On Tuesday October 25th, the Cambridge Film Festival screened a documentary called IN THE SAME BOAT, as part of the Catalan strand programmed by Ramon Lamarca. Rudy Gnutti’s documentary is an analysis of the effects of globalisation on the world. This film tackles some of the biggest economic and social issues of our time. Guided by some of the world’s leading figures, from Zygmunt Bauman to José Mujica, IN THE SAME BOAT discovers the views of people around the world on economy, work, environment and happiness. The stunning cinematography helps the viewer dive in and understand the modern world we live in. After the screening, Rudy Gnutti sits down with Ramon to take questions from the audience.

** This interview has been translated**

Ramon Lamarca: First of all I would like to say that it was a very inspiring film. What inspired you to make a film about globalisation?

Rudy Gnutti (via translator): I wanted not only to form an economical point of view, but a very personal point of view as well, because I cannot live without working. I am from Italy, although I live in Barcelona. In ltalian society, the type of work you do is extremely important because you have this prefix that is put before your name; for example “engineer” or “doctor”, which defines you. And I feel that the world is going to change so much that it is going to revolve around work. Usually people feel comfortable being defined by their profession. My parents know, my friends know and I know myself that this is what I do. So there is a double problem here: it’s not only about “what are we going to do when we don’t work?” but how that’s going to affect who we are and what we think about ourselves. As a musician I ask myself all the time, “when can I call myself a working musician – when people are paying me or for my music, or when I know a lot of music?”. I always found it very difficult to find my place as a worker. So now what I think is that it is not only a personal problem, but a general problem in the world.

Audience: How does this film inspire the younger generation? How can the younger generation make changes to the world?

RG: I think that you are already doing it. For example, my children don’t know the brands of cars as I did at their age, and they really don’t think about buying property one day. So the problem with work is that people know that wages are low, so they prefer to spend money on things like concerts or travelling. I don’t agree with Zygmunt Bauman, who says that in the film first you need the cultural change to make the change into the structural. I think that both things can happen at the same time. So you are adapting without other people’s point of view being enforced on you.

[Rudy’s translator asks him a question]

Rudy’s Translator: What I asked Rudy is that, young people are not interested in property or brands but eventually they will need to buy a property, so I’m curious myself.

RG: That very high consumer culture we’ve had until now is no longer sustainable, so people are accepting this and changing. Some companies car share; I think it’s going to happen with living as well, and there is going to be a shared economy and a better distribution of wealth, created by technology which is going to help people adapt to the new system. Many people say that we need a revolution, but I think of young people now for instance, who buy less cars and less houses, they are already starting the revolution. For the first time in history, the idea of distributing wealth is being prompted not only from the bottom, but also the top class.

Many people say that we need a revolution, but I think young people now […] are already starting the revolution.

Audience: What advice would you give to aspiring documentary filmmakers who want to make a change in this money oriented world?

RG: The suggestion I would make to such filmmakers is to try to seek important candidates for their documentary, because once you have the most powerful candidates it’s going to be easy to get others. I find a problem with many documentaries is that they talk about similar problems, and I think it’s important to have a more global vision. An example would be a documentary about technology, which would be interesting, but at the same time you have to think about the factors that the economy plays, and how you can avoid following the current economic structure. Just tackle your subjects globally.

Audience: What other subjects or films interest you?

RG: I’m now interested in making fictional films.

Audience: What was your approach on cinematography?

RG: The approach was old school classical interview style, so the film would be easier to understand. I thought it would be best to stick with that classic structure. I wanted the message of the documentary to be impactful to the audience: not just to offer a rational explanation but also to hit the audience emotionally.

Audience: Was there anything you had to compromise as a filmmaker?

RG: No, luckily I didn’t need to compromise because I had a producer who was very much in agreement with me and my crew. The producer pushed me towards the political side for the documentary.

Audience: What was the most important lesson you learned while making this film?

RG: What I found was that there is no good or bad – there is no plot by the powerful to oppress – but it’s just a matter of lack of organisation, which becomes much more dangerous. For instance, if the 1% of the population hadn’t been silly enough to destroy the middle class, this would not be happening!

 Images © David Riley 2017