MUDBLOODS Director Farzad Sangari shares his inspiration and process
Director Farzad Sangari answers a few questions about his first feature documentary, MUDBLOODS. Originally from Iran, prior to making films Farzad studied both Literature and Film and worked in Education. Transforming Harry Potter’s fictional competition into a physically demanding, real-life sport, Quidditch has secured its place as one of the fastest growing collegiate club sports today. MUDBLOODS follows the resilient underdogs of the UCLA Quidditch team as they make their way to the Fifth Annual Quidditch World Cup in New York City. Through nail biting victories and losses, the dreamers, creators and athletes who make up this exceptional community come together to make this magical sport into something you could’ve never imagined until now.
What was your inspiration for making this film?
The inspiration for the film was the people I met along the way. I was constantly impressed by their creativity, imagination and spirit. I felt that this thing they were involved in was so special and unique, and that more people should know about what they had created.
Can you talk about the filmmaking journey and your team?
The journey started when I saw a group of Quidditch players playing Quidditch. From there I contacted the players and started to develop a relationship with them. Most of the time I shot with them on my own, but for bigger events such as games, scrimmages, etc. I worked with Jason Knutzen. Jason was instrumental in those early days of shooting because we developed a good working style together that would come in handy when we went to New York to shoot the World Cup. For the most part, it was just Jason and myself shooting the film, so we did not have the resources necessary to cover a competitive sport and a big sporting event the way it probably needed to be shot. We got around that by planning ahead as much as we could, and, as I said, developing a short hand about how to work together to cover bigger events.
How collaborative was the process at various stages of development, production, and post?
Once I got through the shooting, I began editing. I edited for about a year until I began working with Eric F. Martin and Jeremy David White. They helped me finish the film from that point, which quickly included the participation of our very talented composer and graphics/animation team members, Kevin Matley and Jennifer Sapanski.
I knew the post process on this film would take a long time. Not only in terms of editing (we shot it in a direct cinema style so there was a lot of footage to work through during editing), but also in terms of how music would be used to communicate emotion and how the graphics/animation would be employed to communicate a lot of crucial information in a short amount of time and as transitions. Moreover, Quidditch itself so new and unique, we had to attempt to match that distinctiveness as often as we could in the filmmaking process in order to really present it effectively. Fortunately for me, all the people who worked on this film (and that also includes Rebecca Olson, Jeffrey Fletcher, and Spencer Rabin) really believed in the ideas behind it, and were willing to go through the long process of developing distinct filmic elements that matched the content.
How was it working with your subjects, gaining access, and telling their story?
Working with the subjects and gaining their trust was extremely valuable not just for the film, but for me personally. When someone is willing to open themselves up to you in this way, and indiscriminately trust you to tell their story, you develop a strong relationship with them. The challenging thing for me at times was to separate myself from that connection enough to objectively present their story to an outside perspective. Yet, in the end, I think audiences that see this film will be drawn to these characters in the same way I was drawn to the confident and passionate manner in which they live their lives.
Palms Springs First Features Screening of MUDBLOODS Monday, September 15, 2014 @ 7:30 pm Camelot Theatres 2300 E. Baristo Road Palm Springs, CA 92262 FB: /mudbloodsthemovie Twitter: @mudbloodsmovie Instagram: @mudbloodsthemovie Tumblr: mudbloodsthemovie