Director Marcus Ligocki

Brazilian producer, writer and director Marcus Ligocki is known best for his films 'As Vidas de Maria' (2005), 'Felix Varela' (2006), 'Uma Loucura de Mulher' (2016) and 'Pureza – The Movie' (2019). A prolific filmmaker based our of Brasilia, he is expanding his now horizons, taking on his first international feature with Artificial Intelligence Formula One tale 'Grid' (2020), jointly written by Ligocki and renown Brazilian novelist Mauricio Gomyd. The film will be shot in three continents and in English. I interviewed Marcus during the 2019 Berlinale.

How long have you been a director and producer and how did you get into it?

ML: I've been into the movies since the beginning of the 90's. I got my first job in animation and it was in short animation films for advertisement my first jobs as a director.

Can you tell us about your latest film as director?

ML: My last film as director was MAD ABOUT HER, a romantic comedy that has Lucy as the main character. I like to think my films as metaphors for what happens to me in my real life. Life is not an easy thing to deal with, and it is even more difficult when you are a shy person as I am. I started to tell stories very early in my childhood to express myself and to interact with more and more people. At the time I was writing MAD ABOUT HER, I was very concerned about the marriage model we have adopted as the basis for our western society and it's capacity to support our expectations on equality, freedom and non-violence. Then I started bringing the structure of the "Odyssey" from Homer as the backbone of the story and put a woman in the place of the hero Ulysses. I had a lot of fun directing MAD ABOUT HER.

Can you tell us about the film you produced Purezza in the Berlin market?

ML: PUREZA is a wonderful story of a woman looking for her son that has disappeared in the Amazon region in Brazil, and ends up discovering modern slavery destroying people and their families, and also helping the country fight against this terrible social disease. I think we put together the best talents ever to tell this sensitive story and the EFM (European Film Market) that happens in Berlin during the Berlinale is a great place to look for international partners and to strategize PUREZA's global distribution. The Brazilian presence is becoming bigger annually in Berlin and this wonderful market seems to be a real gate to provide the entrance of the Brazilian films to global distribution. PUREZA is a drama inspired in real facts directed by Renato Barbieri and has DIra Paes doing the main character Mrs. Pureza. 

What has been the hardest thing about being an indie director in Brazil?

ML: Everything is hard in this career but I think that what keeps me doing this is the fact that I've been able to extract real fun from fighting against huge difficulties. Besides my daughter, my family and friends is the idea to tell stories and to help the Brazilian storytellers to go worldwide gives meaning to my life.

Has Netflix been good for international indie films?

ML: I think we all are still figuring out what is the real impact of Netflix in the market. Most of the big digital corporations like Google, Facebook and Netflix have the opportunity to provide real empowerment to the individuals and indie producers, but unfortunately, they ended up deciding for a business model in which they reproduce the old historical models of the human entrepreneurship - to concentrate as much power as possible. Despite this, Netflix started to open huge new possibilities to international content made in non-English language. And this is already changing the world.

What were some of the most inspiring films for you that made you want to become a filmmaker?

ML: 'ET' was a great influence for me. To imagine and create new worlds and possibilities were always my big motivation to become a filmmaker. During my lifetime I was knocked out by many films carrying strong ideas on its images, among them: 'Apocalypse Now', 'In The Mood For Love', 'One Night Stand' and 'Truman Show'.

Why do you think it essential to travel to the film markets as a director and producer?

ML: Nothing happens in the film business until you start to understand the vision and the needs of other players on production, distribution and exhibition areas and start to build up a strong network. Travel to observe, hear and present your ideas is truly essential.

What are you working on next? 

ML: My next projects are DEEPLY CONNECTED, a romantic comedy/family film with a little bit of science fiction in it, that I'm going to shoot at the end of 2019 in Brazil. Also GRID, an English spoken action/family drama that tells the story of a very young talent that is coming from the racing games and will deal with the challenge of beating a former world champion on a real race. 

Interview by Vanessa McMahon