A new international movie set in a Karen refugee camp is to be released in 2010. Its working title is “How About Love?” and its director, Stefan Haupt, spoke recently to The Irrawaddy about making the film and his impressions of refugee life at the Thai-Burmese border.
Haupt was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1961. He currently serves as the president of the Swiss Filmmakers' Association and is best known for his 2001 film “Utopia Blues.”
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QUESTION: What is the topic of this movie?
ANSWER: We often say in terms of globalization that our world has now become only one small world. But at the same time, life on this one earth can be so incredibly different.
So I took my main character, Dr. Fritz Reinhart, an award-winning heart surgeon from Switzerland, and exposed him to two totally different worlds. I sent him and his wife on vacation to Thailand where they pay a visit to an old friend who works in a medical clinic at a refugee camp. When they arrive there, they are confronted with a totally different life than the life they are used to in Zurich. For me, it was very interesting to expose my character to this different lifestyle and see how he reacts to it.
Q: What is the moral of the story?
A: When I make a film, I don’t start with the question, “What will the moral of this film be?” I don’t want to work this way, by defining what the moral of a story should be and then making the film according to it. I'd much rather tell stories that interest me. Maybe when people watch the film, they will find a moral behind it, but I think that different people will see different morals in it, which is fine with me.
What is interesting and important for me is that I have an honest approach to the story myself, that I’m really interested in the story.
So I did a lot of research on my subject – some three and half years. For me, it is important thing that I, as a director, know the reality behind the fictional scenes that we are shooting. So, this is not a documentary – it is fiction,but based on reality.
Q: How did you learn about the culture of Burma and the ethnic groups?
A: There is literature and the Internet, which is incredibly important nowadays. I saw quite a few documentary films, some by other Swiss directors. And, of course, by far the most helpful thing is to talk with the people like U Thein Win, with refugees, with Thai people here in Chiang Mai and with people at the border.
We also made a research trip to a real refugee camp in Mae Hong Son and we talked to the representatives of different supporting institutions. We also went to Mae Tao Clinic.
However, one of the medics in the refugee camp was a Burmese refugee – a Karen refugee in the film – that writes down all the stories of other refugees. She had some experiences with Dr. Fritz, so I always wanted to find a young refugee women, to talk to her and ask her some specific questions. But, it was all but impossible. It was like the girls were locked up. It was very difficult for me, but it was very interesting as a researcher to find out how well-protected the young women are here.
Q: There are several movies which are based on the Thai-Burmese border, like Rambo and other action films about Burma. What are the differences between your film and former movies?
A: We have a smaller budget, that is one difference. We are not a Hollywood production.
I think most of these films tend to be action movies. I had so-called “script doctors” who read my script and told me: “Put more action in it!” For example, let Dr. Fritz go with that Burmese refugee girl over the border, then they get attacked, or she gets caught and thrown in jail … Make an action film!
Well, I can imagine that many in the audience would like an action movie, but that is not the kind of story I’m interested in.
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