In Depth with the Director - Pol Diggler

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in filmmaking.
I’m Pol Diggler from Barcelona, Spain and I’m a director, scriptwriter, editor and cinema teacher.

In 2014 I created FERGAHT Productions, an independent label that joins professionals from each filmmaking department, from original idea and scriptwriting to postproduction and distribution.

Since then and under my direction, FERGAHT’s films have achieved over 300 international awards and have been selected in more than 600 festivals, including several qualifying festivals for the OSCAR, GOYA, BAFTA or MÉLIÈS awards.

How did your film first come together as a project?
It was during the lockdown here in Barcelona. My last project, "Horrorscope", was still around festivals, but most of them were cancelled, delayed or just online for the pandemic. So I decided I'd do a short film that was meant to be shown only in physical screenings, with an actual audience back together again in theaters.

This film really feels like you've taken a risk and bet on yourself and your art. What spurred you to break convention like this?
I’ve always thought that the short film is the best format to experiment, play and take risks. Before “Work it Class!” I played with the meta-narrative in “Director’s Cut” and “Horrorscope”. But with “Work it Class!” I wanted not only to break the 4th wall, but also break the narrative and the whole short film. So I came up with this no-music issue so I could talk directly to the audience, destroying the work in the background so as the director could explain how this short truly was.

There's a lovely complimentary feel between the film and the messaging. What sort of direction did you give for the performances of your actors?
It was a crazy script I had to do, because it was full of “from now you’ll dance without music”, “this text goes here”, “clap to the no-rhythm”,... So it was really funny to see everybody’s faces in the set while I tried to explain everything over and over again.

With Roser and Artur, the dancers, I tried to give them the chance to improvise in most of the parts. By the way, in the shooting we had the actual song in the background playing in a loop, all you can hear (steps, clapping,...) was done in post. The funniest part once finished the short film, in the private screening, was this feeling of lots of people thinking… “Now I get it!”.

We have to ask: do people actually email you after watching the film?
Totally! For me it was just another meta-joke to play with the audience. But I put my actual email and oh man… I have been sent maybe around a hundred emails, some of them congratulating us, and even a few of them asking for our “Titanic” with the music on! It’s been a crazy and fun transmedia journey for sure.

What was the biggest challenge in making this film?
Taking the risk of doing it, for sure. Once Ferran and I finished editing it, we were saying to each other: “WTF, we created a MONSTER”. But then the journey through festivals was insane and both the juries and audiences were really into it. So it’s really amazing to see this kind of weird narratives get that much love and positive feedback.

What projects are coming next for you in the future?
Our next project, “Sincopat”, is set to be shot in April this year. This time we will take comedy aside and we’ll do a psychological horror short film based on music. If “Work it Class!” was the lack of music, “Sincopat” will be the excess of it. Another short film experiment, let’s see how it goes!

Any message to our Melbourne audience?
Just sit, watch and enjoy!