Several feature films and documentaries received their "final cut" at the editor's table of Martin Ivanov in the last few years, and the most current in this period is the documentary film "Journey on Foot" by director Tamara Kotevska.

Film editing is a process in which usually only two film authors are involved - the director and the editor. If a hundred people are involved in the process of shooting a certain film - director, cameraman, producer, actors, film and stage workers, and the dynamics of work can sometimes seem chaotic, order is brought into the chaos by editing, where the director and the editor put the story together according to the predetermined scenario.

The editor Martin Ivanov had an extremely fruitful and creative period in the last few years. His signature has been at the forefront of several feature films that have had notable success at film festivals. Among them are the films "Sisters" by Dina Duma, "Homo" by Igor Ivanov, "Healer" by Gjorce Stavreski, "Sticker" by Georgi M. Unkovski, "All Against All" by Andrej Koshak, "Kopanje" and "TM" by Ivica Dimitrijević and others. In this period, the feature-length documentary film "Journey on Foot" directed by Tamara Kotevska is the most relevant.

The Macedonian premiere of the documentary film "The Walk" by director Tamara Kotevska was held on the 15th "MakeDox". What was the challenge of editing the film for you?

- Given that we had to review a little over two hundred hours of video material and in those two hundred hours to find meaning, dramaturgical flow and emotional dynamics, to finally compress them into an hour and twenty minutes - "Journey on Foot" was more than a challenge . Before "Journey on Foot" I have predominantly worked on feature forms that are far more organized to work with. There is a script according to which the film was shot, there is a determinant where the dramatic whole begins and ends.

In this case, for the first time, I found myself "inundated" with material that needed systematic review and a constant search for order in the chaos. Tamara Kotevska and I spent days and nights solving an audiovisual puzzle with countless potential solutions. Countless times we faced dead ends and somewhere in the middle of the process we mentally rebooted and started searching again for the answers to the three eternal questions that everyone should ask themselves when doing something creative: what?, why? and how? And slowly the tangled tangle of cadres began to unravel.

The film's message is multi-layered. How did their layering take place during the film editing process?

– In the beginning, the narration (editing) took place together with the recording. For the first narrative layer, our only orientation coordinates were the beginning and end of Amal doll's journey. By the end, those coordinates also changed as we "walked" in the montage. In the first month, as we traveled together with the Amal doll and the puppetry ensemble, Tamara noticed the personal stories of the puppeteers following Amal. It was amazing how those stories coincided with the refugee fate of our main character. The puppeteers Muayad and Fida were literally and symbolically Amal's right and left hand. Their stories spiral around the main theme and support the narrative just as they "help" Amal through her journey and so the film got another humane note.

In my opinion, the most important layer in the film is the narration, because through this means of expression Amal embodies herself and becomes more than a doll. Some of those lines in the final version date back to the first few days of filming and editing in Turkey (now Turkiye). The fact that we had to edit it as a sketch, with the narration that Tamara came up with inspired by the locations themselves, imposed the style of the film on us from the very beginning.

Producers Harry Grace and Orlando von Einsiedel from "Grain Media" were of great help in the creative process. All this was followed by the music of the composer Duke Bojadzhiev. Duque helped to develop the emotional charge of the film and in the moments when we had crises, the music helped us to more easily bridge all creative obstacles.

If cinematographers are usually said to be the director's right hand, then what about film editors?

– You will have to ask the directors and producers about that. And I will use a quote from Sean Penn, when he jokingly stated in an interview: "Skillful editing hands can save the director from suicide" (The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing, 2004).

The installation process often takes several months. What kind of setting and what kind of communication between the director and the editor is necessary to get a successful final product?

- Directors and editors must be prepared and mentally adjusted to a marathon way of acting and thinking from the beginning. Imagine two people sitting in a desert in which, perhaps, there is building material for a mosaic. First you have to find the material, and only then build the mosaic. It takes a lot of time, and the time spent with friends and loved ones goes by the fastest.

Friendly communication is the basis for editing any film. If you spend a third of the day in one place, with one person, then the only option is to spend that third in peace and a pleasant atmosphere. Of course there are creative arguments and complaints, after all we are all people with different problems, traumas and different private networks. In such moments, patience is the main editor's currency. The quality of mutual communication is always seen on the movie screen.

How does the editing process differ from the post-production process of a certain film work?

- Film editing is an integral part of the post-production process. Editing shapes the dramatic-rhythmic whole of the film, while post-production consists of several stages, such as: editing, processing and sound design, composing music, visual effects, color correction, creating intro and outro credits, translation and adaptation and finally – producing final copies for cinema, TV or streaming shows.

Post-production is a process in which the director is not "chasing" the sunset to catch a shot, is not afraid of storm forecasts, does not get a sunburn from shooting at plus 40 degrees, but on the contrary, sits on a comfortable two-seater, eats good food, drinks good coffee and has the privilege of witnessing the film emerge from its cocoon.

In your portfolio there are already documentaries, short and feature films, television series. Is there a difference in the editing approach to each genre individually?

- Of course there is. Each film requires special treatment, both from a technical and a creative point of view. If we are editing a feature film, then the story is known to us and is already on paper in the form of a script, the actors are "frozen" in time and then we only have to "juggle" with the recorded material.

The documentary form is freer and often the filming goes parallel to the editing and the script is written in the editing. But ultimately, the ultimate goal for any genre and genre is to tell the story in the best possible way.

In addition to Tamara Kotevska, you have so far collaborated with several different directors, such as Dina Duma, Igor Ivanov, Gjorce Stavreski, Ivica Dimitrijevic, Andrej Koshak, Trifun Sitnikovski. What experiences have you gained in communicating with different human characters while working on a film?

- All the directors I have worked with have influenced my editing experience. Different habits – different approaches, styles and genres. It's like being a bass player or drummer in multiple bands dealing with different styles of music, like, for example, metal, pop, punk, rock, jazz, folk, etc... The perspective is constantly expanding by experiencing different situations and approaches to directing and editing and it helped me and still helps me to see the world from multiple points of view.

This expanded perspective has developed my ability to approach problems with a "calm mind" and has increased my confidence and ability to adapt to new situations and new habits. This adaptability is key to the changing nature of film editing. Interacting with different groups of people in different creative environments has opened my mind and this not only contributes to my personal worldview, but also, I hope, positively contributes to the films we make.

What was decisive for you to choose editing as a professional pursuit?

- I was interested in the thought that I would be able to put together puzzles with moving images, actors, music, story...

What advice do you give to young filmmakers, considering that you also work as a mentor for the film school "Docunikulci" of "MakeDox"?

– The kind of advice I've received from my mentors: don't be afraid to get down to business. Whatever they do in the future, let them not wait and have no fear about what they want to do. I advise them that it is better to make a bad film than not make it at all. It is better to be criticized for a film than to have no work to criticize. To be open to criticism, to cooperate with each other, to ask questions, to "knock on doors" and to work curiously. Ideas do not fall from Mars, they are worked on. That's how you grow and that's how you learn.

Which projects are currently on your "editing table"?

- I am currently working on two documentaries and one feature film. I wouldn't say the titles because they would probably be changed by the end of post-production, so this answer won't be relevant a year from now.

(The interview was published in "Kulturen Pechat" number 246, in the print edition of the newspaper "Sloboden Pechat" on 07-09.09.2024)