Bettina Herzner Producer and DoP of "Fish and Onions"

What is your background as a filmmaker and how did you end up to be the producer and DoP of this film?

This project was special. At first there was the call for entries for the First motion crossmedia program. It is a program supported partly by European union. With the director Mark Brummund I have worked before and his good friend Rene Fischer suggested that we should use this Old Believers in Estonia as a topic to apply. We knew very little about the Old Believers, and we really learned about their culture while filming them. The fact that I am the producer, DOP and then translator in this film is because it was made with very little money. The cause of the contract is the website, not just the film, but we really wanted to do a very classical ethnographical documentary. 30 000€ would have been good money for the website, but for the film we had to pay some money from our own pockets to cover the costs.

When did you decide on the topic and the story of the film?

I think it was the winter part, because in the summer we were there for the first time and were just collecting impressions. During the winter it sort of hit us: it is really about them dying out. That it is a culture that is very close to be lost. Most of their children have moved to Tallinn or Finland. We asked more questions about the future of their culture and they said that they don´t know what will be after them. The film is really about that.

The film mentions the fishing problems in Peipus Lake. Were you familiar with the political side of the story?

We didn´t know about it before, but everybody we met talked about it. Fishing is a part of their culture, which makes these strickt fishing regulations so absurd. We were going to shoot fisherman going out to Peipus Lake, but they were not allowed to fish. The Russians have no limitations to fish, but Estonians 5 miles away are not allowed to use any nets. It is a big issue. It treathens their existens, if they have to move away for other jobs.

What was the hardest and the best moment in making this film?

For me and Mark big limitation was that we knew very little Russian. Katja, our translator, did the interviews but I felt a loss of control. That was my biggest frustration, since I really wanted to talk to them. Despite this language problem and us being from other country, there were also some great moments. They didn´t make us feel like strangers. We really fell in love with this beautiful piece of land. And it was also great because then you were forced to observe with all your other senses.

What was your impression of Old Believers?

They are extremely proud. Like Timofei, one of the main characters, we asked him so many times, can we offer the money for medicine, when his wife was still alive. Or we have a car, can we help to drive you to the doctor? Can we take you out for lunch? He refused everything. In spring he mentioned that there is one thing we could do for him: he needed the picture for his grandson. I was really touched. He put on his Old Believers shirt made from really beautiful silk and he combed his beard and hair to took the picture of him for eternity. For his family to remember him.

I could really see your love towards this place in the film as well.

I was criticized for romanticising poverty, that I showed them in overly romantic way. I don´t think I romanticized them, it is just a way of life and I don´t want to look down on them. After being there for a while, it looked normal and compared to our life it is just different.

By Kaisa Roover