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FUTURE FRAMES 2018

Hleb Papou • Director

“Everyone should have the right to represent themselves as they see fit”

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- Cineuropa talked to Hleb Papou about his bold and provocative film The Legionnaire as it prepared to be screened as part of EFP’s Future Frames at Karlovy Vary

Hleb Papou  • Director

Dealing with a man who must choose between the family he loves and the police unit that he belongs to, Hleb Papou’s The Legionnaire (Il legionario) is a clever and absorbing film that examines how humans sometimes have to choose where they best fit in. Originally from Belarus, Papou studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Italy and already has a number of successful short films behind him. The Legionnaire first screened at last year’s Venice Critics’ Week, and is now screening as part of European Film Promotion’s Future Frames at Karlovy Vary.

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Cineuropa: The Legionnaire seems to be a very timely film. Was it based on true events?
Hleb Papou:
To be honest, no. When I started my studies at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in 2014, an image of a black Italian policeman came into my mind. During fieldwork, I met a couple of black Italian policemen (a rarity in Italy), but never a member of the Riot Police Unit, the department in which the main character works. From that image, together with my screenwriters, we built the story and decided to set it in the world of occupied houses. It’s a very critical phenomenon in Italy, especially in Rome, but it’s not often talked about.

You’re originally from Belarus. Did the film resonate on a personal level for you as someone who studies in Italy? The film stars a character who is trying to reconcile his identities as a policeman and a family man.
I was born in Minsk in 1991, and I've been living in Italy since I was 11 years old. In 2017 I became an Italian citizen by naturalisation. I feel like I’m in the middle of the two cultures. I felt the need to tell people how I view the Italy of today, which is changing and is no longer the place that many people think it is, with its "pizza, spaghetti, mandolino and bella vita," but rather a place where there are more than 800,000 children born by immigrants.  And everyone should have the right to represent themselves as they see fit.

The film deals with many important subjects – race, government, the role of the police. But it’s also a very intimate film that deals with family dynamics and identity.
I think these themes are connected to each other. In the department, the policemen do not call each other "colleagues" but "brothers" – it’s like a big family. That’s why it's very difficult for the protagonist to choose which side he is on. A similar thing happens inside occupied houses, which create a network of people who want to fight for their rights. For me, the two main characters could be two inner parts of the same person. A person who has two identities. And both are in the right.

There are police raids, fights and a lot of action. It seems a very daunting kind of film to do as a student project.
It was difficult but very exciting. Fortunately, we had the support of the Ministry of the Interior, which sent us a team of 10 policemen for the day. We then built the scenes together. Being true policemen, they knew what they were doing. The time and budget were limited, so it was a real challenge.

You’ll be taking the film to Future Frames and Karlovy Vary. What are looking forward to whilst there?
I think it's a very interesting initiative. It will be an honour to present my film at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival and show it to other people. This is also a nice opportunity to meet other people representing their countries and to learn new things

What are you working on at the moment?
I’m finishing the post-production of my new short film, The Interpreter. Also, a production company based in Rome has purchased the rights to The Legionnaire in order to develop it into a feature film. Right now, together with Giuseppe Brigante and Emanuele Mochi (the same screenwriters of the short), we are writing the film’s screenplay. It will be a very tough challenge but that's why I chose this job!

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