Monster
Martin Mentzoni shares his personal experiences from a conflicted life, and focuses on the art of being oneself, where mental health is at the forefront, with strong themes such as freedom of speech, self-image, self-harm and drug addiction.
“Monster absolutely hypnotises you with the life and times of Martin Mentzoni. Impossible to look away”
In Depth with the Director - Helge Kallevik
Tell us a little about yourself and your background in filmmaking.
My interest for filmmaking started when I was about 15 years old. I am now 30, so that's half my life dedicated to what I love. As soon as I was 18, I moved to Bergen to study film and TV-production. After two years I moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where I achieved my Bachelor degree, specializing in cinematography. After finishing school, I moved back to my small town, Haugesund, where I started a film production company along with two friends, only to realize three years after that it's much more profitable to work as a freelancer. I am still a freelancer to this day, but under the company name Lunavision.
How did Monster first come together as a project?
I had been wanting to produce something with Martin Mentzoni for years. He's such an interesting character. I love diving into dark subjects and pushing the limit when it comes to what I can do as a commercial filmmaker, who should be careful not to scare away potential customers. But if you check out the latest music video I did for Martin, you'll see I find it hard to put a limit on what Martin wants in a video representing his craziness.
What was your relationship like with Martin? Was he immediately open to sharing his life or did it take time?
I believe I met Martin through friends. We live in a small town, and we're both known in the cultural milieu, so it was just a matter of time before we would be working together, seeing how we have so much in common. Martin is an open book. And he can talk you to death. So the interviews were pretty easy to do. He loves the camera, and the camera loves him too.
How did he feel about the final product?
He loved it. I remember getting a "FYY FAAAEN".
Monster has a strong focus on Martin’s mental health and the nature of self harm. Were there any challenges on dealing with such a delicate topic?
Ever since I got to know Martin, I've heard him talking about dark topics, so in a way I guess I have built up some kind of wall to not let it get to me. I'm really good at focusing on the positive, so it's hard to get me down.
You have a tremendous wealth of archival footage for this documentary. How did you choose what to use and what not to use?
I was really lucky that Martin and his friends loved recording their Jackass-like lifestyle as teenagers. Too bad a lot of the footage is missing. But what I received from Martin was gold. I used most of it in the documentary. If there had been more, the documentary would probably have been longer.
On that note, where did you draw the line in terms of graphic images or thing that were difficult to watch?
It was really hard to draw a line. I hate having to draw a line, and so does Martin. But knowing people would have a hard time watching some of the material, I decided to blur out this and that. But of course I advise people to watch the uncensored version.
What projects are coming for you in the future?
I'm working on a few commercial projects, a music video for my band Savant, and directing a short film in March.
Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?
Have an awesome festival. Wish I could be there with you!