Louis Myles: from Television to Filmmaking thanks to the Kaiser docufilm
The Brazilian documentary Kaiser! The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football, directed by Louis Myles, was screened at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival last April.
LFM T.V. was present at Tribeca and we had the opportunity to interview the British director who delved into technical details about the above-mentioned documentary. This documentary represents Myles' debut as a diirector for a feature-length film since he previously served as a TV director and producer. Here is a summary of that interview.
What is the content of the documentary?
Myles reveals how he initially became involved as director of this project thanks to the conversation he had with two friends who had lived in Brazil for more than twenty years. They told him the incredible story about the double life of Carlos "Kaiser" Henrique Raposo who used tricks to be selected by soccer clubs in Brazil, however he never played a professional game of soccer in more than two decades.
What was the process implemented by the director for the filming of the documentary?
For three years, Myles traveled to Brazil to meet with soccer players, restaurant owners, police officers or people who knew the "Kaiser" in the eighties and nineties. Before going to Brazil, he watched several Brazilian television documentaries that served as a reference for making a film plan. Fortunately, there are television archives about football in Brazil and even the "Kaiser" had a television program where he interviewed Brazilian soccer players. While filming, Myles' project was one big question mark as many of the people he contacted did not want to be involved with the filming of the documentary and he had to use many tricks to convince them.
What advice could Myles present to our audience?
Well, according to him, sometimes filmmaking can be financially challenging. For a film, you have to look at it from several different aspects. You have to make a movie that you love and believe in it. Get an advice from experts and do your film project.
We are pleased to share the trailer of the docufilm Kaiser, The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football
