Since the international success of his debut feature, the indigenous road movie Beneath Clouds, and a string of highly-regarded indigenous documentaries, Ivan Sen has worn the mantle of Australian Cinema's ‘hot young thing'.

However, it seems this is a title he is increasingly uncomfortable with, and with the release of his latest film, the intriguingly metaphysical UFO-hunter story Dreamland, the young director is staking out bold new cinematic territory. Such a dramatic departure is both brave and exciting, so I asked Ivan if he'd explain a little more about how the mysterious Dreamland came about, and what it meant for him as an artist.

Ivan explained, ‘after Beneath Clouds I had planned to go to the U.S. to make a UFO/thriller film somewhere in the desert. It was going to be a big budget thing.

So I wrote a couple of drafts about an FBI agent who goes out to the desert to investigate a series of abductions. But the script never really felt right'.

The young filmmaker took some time out to reflect on what he really wanted to achieve as a filmmaker, and what his true creative interests were.

Gradually, he says, a key realisation dawned:

‘I guess I became more aware that commercial filmmaking has little do with purity, and almost nothing to do with true creative expression.

Painters, sculptors, writers and even musicians have more opportunity of pure expression. Whereas filmmaking, on the other hand, has been caught up in some kind of pseudo commercial (low return) business.'

Seeing cinema more as an artform akin to music or painting has led Sen away from standard, formulaic ‘devices' of narrative cinema. As the young director puts it, ‘I've been searching for something more pure than the normal options'.

Sen's desire to explore other options beyond the limited scope of industrial filmmaking has resulted in an unconventional film whose floating, dreamlike style connects not just with the paranormal but the concerns of art, surrealism and experimental cinema. He explains,

‘Dreamland rebels against many of the conventions and societal conditioning. It is a quest for purity, for self awareness in the cosmos. In Dreamland, there is no pandering to the "popcorn-candy-mind". So people can take it or they can leave it.'

Sen explained that the film that BIFF audiences will see has undergone a series of from its original script to its now more experimental, experiential form.

‘The original big budget script dramatically changed as my mind changed. It became more pure, artistic, and the quest of the UFO hunter became clear.'

Under the huge skies of southern USA, Sen steeped himself in literature exploring ideas of consciousness, being and the cosmos.

‘The biggest influence in making the film was the Renaissance philosopher, Giordano Bruno who proclaimed an infinite universe, and as a result was burnt at the stake by the Catholic Church in Rome 1600.

Another major influence was the writings of Carlos Castaneda, and his experience with the Indigenous Mexican elder, Don Juan.'

Sen, a highly articulate, sensitive young man, poetically sums up where this ongoing quest for purity might lead him next as a filmmaker, and what BIFF audiences can expect from Dreamland:

‘At some point, everyone has looked up at the stars and wondered and pondered. The mystery of the universe, of other worlds, will always be with us.  I think in our unconscious core, we feel that the more we can make sense of the universe, the more we can make sense of ourselves. And it's been in our past for such long time.

Even last night I looked up at stars. I wondered how many of my ancestors have done the same thing. The stars connect us with our past, our living past and the unconscious universe.

Dreamland has many science fiction elements to it...and I do think I will make ‘purely' science fiction film at some point. Outer space is nature at its purest. And I would love to play with the human construct on the ultimate stage of purity.

Dreamland has been created from a blending of the unconscious and conscious. Sometimes I would lie out on the grass, feeling the warm sun and cool breeze.  And in my trance-like state I would go back to editing, like improvising with music. And improvising is how the actor
describes the experience of shooting it. He told someone that we just went into the desert and had a jam.

But I'm not aiming to be experimental, I'm just tapping into the
universe...'


By Danni Zuvela