RT’s own Jen Yamato sat down with "Renaissance" director Christian Volckman, who discussed laying the groundwork for his innovative project, including the painstaking task of convincing studios to fund it. He also talked about how comparisons between his film and "Sin City" drove him crazy.
RT: Was it hard to get funding to back "Renaissance", since there has not been anything like it before?
CV: Yes, it was the most difficult part of it. It was terrible because you’re always trying to convince people that what you want to do is good, but it’s so bizarre because at the same time you’re going around saying ok, I want to do a motion capture film, black and white, futuristic, very dark, for grownups, and it’s going to cost $14 million Euros, please help us. And people are just looking at you like, where do you come from, what do you want, it’s interesting but we’re not going to put any money into it… so it was very hard, for three years we were going up and down, at some point we had the money and at some point we didn’t, it was really changing all the time so it was a little bit frustrating.
A scene from the visually stunning "Renaissance."
RT: Can you talk about the comparisons that have been made between "Renaissance" and "Sin City," since they’re both animated, black and white, and for adults?
CV: Well, "Sin City" was not at all animated, it was really actors on blue screen. So, for me it has nothing to do with this film. You know, the problem is… it drives me crazy, you know why? It’s not because you make a film in color that you compare it with other films that are in color. It’s just been so long since people have gotten a black and white film out there, that suddenly there’s "Sin City" — ok, it’s black and white, it’s happening in a city, it’s an urban kind of thing — and then of course we come out afterwards and people say, oh, it looks like "Sin City," but it’s just because it’s in black and white!
Click here for the full interview.
"Renaissance" is a futuristic French animated noir thriller now opening in limited release.
