By: Victoria Stevens
New York, NY (The Hollywood Times) 03/24/2024 — Cannes World Film Festival is an international festival that brings in 2,000 submissions every year. They choose 50 feature films and 10 short films to be a part of the prestigious lineup. Having his directorial debut at Cannes and bringing home the trophy for best Psychological Feature Film, Rinoj Varghese is beyond grateful to be sharing his story with the world with such a welcoming response.
“I am an Indian writer and I love movies. In India we have about 30 states that have their own film industry, so as a child I used to watch a lot of movies in different languages and in different genres. Even though I didn’t understand all the different languages, I would still understand the movies. This made me realize that movies were a medium that connected people not just through the language, but through the emotions and the stories being told. I knew at an early age that I would be one of those directors creating compelling feature films that drew the audience in and took them on a journey,” explained Varghese.
Being a first-time writer/director can be challenging when you’re trying to come up with different story ideas that are captivating and entertaining. However, Varghese looks at the process a bit differently that helps him see the story unfold while he writes.
“For me, whatever kind of spark I have which I believe can become a script, I start to write it. I do not choose the genre first. Once I am finished with my first draft and I am satisfied enough, then I look at it and decide if it can turn into a movie or not. It all depends on how I wrote it, what it looks like, and how I visualize the movie which helps me decide this factor. I like to try and visualize the movie while I am writing my scripts. I am not that experienced with the technical side of the business, but I know what shots can be taken from a particular scene and how each scene is going to connect with each other. When it came to this movie, Beyond your Consciousness: The Beginning, I contemplated a story idea where I knew I could produce or get other producers to jump on board with me. I knew the story idea had to be engaging and thrilling enough to attract others to me. It was difficult drafting a story which had to stay under a certain budget, but I made it work,” said Varghese.
When writing feature films, there are times when a writer can get stuck in the flow of the film and how the story is going to progress forward. It these moments, it is up to the writer to listen to his characters and see where they are heading.
“When I was writing Beyond your Consciousness: The Beginning, I had a writer’s block 50 pages into the script. The story completely stopped, and my lead character’s storyline also stopped dead,” expressed Varghese. “That’s when I had to listen to my characters and understand the angle that I was going to focus on. Then in ten minutes time I had another spark, which lead to the last scene I wrote ending and the next scene starting in a separate way which turned the movie upside down. That’s when the story started on this journey with many twists and turns, and it brought it up to a much higher level. Once I finished my first draft, I read it again and was amazed at the way it turned out.”
Once a writer has a script in its final stages, their next step is to look at their options on rather to sell it or shoot it themselves. However, there are times when the decision is made for them through unforeseen circumstances.
“I sent the final draft of Beyond your Consciousness: The Beginning to Blacklist, which is a platform for writers to display their work for industry professionals and get high-quality evaluations from its readers. I got a great review from Blacklist and decided that I should make this movie. If I knew beforehand how hard it was going to be to shoot this movie, I might have talked myself out of creating it. However, it is all about instinct. There are only two choices for a filmmaker. Your instincts will tell you to do it, and you can either hear it and work according to that or you can ignore it and regret the decision for the rest of your life. It is hard for the filmmaker himself to make these things happen, but once you go through it then you have that experience to learn from. It is a dream that is coming true and that is what is more important. Even though I was turned down for financial support from millionaires I knew because of being a new director, I decided that I was going to make this movie either way. I buckled down and got it started,” explained Varghese.
There will be trials and challenges along the way when creating any film, it’s how you handle them that will determine how successful you will be as a filmmaker.
“As a first-time director, I had a tough time finding a crew that would support my efforts and get on board with my project. I went out and found a location manager who started to look for good places to shoot that were affordable, and while she was doing that, I went out to find a crew. I built one team in the beginning of December but at the end of December that team fell apart. I then tried to build another team, but in the second week of February that team also fell apart. It just so happened that when that team fell apart was right around the time, I was going to begin my casting. I had difficulty sleeping due to the stress of not having a crew and starting the casting process with nothing lined up. My wife reminded me that my strength was confidence. She said do not lose your confidence and go and do your casting. Once I did that, I started prioritizing what was needed and found the right crew for my project. Again, I believe all this happened because I did not lose my confidence and it shown through my work on set and throughout this entire process,” said Varghese.
Sometimes the best advice we can receive is given to us from someone who has experienced the difficulties of a comparable situation that we are in and manages to come out better on the other side. Director/writer Rinoj Varghese has been a true inspiration for first time directors/writers who are trying to share their stories and perspectives with the world.
“For a beginner, once you have a script in your hand, remember that the script is the backbone of the movie. It is the blueprint that you will build on top of. That script gives you confidence that you have a great movie, and you are the one who can tell it. That script will also give the crew and cast confidence that this will be a great film, and it will help them jump on board with your vision. Remember that when you’re confident it will spread throughout the entire production and help see your film through,” shared Varghese.
Photo Credit: Rinoj Varghese
