Ten stories, one movie: Ghent director seeks multiple scripts
An Irish filmmaker collects 10 scripts from Ghent for one feature film
Declan Lynch wants to show the best of Ghent
The Irish documentary filmmaker moved to Ghent last year, when his partner was offered a training position at the university hospital. “I spent a lot of time walking around Ghent discovering the city, and that track was omnipresent.”
Having been inspired by the Flemish rock band’s song, he called his new film project Follow. And he has his work cut out for him: Follow will fuse 10 different scripts by 10 different writers. Each submitted script must have one male and one female character, and they must play out their approximately nine-minute story – any story – somewhere in Ghent. The stories will then be connected into one 90-minute feature.
“I normally work in a very structured way,” says Lynch, whose company Unity Productions is based in Dublin. “A classic production, be it film or television, is made this way with good reason. So throwing out the traditional rulebook can be fun creatively. The finished film will be a partly unknown quantity during production. It is in effect a totally incorrect way to work.”
Intrigued by the concept, the International Film Festival of Flanders in Ghent has agreed to screen the finished product at this year’s edition in October. That means Lynch has just over three months to get it shot and edited. Less, really, since he’s extended the script deadline to 29 July.
“The deadline is set, the clock is ticking,” says Lynch, remarkably calm. “The scripts are coming in, which means writers have stories to tell. The difficult part is good production value.” The project, he admits, is “no to low budget,” so he’s seeking volunteers in the industry to donate a few hours to production. Scripts are accepted in either English or Dutch.
“Scripts are judged on quality and on whether they might work as part of an overall piece,” says Lynch. “What’s been surprising with the submissions so far is how bizarre and varied the mix has been. It looks to be heading somewhere surreal. My impression is that Flemish audiences could handle that mix; but it remains to be seen.”
