Right at the outset, before we begin our
conversation, Dan Wolman confesses that this is
not his first visit to Goa. By his own admission,
he has been to Goa a few times, especially when
his films were shown at the International Film
Festival of India (IFFI) and also when he was part
of the festival jury a few years ago. Speaking about
the place, Wolman says, “Goa is very interesting.
There is something about Indian and Israeli
personality and mentality, humour and certain
attitude towards life that are similar. The blend of
Portuguese and Indian culture is very unusual and
interesting for me. I like coming here and there
is something about the landscape here which
reminds me of the Caribbean.”
Wolman’s critically acclaimed film ‘An Israeli
Love Story’ was recently screened at Sunaparanta
– Goa Centre for the Arts, as a part of Sensorium
2018. For the uninitiated, the film is a story of
18-year-old Margalit, her love for theatre and her
desire to be an actor. She meets 24-year-old Eli
Ben Zvi, whom she falls in love with, however
dramatic events preceding the birth of Israel
rupture the narrative as their lives unfold.
But not many know that the idea of making
this film was born after Wolman’s encounter with
a woman who wanted him to make a film on her
life. Wolman shares more details: “About five years
ago, I met this woman, who is 90 now, and her
story was in the hands of another producer, who
wasn’t able to raise the money required to make
the film. And because she admired my films and
felt that I have expertise in making low budget
films, she expressed a desire for a film to be made
on her life incident.”
The challenges were many. For starters,
making a period film with a low budget is the
biggest challenge a director can face but Wolman
was up for it. He says, “For me, it was also a
challenge to see if I could capture the spirit of
that time, and the simplicity and the innocence
of the time. Also, it was a simple life incident
around which I had to construct the story. It was a
challenge to make a film that people will believe
and feel for. So it was about creating a lot of
details that can hold such a plot.”
The film was eventually made in 2016 and
raked in rave reviews. The response at the
screening in Goa was a testament to that.
Wolman has travelled across the world and
has been to several film festivals such as Cannes,
Berlin, Venice and so on and so forth. So where
do Indian film festivals stand in comparison?
Wolman says, “India is like a thousand countries
put together. Each city is like going to another
country. As far as film festivals are concerned,
there is something that bothers me. The opening
night of the festival has 12 men sitting on the
stage and their speeches, which are not even in
English at times, go on for about three hours. As
a result, no one stays for the opening film. Having
said that, what is nice about the festivals here is
the camaraderie and warmth that people have for
each other.”
At 76, Wolman is far from being done
with making films and is already working on
multiple projects. A film having a Indian-Israeli
collaboration is on the cards and he is working
on the screenplay. A children’s film and a film on
China are also on the list.
