By At the 11th Annual Marrakesh International Film Festival, Terry Gilliam led a master class on filmmaking for Moroccan film students. Filmmaker Magazine got a chance to speak with Gilliam prior to the class, and he provided them with 10 lessons for filmmakers. (There’s a bonus 11th lesson as well.)
One lesson in particular seems telling about Gilliam’s experiences in the last decade:
What I love about Don Quixote is that he keeps misinterpreting the world. He thinks the world is either worse or better or whatever. He gets it wrong every time. But in the end he has these heroic, epic moments, and he seems to be unstoppable. He just goes on and on and on. I think it’s a great example for people, especially in film, in how to get through life, because film can often be incredibly disappointing… [Lost in La Mancha] should discourage anyone who is not willing to live in a world where disasters like that occur. Don’t make films if you’re not going to be able to deal with things like that.
Check out the rest of Gilliam’s lessons at Filmmaker, and keep tilting at windmills.
[Via Filmmaker Magazine]