Neil Hollander Interview

Today we have the pleasure to interview Neil Hollander - world-renowned writer, film producer and director who has been at the forefront of independent film directing and writing for two decades.

At the end of the seventies you were a member of the group ‘New square’ together with other successful directors and designers. What was the significance of that membership?

- The new square has affirmed a strip. This happened during the time of the weekly magazine ‘Flight’. If it wasn’t for ‘Flight’, there wouldn’t be New square neither. Today they say that the ‘Flight’ was designed for children of officers and politicians, so that they have a place to work. There were a lot of children of the generals and politicians in ‘Flight’, but I don’t want to think of that so negatively. ‘Flight’ has provided refuge and a chance for the young generation, and make it possible for us in ‘New square’ to start believing in ourselves. The parents have previously not allowing the children to read strips, and suddenly an intellectual shift happened and the strip has become a medium for adults.

You have been publishing your illustrated political columns in the local newspaper for years. How were these cartoons created?

- The editor of the local newspaper called me into his office and gave me the second page, the most elite place in newspapers, for my illustrated columns. That was a big thing for me. Columns were political ‘par excellence’, but no one has ever interfered in what I was doing. I worked instinctively, I didn’t bother myself with politics. I'm not a revolutionist and none of my caricatures has ever been prohibited. Not because I'm not brave enough, but because it is pointless. I avoided the cynicism and insisted on political correctness. I was writing for the readers and I just wanted to cheer them up. I never gave them false hopes or wrote "Kill the wife's mother!" or "Piss on Sanader!" That's nonsense, that’s what the dilettantes do. I was giving them a little hope and advised them to work for their interests. I taught them that we must strive for freedom and solve our own problems.

At that time you became the editor of the TV show "The colored light"?

- The TV editor has given me this chance. In this program I propagated the new media - cartoons, comics and video clips. The French audience has seen Duran Duran’s music video in my show for the first time. The show was so popular that in 1988 I was declared the most popular TV face.

More for info connect with Hollander at his EDUCAUSE profile.