While working as an editor and teaching part-time at the Norwegian Film School, you are working on a book called ‘Order in Chaos’. Is it an autobiography that looks at your career and on the art of editing?
Niels Pagh Andersen: The book ‘Order in Chaos’ is not about editing. Of course it’s from an editor’s point of view, but it’s about storytelling. For me, an editor is first and foremost a storyteller. What interests me is how storytelling has changed. Directors, editors, we all as human beings, believe that we are unique, but we are a product of our time. Editing is a tool to look at life and at myself.
At Nordic Talents, what I will discuss more in detail is the truth of the ‘authentic’ moment, difficult to describe, because it is between the words. In fiction, you can smell when an actor or actress is not authentic. Again it’s not in the words, but in the details, the looks, the moves, the pauses, and it is actually the sub text that makes a good actor or actress.
How were you as a young editor and how different are you today?
NPA: I started at 16, as assistant editor and I learnt the craft by doing it. I was very focused on the technique, where to make a nice cut, to learn the rules of film language. I was like a young violinist learning how to use my instrument. Today, as I have learnt to play my instrument, I’m more interested in the tone. Thanks to my experience I can use intuition. I trust myself much more.
Digital technology has made your job easier today though…
NPA: Yes of course. It’s very convenient as I can work from Finland, look at rough cuts from around the world. However, I’m happy that I started in the analogue times because I learnt to see, think and analyze before editing.
Digital technology offers volume, speed, but at the end, our human brain is still the same good old one and we have to understand the same tempo of a film as we did 20-30 years ago.
What makes a good editor?
NPA: Obviously there is a basic craftsmanship you have to learn. Then if you have a good sense of images, after reaching a certain level, what you need the most is the ability to read, not only the material but the director, because it is his or her vision that you will digest and transform.
What usually convinces you to commit to a project?
NPA: When I was young of course I would take any job I could get as an editor. Today, I choose projects that I find interesting, where I can learn, be it content wise or form wise. Then, the relationship with the director is essential. I try to get behind the words with him, understand his true vision.
But you never wanted to become a filmmaker yourself…
NPA: I am a filmmaker! But I’m not a director. I feel it’s a big privilege to get the trust from so many different directors. Also, I am not limited to myself. Directors such as Nils Gaup, Pirjo Honkasalo, Joshua Oppenheimer have totally different universes and I can bring different sides of me by working with them. I’m behind, but still very much part of the creative process. This is true especially with documentary film.
Is editing documentaries harder than editing fiction works?
NPA: Editing documentary films is perhaps harder and more challenging because you get the responsibility to find the narrative, to create a structure out of hundred or thousand hours of material.
What are the advantages for you to work in both genres?
NPA: Having fiction experience as an editor allows you to use precise cinematic language, to build suspense etc. On the contrary what I’ve learnt from documentaries that I use for fiction is that a script is not necessarily an untouchable working tool, a holy thing. Also, documentary work has helped me develop a greater sensibility, to see when the acting is true.
Tell us more specifically about your collaboration with Joshua Oppenheimer. What were the biggest challenges on working on The Act of Killing for instance?
NPA: The biggest challenge is that The Act of Killing was such a multi-layered complex story. We had a character-driven story with Anwar. But we wanted to put him in the context of a society totally corrupt and built on lies. Today, we have formulas in storytelling where you have a character going through development and solving his problem at the end. We did not want to isolate Anwar. He is part of a political system. During the editing, we also found out that we needed breathing space to counterbalance the otherwise high pitched disturbing material.
We found some master shots that we called ‘tableaux’, and other artistic, observation images, but we needed more of them. So Joshua went back with cinematographer Lars Skree and they created more of those peaceful images.
You teach at the Norwegian Film School. What tips do you give to your students?
NPA: I tell youngsters to befriend the fear that is part of creating. I tell them: you will never get rid of it so be frank with yourself. Push yourself and trust your instinct.
I also tell them: remember that it’s fun to make movies. Putting two images together, that then become alive, that’s part of the magic!