Armin Siljkovic is a Director and screenwriter who is gearing up to make his feature directorial debut with his script titled “Death Waits For No Man.” The movie is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2017 and tells the darkly entertaining tale of a man that seduces a woman and convinces her to kill her husband.
Armin is a Boasian refugee-turned-filmmaker who recently discussed his experiences branching out into the movie industry via an exclusive interview.
Becoming a professional filmmaker
Meagan Meehan (MM): What originally inspired you to become a filmmaker even though you claim that you didn’t initially envision this career for yourself?
Armin Siljkovic (AS): A general love for Movies when I was growing up inspired me. There wasn’t one “big” moment where I had an epiphany that I was going to be a professional filmmaker. It was a slow and steady love that developed over the years ending in me saying “this is what I want to do with my life.” I hope this film will be my “big break.” I have made a lot of short films, but you don’t build a career on short films, you use them to learn how to make movies, to experiment, etc.
MM: How did you hatch the script for “Death Waits for No Man”?
AS: I wanted to tell a story with characters who appear to be normal, but are anything but normal. Where we get to dig deeper and discover what goes on beneath.
And, also, because I love film noir, and film noir is all about that! Noir thrillers are my favorite genre. Great film noirs challenge their audience because they show the unpleasant, darker side of seemingly “normal” people.
MM: Do any specific writers inspire you – particularly noir authors?
AS: Orson Welles, for sure! People mostly think of him as a great director, but I think he was a great writer as well who worked on many projects where he received no credit but had a huge influence.
Cast, characters, and advice
MM: Can you tell us about the cast of “Death Waits For No Man”?
AS: We had terrific actors, especially since it wasn’t an easy film to do from an actor’s point of view — we had very limited time to shoot, there was a lot of dialogue, and we had a lot of tense and challenging scenes. All of the cast did a great job; they brought their best every single day.
MM: What do you find most interesting about the plot and characters that you created in "Death Waits For No Man" and were they loosely inspired by anyone?
AS: I think the most interesting thing about the characters is that none are whom they appear to be on the surface, which is what drives a lot of the plot as well.
MM: You came to America as a refugee from Bosnia so how, if at all, did that experience shape you as a filmmaker?
AS: Actually, I first went to Denmark as a refugee where I grew up, then later I came to America. The experience certainly shapes you as a person, it gives you a different perspective on things, and I'm sure that carries over into filmmaking as it does in normal life.
MM: Career wise, where do you see yourself in ten years and what sort of advice would you give to someone who is aspiring to enter the industry, especially as a filmmaker?
AS: Hopefully in a decade I will have made a few more films and established myself as a filmmaker. I've only done one film so far, so I don’t know how much advice I can give someone. I would tell aspiring filmmakers to learn how to edit; not just using the editing software, but learning the fundamentals and the basic theory behind film editing. Knowing how to edit and the process of editing a film will make you a better director and filmmaker in general.
