Interview with Jorg Wagner, brazilian director

01 Jan, 2014

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By Adantes Vieira

JORG WAGNER – a multitalented man, with German heritage who was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He began studying Electronic Engineering at PUC RS (a university in the state of Rio Grande do Sul) but he quit after four years to start learning to play classical guitar.

During this time, he traveled all over Europe, inspired by Beat and Hippy culture. After travelling he returned to Brazil but he somehow no longed ‘fitted into’ Brazilian reality. So he went back to Europe, but this time to England, where he begun a new life.

Writer, producer, director, camera man, editor, teacher, are just some of his professions , and he has worked for CNBC TV Europe. Most of his formal education took place in England and he is now a lecturer of media studies at Westminster Adult Education Service in London. He is also qualified to teach in the Life Long Learning sector (PTLLS).

In January 2014 Jorg Wagner will  conclude two important projects, if he gets investors to finance his work. A sitcom “The Brasileiríssimos” (The Super Brazilians) and a documentary “AKONG – A Remarkable Life”. The sitcom is about Brazilians living in London, cultural clashes and other social issues. The documentary tells the inspirational story of Choje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, a reincarnated Tibetan Lama who pioneered the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism to the west.

What was the creative process on your sitcom “The Brasileiríssimos”?

I´ve worked on many projects and every single one is a completely different experience. In this case, the script was 95% written by the actor and producer Márcio Mello. In this particular case, I started by reading Márcio Mello´s work and I tried to understand the comedy and humor, which he was trying to convey through the text. Other important elements, included my experiences of living in London with other Brazilians and the our relationships, which naturally result in clashes. We´ve tried to bring several personal experiences to the project and crossed them with our research. We´ve also analyzed quite a few Brazilian soaps and American sitcoms to have an idea of the language and plans we should be use. As the project is still growing, we are still discovering the nuances of the story, as well as the different sides of the characters and actors. We intend to have London as the background for the sitcom, which we believe will give us many elements and key points to enrich the “The Brasileiríssimos”. We also hope to film some episodes in Lisbon. As I´m half Brazilian and half German, my Brazilian side is far more spontaneous and has a wait and lets see what happens attitude. However, my German side makes me being very organized and makes me create working structures. In this sitcom I tried to plan camera positions so as to make the most of each scene and moment. I create emotion by showing hands, a face or a shadow revealing a more deep and sensorial reading of the work. Márcio is a very creative and happy person and he brought quite a few Brazilian clichés to the work. Although these work beautifully in the Brazilian culture we do not know if it will work with other cultures. I´m learning quite a lot with this project and I have to mention Teresa Araújo, the Brazilian actress. She´s also involved in this project and she’s been a great asset. She has that really strong Brazilian cliché, the Bahian and Afro one, it’s a special boldness which I think she conveys brilliantly.

How and what did you feel about writing “ The Brasileiríssimos ”? Did you feel any sort of cultural longing  after the testimonies of family members or friends?

Yes without a doubt! Every nation has its own clichés and in London there are a few different types of Brazilians. There are the ones which I get along with intellectually and culturally, and there are the ones which I get along with professionally. With the sitcom “The Brasileiríssimos” I think it tries to portray those situations in which Brazilians with different intellectual and cultural tastes both want to see their country in a better situation, like the technological and social advances which England has.  Sometimes they stumble upon lots of rules, laws and bureaucracy  and its very diffuiclt for them to do basic things and they would love to simplify things in the Brazilian way. This element is present in the sitcom and its something both Marcio and I have experienced . I think Brazilians can feel totally emerged in a different culture but even so, they don’t necessarily feel they belong in the country. A sort of ‘sense of belonging’ gap exists and the sitcom comes to fill in this gap. It’s not easy for a foreign actor to establish himself in a different country with a different language, culture and values. For me, Marcio brought some of his personal experiences to the project,  as a foreigner, as well as some of the frustrations experienced while trying to interact with a totally mew culture.

Do you have your own artistic vision for your documentaries or are you influenced by something else? If so, where does that influence come from?

I live between two different worlds, the fictional and documental. I love both worlds. I have my own way of doing things as I´m pretty much instinctive. I´ve watched a lot of movies and I´m the outcome of the experiences I´ve been through. Although I have my own vision, at the end of the day, it’s the outcome of accumulated values and other cultures. Regarding my documentaries, I do not follow any one´s work or aesthetics and I wasn’t influenced by anybody at least in a conscious way. Regarding fiction, on the one hand I try to use my own vision, however, there are clear and strong influences from other directors. I have eclectic and democratic taste and I love the kind of movies that capture my attention, such as works by David Linch and Lars Von Triers. They help me to avoid  the Brazilian stereotype of talking very loudly about happy joyful things. Personally, my work reflects the way I observe things, the way I see human inconsistencies and contradictions despite my love of partying. , one of my feature films, is not a commercial movie and it´s very introspective, it somehow reflects the unresolved ghosts from my past. It also reflects human frustration and dives deeply into questions about the universe of the unconscious.

Would you like to leave the documentary “a remarkable life” as your legacy to the world? If you left a message to the world, what would it be?

Today I have no great wishes for legacies or messages to be remembered by. In that sense I’m a simple, humble person but I imagine that if I won a prize one day that could change. But to be honest I don’t have a legacy, I have no message for the world because I’m still trying to understand it all and I think to leave a message you need to have arrived at some kind of conclusion and I haven’t reached anything yet. I see my work as  me ‘digesting’ reality, or rather, me trying to understand reality. To carry out my work I research topics that interest me and in some way I try to understand them in the context of magical life!

When will the début for “The Brasileiríssimos” and “Akong be”?

With regard to the sitcom, Márcio has gone to Brazil to try to sell it and commercialize the idea there. He will be back in January and I am going to India and Nepal and will be back in February. We are thinking of presenting the project in March. The documentary will debut in October and we are trying to get investors for the project, as there´s still about 80% that needs to be done. We believe it will be possible to finish it by October or December 2014.

Take a look at our programming during the year and you will see ‘The Brasileirissimos’ and ‘Akong’ here.