Resad Kulenovic's Discussion

I took a lot out of Reshad's discussion with us last Tuesday. As a journalism major focused on multimedia and digital reporting, and as someone who wants to film feature documentaries in areas of conflict (especially in the Middle East, especially in Palestine), I feel like I really learned a lot from him. Not only did he go through the processes of storyboarding, filming, traveling, budgeting, etc., I like to think he also boosted my confidence in doing work like this. It's a dangerous job, I doubt anyone questions that, but Reshad definitely gave us a feeling of feasibility when describing how he went about making this film. I mean, he's not much older than us, yet look how much he's already accomplished! That gives me a lot of hope for my future.

I saw a lot of parallels in the difficulties he went through in filming with the difficulties I found when on a school trip to the D.R./Haiti last winter. Most notably, the idea of armed authority being ever present, and locals not being too keen on having their faces on camera.

Reshad Kulenović

Last week's speaker Reshad Kulenović shared a lot of gripping information about filmmaking with the class. I found it especially thrilling to hear from him what it was like filming in a war zone, and his experiences that are not shown in his film "100 Million Dollar House". One of those stories was what would have happen if he had been arrested for filming there and how international law does not recognize the group in power. Kulenović also spoke about when he arrived one source would not allow him as much access as previously agreed upon. Therefore, he had to negotiate for interviews in order to still get the story he wanted because he could only stay there for a limited time due to the conflict. 

Speaking with Reshad Kulenović after class he was able to answer many of my questions on physical production of the film which was helpful to learn about as well as the rights he has (or doesn't) now that he sold the film to another organization.

Finally, it was interesting to hear what it was like for him to make a documentary since his focus has been on fiction films. He discussed how it was difficult to have less control over the situation and what would happen. He concluded by saying he is returning to fictional films for a while.

Reshad Kulenovic

This I think was a very interesting and informative interview with Reshad. He is an exciting young filmmaker that just hearing him speak makes me excited to see his next projects. His film "100 Million Dollar House" is very interesting due to where it takes place in Hebron. The fact that Hebron is a conflict zone is what makes this film very interesting. From what we saw of his film I think that Heborn being a conflict zone is well represented and hearing his personal stories about being there is even more interesting. Seeing the scene in the film where the guard tells him to shut off the camera and the scene where the tear gas roles in is powerful moments in the film but even more powerful from Reshads first hand telling of it. He told the story of how they were arrested and held until their release was negotiated by one of the subjects they were filming. Also it was really interesting hearing about the completely foreign idea to us that having a veteran of the Israeli Army with them actually made their life more difficult because he was treated as a traitor. I found listening to Reshad very interesting and I am excited to hear more about the upcoming projects he has in the works especially the one he talked about with a pretty well known producer.