SFIFF58 Interview: THE IRON MINISTRY by J.P. Sniadecki

SFIFF58 Interview: THE IRON MINISTRY by J.P. Sniadecki

05 May, 2015

Director J.P. Sniadecki spent three years and rode 55 trains in the process of making the documentary film ‘The Iron Ministry’ that focuses on contemporary transit in the cramped compartments of China’s trains. We managed to track him down at the 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival ask and him a few questions. – Keith Rockmael for Dig In Magazine

Dig: What were the biggest challenges to making the film?

J.P: The biggest challenge in production was learning how to inhabit each train car I entered, how to relate and move among the personalities and bodies of my fellow passengers, how to position myself and the camera, given the completely unique social space each train car presented. And each of these social spaces was constantly in flux, as passengers would get on and off the trains at various stations. Another challenge was the difficulty of shooting when the train workers and train chiefs often stopped me from filming. They would sometimes be aggressive, other times polite and understanding. Sometimes, after speaking with me and getting to know my process, they would encourage my filming, too.

Dig: Audio plays a central role in the film. Can you explain what you were trying to accomplish?

J.P.:  In all my films, I try to uncover the everyday aesthetics of the immediate environment, and this includes sound. As a culture, and as film viewers and makers, we tend to privilege vision and images, but I like to place equal importance on both image and sound in order to restore us to the rhythms, textures, and wonder of the world. When a filmmaker decides not to rely on extradiegetic music or voice-over (whether from narration or from an interview), audiences tend to be amazed at just how intricate, mysterious, provocative, and illuminating the soundscape of our shared acoustic ecology really is.

Dig: Films on trains have existed since the early days of film. If you were to compare your film to a fictional train movie which one would it be and why?

J.P.: Some people draw associations between THE IRON MINISTRY and SNOWPIERCER (also released in 2014), but I haven’t seen it, so I can’t really comment. I guess both films take place on trains which constantly move forward, creating a shared sense of anxiety, and reveal social stratification and class distinctions… The differences are in the budget (tiny versus blockbuster), the overall filmmaking approach (nonfiction versus fiction), and the fact that the peasants in my film do not revolt against the business folks seated in first class. Beyond this, I don’t want to make comparisons. I make films because I want to see them, because they are entities that haven’t existed elsewhere, and therefore may draw inspiration from other films but not craft them in a comparative way.

Dig: Has this been screened in China or in Chinese film festivals and what has been the reaction?
If it has not screened anywhere then why not?

J.P.: Not yet, but all my other films (DEMOLITION, SONGHUA, THE YELLOW BANK, FOREIGN PARTS, PEOPLE’S PARK, and YUMEN) have all been screened at independent festivals, universities, art exhibitions, and cinema clubs throughout China. If this year’s Beijing Independent Film Festival is allowed to be held, then I would be very happy to show the film there. But we have to wait and see what the political climate will be like, and whether or not the organizers will not be harassed.

Dig: You mentioned that you shot 150 hours of footage. How did you decide what to keep in the film?

J.P.: Deciding is based on rigorous review of the footage, and then selecting footage for an assembly. After the assembly, you begin to make a rough cut, making hard decisions of what to cut out and what to leave in. You move sequences around, find associations, create structures and constraints that allow you to move forward with the creation of the film. It’s a tedious process, sometimes grueling, other times exhilarating, and ends up making you put on some weight from sitting on your ass and eating when nervous or indecisive. At least, that happens to me sometimes. I prefer the period when a film is taking definite shape, but has yet to be cemented into a finished product. I like dwelling in a realm of possibilities, a cinematic space of many potential permutations and potential directions, a film still very much alive.

Dig: You were going for a more visceral film rather than a story line. Can you elaborate on that?

J.P.: Story lines tend to be reductive. I wanted to make something that launches me, the people in the film, and the viewers of the film into the sensuous messiness of direct experience and perception.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.

Description: A scene from J.P. Sniadecki’s IRON MINISTRY, playing at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23 – May 7 2015.

About the author

Cindy Maram

Cindy Maram is a Dancer, Public Speaker and our Founder & Editor-in-Chief of the entertainment, fashion and arts publication, Dig IN Magazine. She is an accredited film critic for Cannes Film Festival in the South of France, Venice International Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, SFFilm Festival and CAAMFest, as well as a runway fashion photographer and editor for London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week. She also serves as a professional sports photographer and writer. She is a prolific art critic providing media coverage for Art Basel Miami Beach and surrounding Miami Art Week fairs. As a creator, Cindy is a writer, vlogger, podcaster, social media strategist and manager possessing a Bachelor's Degree from UC Davis and Master's Degree completing graduate work in Mass Communications + Popular Culture Studies with an emphasis in Film/Marketing/Writing from Cal State Fullerton. Further, she is producer of independent feature length and short films, and is committed to supporting the visibility of underrepresented groups in the media and film industry.

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