Monika K. Adler
UK videomaker
biography
Interview: 10 questions
1. Tell me something about your life and the educational background?
I am a Polish artist/filmmaker based in London. I started my art education at the age of 14. I graduated from the National School of Fine Arts and the Academy of Photography in Warsaw, Poland. I have also studied filmmaking there.
My work has been shown in exhibitions, video art and film festivals internationally and been published in numerous magazines and publications. I am currently working on my debut feature film SICK BACCHUS.
2. When, how and why did you start you film-making?
I have always loved movies. My grandfather was the projectionist at the local cinema in a small town in Central Poland. It was an old-fashioned place full of dust and magic. I knew I also must create stories, create new lives and heroes.
I started when I was 17. I shot my first film ‘Two Loves’ on my course in Warsaw. Together with a friend, we put together a short film about a possessive old woman in a Warsaw apartment building longing for love who becomes obsessed with both a charectar in a popular Polish TV series and her young neighbour’s boyfriend.
3. What kinds of topics do you have in your films?
I depict an existential issues. In the past this has been connected with religion, trauma — particularly on a historical level — and psychology. Currently I am interested in human biology, anthropology, spirituality and how these exist together with consumerism.
4. How do you develop your films, do you follow certain principles, styles etc?
It depends on the project, from absolute improvisational and performance based style to shooting exact film scenarios. My filmmaking comes from the photography and via moving images, experimental and short films it leads to narrative full length movies.
5. Tell me something about the technical equipment you use.
The technical equipment in my films is various, from professional film cameras to i-Phone. It depends on a style and most of the time on a budget of the production. I rely here on the crew, people who with the skill to show and develop my basic idea in a professional and beautiful way.
6. These days digital technology is dominating, also video as a medium. In which way does the digital aspect enter the creation of your videos, technologically and/or conceptually?
I don’t think that has any influence on my creation process both technologically and/or conceptually. This is the last thing I am concerned with I think.
7. How do you finance your films?
I finance my work, or it is financed by myself, often as an independent producer and at other times by film investors and arts funding swell as Curators and Gallery owners. I am developing my skills in film producing, it is an extremely interesting and challenging journey.
8. Do you work individually as a video artist/film maker or do you work in a team? If you have experience in both, what is the difference, what do you prefer?
I work individually but I’ve had a number of people who have either assisted me or collaborated with me, according to the nature of the project. I don’t see much difference, I like work with myself but equally I like work with other people.
9. Who or what has a lasting influence on your film/video making?
Since very beginning I was influenced by European Art House Directors including: Ingmar Bergman, Andrzej Żuławski, Krzysztof Kieúlowski, Werner Herzog, Michael Haneke, Lars von Trier, Andrei Tarkovsky, Bernardo Bertolluci and Michelangelo Antonioni and I want to develop in that direction.
10. What are your future plans or dreams as a film/video maker?
Currently I am working on my debut feature film SICK BACCHUS. It is narrative film, which is for theatrical release, we can expect its premiere in 2015 or at the beginning of 2016 at one of the Major European Film Festivals.
Can works of yours be viewed online besides on the CologneOFF platform? Where? List some links & resources.
All films will be available from February 15th on my website at: www.monikakadler.com
Available Now online:
VIMEO: http://vimeo.com/user4273076
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5652228/
SHORT FILM MUTABILITY: http://www.mutability-film.tumblr.com/
THE AMBIVALENT BODY: ON THE SHORT FILMS OF MONIKA K. ADLER By Robert Smart: (STUDY OF WORK) http://issuu.com/aligntrinity/docs/monika_k_adler_by_robert_smart_f3_i
DETAILED FILMOGRAPHY: http://monika-k-adler.tumblr.com/filmography
FILM STILLS: https://theartstack.com/artists/monika-k-adler
CULTURAL SPOT: https://wolfe-von-lenkiewicz.culturalspot.org/asset-viewer/wolfe-von-lenkiewicz-portrait-of-the-artist/UgHpLpR_GMgeCQ?hl=en