My work focuses on personal films, with high caliber actors shot in a style that employs elements of cinema vertite, dogma, neorealism… where the truth cannot be masked by overt stylistic flourishes or grandiose production value.Carl Bessai
Carl Bessai is a director, producer, writer and cinematographer. His award winning feature films have won international critical acclaim at numerous festivals including Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto and have been released theatrically around the world.
As a filmmaker, I am interested in human stories that touch on issues of class, race, politics, gender, social justice, inequity – all universal themes of weight, but always channeled through the lens of the intimate, personal journey. I also think these serious topics are made more palatable with touches of comedy. Although I wouldn’t consider myself a ‘funny’ filmmaker, I do like to bleed humour into my dramas…
My work focuses on personal films, with high caliber actors shot in a style that employs elements of cinema vertite, dogma, neorealism… where the truth cannot be masked by overt stylistic flourishes or grandiose production value. Although I have a lot of experience as a cinematographer, my passion is directing actors and employing collaborative elements of improvisation into my scene making… so the scenes at their best feel unwritten, genuine, authentic and honest… where the line between what is truthful/real, and what is pretend/madeup is blurred…
My heroes are John Cassavetes, Rainer Werner Fassbender, Mike Leigh, Robert Altman, Alexander Payne… all filmmakers who strive to find truth through performance and an intimate working relationship with an ensemble of actors…
Carl is a member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, the Writer’s Guild of Canada, the Iatse 669 Camera Local, and the Canadian Media Producer’s Association.