Ben Rivers Director of Two Years at the Sea

You are often referred to as an ‘experimental filmmaker’. What does this term mean to you? Was it a conscious decision to become one?

I definitely did not want to be one. I went to Art College and when I showed things in the art world I was not really referred to as ‘experimental artist’, but quite simply as ‘artist’ - which makes more sense to me. But I appreciate that people need labels. I guess I am not very much into the idea of the experimental network. Don’t get me wrong, I do like a lot of films under that umbrella and I think it is a fantastic space to be working in, but it is also an easy way to explain things. With Two Years at Sea I had a very clear idea of what I was doing, albeit the script was very basic. I mean, I knew what I was doing in the same way a narrative filmmaker knows what he is doing.

We tend to attribute the term ‘experimental’ to films that defy classification or when genres intersect. For instance, in your work you draw elements from the documentary genre even if the narrative is bespoke, which makes it fictional.

But then again those are all labels… Of course it is impossible not to have those labels, because that is the way people make sense of things. However, I still prefer to think of my films as ‘cinema’; it would be nice if that was enough. I see Two Years at Sea as neither as a documentary nor as narrative/ experimental.

What is it for you?

It is cinema, a film! (laughs). I suppose there is also a good side if you are placed in that category, which is that you are given more freedom to do what you want. My budget is obviously a lot lower compared to a narrative feature, but the funding I receive I am free to use as I want. This is obviously nice.

The majority of your films are set in secluded places, perhaps a reflection of your personal desire to live as your characters do: in a self-sufficient and remote manner. Do you create those parallel universes in order to feed a temporary need of leading a different, more organic life?

Yes, you could say that I live that part of my life by making films. Maybe it is also a way to investigate this type of living, which I am very interested in. In a way, I am trying to find out how real and plausible it might be. I am not completely convinced I could do it. Perhaps when I am older. On the other hand, I do really enjoy living in London. I like that side of things too, the cultural one.

Two Years at Sea runs for 88 minutes with no dialogue, perhaps not easy viewing for some. Do you have the audience in mind when you create?

I try not to think too much. I used to run a cinema with friends for ten years and what I have come to realise is that you can never predict what audiences want. Never! I think this philosophy has imbued my filmmaking. If you start thinking if the audience will like what you do - if for instance, someone would walk out when I am shooting a ten minute take of a person on a lake - then you are going the wrong way. Of course people are going to leave, but you are hoping there will be others who will stay and appreciate the scene. As a filmmaker, you have to accept the fact that films are never going to be for everybody.

By Eftihia Stefanidi