Interview: Justin Mitchell
Director Justin Mitchell took the time to have a chat with me about the making of his surf documentary, Rio Breaks.
I actually had a lot of draw to Rio growing up, my dad is a cameraman and he had done a piece for 60 Minutes down in Rio in the 70s so I had kind of always heard reference to this place. As a kid, I thought I gotta get there somehow! My professor at University, Roberto da Matta, is a Brazilian anthropologist, he was the coolest guy. He told me “You are gonna make a film in Brazil, I can just tell.”
I was reading an article in 2003 by Vince Madeiros about the Favela Surf club and it just clicked. I was looking for a documentary subject that collated to surfing, and when I read that article I thought this is the film! That was the beginning of a long and winding road. Vince was born in Brazil, speaks fluent Portuguese and he worked for Surf magazines so I got in contact with him.
Film techniques and influences
The idea was to ground it in the vein of classic surf films, like Endless Summer with some influence from newer films such as Thicker than Water. I quickly realised it would be too costly to film on 16mm - we funded the film ourselves for the first year and a half so we moved over to 35mm Nikon lenses over the camera.
The first day we got there people were super excited about who we would be filming for the documentary. They suggested five year old Pikachu, who does appear in the film. We followed him round for a couple of days I realised he barely opens his mouth to talk, and he is clearly going to be a good surfer but this cannot be the subject of our film. I knew he wouldn’t be the main focus of the film. There was this kid who kept appearing in every frame of the footage, and it turns out to be Fabio. HE was the kid catching all the waves, so I asked about him and they said he had too much of a hard story. Later that afternoon his sidekick Naama turns up, the best sidekick in the world and we literally the same night decided these two kids are the film! They were at the right age they were so excited about having the attention on them.
We were pretty hands on with helping the kids, we would buy them lunch along with six other kids too. They knew they could come to us and ask for help if they needed to. The hardest part was half way through the first shoot and Fabio asked, can you guys take me with you when you leave? And he meant it, and he would leave in a second, that was heart-breaking. So we made sure we were giving stuff back, if not directly to Fabio and Naama, to the surf club.
Luciano Huck, who has one of the top rated teen shows in Brazil, heard about the film and decided to make two episodes about Naama and the favela surf club. His show is a mix of contest and travel. He took Naama to Hawaii to meet and surf with Kelly Slater, and then he took him on a helicopter ride over Rio. They did a makeover on the surf club too. He took Naama’s family onto the show for a chance to win a house outside of the Favela and they won.
How did you feel the first time you entered the Favelas?
The very first time I went in it felt surreal because it was so built up to be this dangerous place. You realise that it is just people living their normal lives – every time after that I felt safer up there than I did on the streets - just because we had approval to be there by the drugs lords so they had no problem with us.
What was the most difficult aspect of making the film?
The fact that I don’t speak Portuguese, Vince does, so he was in charge there. It was hard to stay on top of the direction things were going when you don’t speak the language. There was a stretch, where Vince had to go home and I was left with a sound guy who didn’t speak English so we had to figure out a way of communicating. He would give the thumbs up if something sounded promising, and I would attempt to speak broken Spanish!
How did you get into Documentary filmmaking?
At age 13 I was helping my dad out on sets, carrying a tripod and learning how to do things, and my mum was a writer/ producer for the news so they were big influences. There came a point in college where I knew I wanted to make films and at the time I was into European directors who had a background in documentary filmmaking so I thought it would be cool to start there. It was a great way to just start, without any approval. I just grabbed my dad’s 16mm camera and spent all my spare money making a film about indie bands. Fifteen years ago when I first started it was a good place to start to learn not only the technical side, but the human side of film. I want to move over into fiction, but I think I will continue to make documentaries too. I love the DIY aspect of making films, rather than waiting around, I like to get straight into a project.
What are you most proud of making?
Rio Breaks. It’s never had a proper screening in LA and someone has said they want to put on a screening and throw a party now. The DVD is coming out in the UK and Europe, and we are putting out the soundtrack too. The film came out a couple of years ago and I am sitting here thinking I am extremely lucky to be in this position and hope I can make another documentary like it.
What are you working on now?
I am shooting with Jenny Lewis, from Rilo Kiley. I am going to film her tour and see what happens; I think she is so amazing so I am happy to go along for the ride.
What does the future hold?
I used to do screenwriting in the nineties so I am coming back to that now, and if anything good comes of it I will be making a feature film. I am excited to find my next project. I might be going to Hawaii to shoot a documentary, it’s the early stages so I will not reveal too much.
Rio Breaks is released on DVD in the UK on 3rd October.
Here is my review http://www.cinetalk.tv/post/9093146819/rio-breaks
