The Film & Video Institute
Marissa Josa & Jan Baca
Interview
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Marissa Josa & Jan Baca Interview |
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Cameo of Marissa Josa
UNICA Festivals offer plenty of chances to chat with fellow moviemakers. At Warsaw in 2003 Dave Watterson spent a few minutes with Spanish director Jan Baca and the star of several of his films, Marissa Josa. DAVE: How did you start your acting career? MARISSA JOSA: I have only worked in the films of Jan Baca and two professional films, but I started in theatre and am mainly a stage actress. At present I am a voice and interpretation teacher in the Barcelona Theatre Institute, working with the actors of tomorrow. I have also done some directing in the theatre. DAVE: Why do you appear in the credits of Jan Baca’s latest films as casting director? JAN BACA: That’s because when we need a certain sort of person we cry: “Marissa, can you find a man who looks like this, or a woman who is that age?” DAVE: Why do you work with Jan Baca whose plots have put
your characters through so much pain?
MARISSA JOSA: That’s a good question! Although I am a professional in the theatre, I am very interested in working with Jan because that way I can learn a lot about film making. I can be in the film production and outside it at the same time. I can look at my work from the outside. JAN BACA: This is what happens with all our actors. They do not get paid, but for them it is a good exercise – helping them to learn from their own performances. They act, then watch what they have done. It is a form of feedback. MARISSA JOSA: At the same time I help by directing the actors. This can be a problem because I might do more with my own part, but I have to do two things at the same time.
DAVE: In real life you are always in motion but on film your stillness is an essential part of your performances. How do you achieve that? MARISSA JOSA: Working with Jan is difficult because it needs a lot of concentration. When the role calls for such silences I concentrate and work very hard at it. Usually these silences and stillness are not just for me but involve relations with others in the scene. So there is reaction between the actors. But in general cinema without words is much more difficult – especially for a theatre actress – without the dialogue to lean on. DAVE: Much of your cinema performance is in your eyes. JAN BACA: She gets angry with me because I say: “I am only interested in your eyes – I don’t care about your hands, only your eyes. Never look down – always to the camera!” I am relatively new in the cinema world and am still learning the language of close-ups and camera-angles. I expect the great actresses know a lot about this so they do not let themselves be surprised by the camera. DAVE: Finally which is your favourite of the films you have made with Jan? MARISSA JOSA: “How To Write Love Letters”. Apart from her work on stage and in the films of Jan Baca & Toni Garriga,
Marissa Josa has appeared in: Films of Jan Baca And working under pseudonyms they made: Film listing thanks to UNICA. Pictures from the Internet. - Dave Watterson August 2004
Page updated on 21 March 2008 Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers Free JavaScripts provided
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MARISSA
JOSA: Sometimes when I see the films afterwards I think that if I
had known what the camera was seeing, maybe I would have done it differently.
I don’t always agree with Jan. Sometimes you are working in a certain
direction but the camera does not capture your whole performance because it
is working in another direction. Sometimes things that are easy for me are
interpreted as very difficult!