Ari Taub Ari Taub, a fairly new face in the film industry, recently scored big with his new highly praised film “The Fallen”. “The Fallen” has been selected for various film festivals including the Milan International Festival in Italy, Bradford International Festival in England, and Sedona Film Festival in Arizona amongst many others. He has just won “Best New Director” in the Brooklyn International Film Festival. Ari gives us the inside scoop about his new film and his filming techniques.
Interview by Rob Schwartz
WHO?MAG: Since “The Fallen” was set it 1944, what kind of research went into preparing for this film? ARI: I traveled to Italy and Germany and interviewed a number of WWII veterans, as well as spending a year researching history books and personal accounts of events that happened in Northern Italy during the closing months of the Second World War.
WHO?MAG: This film was shot in three different languages to capture the essence of the dialog. Was it easy to direct the staff with the language barrier? ARI: I don’t speak German or Italian, so this was an interesting challenge for me. I learned to communicate through the eyes. You don’t need to necessarily understand what an actor is saying to you, but you can see what he/she is saying, you can read the emotion. It is said that the eyes are portals to the soul and I strongly believe in that.
WHO?MAG: How long did it take to direct this film? ARI: I spent about five years on and off production. I intended to finish it in one year, but we were only able to raise enough money to shoot a little at a time, one month here, two weeks there. We had to break it up over many years.
WHO?MAG: What kind of setbacks did you encounter while working on this film? ARI: I think having to call the actors back year after year was challenging-getting them to maintain the same look, weight, and haircut was a challenge. You would be surprised on how much a person can change in a year. I couldn’t stop them from aging, but makeup covered up most of it-but in the end-everyone believed in the process and they came back. You would never know which scene was shot five years ago, or which was shot yesterday. There was such attention paid to detail, accuracy, and continuity.
WHO?MAG: How does an upcoming director get his film reviewed by various film festivals? ARI: You need to have a very good publicist, someone who can get out there and hustle. You need someone who can spend time making the calls and someone who has relationships with the film magazines, reviewers, newspapers, and critics. Without that, it is tough to be heard.
