The Bite Magazine - Issue 11

83 / 302

the deceased, moving on with my work.
Either way it’s an important and mostly
rewarding moment.” On the flipside, the
worst experience is “standing helplessly
in the torrential rain as your film set is
washed away before you, whilst at the
same time taking a call from the film
lab who have called to tell you that the
negative from the day before has been
damaged and has become unusable.”
Talking from experience, this unfortunate
event happened to Pascal while filming his
short film At the Gallows in 2008.
When not making films, Pascal relaxes by
cooking and watching movies, and says his
favourite film is A Clockwork Orange which
he first saw at the age of 18.“Even though
I didn’t fully understand it at the time, I was
very intrigued and fascinated by it. Since
then, I’ve had a lot of favourite films but I
always come back to A Clockwork Orange.”
The director says he is moved by films that
are thought provoking and have the ability
to stimulate his brain whilst challenging him
to reflect on himself and others around him.
We also wanted to know if there were any
films made by another director that Pascal
wished he had made. The list was quite
extensive and included Speed (with Sandra
Bullock and Keanu Reeves), The Silence
(Bergman), To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch),
Twin Peaks, Engrenages (French TV series),
Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Koreeda) and
Oldboy. Pascal admits he doesn’t have any
particular favourite actors or actresses
but admires performances of certain
actors in certain films or TV shows such
as American HBO drama In Treatment with
Gabriel Byrne which he says had “stand
out performances all the way through.”
His take on the film industry today
centres around how much easier it is to
make films but stresses it is increasingly
more difficult to distribute them. “I think
film distribution is undergoing huge
changes at the moment.It’s no good making
a film that no one can or will watch it. Self-
distribution models and platforms have
become a more important way of getting
your films seen but now the question has
become - with so many films being made
each year - how do I get my film seen?”
For aspiring filmmakers, Pascal says, “Just
do it! You have everything you need to
make a film. You can shoot and edit a film
on your mobile phone if necessary. A lot
of young filmmakers still spend too much
time, energy and money attempting to
hire big cameras and lights because they
think that is the only real way of making
a film that will earn them respect. Don’t!
No one will screen your film because it
was shot in 5K with the latest gear or best
camera available. I’ve made this mistake
myself. Spend the little money you have on
the right crew and talent. These are the
people who together with your ideas and
creativity will make a film worth seeing.”
Currently, Pascal has two feature films in
development but couldn’t give away too
much detail but was able to give us a general
feel of the themes:“Both films have a family
at the core of the story. They aim to look
at how we as sons, daughters and parents
cope with outward pressures (social and
economical) and inward tensions (desire
for individuality, need for acceptance and
belonging). Both movies deal with those
sometimes dramatic or existential conflicts
with a loving lightheartedness.” With his
filmography including D’Gisela (2001),
Sennentuntschis Tod/Sennentuntschis Death
(2004), Am Galgen/At The Gallows (2008),
Ehre dem Stein/The Glory of Stone (2010)
and Earth System Science (2010), as well
as his winning accolades in the Upcoming
Filmmakers category at the Lucerne Film
Award, Best Short in the Nomination
Swiss Film Prize and Young Artist Award
at the Canton of Graubünden in
Switzerland, we look forward to seeing
more of Pascal Bergamin’s work.
bite directorprofile