MEET THE FILMMAKERS: ADRIANO RUDIMAN

Part 2 of The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival IN CONVERSATION Series, hosted by Festival Director and Screen-Space Managing Editor, Simon Foster.

GOODNIGHT, STARGAZER (UK, 15 mins) Howard bound, two astronauts suffer damage to their ship. As their air supply dwindles,, one of them is going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Director’s Statement: “The film was inspired by two things: my homesickness as I was studying abroad in the UK, which inspired the space-setting and the story of my colleague from the London Film School who has a wife in the military in which her wife was often deployed in life-threatening missions. This predicament always made her worry about the possibility of her wife going home. From this idea, I started to write the story of Goodnight, Stargazer.”

Screening in the INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM SHOWCASE on Saturday November 21 at Actors Centre Australia. Entry is FREE when you purchase any session ticket.

TICKET AND SESSION INFORMATION FOR THE 2020 SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL

SIMON: What have been the science-fiction works – books, films, art of any kind – that have inspired your work and forged your love for the genre?

ADRIANO: 2001, Gravity, Interstellar, Arrival and The Martian have been my most mainstream influences. I also read Andy Weir's The Martian and Ted Chiang's Story Of Your Life, upon which Arrival was based. I've started reading more and more classic sci-fi by Arthur C Clarke, such as Rendezvous with Rama and the sequels to A Space Odyssey, which was 2010, 2061 and 3001. And like many sci-fi fans, I have a deep fondness for the Aliens series. The influences of the books and films have not been potentially realized on my works just yet -  but they certainly draw my love deeper into the genre.

SIMON: How did the original concept for your film take shape? What aspects of your film’s narrative and your protagonist’s journey were most important to you? 

ADRIANO: It was originally just an experimental and exploration piece. Can me and my team - as a part of my final thesis film - make a space film that is carefully thought out? At the time I just  learned how to make a zero-gravity effect on camera without using slings, which cut out budget by an immense amount. So we made this film for the sake of experimenting on set-making and in camera visual effects. The journey of the protagonist was inspired by my own journey of studying abroad and having friends with different set of skills and discipline, so I started writing from there and it went from  being complicated, technical and boiled down  to a really simple story about self-sacrifice.

SIMON: Does the ‘science-fiction’ genre have deep roots in the art and cultural history of your homeland? Were the resources, facilities and talent pool required to bring your film to life easily sourced?

ADRIANO: We were making the film in London, and sci-fi obviously has been portrayed in many ways, such as Dr.Who and so on. But I come from Indonesia, where the sci-fi genre- while having many enthusiasts -  is struggling to be in the public consciousness. The films that are predominently being made are cheap horrors, romantic comedies, national heroes biopics and horrible religious propaganda films. We are not short on talent, resources or facilities, but the demand for sci-fi is not at an all time high, which makes it difficult to finance a film in the genre, even with rich friends who are sci-fi enthusiasts. But that was [also] part of the reason I tried to make a film in that genre for my final thesis. In London, when you want to make sci-fi, people would say it casually, like, "sure yeah let's do it." while in Indonesia the most likely thing is  people would immediately overthink the monetary concerns and end up not taking the risk. The other problem would be they simply don't spend enough time refining the source material, or dumb it down. Sci-fi is not that hard to make, it's making good sci-fi that's difficult.

SIMON: Describe for us the very best day you had in the life cycle of your film…

ADRIANO: I guess the days of finally making it on set. Shooting days were hectic and stressful as with all film shoots, but I was really happy that we were finally managing to execute that pipe dream and with the proper crewmates as well. I worked with very difficult people on previous productions and making this film felt like a real collaboration instead of having to fight each other's egos. That and building the set. When we were building the set by ourselves, I just kept thinking how superbly lucky I was to be working on a film set, moreover for a film that I'm directing, [and I am] putting the woodwork and the nails in. You know when you go watch the Alien movies, or Lord of the Rings or any of those sci-fi and fantasy films, you would think, "Oh, one day I would love to work on those kinds of film sets, even just putting on paint would be nice" and now I an finally doing that. If I wasn't directing, I would probably be a production designer or an art director, as I really liked the nitty gritty of creating something hands on.

SIMON: Having guided your film from idea to completion, what lessons and advice would you offer a young science-fiction filmmaker about to embark on a similar journey?

ADRIANO: To try to find the best people to work with; people who are reliable and are on the same "frequency" as you are. As I said, having worked with people with giant egos and some who would just not listen to you, having the people who do listen, who do the work and are as passionate as you are really made the job so much easier.  I came to realize it's not that easy to find these people. Filmmaking relies heavily on collaboration, so it does affect the final output. That being said, it's important to be flexible and adapt to the situation as well, film shoots aren't forever after all. You'd still have days in which all you have to do is to get through the day as best you possibly can.