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The Mailer Review/Volume 3, 2009/Editing Mailer: A Conversation with Jan Welt and Lana Jokel: Difference between revisions
The Mailer Review/Volume 3, 2009/Editing Mailer: A Conversation with Jan Welt and Lana Jokel (view source)
Revision as of 17:23, 27 June 2021
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when he died I was devastated. After the funeral in Brazil, I came back to | when he died I was devastated. After the funeral in Brazil, I came back to | ||
Bridgehampton and had a Steenbeck shipped to my studio there. I worked | Bridgehampton and had a Steenbeck shipped to my studio there. I worked | ||
non-stop through the summer. I’d get up at six in the morning, jump in the | non-stop through the summer. I’d get up at six in the morning, jump in the pool, take a swim, have coffee and then work on the film the rest of the day. | ||
I edited by myself for three months. I just worked and worked and worked | |||
and by the fall I was finished. I remember going back to Brazil that Christmas and having this delayed reaction to my father’s death. It was the film that | |||
kept me together. I think it’s some of my best work. Ricky Leacock’s son Robert was one of the cameramen on it. It really all came full circle for me on | |||
that film. I’m very proud of it. | |||
<br> | |||
'''Chaiken:''' When did you begin filming contemporary artists in China? | |||
<br> | |||
'''Jokel:''' The first film I made on China was in 2000 when I went back there | |||
with my sister having left China fifty years before. I brought along a little | |||
camcorder just to record the trip with no intention of making a film. It was | |||
a very emotional experience, visiting my aunt who was ninety and who I | |||
hadn’t seen in many, many years. As I was recording, memories just came | |||
rushing back along with my impressions and feelings in the moment. It | |||
wasn’t until I got back to New York that I realized I had all of this footage | |||
to work with which became this very personal film of mine titled ''China | |||
Revisited'' (2000). | |||
<br> | |||
'''Chaiken:''' This lead to the other projects in China? | |||
Jokel: Yes. I suppose making these films was my way of getting back to my | |||
roots. The next film happened a few years later on my second trip in 2004. I | |||
was intrigued by the burgeoning contemporary art scene in China and | |||
wanted to try to capture it on film. This was a few years before Chinese Pop | |||
art became the worldwide phenomenon that it is today among curators, collectors, and dealers. I had my own video camera and did all the filming myself. It was hard for me since I don’t speak Mandarin, only Shanghai dialect, and needed an interpreter to ask the questions as I interviewed artists at work. I shot mostly painters and sculptors and this became a film titled ''Chinese Contemporary Art: Artists Working in China'' (2004). Shortly after I | |||
returned, the Institute of Contemporary Photography and the Asia Society | |||
in New York jointly were doing an exhibition of new video art, photography and installation work from China. I decided to continue filming and made a second part titled ''Chinese Contemporary Art Comes to America'' (2004). Many of the artists I filmed went on to become hugely successful. I got to them at just the right time. | |||
<br> | |||
'''Chaiken:''' One final question, what do you feel you gained most in your time | |||
working with Norman? | |||
<br> | |||
'''Jokel:''' More than anything else, I learned how to become more fearless, to | |||
move forward without necessarily having all the answers and to live with this | |||
ambiguity. Personally, I found him to be patient, charming, responsive ... | |||
the public rarely saw this private side. When you work with Norman as | |||
closely as Jan and I did, you got to see the entirety of his personality. He was | |||
incredibly loyal. He could have chosen anyone to work with, but he chose to | |||
stick with Jan and I. He took a chance on me, believing in my instincts and | |||
whatever else. For that, I’ll always be grateful to him. The last time I saw Norman was after the screening of ''Tough Guys Don’t Dance'' (1987) at Lincoln Center in the summer of 2007. After the panel discussion between you, Norman and Michael Lennon, I went up to the stage to say hello to him. In spite of the canes, he struggled to get up from his chair and introduced me to Mike by saying,‘Lana was an editor on ''Beyond the Law'' and ''Maidstone''. Isn’t she beautiful?’ That’s Norman ... | |||
<br> | |||
. . . | |||
{{Review}} | |||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Editing Mailer: A Conversation with Jan Welt and Lana Jokel}} | |||
[[Category:Interviews (MR)]] | |||