Vassili Silovic
Vassili Silovic was born in a country that has disappeared. Since then, he has presented himself sometimes as a former Yugoslav, sometimes as a Croatian with Slovenian nationality who grew up in Germany. After studying in Germany and then in France, he made his debut in production and directing in Munich before moving to Paris. ARTE has just been created, and will co-produce many of his documentaries, including a portrait of composer Nino Rota, then “Orson Welles – The one-man band”, which unveils for the first time the unfinished films of the great filmmaker. The film was presented at Venice Film Festival in 1995.
Since then, he has mainly directed documentaries for television, exploring various forms, genres and subjects: portraits of established artists (Philippe Starck, Véronique Sanson), coexisting with unknown characters such as Barry Gray, a mischievous crook or Maïté, a rebellious shepherdess. In addition to his long and medium-length films, he also explores format such as documentary or series. He sees his films as variations on art – the art of filming, painting, defrauding, getting married, doing business, lying, playing football, writing, travelling – in short… living (or surviving). Since “Le Marché de l’art sous l’occupation” (“The Art Market under occupation” – 2021), he has also turned to projects related to the history of the 20th century.
While remaining faithful to a material stems from reality, he does not hesitate to venture to the limit of fiction. He regularly hosts the residencies “Dramaturgie et Documentaire” of Ty Films (workshops in Brittany, France). In 2017, he participated in Le Groupe Ouest’s launch of LIM | Less is More, a European programme that supports emerging filmmakers working on their fiction feature films. He also collaborates with the StoryTANK, a place of reflection and experimentation around new ways to stimulate scriptwriting creativity.
