Q&A from Belfast Film Festival

Something to keep us happy while we continue to wait for general release of this interesting film.   Thanks to the Belfast Film Festival Team for providing this interview.  We are grateful.  Link to article follows.

Q&A with Colin Morgan who stars in Waiting for You

Written by Film Festival Team

A lyrical mystery drama, Charles Garrad’s spellbinding feature debut stars Northern Irish actor Colin Morgan (Merlin, Testament of Youth) and one of French cinema’s most celebrated performers, Fanny Ardant (The Woman Next Door).

Director Charles Garrad will take part in a Q&A following the screening of Waiting for You in the Queen’s Film Theatre this Tuesday.

Q&A with Colin Morgan  Posted on Monday, 3 Apr 2017

Actor Colin Morgan was born in Armagh in 1986 and is best known for playing the title character in the BBC fantasy TV series Merlin, as well as Channel 4 hit sci-fi show Humans and the BBC’s supernatural show, The Living and the Dead.

How did you come to be involved?

With this script I was immediately enthralled. I thought that it was really atmospheric, and mysterious. I like the fact that it had this road trip feel to it, and again what draws me to most characters is their lost-ness. I am often drawn towards characters that are trying to find something – whether it is outside themselves, inside themselves, or a mixture of the two.

When I met Charles I was taken aback by his enthusiasm for the story and how much passion he had along with his desire to get it made, which fuelled me even more. With an independent feature it can be more challenging to get it off the ground, which can make it feel even more special to be involved. It felt like a collaborative experience.

What was it like working with Fanny Ardant?

Charles didn’t want us to meet until our first scene. It had been scheduled that the first scene we meet was the first scene that we did together. I had been at this house in France filming for a few weeks, and the first scene that we did together was the scene where we first meet in the movie. That was great, because we were feeling each other out. She is incredibly warm, generous and glamorous, sophisticated and innocent, and you can’t help but admire and like her. She is a fabulous actress with a beautiful passion and a wealth of experience behind her eyes. We had a really interesting chemistry and dynamic with each other. The film delves into the past and the secrets that the house might hold, and there is this weird sexual energy that hangs around them, whether as lovers or a maternal love, making for a strange mix.

What was the greatest challenge for you?

Mapping out the journey in more or less every scene. When you are the character whose eyes the story is being told through you have to be more explicit in the changes that are happening and you are experiencing. If it is one note throughout the whole film then the audience are stuck with that for the duration, so you have to be aware that if the camera is your face then you really have to be doing some peddling underneath. The story does that naturally, but you have to be specific about where your character is in each moment. It is a constant jigsaw puzzle, and I love it, but definitely a challenge.

Colin Morgan was interviewed by Joseph Walsh

(https://belfastfilmfestival.org/qa-colin-morgan-stars-waiting)

 

“Waiting for You” and “The Rising”

It takes a long time and many ups and downs to bring a film project to completion … to have it polished and ready to be shown in theatres for us to enjoy. You will have already noted that 2014 was the target date to begin filming, “Waiting For You”.  So, by time of the 2014 announcement much of the initial work was already done and filming was “coming soon”.  By contrast, in that same year, “The Rising” was in only the initial stages of the process.  An early announcement in July 2014 proclaimed the anticipated schedule.

“Waiting for You” is now complete and ready for distribution.  It’s 2017 entry in film festivals has been announced and the search for a distributor has begun.  More steps are left before launching a release date … 6+ years in and not quite there yet.  Almost 2 years since casting was confirmed.

France	24 February 2017	(British Screens Festival, Nimes)
France	24 February 2017	(Festival Ecrans Britanniques: British Screen)
UK	3 March 2017	(Borderlines Film Festival)

             And look what it took to get this far ...

“The Rising” has gathered much, not all, of its funding, sorted locations, and announced some casting.  More steps lie ahead on its way to reaching us.

(October 16, 2016: Irish Embassy in London for script reading of ‘#TheRising‘ ) (Thanks to @1916movie and @BC_UnofficialFC)

Many films tread a long and difficult road from conception to inception to completion.  There are many steps: finding the story, writing the screen play, finding funding, finding locations, producing artwork, then on to casting and shooting, followed by post production editing, finalizing, and finding a distributor.  We are the happy recipients at the end of this journey to enjoy and savor the fruits of many talented people.  We need patience, and we applaud them all.

Suntse

Colin, Colin, Colin

Don’t look away for a moment, don’t turn back, when we get up from our naps, look what has happened!!

Paul Ashton, Waiting for You, new stills, making progress toward release date.

  BBC Films ‏@BBCFilms Sep 22

Shooting has commenced on Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde drama #TheHappyPrince with Colin Firth & Colin Morgan http://bbc.in/2cUnDX4

Daniel Mulhall Verified account ‏@DanMulhall

it was a pleasure to welcome the cast of The Rising to @IrelandEmbGB. Film expected to be released in 2017.

We continue to be amazed by this tireless man whose thirst for ‘what’s next’ can lead to exhaustion … not His, so much as Ours!    🙂  🙂  ❤

Paul

(Thanks to our Drew for sharing this … another distinctive personality in the wonderful world of Colin Morgan!)

This filming was followed within weeks by TLATD.   Waiting for You (filming June-July 2015) ..  TLATD (filming August-September 2015),  both for 2016 release.  Two distinctive characters filmed back-to-back.  Astonishing.

http://dirtylooks.co.uk/waiting-for-you/

Production Designer, Director … A little about Charles Garrard

“Charles Garrad is an artist who knows how to captivate every single observer of his work, a creator with a magnetic authenticity.”  Montse Bru   Article excerpts by Monsieur Garrard follow:

Digital may be a way of the future but it is not mine. I am steeped in reality. I like to observe and develop from real places and situations. Digital tools are amazing for enhancing reality in the most subtle ways but when the page is blank real life is the place to start.

I am guided by my sense of place. Invariably I look for one thing and end up finding something different but better than what I had imagined.

You once said that “Waiting for You”, the first film you’ve directed and which is now in the post-production stage, is a  “lyrical mystery”.  What do you think will surprise the audience the most? 

I think the film has a strong sense of place.  I visited more that 40 crumbling houses in the South of France before preproduction started before choosing the right place to set the film. The house is ghostly and magical and is a key character in the film. I hope the audience will be immersed with the feel of the place and the way it contributes to the story as well as with the characters who are within it. Faces and places.

And as a director, what was your relationship like with the cast and crew? 

I very much enjoyed directing my first feature film. I had a remarkable cast and crew all of whom were very committed to the project. … I saw the characters I wanted in the individuals I cast and they inhabited them. All I had to do was watch and nudge as they did remarkable work. Sometimes I became so engrossed in what they were doing that I forgot to say cut !

(Photo credit: Zephyr Films)

Waiting for You … It’s finished!

30 May 2016: Hugh Stoddart @hugh_stoddart says:

“It’s finished and awaits a distributor to launch it on the world.”

Georgina Dawe ‏@zaxMAGIC

Zephyr Films … Waiting for You

The Production Company for Waiting For You.  Filming complete.  Currently in post-production.   Target release: sometime in 2016.

A production company you might want to check out.  Interesting Mission Statement:

Zephyr Films has spent over fifteen years telling stories through our favourite medium – film.  From the Oscar® nominated The Last Station to the groundbreaking and award-winning My Son The Fanatic, we strive to create movies that resonate so strongly that people remember them forever.

We are building a legacy of wonderful films to entertain audiences for generations to come.

Terry Gilliam – mentioned by Colin as one of his favorite film makers.

Visit their home page here.  http://www.zephyrfilms.co.uk/

A Lovely Commentary

..

Saturday 13 June:

MerColin & her friend meet the owner of the hotel where Colin lives during his stay in Ganges. Her name is Maryvonne. She is the person who takes care of Colin whilst he is in Ganges. She even prepares meals for him [Apparently Colin can’t eat the regular dishes probably because he is vegetarian and because of his allergies]. MerColin asks her:
“- Is Colin here?
– Yes but he is still sleeping. They filmed till 4:00 am and they are very tired.”
[…]
Both fans chat with Maryvonne & her husband Richard about Colin. Maryvonne & Richard are interested in knowing more about Colin since they love him already. When Maryvonne understands that Colin is a famous actor, she shouts out: “Can’t believe it! This so polite, so kind, so simple and so shy boy, he can’t be that famous! When he carries away his meal, he brings back the dishes clean and he has always a kind word to thank me!”

Then MerColin writes: “This is indeed our Colin Morgan! Without any doubt, this is him the way we all imagine he is.  And here we are, talking about “her” Colin. She [Maryvonne] adores him already without even knowing who he is.“

(excerpted from MerColin via colinmorganismagical with our thanks)