INTERVIEW WITH Denis Rogatyuk

 

 

 

-Can you explain to the audience your career?

 I have been working in the media industry for almost 10 years, covering a variety of topics from politics to culture from across the world – from Barcelona to Berlin, from London to La Paz, from Mexico City to Madrid. My main focus has always been Latin America. For the last 4 years I have worked as the international director of El Ciudadano, one of the largest independent media organizations in Chile. I have had an opportunity to sit down and interview many well known political figures around the region, like ex-presidents Rafael Correa, Evo Morales, Ernesto Samper, intellectuals like Alvaro Garcia Linera, David Choquehuanca, Enrique Dussell and many others. Over time, I expanded my knowledge of the region and political history. It was last year that I realized that something was missing from my life. Another way of expressing and documenting the major developments in the region. 

 

-How many years have you been making movies?

 This would be my first year as a true filmmaker and I feel excited to begin this daring adventure into the unknown. 

 

-Why did you start making movies?

 Even the best written article or an interview cannot reveal the full picture about a subject. I wanted to go beyond the written and audiovisual journalism in order to show the stories and narratives that are not shown in the mainstream media. I chose Bolivia and the events of 2019 as my starting point because of my intimate association with that country. As a correspondent for El Ciudadano during the months of July to November 2019, I was a witness to the events that unfolded prior to the coup against Evo Morales. 

 

-Tell us a little about your project. What will the audience be able to see in your film?

 “Bolivia Insumisa” is a cinematic journey through the events surrounding the November 2019 coup against President Evo Morales and the massacres of indigenous groups in el Alto, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and other areas of Bolivia. It is a story of Bolivia's resistance and fight for democracy and sheds light on the continued search for justice of the victims of repression and their families, as well as the significance of these events in today's world. 

 

The viewers would be able to watch cxclusive interviews with former president Evo Morales Ayma, former vice president Álvaro García Linera, current vice president David Choquehuanca, Juan Ramón Quintana, Adriana Salvatierra and other important political leaders of Bolivia. I have also included original interviews with the victims of the repression of the Jeanine Añez regime, as well as the families of those who fell in the Senkata and Sacaba massacres. Furthermore, the movie contains an analysis of Bolivia's history of rebellions, revolutions, military dictatorships, and authoritarian regimes in the lead-up to the November 2019 coup. Finally, the movie contains a detailed filming of the journey to the heart of the South American country, featuring the landscape and communities of Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, La Paz, El Alto and more.

 

-Why did you do this project?

 My movie is a homage to Bolivia and its incredible history of resilience and struggle against repression and injustice imposed on by neoliberal and dictatorial governments that serve the interest of foreign governments. 

 

-One of the problems some directors encounter is directing actors and dealing with some actors, especially in the amateur world. How do you see this topic? What kind of work do you do with them?

 In the world of documentary film-making, this takes on a whole new meaning. Your “actors” are, in fact, real people re-telling episodes from their life that could be exciting or painful, happy or terrifying, inspiring or despairing… all within a single episode of filming. It is important to establish an empathic connection with every single one of them and understand their emotions when they are telling you their stories. They expect to hear their words and their message to be carried to thousands of others. There’s a unspoken social contract that exists between the director and the subjects (i.e. actors) of the movie. The director becomes an intermediary of sorts for them. Of course, he or she still decide the course of the production of the film, but the importance of an empathic relationship with your “actors”.

 

 -A good movie takes care of all departments. But normally we can not allocate all the resources to have a good photography or spend a lot of money on sound post production or budget to hire actors. In your project what % have you allocated to. I don't just mean money but time as well. Of 100% of the time/money, what % did you dedicate to each department?

 

-Direction: 25%

-Photography: 5%

-Sound: 15%

-Postproduction: 35%

-Work with actors: 10%

-Art direction/locations: 10%

 

-If you could go back, what would you change about this project? (1 thing only)

I would have liked to improve the music and the soundtrack of the film in order to include more original folk music. Alas, we could not reach the appropriate budget. 

 

-What are you happiest about this project?

The incredible variety of people we have managed to approach and convince them to share their experience of what happened in Bolivia in November 2019 and during the months following. 

 

-Make a wish to the movie gods. What do you ask?

That they never allow the use of AI generated imagery in the films or art. True art cannot be simply conjured up through algorithms and “0” and “1”. 

 

-What movie would you have liked to direct?

 “The Motorcycle Diaries” by Walter Salles. I pay a homage to his work on that movie at the end with a black and white collage of all the characters that made an appearance throughout the movie.  

 

-What kind of cinema do you like? Genre, directors, actors?

I have always been a fan of the crime dramas and mystery thrillers. The works of Scorcese on “Goodfellas”, Brian Singer on “Usual Suspects” and Quentin Tarantino on “Pulp Fiction” remain my absolute favourites that I still watch on occasion. I should also mention the work of Oliver Assayas and his marvellous biopics “Carlos” and “The Wasp Network” that, apart from the mesmerising performances by the actors, tell the real-life stories almost as well as the documentaries. 

 

-Imagine that all the movies are going to be lost. If you could save 3 movies, what would they be?

Tough choice. I would go with “The Godfather”, “The Terminator” and “The Battle for Chile”. Three genres. Three brilliant directors. 

 

 -If you have more projects underway, can you give us a bit of information?

Not at the moment. I wish to focus Bolivia Insumisa and make my movie debut as memorable and successful as possible before moving onto other projects. In the future, I would like to continue making documentaries about the developments that escape the line of sight of the media. I believe Cuba will be my next destination!