Shirly Brener has a diverse career in film, television, theater and hosting in both her native Israel and in the USA. Born in Haifa, she did her first commercial at the age of 2. Later, she appeared in Israeli films such as Mr. Leon and Israeli Academy Award winner Mr. Baum. At the age of 15, Brener was accepted to the prestigious theatrical performing arts department of Beverly Hills High. Shirly booked her first breakthrough role opposite Henry Thomas in the film "Highjacking Hollywood". In the late 90's, Brener landed a contract to appear as a series regular on the popular Israeli nighttime drama- "Ramat Aviv Gimmel". This lead to her notable job as the host of MTV''s "Singled Out".
While in school, Brener managed to continue acting in films such as Lions Gate "The Gray Zone", directed by Tim Blake Nelson, opposite Mira Sorvino and Harvey Keitel, as well as "Blind Horizon" starring Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Faye Danway and Neve Campbell and "Shadow of Fear" starring James Spader and Aidan Quinn.
Shirly has booked a lead role apposite Armand Assante and Udo Kier in the film "Children of Wax", directed by Bulgaria's Ivan Nichev and being shot in Sofia.
She talked to SNA Editor Petia Bondokova.
Q: Shirly, could you tell us about the story of Children of Wax?
A: Yes, it is a psychological thriller situated in Berlin in current times. There are two gangs - there is a skinhead gang and a Turkish gang, and they are rivals. On the background of this there is a serial killer that is taking Turkish children and murdering them, and putting them in wax. It's a very dark movie, like Silence of The Lambs or like the Bone Collector.
Finally, what reveals itself throughout the movie is that the two gangs are fighting and the Turkish gang thinks that the German gang is the one killing the children. Because they are putting the children's bodies in wax and paining their faces in white, and in Berlin - and especially in East Berlin - the German race does not want to mingle with the darker-skin people. A lot of Nazi remnants from World War II.
So, the gangs start killing each other but it actually turns out that it's not the skinheads, and that there is a sick, crazy serial killer (played by Udo Kier). Armand Assante is playing the Turkish police commissioner. He is actually married to a German woman, so they have a sort of dichotomy of a relationship between a Turkish guy and a German woman while there are fights between the Turkish and the German gang.
There is a very complicated investigation, and finally they find this crazy man.
The story is very suspenseful, because till the end of the story you don't know who is killing the children. You're really suspicious of the German gang. There are a lot of action sequences, drugs, car chases, and then there is the big finale when everybody comes together, and the German gang and the Turkish gang actually end up liking each other.
It's an anti-gang, anti-racism, anti-drugs, anti-Nazism movie, and eventually the good people win.
We found out that the very famous German director Fritz Lang made a film many years ago that is now taught at film schools - the film "M". Children of Wax is kind of based on that film. It's not the same film, it's completely different but it has the same Turkish and German and the conflict between them. The fact that "M" is a very important in the history of movies and that the fact that this film kind of followed it might give Children of Wax a sort of a following before it even gets released.
Personally, I hope that it will go very well in the festival circles. Because I see it more as an art film as opposed to a big blockbuster. I mean, hopefully it will be a blockbuster, too, but the way it's shot will be more psychological, developing a story in a more artistic way. I think Ivan Nichev is a very artistic director.
Q: What is your part in the film?
A: I play the head of the German gang - a German girl named Greta who is a skinhead. (My head isn't shaved because actually skinhead girls don't shave their head, we've researched that.)
Greta is actually the only one from the skinhead gang that has more sensitivity. She doesn't want to kill other races. She was born into this life in a gang, but she would rather be somewhere else.
Q: How were you chosen for the role?
A: This producer - Menahem Golan - is an Israeli producer, and the company Nu Image is also Israeli, as they are familiar with my work. I was on a show in Israel for three years, like a soap opera but in the evening. I also hosted in Israel the MTV show Singled Out. So they know me from my work in Israel, and they have actually hired me before - this is my sixth film for Nu Image.
Q: What's the relationship between Greta and Armand Assante's character?
A: Well, the only time that we actually start cooperating is when the skinheads want to exonerate themselves from killing the children. We have a big meeting and explain to him that we are actually not the ones that are killing the children, that we might be hating them , that we might find their skin colour offensive but we don't kill the Turkish children. And we try to help capture the real killer.
Q: Besides the director, are there any Bulgarian members of the team?
A: Most of the crew is Bulgarian. I know that Ivan Nichev is a very famous Bulgarian director, and he has won a lot of awards and is also a professor teaching film at a university. This is what I read about him.
Almost everyone is Bulgarian, except for a couple of English people and the American actors.
Q: What would you say to other international filmmakers who might think about working in Bulgaria?
A: I think that below the line - which is the technical staff, all the lights people, the makeup crew - is a lot more affordable here.
Also, I think Sofia is beautiful. There are great locations here. Because you have a lot of old ruins and then you have a lot of modern buildings. The weather from what I see is sometimes sunny and sometimes winterish. And you have the mountain.
The key to shooting movies is to have all that scenery so you don't have to create it. Because when you start to create, it costs a lot of money. So when you have old ruined buildings, beautiful boulevards and brand new stuff, I think it is very lucrative for the movie companies to work here.
Additionally, the Bulgarian crew I found just as professional as anywhere else I've worked. I've worked in Los Angeles and Tel Aviv. They are just as professional - even more so because they try so hard. Because they want to make the movie great and they want to do the best job that they can.
I think it is very important for the economy of Sofia and Bulgaria - the fact that American, Israeli and German producers are coming in and helping out the work force. It is creating jobs and I think it is a very important thing to encourage more people in the world to come and do this here.
Q: Do you think that there is a chance for Bulgarian actors to have an international career?
A: I think everyone has a chance to make an international career. I believe that if you believe in yourself, and you work hard and have talent, you're making new connections and you fight hard for your place in this world you can make it anywhere you want. It is all a matter of experience and trying to do it.
Talent is talent. It doesn't matter where you are from in the world. I think everyone has the potential to become an international star.
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Shirly: “The Bulgarian crew I found just as professional as anywhere else I've worked.” Photo by Kameliya Atanasova (Sofia News Agency)
