BBC Four: There aren't many films about documentary filmmakers. Why did you think Pennebaker and Hegedus were significant subjects?
Gerold Hofmann: I knew a few of their films. I knew Don't Look Back, I knew Monterey Pop and The War Room and was quite sure that they produce a very special kind of documentary that we do not see very often. And especially Pennebaker he has produced so much material which is part of our popular culture.
It was wonderful to work with them and it was also a real pleasure to work with that archive material.
BBC Four: Is there one particular film of theirs which you enjoyed revisiting?
GH: Actually I'd name one of their recent films, Startup.com, which was really astonishing for me. Before seeing it I doubted whether I'd find a documentary about the Internet too interesting. But when I saw that film it struck me how they managed to tell a story with documentary material that is as fascinating as a feature film.
In telling a story about these two guys I learnt a lot about the Internet bubble and I learnt it while being entertained. Before I started to work on See What Happens I wasn't sure if the concept of cinéma-vérité could still work today and that film convinced me that it certainly could.
BBC Four: That their films are comparable to what you'd normally see in a cinema is certainly part of their whole philosophy isn't it?
GH: They even doubt if they would call their films documentaries. They are not the kind of documentaries you are used to seeing on television. They would never take an issue and try to teach an audience about it. They are only interested in filming people and telling stories of people's lives. If you learn something about an issue by way of their films that's okay with them but that would never be their first concern.
BBC Four: We are showing Town Bloody Hall and The War Room to accompany your film, and The War Room especially fits what you've just said.
GH: Following the struggle of those two people in The War Room to win an election and their hopes and fears and private struggles - you live with it. As a result you have a much better insight into America's political machinery than if you took that machinery as the issue and simply tried to explain it. It's a completely different approach. For me it was very interesting to look on that again because I had forgotten how that worked. I'm not a cinéma-vérité filmmaker so I think I learnt a lot watching them work.
BBC Four: You obviously also focus on the fact that Pennebaker and Hegedus are a married couple...
GH: This is something that they themselves don't consider as important. They see themselves as a working partnership and would have preferred not to have their personal relationship shown in the film. But I could not keep it out because I am convinced that this relationship is more than just a normal working relationship. There is an unspoken harmony in their films that I'm sure comes from their personal relationship. Few filmmakers have that emotional aspect. They would have been quite happy if there'd been a little less of their personal relationship in the film but they've seen it now and they like it.
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