My Olympic Summer Directed By Daniel Robin

Shane: Tell us about your film?

Daniel: It’s a personal look into how my marriage ended. The thing is I go about telling the story more with fiction then real events. I talk mostly about a fabricated situation between my parents when they were young and living in Munich, Germany. I use their story to comment on my actual life.

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

D: I was somewhat emotionally obsessed with my own failed marriage but didn’t want to make such a one-for-one film about me. I realized I had all these super-8 home movies that my parents took about a year before I was born and I came up with this story.

S: Was this a school project?

D: Yes, my MFA thesis film.

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

D: One year. 

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

D: Didn’t shoot a frame. The film is composed of home movies and archival news footage.

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

D: The film has had a great run. When you make a film you never really know how it will be perceived in the world of programmers, juries, etc. So far the film has won the Grand Jury Prize for short filmmaking at Sundance, Florida, Nashville and the Brooklyn Arts Council. It also won the Onda Curta Award at IndieLisboa and an honorable mention at Ann Arbor. But probably one of the most memorable screenings and feeling of prestige came from showing at New Directors/New Films.

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

D: Hope it plays well.

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

D: Not all festivals allow short films to have a Q&A. It’s the life we choose. Right?  Anyway, I had great Q&A situations at both IDFA and New Directors/New Films. Because I call this a documentary and I incorporate fiction some audience members get a bit upset. At IDFA the anger came from a sense of emotional betrayal. The film took them on a heavy ride and then when I talked about my methods there was a bit of outrage. In NYC the anger came from a few people who felt that my appropriation of historical events (I use the Munich Olympic tragedy of the Israeli hostage crisis as a dramatic device) was unethical. But I say, if you feel something emotionally from my movie, or any movie for that matter, and it resonates, then that’s the truth of the film.

S: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

D: I like Guy Maddin movies, and I saw Ulrich Seidl’s Import/Export recently, which was amazing. Oh, and Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park is incredible. He’s reworking the language of cinema and that’s inspiring.

S: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

D: I don’t know.

S: What is next for you? 

D: Move to Atlanta and start teaching documentary film production at Georgia State University.

What is next for the film?

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

D: Be honest with yourself and make something you really care about. Keep it simple and don’t imitate other films.