THE KOLABORATOR Questions answered by Tianna Langham (writer/producer) and Chris Bessounian (writer/director/producer)

Shane: Tell us about your film?

Tianna and Chris: On trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague, former Yugoslav president Slobodan Miloševic was charged with crimes against humanity, violating the laws or customs of war, gravebreaches of the Geneva Conventions and genocide for his role during the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, andKosovo.

The Kolaborator is based on ACTUAL testimony of soldiers who were also on trial at The Hague and is an insightinto the hearts and minds of not only the victims, but also of the perpetrators of the genocide. Byputting a human face on the soldiers of this war, The Kolaborator attempts to identify how seeminglycivilized, noble people can commit such atrocities and what elements lead them to do so; behind thewar machine, behind every weapon, there is a human story.

The Kolaborator was written by Tianna Langham and Chris Bessounianand directed by Bessounian.

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

T & C: After reading a book about Serbian soldiers on trial at The Hague and then reading the actual word-for-word testimonies that they gave while on trial, we were struck by how seemingly normal and decent these soldiers appeared to be.  Though we all long to believe that criminals, perpetrators of hate and evil, are just that, evil, the reality is that the evil that arises out of ordinary, civilized people is more common than it’s the exception. 

We were so riveted by this that we decided to piece together a story from what we read, using real characters as well as real moments that took place during the war to build The Kolaborator into a realistic and true account of the war. 

S: Was this a school project?

T & C: This was the thesis film of Chris Bessounian while attending the Los Angeles Film School.  Tianna attended the school a few years prior.

S: How did you find your cast? 

T & C: One of the great things about making a film in or around Los Angeles is that you can find just about any type of actor you need.  There are simply thousands of them.  Since we only wanted to cast people who spoke Serbo-Croatian and were from the region, we started the casting process six months prior to shooting.  We contacted consulates and community centers to find them but in the end it was through online casting services and word-of-mouth that we found our cast.  We actually met the lead actor Mark Simich who plays Goran, at a party.  The one character that was very hard to cast was Assim, the soccer coach.  In the end we decided to go with an excellent American actor, Jerry Hoffman, and hired a language coach to teach him his Serbo-Croatian dialogue. 

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

T & C: We began writing the script in January 2006 and finished the film in March 2007.  We wrote, cast and pre-produced the film between January and July of 2006, shot the film in five days at the end of July 2006, and then were in post-production until March 2007.  The reason post-production took such a long time was due to complications with a digital intermediate otherwise it would have taken half if not a third of the time.

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

T & C: Although the shoot was very rewarding, it was very difficult for many reasons.  For one, we shot in 112-degree heat with direct sunlight in a very dry field during the height of Southern California fire season.  Secondly, we had to organize a cast of 22 people yet only had a crew of 10 and were shooting 45 minutes outside of Los Angeles where everyone was based.  There was a lot of juggling and much discomfort but somehow the oppressive elements of the production intensified the oppressive nature of the story, which really helped a lot. 

S: Tell us about the films festival experience so far?

T & C: We’ve been overjoyed by how both fellow filmmakers as well as audience members have been moved by the film.  With every screening we still continue to feel disbelief that we were able to achieve this.  The film has appeared in over 20 festivals around the world and has won five awards including the Best Foreign Film Award from the Sedona International Film Festival, an Outstanding Screenplay Award from the Angelus Film Festival, and the Best Short Film Award from the Port Townsend Film Festival.

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

T & C: Most interesting question: “What has been the response to the film within the Serbian community?” Well we’ve done our best to make the ethnicity and location ambiguous. We don’t pass judgment. We’ve read reports of both Serbian and Bosnian Soldiers committing crimes against one another. The story is NOT about who was at fault or who is killing whom. The Story is about a relationship between two friends caught in the middle of an incredibly difficult situation brought on by man’s inhumanity towards man and their justifications for doing so.

Favorite question: We’ve been asked so many incredibly intelligent questions, it’s difficult to pinpoint one.

A question I’ve heard more than once however is “How can I learn more about these people the conflict and their experiences?” This is something we are grateful for; the way the film incites discussion, passionate discussion and the fact that it affects the viewer enough to engage in a conversation and ask where they can find more information.

S: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

T & C: The films we enjoy most and are most inspired by are films that tackle real life subjects and characters as well as challenging topics, in incredible entertaining ways.   Our favorite films in recent years have been The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamond, City of God, Innocent Voices, Lord of War, Celebration, Up and Down, and Water.  Older films we love are The Deer Hunter and The Killing Fields.

S: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

T & C: It was when we realized that movies could impact us more than anything else that we knew we wanted to make them ourselves.  Movies influence people before they even realize they’re impressionable.  So many of our memories and opinions about our lives and the world are based on what we’ve seen and learned about in films.  Being involved in the conceptual and creative processes of filmmaking is extremely stimulating and rewarding knowing that you can have an impact on someone else’s life.    At a time when people are desensitized to many of the world’s horrors due to their ubiquity, being able to impact human beings and make them feel and think about the struggles of others is an incredibly satisfying experience.

 S: What is next for you? 

T & C: With our company out of exile films, LLC, we are currently in post-production on a feature film, Detached, which is a psychological thriller set in the Hollywood Hills (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1064943/.   We are also seeking funding for our next feature film, Guns and Saris, which is set in India and is inspired by the true story of an Untouchable female militia.  Additionally, we are developing three other scripts. 

S: What is next for the film?

T & C: We are starting to speak with short film distributors about distributing The Kolaborator around the world and are also hoping to screen the film is more festivals.

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

T & C: Make sure you LOVE and BELIEVE in the story you’re telling because filmmaking takes more stamina and time than one can ever imagine and so if your heart isn’t in it, it’ll prove very hard to finish.  Also, for aspiring directors we can’t recommend enough the importance of taking acting classes in order to learn about the process of performance and character-building as well as to be able to successfully communicate with your actors who can make or break your film.