Director’s Note:
A film noir documentary.
‘That is a film noir’, I told myself when I first took knowledge of the economic hit man story. Α sexy femme fatale, corruption and assassinations, no good guys, secret meetings of the empire’s jackals in rooms full of smoke. And then there was the voice-over narration of a protagonist trapped in an unwanted situation, flashbacks to understand the birth of the economic hit man and flash-forwards to the looting of Iraq.
From low-key lighting and Venetian blinds to Dutch angles, I used the techniques of film noir to make a documentary telling a real story about our present world.
Film noir is often described as essentially pessimistic. But the plotline and the final sequences of the film, when the protagonist apologises in front of the Ecuadorian people for his actions, give way to optimism: in a world full of cynicism and wars, there is always room for redemption and hope.
Stelios Koul, March 2008
Director Bio:
Stelios Koul (Kouloglou)
Author and director of several documentaries including the award winning: “Communism: the Great Utopia of the 20th Century” (Best Greek Documentary-2000, Eurocomenius Award-2000, for Best European Historic Documentary), “The Death Match”(Eurocomenius Award-2002) and “Whistleblowers”. Director for the French-German ARTE channel.
He is the producer of “Reportage Without Frontiers”, a current affairs and documentary series weekly, broadcasted by the Greek National Television. Best informative program of Greek television in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. “Journalist of the Year” for 2006 and 2007.
He has worked as a special envoy in former Yugoslavia (1993-1995), and as a correspondent in Paris (1983-4) and Moscow for former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (1988-1993). He has written more than 150 scripts for documentaries.
Author of eight books. “Writer of the year-2002” for his best selling novel “Never Go to the Post Office Alone”.
Filmography:
- The crusade of an Archbishop (2000 Αrte)
- The Death Match (2002)
- Whistleblowers (2004)
