Warner Bros, Cohen Bros and Walia Bros! How does it sound? 'Cool', say the UK-based filmmakers Walia brothers in an interview with India EU Film Initiative. Yugesh and Sunandan, who founded Endboard Productions in 1985, specialising in single documentaries such as 'Days and Nights in an Indian Jail' (Channel 4) and 'Buddhists of Suburbia' (BBC2)', talk about their latest projects, including a feature film ‘The Bounty Hunter’.
The subject matter in their documentaries is quite diverse. 'Days and Nights in an Indian Jail' was shot inside Tihar Central Jail in Delhi, the largest prison in South-East Asia. Filmed over a period of a year, it focused on the lives of a handful of characters while in 'Buddhists of Suburbia' (BBC2), the focus is on three Buddhists who are about to undertake life-changing journeys.
In another documentary 'Seoul Matess' (BBC2), Walia brothers explore the story of Min-Ah and Hee-Jung, two attractive, twenty-something South Korean women, who have fallen madly in love with Pat and Will, American soldiers based in Seoul.
Walia Brothers are now developing series ideas as well as feature films. The UK Film Council will this year honour some of Britain's best Black and Asian film-making talent through its programme Breakthrough Brits. Sunandan Walia and Yugesh Walia, brothers and a Producer/Director team, are the only Asians to be honoured this year.
In an email interview with Pervaiz Alam of iefilmi.com Walia brothers share their thoughts and projects.
PA: What does the UK Film Council honour mean to you?
Walia bros: It means that all the hard work we have done over the last three years is bearing fruit. It fills us with confidence about ourselves and our project.
We were obviously not privy to the selection process. We gather that we were all nominated by industry insiders. The selection was then carried out by an advisory panel of senior executives from the film industry who short listed candidates. Those on the shortlist were then interviewed by the UK Film Council’s Head of Diversity and the programme consultant.
PA: Are you not surprised that you're the only Asians in the list? Is there any dearth of Asian talent in the UK or somehow the process of selection leaves much to be desired?
Walia bros: We don’t know if any other Asian talent was nominated. There definitely is Asian talent out there but what you have to remember is that this programme is for those who have a film which is almost ready to go into production. So being a Talent is one thing – having a project that is on the verge of being financed is another. Our hope is that other Asian talent will be recognised for such awards in the future.
PA: Which of your projects is in an advance stage? What's it?
Walia bros: A feature film called ‘The Bounty Hunter’. It’s a tough, contemporary thriller set in Birmingham. The screenplay is currently being read by various financiers and it already arousing much interest. Screen West Midlands financed its development and it has already offered to become a production partner.
PA: What are the other projects in the pipeline?
Walia bros: Projects in the pipeline include a film called ‘Poona Company’, based on a book by Farrukh Dhondy. It’s a semi-autobiographical coming of age story set in Poona of the early 1960’s. The project is currently at 2nd draft stage but we have already taken it to the Goa Film Market and have made some inroads to financing it in India.
Another is a re-incarnation love story also set mainly in India but this is still at Treatment stage.
PA: What led you to move into the genre of fiction/feature films from the hard world of documentaries?
Walia bros: Partly we always had a passion for fiction feature films – it’s something we always wanted to do and partly it became very hard to find commissions for the kind of narrative driven (foreign based) documentaries we like to make. The TV landscape has changed enormously in the UK over last three years and we found ourselves no longer part of it.
PA: How does it work for you in terms of getting tax incentives from the UK govt? Take, for example, making a film in India despite it being a UK production. I ask this question because some filmmakers express concern over the amended UK tax regime.
Walia bros: To access the UK tax incentives a film must qualify as a ‘British film’ regardless of where it is made or set. Obviously it helps if the film is made in the UK and is a UK story, but there is a point system and as long as a producer can collect enough points the film can qualify.
As far as we can see the amended new film tax laws are better for us as they favour the producer as opposed to the investor. So as producers we can have an equity stake in the film. It also limits the possibility of abuse of the system.
PA: What has been your experience of working in India and the challenges that it poses to foreign production teams such as yours?
Walia bros: We haven’t really worked in India s such apart from talking to financiers and potential co-producers. The Indian film industry is going through a big change.
There are more opportunities for different kinds of films but at the same time budgets and production values are skyrocketing too.
A challenge to any foreign production team is to understand the working methods there and the culture around which these methods are based. Danny Boyle has just done 'Slum Dog Millionaire' in Mumbai and Michael Winterbottom shot 'A Mighty heart' in India too. I think they did it by involving local producers who understand the landscape there.
PA: What are those three or four things that have transformed the Indian film industry during the last 8 years?
Walia bros: Being recognized by the government as a proper industry which has attracted much investment from big business including Hollywood studios.
The emergence of young new directors and producers who have raised the quality of the films and sought to make films which go into different genres such as comedy, horror and thriller. The emergence of new young audiences to be receptive to storylines and themes previously considered either taboo or not commercial enough,
PA: Brothers' team! How do you allocate work and responsibilities? Who decides to direct and who offers to produce? And, when you end up fighting with each other, who mediates?
Walia bros: We have always worked together as a team. It’s not so unique; there are plenty of other examples, some famous ones, like the Cohen brothers, whose work we admire very much. Actually, now it has become ‘cool’ to be a creative brother team.
We both have strengths that we play to, but the biggest thing is trust. We trust each other implicitly and let one another run with an idea. We do produce and direct together even it may not seem so on the location – this is because we develop our projects together, so we are already on the same page. Sometimes we can have some disagreements in the cutting room but we don’t need anyone to mediate. We always see each other's point of view.
UK honours for Black and Asian filmmakers
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