VISUAL AUTEURS is a series of interviews with some of today’s most exciting artists and filmmakers. Whether they are upcoming talents or established professionals, whether they do fashion films, music videos or art films, what we’re looking for are just great people, who do what they do with great passion and in a distinguished style.

Today we talk with filmmaker Emil Klang from Stockholm. His series “The Weeks of Dasha” deeply impresses me regarding commitment, inventiveness and it’s endless possibilities of interaction. Here, you can hear from a passionate filmmaker, and it’s a rare treat to hear someone speaking out on so many topics in such a honest and in-depth way. So, grab a cold beer and enjoy the trip into Emil’s world…

Emil, can you tell us a little bit about your background as a film professional?

In my teenage I had big interests in films. But as an opposite to the other films nerds in school that were up all night watching sci-fi and zombie-films, me and my friends studied Antonioni, Godard and of course Bergman. We got the films from the public library and there was also a small film club taking place every second sunday at the art house cinema. When I was 18 I moved to Stockholm and started to work as a television cameraman. At 2007 I released my first fashion film called “5 positions”. Today I mainly work with fashion and commercials, and other creative projects on the side of course.

What are the main influences for your work as a filmmaker?

Sadness and beauty.

What do you think about the fashion film phenomenon? Is it here to stay? What new developments do you anticipate for this genre?

Of course fashion film is here to stay. There has been soo much interesting things happening the latest years. Today, almost every designer are trying to promote themselves through film. The technics are rapidly getting cheaper, better and easier to use, well established fashion photographer are doing their first tentative steps with a film camera, lots of amateurs and low-budget semipros are together with new talented designers challenging the established professionals. I really love to see this democratic development in fashion film, and to see the internet forums filled with advices and tutorials. But it’s very important to remember that even if anybody can film, it doesn’t mean that we see more interesting films being produced. The majority of the posted
[fashion] films on Vimeo are crap, of course, but I think it’s important to have as much people as possible vitalizing the artistic genre that is fashion film.

One thing that is for sure, is that the overestimated depth-of-field-hysteria that we can see today will totally get out of fashion. Until a year ago the short depth-of-field felt like luxury. Just the really expensive cameras with good lenses could give us the blurry backgrounds. Then the DSLR arrived and BANG! Everyone went crazy about the short depth-of-field and today we see a manic misuse in almost every film on Vimeo and YouTube. I mean, this will have a great backlash, when you associate something with luxury it seems exclusive and inaccessible, but when it’s in everyone’s reach, it will definitely become out of fashion.
The next thing I think what we will associate with inaccessibility and exclusivity will be silence and long takes. You’ll have to be certain that your work is amazing, that people will keep watching it anyway. Of course anyone can access the silence and be able to do long takes, but just the most daring ones will do it. But it will take some years before we see this trend for real.

What is it about fashion that does inspire you?

My interest in fashion is not necessarily about the clothing itself, more about what they express, visually. If I get a strong inspirational feeling about a piece of cloth it’s never because I want to wear it myself, or see my girlfriend in it or so. Even if I don’t really see fashion as art, I definitely see it more as an artistic expression then a common commercial product. The fashion I pay interest to as a fashion film cinematographer is mainly non-wearable, not-for-sale, one-made pieces, and that’s very far from commercial fashion, even though it’s main purpose is the same: define, strengthen and explore your personality through the clothes you wear.
For me fashion photography is also much about escaping reality. Film is greater than photography in that sense that is involves sound and that you can see the movement of a piece of cloth and for me that’s a revolution in fashion photography.
“The Weeks of Dasha” is fashion film in one sense, but it’s also so much more, and by then it’s also less fashion. It’s a decision from me to not make Dasha into a filmed lookbook or a moving commercial for a brand, it’s more of a film series with great fashion influences.

Tell us about “The Weeks of Dasha”…

I was curious about the idea of a series. Both the narrative structure and how the production would turn out for me. I wanted to have a flow in the project, a creativity flow that continued week after week. I can find film business quite boring, it so much about economics, sponsors, meetings and planning. For me those things has nothing to do with why I started to get interested in film. I had previously made other fashion films, but this time a wanted to explore different forms of films, and still be able to have all those films in the same context. Briefly, “The Weeks of Dasha” is a big experiment of narratives, in how many ways can you tell a story and express a feeling in film.

Weren’t you afraid to commit yourself for such a long time exclusively to one project?

Well, I needed something challenging by that time (summer of 2009) and to be honest, nothing really frightens me in that sense. The capacity of a human being is so much more than we think. I wasn’t afraid of putting tons of energy in one project, since it was just a one year commitment, but to be honest the project have turned out a bit more ambitious than I first expected, and I truly need a vacation.

I have always had a very high morality when it comes to finishing projects, when I start something I will also end it. For me it’s a question of loyalty, for me and everyone I work with. A lot of people have been putting their time in this project and I would never let them down with not letting Dasha run til the end.

The Weeks of Dasha: “Week 32 – Young Passion”

How do you manage to stay on time with the weekly releases?

Simply with a good amount of discipline. The films are always exported from the computers late Thursday nights, so there is no lead to talk about, at all. I have got a pretty good view of what time things will take in the post-production, but I’m a bit surprised as well that I haven’t been late with an update not even once. For me that is a beautiful thing, almost as a religious ritual. Every Friday between 9 and 11 I’m working with the new episode, updating the site and the Iphone-App, sending out newsletters etc. I think I will remember those Friday mornings when all this is over…

It’s a non-commercial project, so how is it financed?

Everyone works with the project on nonprofit basis and all the expenditures I do finance by my self. The only thing that cost is the shootings: rental gear, cars, food, and then of course there is always things you have to pay when we throw parties and so on. I have been trying to work as much as possible on the side, but by this time I’m really pushing the limit of my bank account. Every episode has a general budget of 400 Euro, which is very..low…but 400 times 52 films…then you have a good overlook of my financial crisis. “The Weeks of Dasha” is actually an unique film project in that sense, that it’s totally non-commercial and without sponsors or support from film founds etc. For me it has been a relief to work with something with total final cut.

“Weeks of Dasha” is not only a series of films but can also be regarded as a multi- media/social media project (with a multi-lingual homepage, an iTunes-app, channels on facebook, twitter, vimeo, youtube etc).
What are your experiences with your audience, do they interact with you? Does it have any (feedback) effect on your work as a filmmaker?

It’s fun to have Dasha living her life in other contexts than on the projects webpage. In the beginning I had two professionals working with the PR department, but after a couple of month I lost them when they moved on to new jobs and couldn’t find time for Dasha, even how much they wanted to. I had to decide what was the most important, the quality of the films or the numbers that would see them. This was another moment of gratitude to the non-commercial basis of the project, in a business situation you would have to put the focus on the popularity, let more people find it, increase the numbers of viewers. For me this was not to important. Of course I wanted people to see it, but I was more concern about the quality. Today I can see that “The Weeks of Dasha” could have been more well-known outside Sweden than it is today, but then it would have affected the quality, and I’m more concern about running a project I’m proud about than having 100.000 viewers a day.
To have an interactive relation with the audience is important for me, every day. People comment on the web page, on Dasha’s facebook profile and they follow her Twitter. For me this is what makes it all worth the effort. Sometimes it gets a bit silly though. It has never been a purpose to let people think Dasha is for real, but some people do. By running Dasha’s facebook profile I getting close to the feeling of being a girl.

The Weeks of Dasha: “Week 40 – Sorrowful seduction”

Since the series is also a collaborative project, how much do you do by yourself, and when are the others coming in? How do they influence the outcome of the films?

I’m the heart of the project and unfortunately doing most of the things by my self. But there is also lots of people continuously working with it as well, the web designer, the copywriters, the translators and so on. During the shootings we are a collective of 5-6 people, stylist Gorjan Lauseger, hair stylist Ida Högström and make up-artist Pari Damani, that have been with the project since beginning. When it comes to the filming we try to shoot two or three films each time, so the days are pretty filled, there is not much time for improvisations. Anyhow we are always changing the original plan in different ways and for this I get a lot of help from stylist Gorjan Lauseger, he’s got lots of ideas and is very open-minded. The shootings are the most important times, but it’s just one part of the project, I spend much more time at the office then on set. So to sum it up, it is much of an one mans show, I do plan, film, direct, edit, write texts, update, visit designers, buy props etc by my self, but there is also LOTS of other people working with it every day, composers making music, animators doing effects, stylist pickings clothes, translators writing texts etc.
There has been over 100 people working with the project during the year, and I am very thankful to them all. But the best thing is that people is not doing it for my sake, but for it’s such an interesting project to work with. I listen very much to the professionals that surround me, and usually I do follow their advices, when it comes to design, styling, etc. When it comes to the ideas of the films, the story of Dasha and so on, I’m not so open for changes, I’m quite certain of how I want it all to be in the finished stage.

What happens after Dasha? Do you already have new projects in mind?

Definitely not. I’ve got lot’s a great proposals but the only thing I need right know is to spend time with my friends and family. But by the end of January I will probably get bored again and start with something new.

What have you been reading/watching/listening this week?

Music: Swedish unsigned band: Dear Euphoria. She has done music to the project, and I just love her work.

Film: I watched the old childrens’ film “The red balloon”, about a french boy in the sixties getting a red balloon with a living soul. Ingenious!
Read: Unfortunately I just have the time for the daily newspaper and fashion magazines. When it comes to authors I love Haruki Murakami.

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Director: Emil Klang
Stylist: Gorjan Lauseger
Hair: Ida Högström @ Noir STHLM
Make-up: Pari Damani @ Agent Bauer

Emil Klang created with “The Weeks of Dasha” an unbelievable project. It will run for 52 consecutive weeks and it tells the story of young girl Dasha Romanova and her adventures first year in a new town. I won’t get too deep into it, because Emil Klang will be featured in our “VISUAL AUTEURS” series pretty soon.
Just take Episode 43, a perfect re-staging of the intro to Agnes Varda’s “Cleo de 5 à 7”, as a teaser for more…

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