PODCAST | Aslı Ildır interviews Rati Oneli, director City of the Sun, from the 23rd Sarajevo Film Festival.
Rati Oneli, director of a beautiful and uncanny documentary, City of the Sun, from Georgia that had its world premiere in 2017 Berlin Film Festival’s Forum section, won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary Film. The director tells the story of a post-industrial town in the middle of Georgia – a mysterious place that he actually found by pure coincidence- and daily lives of two mine workers interested in singing and acting. Oneli was the guest of the Talents Sarajevo where he gave a talk about his visual preferences and inspirations, including visuals by Werner Herzog, a director he seems to be inspired a lot. We talked with Oneli about his characters, how he relates them with the beautiful landscapes he used in City of the Sun, and the balance between the distance and sincerity in his approach to his characters as a documentary filmmaker.
Interview by Aslı Ildır, one of the members of Talents Press at the 11th Talents Sarajevo.