Nick Broomfield : Hello, I'd love to hear your comments on the film and to answer any questions that you might have.
Mike : Not a question -- just a 'thanks' for a very interesting programme :)
Nick Broomfield : Well thank you, Mike.
ray sir : Nick, you make fantastic films which really make you stop and think about things. For His Big White Self can you tell us a bit about your feelings about going back there and seeing your old informants as it were?
Nick Broomfield : I've always kept a very close relationship with most of the people in my films. And because I think that South Africa is such an amazing country, that's undergone such a massive change in the last 15 years, I was fascinated to go back and see how black majority rule had affected those people who were supportive of apartheid.
Za : What does Nick think about the South Africa of today compared to 1991?
Nick Broomfield : I think SA is a much happier place than it was in 1991. You see people in cafes and it's much more cosmopolitan than it was before. In a town like Ventersdorp, only the whites would be in the centre of town and the blacks had to stay in the townships, whereas now there is an African market there and it feels like you're in Africa. People have a feeling that it's their country as opposed to feeling like slaves. Some of the whites don't look quite so happy.
Andrew/Kent : Hi, How difficult is it to make a documentary when the main character seems so opposed to the project?
Nick Broomfield : It's difficult but I think the difficulties make it more interesting. As a film-maker you have to find a way of telling your story and making those difficulties part of the story that will enrich it.
Titan : Did you like any of your interviewees?
Nick Broomfield : Yes I liked JP, the driver, and I like Anita. I liked the people in the township that I interviewed. I think that SA is a remarkable country in that you would expect there to have been a civil war and a lot more bloodshed than there was. So there has really been a lot of understanding and millions of people, especially the blacks in the townships, have been remarkably generous.
Polly : Hiya Nick, I loved your Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer documentary, I found it really fascinating. I was going to ask, what do you think your directing style is? Do you like showing things the way it is, or you prefer to make us see them the way you see them? Keep filming!
Nick Broomfield : I suppose the way I see things is the way I think things are, so they're kind of the same thing. Making a film is like a voyage of discovery to finding the truth that you believe in.
Kelly : Do you think that documentary has the power to create social change? Or has become much more entertainment based in our culture today?
Nick Broomfield : I don't think the two things are mutually exclusive. I think documentaries can promote change through understanding. I think films like Supersize Me probably encouraged people to think more carefully about their diet and I think Jamie Oliver's series on schools dinners really had a big influence in changing what school kids ate. I think it's important that films are entertaining as well.
gerard Mahoney : Nick, were you afraid you Eugene when you first met him?
Nick Broomfield : I think I was nervous, gerard. And uncertain as to what was going to happen because Eugene is a terrible bully and has an unpredictable temper.
Puppies : Why did you feel the need to revisit this story, did you discover anything new about the people or the situation in South Africa?
Nick Broomfield : SA has probably gone through the greatest change of any country in the last 15 years. So it's very much affected the lives of the people living in the country and their attitudes and their hopes and their ability to adapt to the changes. Some people have adapted better than others. So I think that's really what the film is about, which I found fascinating.
g-man : how do you maintain a distance between you and your subjects? How are you able to maintain a dialogue with people who hold fundamentally repulsive ideas?
Nick Broomfield : I think that human nature is very complicated. Very few people are all bad. The important thing is to understand why they hold the views they hold and, as a film-maker, not to judge them too quickly. Change is all about education and I think that comes through understanding.
Ian McLean Nick... was wondering.. What question of Eugene would you most like answered ?
Nick Broomfield : Interesting question... I think it would be interesting to find out his vision of the future and to see if his understanding of his fellow South Africans has improved at all since he shared his prison cell with 3 black prisoners.
Mrs Jones : Hello Nick I'm so glad you are here to chat to us again (I was here for the Aileen webchat you did). My question to you is actually about one of your other films Hollywood Madam... I just wondered if you knew, or if you had caught up with Heidi Fleiss to see what she is doing now and if she has gone back to her old ways?
Nick Broomfield : I have kept in touch with Heidi Fleiss. She is somebody who I regard as a friend and her father and Jessie her brother... I think , unfortunately, Heidi has found it hard to make a career that isn't somehow caught up in the role of prostitution and I think her life has been quite tough recently. But she is a very vulnerable and a very special person and I hope she finds a way through.
LeslyHardy : What are you working on at the moment? Can we expect anything else from you in the next year or so?
Nick Broomfield : I'm just finishing a film about illegal Chinese immigrants in the UK. It's a feature film using Chinese illegals and deals with the Morecambe Bay incident. It will be coming out in the late spring, I hope.
Tracylee : Do you think Eugene has changed at all, does he seem to have mellowed after his time in prison etc.?
Nick Broomfield : I don't think that Eugene's fundamental attitudes have changed at all but the situation around Eugene and the power that he can muster and get away with have changed. So I don't think that he is the bully or the threat that he used to be. I don't think he would dare plant bombs anymore.
Adam : hi, do you know what if Eugene has seen your latest film?
Nick Broomfield : As far as I know he's not seen it. It hasn't shown in SA yet.
James : Did Eugene know it was you at the end, have you had any feedback from him or any of his people? What do you think he thinks of you?
Nick Broomfield : I've had no feedback from Eugene at all, except that he tried to persuade the poetry society people not to sell me the footage of him reading the poetry because he thought it was me who had interviewed him.
Sandy : Nick, if you could skirt all the logistical challenges, and had total freedom who would you most like to meet, follow and film?
Nick Broomfield : There are various films that I've wanted to do that I haven't done. I wanted to do a film about Brenda Fassie and also about Princess Diana. I think I might try and do a film about Dick Cheney.
Seadog : Nick Broomfield : does Dick Cheney... classic!
Conor : Really enjoyed it, congratulations. Is your preference for appearing in your documentaries something that developed organically or was it something you planned from preproduction?
Nick Broomfield : It's something that happened very organically out of a problem I had on a film that I made in 1988 called Driving Me Crazy. There's a book about this film and others called Documenting Icons where I go into my decision to appear in the films in more detail.
Mari : Hi, your films are always quite emotionally charged, I found tonight’s and the Aileen Wuornos film emotionally draining to watch, how do you decide which projects to take up?
Nick Broomfield : I think it's important to do films that you believe in because you are working on them for a long time so they are a passionate undertaking. When you get to know people past a certain point things are very emotionally charged.
Lucie : Have you ever thought of making other sequels to your documentaries, like maybe a follow up of 'Chicken Ranch'?
Nick Broomfield : I did interview a couple of the girls from Chicken Ranch, which I included in the DVD extras in my box set that came out last year, but I don't think I could face doing an update on Chicken Ranch. Would you like me to?
DW Yes ;-)
KP Yes! Yes! Please! You're the Daddy! Chicken ranch 2!
harry macdonald indeed we would!
John Chicken Ranch...that's Nick Park isn't it?
Nick Broomfield : Different chicken.
Kojo : Hi Nick. I loved the 2Pac and Biggie Documentary. Brilliant. Are you still following up with the proceedings with investigating their deaths. And do you think your documentary made any difference
Nick Broomfield : Yes, I think it did make a difference because we found one of the main witnesses who identified the shooter of Biggie Smalls. I was asked to appear as a witness last summer at the trial and will probably do so when the case comes up again on appeal this summer.
Dino : Q. I was wondering what were the worst images or events that you witnessed while you were in South Africa filming your documentary the first time around?
Linda : Nick - I was amazed at what you got away with! Eugene is a bully as you said. I found myself on the edge of the chair waiting for him to shout at me! Congratulations on a brilliant piece of work!!
Nick Broomfield : I think, looking at the conditions of people in the townships and the segregation as well as the poverty, which still exists to some extent, all over SA, is very extreme. Things are changing quite slowly but still a lot of very bright black kids from the townships can't get decent schools and because of that they can't get good jobs.
Brian : So where is Terreblanche now and what's he doing? Can you give us an update?
Nick Broomfield : I think Terreblanche is back running the AWB. He recently had a rally in which he said that the Africana people had lost their country and needed to try and regain it. So I think he is doing the same kind of thing that he was involved in before but without the help of the army and the police force and unable to resort to violence because of the fear that he would go back to prison for a long time.
Chat Ed : Our half hour with Nick is now up ladies and gents. Thank you for coming and a huge thank you to Nick fo staying up late to chat to us…
Nick Broomfield : I've really enjoyed chatting to you. If you want further information you can go to my website www.nickbroomfield.com or several of the films are available on DVD and there's a book about my work by Jason Wood called Documenting Icons. I’m so pleased you managed to see the film and let's stay in touch. Thank you, Nick.
Nick Broomfield leaves the room.
