Fernando Sulichin on His Career, His Inspiration & Modern Day Film

An article by Ayelet Noff    3 Comments

At the DLD conference I stepped away from “social media” for a moment to speak with Central Films film producer Fernando Sulichin, one of the judges of the competition that’s currently going on at theCrane.tv.  You may know him as the producer of great films like Malcolm X and Alexander.  I talked with Fernando about his films, his inspiration and his strong opinions about the direction modern day film is taking.

When asked about how he decides which films he is going to work on Fernando responded in jest “usually ego– because I want to be important.”  However, he went on to say that he decides which films to produce for the prestige, out of necessity and even by chance.  In fact, twice he and his partner chose a script, didn’t read it and tried to finance it without opening the script.  They were able to finance without even reading the scripts and, in the end the result, Love Liza, went on to win Best Script at the Sundance Film Festival!

Fernando also spoke of political motivation as a major factor in determining which films to work on.  He says, “I am moved by politics” and, as a filmmaker, he believes that film is a precious tool that will be seen and it is important to do something positive with it.  He wants to make films that will make people think for a chance and believes that in the fast-paced world of today people are too busy thinking with their brains and don’t have the time to think with their hearts.  He wants to make films that give people the chance to slow down, reflect and “feel with their heart and not just with their brains.”

I asked if Fernando thought that filmmaking has deteriorated in recent years and he responded with, “Now there are no good movies– not even the ones that I’m doing!”  He strongly believes that people have lost sight of the true sense of storytelling.  “We need to go back to storytelling times of the 70s.  Everything today is so fast paced that people don’t have the time to see a movie with their heart.”

Fernando is currently working on a documentary about the new leaders in South America with Oliver Stone, as well as another film project with Tim Robbins.  To see my full interview with Fernando watch the video below.