Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Daphné Baiwir, Director of King On Screen

Taking on the King is no easy feat, his work is complex and has a dedicated fanbase around the world. Daphne Baiwir is no green thumb when it comes to the literary and adaptation interpretations of Stephen King’s work. This week the documentary filmmaker will premiere her film on the films that have evolved out of the world of Stephen King. The documentary encapsulates the perspectives of filmmakers and how Stephen King has influenced their filmmaking when it comes to brining his words to the big screen. This week, Cat had the opportunity to speak with Daphne about the documentary and the journey into the film. Continue reading to find out more!

Your documentary is premiering at Fantastic Fest this weekend. Congratulations!

Thanks!

Very exciting. How does it feel to have the opportunity to celebrate one of the most celebrated names in horror at one of the biggest genre festivals in the world?

Yeah. It is so amazing. I didn't expect that. We had so many great people in the documentary and then we had this great chance to broadcast to an audience that really love genre for sure. And it's something that is so great because it was truly a documentary that was made for people who love Stephen King as much as we do. So it's stressful because you always like, okay, I hope the fans will love the movie because we put a lot of energy into it and we really wanted to do something that would speak to them. So, yeah, we really hope that they will love it. So yeah, that's amazing. And a little bit stressful.

Directing a documentary on one of the biggest horror influences in the world is no big feat. Can you describe your journey into the project and how your experiences were interviewing some of the biggest filmmakers?

Well, actually we started working on this project like two years ago. I've seen a couple of documentary that were about Stephen King, but most of the time they didn't speak about the movies that were made or very briefly. And I thought, well, that could be interesting to have the director's point of view because a lot of people know Stephen King because of the film, actually because of the movies. And there are people who haven't read the Stephen King book, and they know Stephen King because of the shining, the green miles, et cetera. So we thought, okay, that could be nice to go and see what's the director's point of view about that. And so we sent like ten emails to the directors. We tried with a few directors just to see if it could be a thing, if it could be possible, if they would want to talk about their webcam, actually. And we got like in two days, we had like ten years.

We were like hoping like hell that they will say, okay, yes, we are in. And then we had the great chance to miss most of them. Some of them we couldn't because of covid. So we had to do the interviews remotely. But we had a great chance to meet most of them in Los Angeles or New York. And it was so great because they are giants. You know, I've watched The Stand growing up, I watched the Green Mile. I watched all those incredible movies and then you are like facing those great directors asking questions and they are taking the time to talk a lot about the process and about how they think, how they worked and it's so thrilling actually. So yeah, it's so great. And then we had to shoot this fictional introduction and yet it's been just a crazy adventure since the beginning.

I absolutely adored the film. I was watching it in my room and I was like yelling at the TV. I was squealing and my grandma was asking me what the hell are watching? And I was like, oh, it's Stephen King documentary. Because we all have those moments where Stephen King comes into our life. Like for me it was Stand by Me in primary school and then it was The Green Mile because my dad loved that movie so much. My mum reads Stephen King. So what was your moment that Stephen King came into your life?

Well, actually the first Stephen King movie I saw was The Green Mile and it's been my favorite film since then. I mean The Green Mile is like a classic for me. I've seen this movie so many times and each time it's the only movie where I actually cry watching it every time it works every time. It's crazy. And the very first time that I met that I discovered Stephen King it was with The Shining actually I was ten and my father I want to read something very scary. I want to read something that will give me nightmares and he told me, okay, then you should read The Shining. And the funny thing is that at that time my father worked night shift in a hotel. It was kind of like life meeting fiction kind of situation and we would be in the hotel at night and it was like leaving The Shining somehow.

We even spent one Christmas there and the hotel was closed for the season, so really totally in The Shining. That's really the first time come true I had with Stephen King. And then after that I read all of his books and saw all of the movies and it's incredible to see how many great movies there are because some of them are a little bit more discreet but they are very good adaptation. More than we can think of.

King has a huge devoted fan base and it's always going to be near impossible to please everyone. But for you personally, what elements make for an effective adaptation of Kings work?

I think it's different things because it's true that you have to be faithful to the book. I mean, when the book is working, why would you change it? But at the same time, I think The Mist is a great adaptation of Steven King. And I mean, so powerful. The ending is like just breathtaking. I really thought, wow, that's brilliant. That's a brilliant ending. When I saw the movie, I was like, that's the kind of ending you will never forget. I think that's brilliant in that way because you will always remember the ending of the myth. It's difficult because at the same time, being faithful to the book is like something that you really have to do. But sometimes in the case of the Mist, for example, I think from Darabont really brought something that really helped the story to be like one of the stories you will always remember for the rest of your life because of that particular ending.

I think it's to respect the energy of the work and more than the different elements, like little elements or somehow well, it's difficult to explain, really, because obviously there are co founders that will say we should never change one bit to the book. But sometimes I think since the filmmaker has to put a little bit of himself in the process and you can do a film as you are writing a story, it's impossible in some way. So I think it's a little bit balanced between respecting the material and at the same time being able to explore sometimes different possibilities.

Thank you so much for your time and good luck this weekend. I'm excited for everybody to see the film finally. It's absolutely brilliant, and thank you for making it.

Thank you so much, very much for your time and for having me.