One of the films we highlighted from last year’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) graduate showcase, Franz Böhm’s now BAFTA nominated live action short, Rock Paper Scissors, brings the war in Ukraine, still raging but maybe less out of earshot, right back into your consciousness. Through happenstance Böhm found himself talking to a young Ukrainian army recruit who, in his tragically short life, found himself forced to shoulder the responsibility of life or death decisions. His story, encapsulated in Rock Paper Scissors, is one of resilience, love and sacrifice and stands out as a truly human tale. Wars are fought on epic scales but the rich live which are caught up in them are often reduced to mere fatality statistics. Böhm knew he had found a story which would draw out the individuals from those clinical figures and alongside a dedicated team of collaborators, he worked with Ivan, a 17 year old soldier, on the telling of this story, focusing on a true singular real life incident which intimately illustrates the horrors of war. Watching Rock Paper Scissors is a profoundly immersive experience, from the handheld camera work within the confines of a bunker to the roaring jets overhead of a desolate slate-covered landscape. As part of our interview series with this year’s BAFTA nominees, DN sat down with Böhm to talk about the focus they put into the authenticity of the film, building two starkly different visual worlds and how a well rehearsed, rigorously prepared shoot opened up creative options.

[The following interview is also available to watch at the end of this article.]

Franz, please tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to be making Rock Paper Scissors.

I’m a filmmaker originally from Stuttgart in Germany and I moved to the UK when I was 18 and had the enormous pleasure and privilege of studying on the Directing Fiction MA at the NFTS. I directed Rock Paper Scissors, alongside an amazing team, as my graduation film. It tells the true story of a young Ukrainian civilian who is caught between the two frontlines in Putin’s current war in Ukraine and has to make some really horrible decisions in order to protect himself and his loved ones. It is based on a true story and very much inspired by the individual who personally experienced what is depicted.

How did you meet Ivan, whose incredible story you’re telling?

I met Ivan during his military training in the UK. He was here for five or six months before he was sent to the front line in Ukraine. We met and instantly connected. I asked him about a wound on his leg, which those who have seen the film will understand is a huge part of the film’s narrative. Firstly, I was so impressed by his age, he was 17 when we met and secondly, by his insane story which I think is representative of so many experiences, so many stories and so many situations that are going on in Ukraine at the moment.

This war is such an enormous subject but by focussing on one person’s story we are offered an intimate, relatable viewpoint of the atrocities. Had you set out looking for a story like this?

To be honest, not really. I was very open when it came to my graduation film. The war in Ukraine has affected not only me, but many of my crew members so we were quite excited when we got our hands on this specific story. I fully agree with what you just said, especially now, that we’re coming to the third anniversary of the start of the full-scale invasion, and bear in mind that the war actually started much earlier. It’s difficult because you read about 2000 soldiers dying in a particular city and I think some people develop this feeling that the war is just two armies fighting against each other. Civilians and everyday people just trying to get by tend to be forgotten in that conversation. Ivan, the main source for our film was very much a person like that and it’s all about chance. The film is really all about the sheer luck you need to have in order to survive. Even if you are brave or very smart and make sacrifices, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s worth anything.

As you mentioned this is a subject which has affected so many people. How did you know you were the right person to tell this story?

Well, firstly, Ivan and I had a lot of conversations and this story wasn’t just told by me but our whole team. Our production designer, Shivani Bhawnani and our DOP Hsien Yu Niu a.k.a Sunshine, joined the project very early on and were very much involved in the discussions about how to approach this story. Obviously where to film it, which is a whole different story, but most importantly the respect we needed to approach the story with.

We relied on support that we’ve received from the Ukrainian community in Ukraine, in the UK and in Europe which was invaluable when it came to discussing specific cultural details, dialogue and the language.

I’m also immensely grateful that Ivan got a screenwriting credit which is only right because we really wrote the script together and co-created the project. We relied on support that we’ve received from the Ukrainian community in Ukraine, in the UK and in Europe which was invaluable when it came to discussing specific cultural details, dialogue and the language. Authenticity was extremely important for us. Our costume designer, Eva Windahl, put immense effort into getting original military uniforms for both sides. Our art department, led by Shivani, did an amazing job in making sure that the inside of the bunker looked as authentic as possible. We were lucky as we had chosen our story quite early on and had time to look at a few locations and have in-depth discussions with members of our post-production team.

The film is very much a world of two halves. You’ve got the half in the bunker, which I know you shot in London, and then the other half, which was shot in Wales. How did you approach the visual difference between both locations?

For the bunker, we not only had Ivan’s testimony, but we did a lot of research. We were trying to create a very human space. If you put humans in a space like this, they will create their tiny home, they will make it cosy and try to make it as safe as possible. They are speaking to each other, trying to heal the wounded, trying to support the children which were all elements that we wanted to be seen in the bunker itself. In a way, we wanted this to feel like it could be pretty much anywhere.

Then the outside world represented the war. We wanted to have as few trees as possible. We wanted a post-industrial landscape full of destruction on a rough terrain, which is actually very similar to the landscape in Ukraine. And then something that Ivan kept telling us, and something that we’ve heard from many different sources, is the constant noise from the fighter jets that are flying overhead. You never really knew who they belonged to or what are were doing. Were they watching? Have they seen me? In that outside world, death should be just around the corner and every step could potentially be your last. And again, we wanted to be as close as possible to the lived experience of so many Ukrainians who had been in similar situations.

In that outside world, death should be just around the corner and every step could potentially be your last.

My heart was in my throat when he was running on the slate and the interaction with the soldiers was truly terrifying. Your cinematography in these moments really captures Ivan’s precarious POV.

It’s very easy now as a director to say it was all my idea but this really was all teamwork. We were shooting in a very remote area in Wales, no phone signal, no electricity and we had a team that was very invested in the story and made a lot of the film possible. We visited our locations so many times and I’ve rarely experienced a shoot that was so well prepared by the crew and where the team would present specific ideas to me. I like to run a very performance-centred set and having such an organised team makes it much easier for me to focus on working with the actors.

Was everything intricately shot-listed and mapped out before you got to set?

Absolutely and I’m also grateful also for the rehearsals we had. It was such an honour to work with such an invested cast. They were very invested in that film, very committed. Working with Oleksandr Rudynskyy, this absolutely stunning actor from Ukraine was one of the best collaborations I’ve ever had with an actor in my short career. The energy that he brought to the set and to his performance, alongside the other incredible actors, inspired everybody on set and contributed to a very positive team energy.

Oleksandr is a very experienced actor and as you said, you’re early on in your career, how was the relationship between you two especially considering you are very performance-led as a director?

If I’m not mistaken it was his first time in the UK. He came to this country, which most importantly is not at war at the moment, which for him was a very new feeling and he was so committed. This wasn’t just a funny little project we were shooting on the weekend, but a project and a story that hit so close to home. As I mentioned earlier, we wanted to make sure that we approached this whole collaboration with the right amount of respect and were well-prepared for everything.

I had a lot of respect for him being able to deliver such intense work whilst everything was still ongoing.

Oleksandr and I had, and still have, a fantastic relationship, he is a very committed actor and I’m grateful for the ideas that he brought with him to this project. He loves to get into the zone and is a no bullshit guy. Then, when he’s in the zone everything happens very fast. I had a lot of respect for him being able to deliver such intense work whilst everything was still ongoing. And obviously, that’s also something that we as a team were trying to be aware of as much as possible. At some points he just needed to call his loved ones at home to make sure that everything was okay. There were a lot of elements that were new experiences for us to implement into our filming process.

With everything so meticulously planned, did anything unexpected come up during the shoot?

We wanted to be as prepared as possible in order to allow ourselves a certain amount of creative freedom. There were definitely ideas left, right and centre which in the moment made more sense. But again, because of that great preparation and because of a very efficient set led by our first AD Will Mayhew we often had time and breaks where Oleksandr would pitch me something and there were definitely some dynamic developments on set, but it was also always really helpful to have a fully prepared plan that we could always go back to and ensured nothing was forgotten.

I believe that this story is universal in its core.

Congratulations on your BAFTA nomination, which alongside the accolade and celebration of great filmmaking, plays a role in keeping awareness on what is happening in that part of the world.

Absolutely, I believe that this story is universal in its core. It goes without saying that we are extremely grateful for this nomination, It is an immense honour and honestly, quite unexpected. I obviously knew that we qualified for it, but we didn’t really calculate or expect it. We had an amazing festival journey and I’m grateful to all the festivals that selected the film so far. I also believe that BAFTA have decided to put Ivan’s name into that nomination which is a fantastic decision. At the point of his death, he was 18, now he would have been 19. We are still in contact with some of his remaining family and they are, as you can imagine, beyond excited.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *