Christine Jezior
July Filmmaker of the Month
Christine Jezior (born 1961 in Poland) is a film producer, writer and director. In 1986, she moved to Germany and has lived in Bremen ever since. She is the founder of the film production company MAAM (Multimedia, Art and More). She is a member of the board of directors of Filmbüro Bremen e.V. and was a juror at the experimental short film competition "realtime-Festival 2020" and at the Bremen Documentary Film Award.
Her filmography includes numerous award-winning documentary feature films on music-related topics, as well as experimental music video clips for contemporary classical music, which have been nominated at international film festivals. In 2013 she received a television award in Poland for the best screenplay (for the documentary "Kaja"). Her documentary „The Haendel Variations“ (2018) was nominated for the GRANIT Documentary Award at the 2018 Hofer Film Festival and received the Audience Award at the Bremen Film Festival in 2019.
FILMMAKER INTERVIEW
Filmmaker Interview
Tell us your backstory. How and why did you get into filmmaking?
When I started out I wasn’t a professionally trained filmmaker. Back then, I mainly worked as the manager of a famous classical violinist. A TV station requested to be allowed to produce a documentary film about said violinist. Both the violinist and I didn’t like the project pitched by that TV station, so she suggested that I develop a documentary concept myself. It took me one and a half years to direct and produce this documentary film, and after that I was hooked. I’ve been making films ever since.
What’s harder? Getting started or being able to keep going? And what drives you to continue making films?
Being able to keep going on is definitely harder. One reason for this is that there is many obstacles of all kinds to overcome when dealing with financing. You have to be able to convince many people in order to get the money. Plus, it takes so long to actually get green-lighted, so once you’re able to start the production certain aspects of it might feel outdated already.
How many films have you completed? What is your favorite project you have worked on and why?
I’ve completed 8 full-length documentary films to this day. My favorite project to work on was ,,The Haendel Variations“ about legendary violinist Ida Haendel. I worked on this film with Ida for over 6 years. It was not only a great honor but also a life-changing adventure to spend so much time with such a unique person.
Why did you choose to submit to the Breckenridge Film Festival? What do you look for in a festival where you hope to show your film?
The Breckenridge Film Festival has an excellent reputation among filmmakers. It’s been around for so long which also means it has a certain tradition. Breckenridge has a high standard and focuses on films that can be described as real art as opposed to commercial films. These are all aspects I look for when deciding on submitting my film to a festival.
What are the hurdles you have had to overcome in order to recoup the costs of producing the film? (If you feel comfortable discussing exact financials, you are welcome to do so.)
None of my films has been able to recoup its budget, despite all of them winning multiple prizes at international film festivals. Distribution poses the main issue. Generally speaking, not enough money is being spent on distribution in Germany, which is where I’m based. Especially independent filmmakers often fail to receive enough financial support here.
