BY JOSH TIMEWELL

The following is part-one of a series of interviews with filmmakers who are featured in the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, which takes place from 9-16 July, 2017.

Nico Untitled is a 10 minute, short documentary written and directed by Lukasz Termer. It is described by Lukasz as an exploration of the reasons and motivation behind the passion and obsession of a street artist, Nico.

Working from Sydney, Lukasz has held a number of positions in the media industry, including at Channel Nine and Channel Seven.

I got in touch with Lukasz with a few questions, to gain a better understanding of his background and rationale behind his creation.

What was your motivation to put together this film?

“I was at a point in my life when my four year sabbatical (starting a family) from filmmaking was coming to an end, and I was itching to make something new. I met Nico in October 2015, when my wife and I commissioned him to paint a rather oppressive looking wall of the garden side of our “shitty” house. I found Nico to be a very interesting character and we ended up taking a lot during the process. 24h later I asked him to be ‘documented’ and he agreed.”

What has been your favourite/most rewarding aspects of the making of Nico Untitled?

“I’m not sure if it was Stockholm Syndrome or a genuine sense of kinship, but by far the most rewarding part of this process was becoming friends with Nico.”

What is on your radar for the next few years of your career?

“My future plans are very ambitious, the main hindrance is money and potential WW3. My two current low budget projects are:  a documentary on civil disobedience and co writing a short film drama.”

Nico Untitled is showing July 9, 11am at Howler, Melbourne.

For more information and tickets, visit www.mdff.org.au

*featured image credit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukasz-termer-29502381/