able to attend some of them. It’s great to get support from the industry and see the film getting picked up all around the world. This also helps us build our case for producing the feature length.

IE: What are you most looking forward to at the festival?

J: Getting some funding for the feature length film, that’s our main goal at the moment, and the reason to produce the short.

IE: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far? What was your favorite question?  How was the dialogue afterwards?

J: In Aspen they asked me : Why did you make the film? And I said that it was out of anger. I mean these pesticides – which show up first in the arctic now - are forbidden in since the Stockholm convention in 1992 which was signed by all civilized countries (only the US didn’t sign it until now) . Since then many countries continue to use them, and even produc like India and China. The audience was great and told me they were going to write Bush about it.

IE: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

J: For this film I was inspired by Nanook of the North by Flaherty. I even wanted to make a cinematographic quote but didn’t succeed. But I will in the feature length for sure.

IE: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

J: I studied social anthropology and wanted to write about far away cultures, but saw that these books were only read by anthropologists. Then I discovered that I could finish my studies by film making. I filmed as a student in Asia and Africa, met Jean Rouch, one of my heroes in those days, and never did anything else in my life than making films. 

 IE: What is next for you? 

J: Making the feature of Silent Snow!

IE: What is next for the film?

J: Several more festivals, and then it will show in exhibitions and be embedded in educational packages for schools.

IE: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?

J: Patience, always have some more plans in your mind, when funding for one film is going to slow. Always now that the film will be made.

IE: What question would you like to be asked about your film?

J: How did you work with the kids in the film?

IE: What is the Answer to that question?

J: I showed them a rough edit, and used their comment to make it better.