Following the release of No Festival on Netflix, we sat down for a chat with Dorin Marcu, the director of the concert-documentary. We talked about what happened during the shooting session, behind the scenes details, the collaboration with the artists and potential similar documentaries in the future:
How did the whole No Festival idea come to be?
Everything came naturally with the No Festival project. Towards the end of April, we had this idea. We weren’t exactly sure what we wanted to do – a film or a concert – but we wanted to mark the day EC8 was supposed to open its gates. Initially, we planned to shoot a single band in multiple locations, and various possibilities. But eventually, Titus Carole came up with the idea of organizing the concert at Booha, with three bands. To have a musical dialogue between the three projects.
You have been a part of the video production team from the beginning of the festival. What was it like to work for this project, in an environment so familiar, yet so different?
I always greatly enjoy the days leading up to the festival, when we have the entire place only to ourselves. I felt the same enjoyment this year, albeit at a far smaller scale. We started shooting on Tuesday, the concert was on Friday, so we spent quite some time on the set. We tested the cameras, shot the drone scenes. It was pretty cool, but it was also highly emotional. We knew that this year, after the days when we had the place to ourselves, the moment the premises would be flooded by people would never come. Only a few people gathered at Booha. It was weird.
Was there a particular instant during the shooting that triggered strong nostalgic feelings?
The truth is that we did not have time to enjoy the concert properly. I was very focused on what I had to do. We were very lucky. Rain had been forecast and we couldn’t do it another day because the guys from Subcarpați needed to head to Baia Mare the next morning for a concert. I was very stressed out because I wanted everything to come out perfectly, I had three weather applications open, everything had been planned to the minute. The concertwas supposed to end precisely at sunset. Five minutes too early or too late would have been too much.
But there was a special moment, immediately after the concert, that I will never forget. Electric Castle was actually organized this year as well, but it was for staff members only. The entire crew was there for the shoot, even though they do not appear in the footage. They were all hidden in the Hideout area. After the concert, we all sat down together for a nice talk and a glass of wine. Then I felt that Electric Castle belongs to us. But, mind you, only for an hour or two, because I was supposed to edit the whole thing within only two weeks. The following day I was already at the office.
You usually work with a filming crew. This time you also worked with artists. What was it like to collaborate with them?
I don’t only work with a filming crew. For three years now, we have had a much larger video team. The video project is much more complex. We have editors, sound engineers, we don’t only do after-movies. The collaboration with the bands was very smooth. For them, this was an opportunity to unload the tension that they had accumulated in the previous months due to their inability to perform.
Why did you choose that particular time of day, the famous 'golden hour’, for shooting the concert?
I noticed, at the end of EC7, that the festival location is strongly influenced by light. The feeling is different at one, six or nine, when the sun sets. Clearly, from a videographic and photographic standpoint, this is the best moment. It looks best on camera. I specifically chose it for visual reasons.
Any interesting stories from the set?
Subcarpați were staying in the village. The day before the concert, they performed in the garden of the house they were put up in. Unfortunately, my mates arrived 10 minutes after the gig was over. I was very disappointed to learn that I had just missed the impromptu concert. But I did find out that the landlady had filmed them. She was kind enough to give us the footage. We had a look at the videos and noticed that AFO had also shot the gig. The bit he captured is shown in the end credits. If you listen to the last line in the documentary, by Adrian Ciuplea, the bass player from Vița de Vie, you’ll hear the song that had been
performed the previous day, in the garden. It was a perfect match. We owe this bit to the landlady.
Adrian Despot said that the documentary is too short. He would have liked to see more scenes from their trip from Bucharest to Bonțida. Could we see additional footage from the shootings? Maybe even from the studio or longer interviews with the artists?
No Festival features everything we wanted to say. In the meantime, we also have the big picture in mind. Maybe two or three years from now, when we might talk about another Electric Castle documentary, we will revisit the archive scenes. They represent a unique event for everyone. It was a unique and unexpected year. We are proud and satisfied with the end product, but we would rather not be put in the position to organize such an event instead of the festival. Extra-scenes might surface eventually, but not in the near future.
How did you end up collaborating with Netflix?
It had been our plan all along. We organized a presentation a month before the shoot and we started asking around until we received a contact. We pitched the idea to them, they were open to it, and told us they would like to see the end product, to make sure that it complies with their standards. After they watched it, we got the go-ahead and were told that it would premiere on the platform on 1 December.
The reactions from the audience were unanimously positive. What is your opinion about the feedback No Festival got?
When you put together professional musicians such as those from Subcarpați, Vița de Vie and Golan, who take their job very seriously, the result can only be exceptional. In addition, by challenging them, taking them out of their comfort zone, and putting them together in a jam session, you will end up with something truly special. We expected people to have a positive reaction to the project. And all of this was combined with flashbacks of the empty festival. For the several seconds long ending scenes we filmed three and a half days. I hand-picked the precise locations and times of day. The shortest bit required the longest work hours. We had to put a little effort into it, but we knew that it would have the greatest impact.
Do you plan on making other documentaries about Electric Castle?
No Festival increased our appetite for this type of content. I feel we got much closer to the bands we worked with. After Creative Camp we made a switch. We are no longer an enterprise organizing concerts and inviting acts to perform at a festival. We have become a platform reuniting artists and musicians who create art products. We’ll definitely do similar projects in the future.
