Filmmaker Boris Frumin was born in Riga in 1947, and emigrated to the U.S.A. in the late '70s, where he eventually earned a name for himself as a teacher at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU). Last month, he moved to Tallinn, where he heads the new Baltic Film and Media School at Tallinn University. It's an inexpensive program funded by the Nordic Film Fund that hopes to nurture young filmmakers in the Baltics. Most of his students are Estonian, but he has some Latvians as well, and a few from Israel, Norway and Russia. Frumin recently sat down with The Baltic Times in Riga. A retrospective of his work was showing at the Russian Film Festival, but he talked more about his work as a teacher.
So what's the difference between teaching at NYU and the Baltic Film and Media School?
NYU is a good school and when I was invited to come to the Baltics and to staff the Baltic Film School it was an opportunity to bring [my] American and NYU experience to the Baltics. So, to me, it was an extension of my NYU experience. Of course, it's different because I can do certain things my way.
Do you have more freedom here than at NYU?
Because [the Baltic Film School] is a smaller school. And I am head of the school and I can do things differently. For example, you can do more projects here. At NYU you can do maybe one project per semester. Here you can do two big projects. I think if a student can do more work, he can see his results more frequently. It will train him better. So I think one major difference between the Baltic and NYU experience is the possibility to perfect your professional experience in school.
At NYU, you are dealing with a country where the film industry is king. In the Baltics, you are dealing with a place where the film industry is still in a very nascent state. Does this have an effect on the students?
You are asking about the quality of students. I think in the Baltics you get, intellectually, very well-prepared students. They still need training with techniques, but we are dealing with people who think, who have ambition, who can consider their life circumstances and who come with certain experiences. So, I would say that the Baltics, in terms of students, is an intellectually challenging place. And also, I have to tell you that some people who come to the Baltic Film School are already doing good work in commercials. So, it's really about giving them basics, to go to more extensive narratives, to 90 minutes.
At NYU, you're dealing with students who are on their way to the Hollywood industry or, at least, a very significant independent film industry.
Not necessarily. I think NYU, as a school, stresses individuality, which is different from the film schools in California. I think NYU has prepared a number of directors who are working successfully in Hollywood. But our [NYU's] reputation has come to us. We are different. We respect your differences. We will support your differences. This seems to be closer to traditional European thinking, European sentiment. Europe is always about who you are.
You left Latvia on an Israel-sponsored visa.
In 1979. It was two things. Professionally, my last Soviet movie ("The Errors of Youth") was banned. Also, there was the Brezhnev-Carter agreement, which allowed Jewish people - not only Jewish people, but Germans and Armenians - to join families separated by different historical circumstances. In my life, these two things coincided. Professionally, I was very disappointed by the Soviet experience of making movies and, at the same time, people were leaving and I decided I could follow.
Do you have any mixed feelings about coming back here?
You know, I don't believe in a perfect place. I respect where I come from. I don't think it's a perfect place, but I do believe in good things here and good things there. This is my approach.
Have you been reminded of anything in your time back here that has upset you?
When we left the Soviet Union, we decided not to come back. Then when Perestroika happened and I was invited back to show a movie that was banned, it was very unexpected, very moving. And I was always under the impression that something good is happening here. I'm less enthusiastic about current practices. I do think these places are in development, but it's not as encouraging as when the Soviet Union collapsed. It takes time for things to become civilized.
Let's switch gears for a moment. The Baltic film industry has had some good times lately. Latvian animators worked on "The Triplets of Belleville." A Lithuanian film was just recently nominated for an Oscar.
I would say that I was invited to Latvia three times to conduct classes with young filmmakers and I know that some of them are doing work, and [I can't say more than that] because I didn't see much. But I do know that they are writing scripts, they are getting projects ready and we will have to see if my experience working with them yields certain results. But to speak in general, if we talk about the Latvian film industry or the Estonian film industry…or Iranian film industry…You need an appropriate amount of time to develop a group of filmmakers who share certain professional experiences and certain values, to work as a group, to support each other's efforts, and maybe produce interesting results. Film is not the work of an individual. It is the work of a group. [A group] can be a studio. It can be culture. In America, you know, they have studios and a big film culture.
It's hard to be a maverick filmmaker in America.
No, it's possible. There's room for that in America, because it's a broad country, with a lot of resources and talents. Here it is a small country, so you have to see if something as a film effort can be consolidated from a group to an individual result.
Is film theory less important here than at NYU?
I can't speak in general. I know that at the Baltic Film School we have Film Analysis and Film History classes. But our key emphasis is production. But I believe film is about practice. People understand things from what they've done not from what they see.
Are there other faculty members with your background?
There are a few people who are well known in Europe. Andreas Fischer, who was the head of cinematography at the Danish Film School. He retired from the school and for personal reasons he decided to come to Estonia to be a part of our school. We have a couple of European producers from Sweden and Germany at our school. Thanks to the Fulbright program, next semester, we'll be able to bring over American professors. The majority of our instructors will be American professors.
Is this a permanent position?
No, I have a two-year contract. We'll see if we can still exist as a school then. Right now we exist based on the Nordic Film Fund. This is grant money given to the school to develop young talented Baltic filmmakers. In two years, this money will come to zero. The question is if we'll be able to build a financial portfolio in the next year and a half. If not, it won't be continued.
Do you work on your films in Estonia, while you are there teaching?
Not me, personally. You get funding for your films in these countries based on whether or not you're Latvian or Estonian. Nothing is happening in Estonia. Something could happen in Latvia.
Do you miss NYU at all?
NYU is an American school. It is a professional place. Whenever you have something at professional standards, it's good. NYU also attracts a certain type of student. I wouldn't say that our students in the Baltics are worse, but they are different. They are interesting, but they are not NYU students.
In what way?
At NYU, when an assignment is given it will always be done on time. There are no excuses if something is turned in late. This is good in school.
But here it's a little different.
I cannot say that. I can only say what I said about NYU. But I would say that I am very satisfied with the attitudes of students here. I believe we have very good dynamics in school. They all consider this to be a good experience in their lives. We went on a field trip to spend time together as a school, which was initiated by the Estonian management arm of the school. We meet on Wednesdays for workshops, where we pitch scripts. It's not class time. We had a meeting with young acting students. We are planning to meet young design students and young composers. We are building a dynamic at the school.
What are the films the students are making about?
It's too early to say. We just started in September. I'm just looking at the rough cuts of the first assignment to do a four-minute silent film. There will be a second project to do a situation with limited dialogue. That project will probably be more individual. Maybe, after awhile, we will see more specific subjects come up when we have a 10-minute project.
Today, a lot of kids have camcorders that they can play with growing up. I know you didn't have that.
