MEDIA

The following is a recently undertaken in depth interview with Yiben Media

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Q1: Could you please provide a brief self-introduction? (Name, personal background, profession, relevant achievements, etc.)

I’m Andrew Dudek, I was born, raised and educated in Adelaide. I have trained and worked in the arts and entertainment industry for most of my life, including in Queensland for almost twenty years. My craft has maybe been honed by working across all sorts of vocations...usually to support my love of the arts! Even though I attained a higher education University ( Law ) degree that passion has always been in the creative and performing arts; in my humble opinion, the arts do have the capacity to simply heal, inspire and unite humanity! 

Q2: What motivated you to become a director? What sparked your passion and interest in filmmaking?

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The “magic”, and the enigma of film making was sparked at a very young age but I didn’t seriously start approaching film making until 15 years ago, having mainly usually worked “In front” of camera. I believe my passion for actors, understanding of their craft, and of course all of my at times painful, joyous, challenging but redemptive life experiences have finally equipped me to deliver a bespoke film with authenticity 

and, and, hopefully, the right balance of skill and humility! 

Q3: Who is your favorite director? What aspects of their style, techniques, or influence do you particularly identify with or admire?

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In my formative years some of my favourite directors were/are Peter Weir (Picnic At Hanging Rock,  Gallipoli ), Michael Mann ( Ferrari, Heat ) and Scott Hicks ( Hearts in Atlantis, Shine ) to name a few. To take just Peter Weir and Scott Hicks as Australian examples, they so skilfully intertwine a compelling story by powerfully partnering it with music, enduring imagery, and emotional experiences that are captivating but which we can all relate to...of course the actors’ performances as extracted by the director are pivotal. I would say any film that leaves the viewer with a fulfilling feeling 

of lingering “emotional residue” is a possible indication of a good director!

Q4: What attracted you to invest several years in preparing and filming I Am Markita?

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I Am Markita is a true story that literally shocked me to the core of my foundations on so many levels. Unbelievable, enigmatic, mysterious yet captivating all at once, it’s a story that I felt could resonate with all the things that make us human, transcend seemingly impossible challenges, in spite of the fact that, so far, as far as we know, there is no one person on earth literally quite like Markita.

This was essentially the impetus that caused me to “throw caution to the wind”, and devote over half a decade towards finally bringing Markita to the wider world. 

Q5: What challenges did you encounter during the filmmaking process? How did you address these challenges?

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Quite apart from all of the normal challenges of film making ( funding, investment, 

development, production, etc ), Markita’s story brought a brand new set of challenges,

because, the normal human reaction is to instantly dismiss it as impossible, unbelievable. To overcome these challenges, we had to spend over one and half years just during development, in consultation with a raft of  medical experts, quite many of whom, understandably, were extremely reluctant to become involved in the project.

Looking back, the challenges have been relatively enormous for a modest, small budget production company, but to directly answer your question I would say it was our unshakable faith and conviction in Markita and her truth that emboldened us to successfully overcome each and every challenge.

Q6: In depicting Markita's transformation, what approach did you take to portray her story? How did you ensure to respect the personal privacy and dignity of the protagonist while dealing with such sensitive themes?

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The approach finally adopted among several possibilities, to portray Markita’s story, was to use the raw and powerful medium of truthful ( documentary film style ) story telling. This for example included real people, including real doctors, and of course, Markita herself, all standing in their truth, looking straight down the barrel of the camera lens and fearlessly expressing that truth, regardless of what the ultimate personal consequences might be. That’s courage! 

Markita understood she would be making a bold, brave leap into the unknown to share her experiences whilst simultaneously abandoning all that remains of her privacy and possible dignity. For Markita, she herself actually has a much higher aspiration for humanity through the sharing of her story. She passionately believes that all her pain, embarrassment and courage are simply noble sacrifices for a far greater good. Here is a beautiful irony in this film - Markita has had to sacrifice so much pride and dignity in the hope of ultimately achieving so much more pride, dignity, power and inspiration.

I have experienced this effect from Markita myself, I have perpetually observed it positively “infect” so many people who have encountered Markita, and as a film maker this surely must be an ultimate source of inspiration and imagination. 

Q7: How did you select the cast for the film and ensure they could authentically portray the protagonist's transformation and emotions?

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All the people playing themselves in the film were cast because of their profound and genuine connections, experiences, relationships and friendships with Markita. This includes professional doctor/patient relationships and indeed father/son/daughter relationships.

In the whole film, there are only three actors ( including myself in 2 minor roles ) who were cast, not solely because of their exceptional talents, but because they, serendipitously, incredibly, had met and closely knew Markita over a number of years!  

I did nonetheless audition some professional actors who knew nothing about Markita, for certain roles. Ultimately however all of the people ( and actors ) were cast, out of an abiding respect for truth and authenticity.

 This includes a few people who either flatly don’t believe her story, or simply don’t even know the full back story! 

Getting back to casting actors, a deep connection to Markita is the kind of gift that every actor who understands their craft, craves. I humbly hope the audience will feel this power come through the big screen when they do see the film. 

It’s the reason, of course, some of the world’s greatest actors immerse themselves into a role so deeply they need to “become” that character. This is not the case with Markita playing herself, although I can imagine that any actor worth his or her salt would consider playing Markita an incredible career opportunity and challenge all at once. 

Q8: Did you collaborate with real doctors and experts during the filming process to ensure the scientific accuracy and medical authenticity of the story?

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Yes. This was absolutely crucial to ensuring scientific and medical accuracy for the film. During the entire development of the story, and indeed during pre-production and production, I collaborated personally with a number of medical professionals, most of whom were Markita’s treating medical professionals. 

Some of the medical professionals I collaborated with ( of course, with Markita’s informed consent ) were two treating endocrinologists from a well known Adelaide hospital, two 

Adelaide based psychiatrists, and, of course, Markita’s current GP ( who has been her treating GP for the last six years but has accessed her medical records going back to before 2012 ). Markita’s GP, an extraordinary, towering medical professional of truth and integrity, appears as himself throughout our film.

In addition, I collaborated with two other GPs, and an Emeritus Professor and PHD specialising in neuroscience, for additional background information. The Emeritus Professor also appears as himself in the film.

Q9: The film's themes involve the complexity of gender identity and body morphology. As a director, what insights or feelings do you hope audiences will take away from this film?

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The complex themes of involuntary gender identity and body morphology are compounded in Markita’s case by a spontaneous case of “global retrograde amnesia” which in Markita’s case effectively scrubbed her autobiographical memory, almost like a wiped computer hard drive, of all events prior to 2012. 

This amnesia resulted further in suddenly “waking up” with no skills or learning, and no memory or connection to family, children, childhood memories, past relationships or the simple joys of human life we all take for granted.

As a director, I had to find a pathway to see precisely how, or if, this extraordinary story would impact the insights or feelings of a wider audience.

We were incredibly grateful and surprised! Markita’s story, we hope, will shine a light on the incredible power all we humans possess, to overcome seemingly impossible realms of existence and experience, to transform hatred, judgements, prejudices and fears into unconditional love and joy. To see the beauty in life no matter the apparent darkness! 

In this sense, Markita’s journey as depicted in our film is an unrestrained, jubilant celebration of life, love, mystery and all the abundant hopes and blessings we can choose to be grateful for. In short, we ALL have an inner Markita in all of us...it’s just a matter of knowing this and then allowing the wonder of this knowing to touch as many souls as possible. As a director, that’s my humble, and hoped for audience “takeaway” with this film! 

Over and above that, this film almost of its own momentum evolved into a uniquely explosive original musical, dance and choreography extravaganza, featuring a multitude of original singers, composers, styles and performers, spontaneously fusing into a cacophony of musical and dance disciplines as artistically directed and performed by some of Australia’s best artists! 

Liping ( Lia ) Xiao, for example, Australia’s extraordinary and gifted soprano and US crowned “World Madam”,  who sings both a perennial Chinese Folk Song and an Italian aria in the film, epitomises the elevating spirit of diversity and multiculturalism the film also embodies...all inspired by just one person - Markita! 

This is why our film is also a part musical extravaganza...music and dance being such a wonderful, stunning medium to celebrate the ultimate joy, victory and inspiration that is the life of Markita.

Q10: After completing this film, what are your plans for future film projects? Are you considering continuing to explore similar themes?

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At this stage, and so close to “birthing” Markita onto the worldwide stage, we are in a sense passengers unaware of how this extraordinary and mysterious odyssey will play out. That’s ultimately the point of, and true meaning of art, whether it be fiction or, in Markita’s case, a true story.

I’m so deeply humbled and honoured by working on this story that has involved many years of passion, pain, pleasure and perseverance, with over 500 dedicated artists and individuals from multiple walks of life, experiences and skill sets. 

To answer your specific question, any future projects I work upon would definitely need to reflect with equal impact so many of the themes in this film. I and so many others in the industry will forever have Markita to thank for these gifts and inspirations!

Thank you so much to your amazing team and magazine for the opportunity to be interviewed about this film.