Interview with João Pedro Rodrigues

João Pedro Rodrigues has been distinguished in several festivals. He started his international career with his second short film, Parabens!, which won a prize at the Venice Mostra, and presented To die like a man in Un Certain Regard in 2009. This year, the Portugese director  returns to Cannes in the Jury presided by Michel Gondry.

This year you are a member of the Jury for Short Films and the Cinéfondation. How do you approach this new position?
It’s always difficult to be on a jury, I’m a bit nervous. Other experiences I’ve had of being on juries have shown me that it’s not always pleasant. When I see films, I expect them to affect me. I’m attentive to the way they’re filmed, the story, the emotion… I really like to see films in which you can grasp a person’s way of seeing the world. I like films not to leave me indifferent.

You have made as many short films as long films, how do you approach the two disciplines?
It’s just a difference of time and money for me. I go about both in the same way. I like to make good films, whether long or short, documentary or fiction.

Your second short film, Parabens!, got a prize at the Venice Mostra. Could you give the recipe for a good short film?
That’s a difficult question! I don’t think there’s any formula. A short film is concentrated in time. In my first short film, everything happens in a morning in one apartment. The unity of time and space helped me, but there is really no rule.

What advice would you give a director who was starting his career?
You have to be honest with yourself and think about what you want to tell. You have to see the director’s outlook on the world, get things across in cinematographic form. Cinema is about image and sound. You have to find the right images and sound to tell a story.

Several of your films talk about the body, sexuality. What do these themes represent for you?
In my first films, I asked myself a lot how to film the body and sexual desire. It’s something that affects me and that I’m still trying to explore. My career as a filmmaker has taken this direction to a sense. I don’t like films which give definitive answers, I try not to repeat myself. The body has always been a subject for art. In cinema, one often forgets that one is filming speech and not the body. I’m somehow looking to film the silence of bodies.

Interview by T.K.