Three Awards for Queen Raquela
Queen Raquela has picked up three new awards, the film won the "Best International Narrative Feature" and the "Showtime Vanguard Award" at NewFest in New York and got a jury award in Cinema City in Serbia for "Special Contribution to Contemporary Film Expression". The film won the "Best Feature" at the Teddy Awards earlier this year, an award that directors such as Pedro Almodovar, Lucas Moodyson and Todd Haynes picked up before. Peter Cornsmith sat down with Olaf de Fleur during the Los Angeles Film Festival in Westwood.

Peter Cornsmith: Making a film about Transgender girls makes me want to know, are you gay?
Olaf de Fleur: What? What sort of a question is that?

PO: I'm not here to ask the polite questions Olaf, we go way back.
Olaf: Well, alright, I don't think I'm gay, but i'd like to keep my options open thank you very much.

PO: What a nice way to avoid the question.
Olaf: If you want to define people like "this and that", Peter, defining is a mind-made desire to catagorize everything, life changes every second, so how can you possible be something?

PO: Another good way to avoid the question.
Olaf: I'll walk away from this interview if you don't behave Peter.

PO: You'd never do that - have you been traveling?
Olaf: Yes, I was in New York, I visted the set of "Hungry Ghosts" that Michael Imperioli is directing, it's his first feature, my good friend Stefan Schaefer is among the producers.

PO: Are you like best friends now with Michael Imperioli after his role in the Higher Force?
Olaf: I wouldn't say that, but he's extremely kind and helpful.

PO: Queen Raquela has been getting very good reviews, happy about that I suppose?
Olaf: Of course. Althoug Variety did not review it until 3 weeks until after the Berlinale and did not write a review, more like "this is a film about Raquela, she's a Tgirl, this will be seen by gay people" and that's it - and LAweekly thought it was a documentary that felt staged, hihi.

PO: Well you can't be bitter a about few bumbs, it's a confusing genre you did there.
Olaf: Maybe, it is what it is.

PO: Why is Raquela not here at the festival.
Olaf: It's simple, many festivals find it expensive to invite her over, and then there is the bloody bs VISA work for Filipinos who want to travel. It irritates me that they have to go through with that. However, I encourage all festivals to invite Raquela instead of me whenever possible, since she has very limited options.

PO: What is your next project?
Olaf: I'm working on some things, nothing I can yap on about.

PO: Will you be traveling the next weeks, you're a long way from home?
Olaf: I don't know, I never decide.

PO: That must be nice, especially if I was your boyfriend, you never deciding, would drive me nuts.
Olaf: Well, yes, we want to know what "happens next", it's human nature, I can drive myself nuts with this "what's next" question. It's good just to try and try not to listen to that voice.

PO: You talk often about voices, do you have many characters inside your head?
Olaf: Yes, and you're one of them.

PO: I'm very real.
Olaf: You are.

PO: Did you meet George Lucas when you went to the Skywalker ranch?
Olaf: Well, I met Darius, who won "Best Documentary" at the LAFF. He's pretty famous.

PO: I have no idea who that is?
Olaf: Well, you will.

PO: Have you seen Indiana Jones?
Olaf: Not yet.

PO: Feeling artistic and arrogant as an art-house filmmaker?
Olaf: No, I was brought up by the VHS machine, and Indie was part of that, what sort of questions are you asking?

PO: Are you in love?
Olaf: Yes, always.

PO: Do you feel bitter after 13 years of filmmaking?
Olaf: It's common thing among filmmakers, all humans though, but filmmakers a little more, so yes, I'm bitter, but I try and push the reset button every morning.

PO: You seem very spiritual, and you do appear a little "lofty" sometimes, you're a little "know-it-all-type" aren't you?
Olaf: Yes, but I act like that because I'm insecure and bitter. When you're weak, you act the opposite.

PO: Wow, that was deep, wait let me write this down.
Olaf: There is no "y" in "bitter".

PO: Thanks.
Olaf: Well, thank you Peter.