Interview: Borderline Director Johannes Vang On Political Satire, Mosquitoes, & Fishing

Borderline is a 12-minute long short film where a Norwegian customs officer finds a Finnish fisherman trespassing into international waters at the Three-Country Cairn. The customs officer tries to tell the fisherman that he’s not allowed to fish there but due to their language divide, they are unable to communicate, thereby leading to loads of confusion. A Swedish woman, who is later revealed to be of Northern Sami descent, stumbles into this conflict and is forced to be the translator for the customs officer and the fisherman. As tensions rise, it becomes evident that all three of them are not who they claim to be. Whether or not they’ll be able to resolve their dispute is what forms the crux of the story. I sat down with director Johannes Vang for a virtual conversation about his short film, political satires, and that fish!

Film Fugitives: Borderline can be enjoyed for its dry comedy and it can also be analyzed in terms of its political undertones. What was the process of achieving that balance?

Johannes Vang: Funnily enough, we had no specific thoughts on any political undertones. We set out with a goal to make a funny film, and surprisingly, a large part of our audience has interpreted the themes of the film in different ways; either laws, borders, or social prejudices. We did not intend to achieve a specific undertone and left it open to the audiences. 

FF: There are bugs in almost every frame of the shot and I assume it’s not something that you expected? But you incorporated it into some of the scenes. Was that something you decided while shooting or in post?

Johannes: The inland on the Scandinavian peninsula is famously known for being infested with mosquitoes. Although we did not write it into the script, we expected to run into them. Naturally, it became a part of the story, and I think Øystein (the fisherman) handled them in a really great comedic way. And our sound designer meticulously built a soundscape which highlighted the presence of the mosquitoes in the area surrounding the characters throughout the whole film.

FF: The way you introduced each character and then delivered the plot twists centered around them were perfect. How did you ensure that each character was fully-formed before the plot twist came? 

Johannes: We set out to give each character their own spotlight and set their tone, while also being careful not to reveal too much right away. We wanted to give small hints about all of them throughout the film without making it too obvious. I think that is why we managed to get such a good payoff when the plot twists were revealed. 

FF: The fish; was it caught from the river? Was it from the shop? Was it real? And if it was real, what happened to it after its screentime was over? Did the cast and crew eat it?

Johannes: Funnily enough, we were going to buy a fish, but the day before the first shoot day, our actor, Sverre Porsanger, actually managed to catch that fish in a river close to the cabin we stayed at. So, we saved that money! There is no food waste in our production, and the fish was cooked on a bonfire for lunch the same day. 

FF: You address the changing weather of that border area, which is quite evident as it’s cloudy during the first 2 acts & then in the 3rd act, it’s sunny. Was that planned or did you adapt to the change in weather?

Johannes: The northern part of our countries are known for their ever-changing weather, and you clearly see the difference between our two shoot days. But we had this in mind when writing and created some sample lines we’d use in case of sudden weather changes.

FF: What was it like fine-tuning the tone and comedic timing of your cast?

Johannes: We wrote the script with our actors in mind, and they delivered even better than I could have ever imagined. It was quite easy to do that with such talented actors. Also, I am a very flexible director who is not married to the script, so that gave us opportunities to explore the characters on set. 

FF: To be honest, if the conflict between the three of them went on for hours, I’d have watched it. But what kind of restraint did you have to show to narrow it down to those 10 minutes?

Johannes: The first cut was longer, but as all creatives have heard, you have to kill your darlings. Our talented editor, Jonathan Vang, has previously admitted that, as he hasn’t been involved in the writing process, the darlings in our scripts are not as dear to him as they are to the writer, Wilhelmina Silba, and me. So he sees himself as the judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to what works in the edit and what doesn’t. And what can I say? He is a really talented editor who really excels in creating a flow that boosts the film, even though the darling-graveyard is big.

FF: Do you think that with each passing year, it’s becoming more and more difficult to make political comedies or political satires? And why?

Johannes: I am thankful that we live in a part of the world where political comedies and satires are not just allowed, but rather encouraged. So, I see no problem in making whatever I want. I guess I should be grateful for that. 

FF: I suppose the only person who goes uncredited is the voice on the radio? Who was that?

Johannes: The radio team consists of me, our cinematographer, and the focus puller, with each of us on a walkie about 100m from our sound recordist. We meant for it to be a placeholder, but in the sound design, we thought it was too funny to replace, and loving our team, it felt right to keep that cameo in the film.

FF: What do you imagine happened to the thief, the fisherman, and the customs officer after they went their separate ways? What did they learn from this encounter?

Johannes: I don’t want to delve too much into the details of their future, as I think it is best to leave it up to the audience to imagine what happened next. But one thing is sure, the fisherman kept on fishing.