SLFS Interview: Chris Grega – Director of WELDONKRIEG

The hobby of World War II re-enacting started in Weldon Spring, Mo., in the mid-1970s, and this documentary by RHINELAND director Chris Grega takes a look at the origins of the event — called Weldonkreig — and chronicles its triumphant return in 2014.

Chris Grega took the time to answer questions about his film for We Are Movie Geeks in advance of it’s screening at the St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase.

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman

We Are Movie Geeks: Tell me about your interest in WWII history before you started this project?

Chris Grega: Oh, I’ve pretty much been into history, and WW2 in particular, since I was a kid. Two of my uncles were in the army during the war, and my parents were born right at the beginning of the Great Depression. You could say that I grew up hearing about the war for most of my childhood, and I was very much influenced by the war films of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. When I first began filmmaking, one of my goals was to eventually make a WW2 film…which I realized in the form of the feature, RHINELAND!

WAMG: Did your interest in WWII inspire you to become a filmmaker or did your interest in film come first?

CG: I don’t think they were related, really. I came to be a filmmaker through a sort of roundabout path. My best friend Tom and I used to make “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” movies with a camcorder, but it wasn’t something that I took seriously. Tom worked on films with a high school acquaintance by the name of Eric Stanze (of Wicked Pixel Cinema) and always tried to get me involved with those projects, since they were “real” movies. I always balked, though, because of the time, effort, and money commitment involved. Tom was filming a documentary in Minnesota in August of 1999, at a summer camp that he was working at. One day while out shooting, he was being pulled on a trailer by a truck, and when the truck stopped and Tom went to hop off, he tripped, and instead of catching himself, he cradled the camera in his arms, and hit his head on the curb. He never woke up, and two days later he was pronounced brain dead and taken off of life support. By September of 1999, I threw myself completely into the world of filmmaking with my first short film, Frank Wang: The Vengeance (a kung-fu spoof) and have never looked back since. When I started, pretty much the only things that I knew about filmmaking were that action meant “go,” cut meant “stop,” and that it was probably a good idea to keep track of the number of takes that you did. That was about it.

WAMG: I assume you met these guys when you were working on RHINELAND project. When and how did you get the idea to make a documentary about their WWII reenactments?

CG: Yes, I was friends on FaceBook with a number of the guys (re-enactors) who worked on RHINELAND. I guess sometime in late 2013, I keep seeing all of these posts about something called “Weldonkrieg” and I eventually asked them what it was. When I found out, I thought “Man, somebody ought to make a documentary about that!”  Well, it turns out that somebody was me!

WAMG: Was everyone cooperative in the making of your film?

CG: By and large, yes. Some people were a little bit leery at first, I think because they didn’t want this to be some type of “look at these weirdo Nazis” exploitation movie. I’m pretty certain that the fact that I made RHINELAND with some of these folks, coupled with the fact that I have a lot of knowledge of this period in history, is what allowed me to make this documentary. I think that if I was a total unknown factor, I would not have been granted the access that I was.

WAMG: Have the reenactors seen your film, and if so, what did they think of the way they’re portrayed in it?

CG: No-one has seen it yet…so I hope that they’re happy with it!

WAMG: Have you heard of anyone getting injured at one of these reenactments?

CG: Apart from minor injuries (strains, sprains, etc) no. Which is kind of a minor miracle, I guess, considering all of the weapons and heavy equipment that is involved with something like this. Now, I can’t speak for other re-enactments, but the people who put on Weldonkrieg take safety VERY seriously, and are very thorough in keeping people safe.

WAMG: Did the reenactors get to choose which side they are on? Is it harder to find guys to play Germans? How do people handle playing “the bad guys”- or is it perhaps more fun?

CG: When someone gets into re-enacting, they usually join a “unit” of re-enactors that is already in existence. For instance, the two units that put on this particular event are the 38th Jagers (Germans) and the 84th Railsplitters (Americans). I think each unit has around 30 or so members as part of their group. I would guess there were 8-10 different units at Weldonkrieg, split roughly evenly between Axis and Allied. Generally, from what I understand, people don’t “freelance” so much, as in, run out and buy a bunch of WW2 gear and start playing war. It’s a pretty expensive hobby to get into, so it’s not for people that don’t have a little disposable income. I think more people tend to portray Americans over Germans, but since you can’t have a war without two sides, there are a fair amount of people who do the German side of things. At an event like Weldonkrieg, which is closed to the public, it’s not really a “good guys vs bad guys” type of situation, but more like an actual military war game. Meaning, it’s all about using the tactics of the time period to out-maneuver the enemy and secure certain objectives. As far as why people may pick Germans over Americans…well, the German uniforms are snappier-looking, for one thing!

WAMG: Are they recreating a specific battle? Is the outcome of the battle supposed to follow history or is it all improvised?

CG: In open to the public events, there is a script to follow, in which the Axis side always loses, eventually (as it should) Sometimes they recreate specific battles, sometimes they don’t. In a private event (know as a tactical) there are a number of prepared scenarios, such as “capture the airfield” or “defend the village” Each side will have objectives that they have to capture or defend, and it’s up to the commanders of each side to come up with a specific plan to win the scenario. Sometimes things go according to plan, other times the plan falls apart right after the shooting starts! Generally speaking, tacticals are preferred by the re-enactors since they are more immersive and allow you to experience a version of “combat.”

WAMG: Did some guys take it more seriously than others? Did you sense any tension during this reenactment?

CG: It’s just like any other hobby, really. Some people are super-serious, some people are laid back. Personally, having gone out to Weldonkrieg twice, I didn’t see any real conflicts or tensions, apart from the occasional “You didn’t take my hit!” arguments (you didn’t die when I shot you!) and even those were fairly rare.

WAMG: This is your first feature documentary. What were unexpected challenges you encountered with it compared to your experience making narrative film?

CG: In some ways, it was a lot easier than making a narrative, especially the shooting part of the film. I was definitely surprised how much more relaxed I was shooting this film compared to RHINELAND, which was incredibly stressful! The fact that I had no control over events whatsoever was very freeing, as opposed to being responsible for almost every element involved in the making of a narrative feature. The real difficulty came in post. With a narrative, even if a number of things change during production, you have a pretty good idea how things are going to turn out, and if you’re missing something story-wise, you have a pretty good idea what it is and how to go back and get it. With a documentary, you’re not even sure if you have a story until it starts going together in editing! It took me a solid six months of stop-and-start before I could even begin assembling the film. There are so many ways that you can tell a documentary story that you can never be sure that you’ve told it in the best way possible. I’ll find myself looking at other documentaries and think, “Damn, why didn’t I think to do that?”

WAMG: Tell me about your next project?

CG: The next project that I’m working on is a mockumentary called POST. It’s actually my second mockumentary, the first being GAME OF THE YEAR which I shot in 2008. POST is the story of a failed filmmaker who decides to complete the feature that he abandoned a decade before, spurred on by the recent death of a friend and actor in that film. A lot of this is based on real experiences and people that I’ve worked with. It’s a comedy-drama. Besides that, I’m working on a couple of screenplays, both based on true events. One is about a WW2 fighter pilot from Missouri, and the other story is based on a series of killings in a small town, also in Missouri. It seems like whatever I do, I can’t get away from either Missouri or WW2!