2016 AIFF interviews with the filmmakers
Milos Radovic and his Train Driver’s Diary up for three Arpa International Film Festival category nominations—Best Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Hailing from a family of train drivers, Radovic knows the life and perspective well. He freely shares the statistic that every railroad engineer (train driver) unintentionally kills 15 to 20 people during their career. This aberrant statistic is the norm for a train driver. Understandably, Radovic embraced this truth and aptly wrote and directed his film with interwoven tracks of endearing characters, morbid train humor, and how to survive love.
Train Driver’s Diary is a tragicomedy about these innocent killers. We live the lives of unusual characters, who are accustomed to blameless killing, and decided to nurture an emotionally frail young man to fulfill his dream and join their family of train drivers.
Beware, Radovic’s delightfully crafted screenplay with dark train humor can engender an involuntary chuckle and have you question, “Am I wrong to laugh at death?” Yet, the lighthearted manner in which he explores the train drivers’ perspectives warrants hopping on board and accepting their reality.
The 19 Annual Arpa International Film Festival will screen Train Driver’s Diary on November 5 at 4:00pm at the Egyptian Theatre. This film has been selected as the Serbian Academy of Arts and Science’s submission for the Academy Awards’ best foreign-language film category. As a part of a series of interviews with 2016 AIFF category nominees, Radovic answered the following questions.
Why did you choose to make your film?
My grandfather was a famous train driver. I have a lot of memories as a kid learning how things were going on out there on the railways. These were the stories about suicidal people jumping on the rails, drunken people not hearing the locomotive running behind them, self-confident car drivers racing with the train, etc.
My producer and the actor in the leading role, Lazar Ristovski, was a kid from the rails as well. His father worked for the railroad company. So, Lazar knew a lot of these stories about innocent killers (the train drivers). Finally, we decided to make a film about these strange characters and their job. We were not sure if we are going to make a drama, tragedy, comedy or even a romantic comedy! Ultimately, we made a tragic comedy. It’s a genre that was most suitable for our story.
Name a moment during shooting that made you proud.
Most of the shooting took place under the locomotive electric cables powered by 28,000 volts. It was extremely dangerous for the crew, the actors, and myself. So, I am very proud that I stayed alive through the end of shooting! 🙂
Was there an “Aha moment” while making your film?
Sure there was. My “aha moment” was when I discovered that real train drivers (consultants for the film) were using a lot of “train humor” when they were describing their railway accidents. Their humor was a key for the genre of our film. For example, one of them said,”Yesterday I was driving a train and a man jumped on the rails. I turned left. He turned left. I turned right. He turned right, and I couldn’t avoid him.” That’s train driver humor that you will understand when you watch the film.
Was there a bizarre moment that happened while making your film?
The whole film is made up of bizarre moments. Actually, my film is one big bizarre moment. A train driver told me that “death is not the greatest misfortune in life.” Another one told me that “we should make a film about death and how to survive it.” But I decided to make a film about love and how to survive love!
What is your favorite scene?
My favorite scene is when the father approaches a man (who is about to jump off a bridge) and tries to convince the man to wait and commit suicide the next day when the father’s son will be driving his train. The father even offers the man one hundred euros to do it, and yet the man turns offended comparing his life to such a small amount.
What is your favorite line?
“For me, it’s better to die than to let something happen to me.”
What does it mean to have your film selected as a category nominee by the Arpa International Film Festival?
It’s means everything to me. It would mean much more if I could get an award!
Radovich shared the photo on the right (taken in 1938) noting that “the boy on the locomotive is my father, Dusan. Directly underneath him is his father and my grandfather, Ugljesa (a train driver), standing with fellow train drivers.”
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BEST SCREENPLAY NOMINEE
For film lovers and writers, getting into the head of a someone who scribes a notable screenplay is enlightening. Radovic is up for the 2016 AIFF Best Screenplay and shares his inside point of view.
What was the writing process like?
My writing process in Train Driver’s Diary was divided into several stages. First and longest stage was just everyday thinking about the story, with no writing at all. This phase lasted for more than three years. The second phase was short (several months) writing the first draft of the script. I did not write a synopsis nor treatment, I started with the script straight through until the end. And I wrote dialogue only, I didn’t describe the action. It was important to me to set the characters who will lead the action in the second draft. So, when I finished with the characters, I included them in the act. That was my basic process of writing this script. I am a “character oriented” writer; and I feel secure only when I have characters done.
How did the subject matter of the film impact you while writing the screenplay?
The main problem I had for a long period of time was that I didn’t know how to approach that very sensitive matter that train drivers are mass killers. In the beginning, I didn’t know how to present them to the audience. Then I asked actual train drivers what to do. They said, “Make something funny, it’s life!” I finally decided to make an emotional tragicomedy.
How long did it take you to complete the script?
Including my long creative development process, it took me about 4 years to have the shooting draft of the script. The subject was very delicate, which is why I spent a lot of time finding the appropriate tone for the film.
Train Driver’s Diary (2016) | 88 min. | Tragicomedy | Serbia
Check out the trailer and get tickets today!
Written by Sharon Swainson
Communications & Development Director
2016 Arpa International Film Festival