Jujube/2019-iffr-takeaway
How to translate autobiographical materials into empathic matters?
What is image capable of doing in conveying that intention and, actually, creating empathy?
From the movies, I see different ways in which images carry weight:
- The images ARE the narrative. (The scene when the word messenger faces gun point in Pájaros de Verano.)
- The images visualise a metaphor. (The woman catching water from all directions with buckets in Pattaki.)
- The images become part of a well-written essay. (Above Us Only Sky)
I also find sound indispensable — sometimes more important than what I see.
- The sounds represent a place. In Tutto l'oro Che C'è, the wild track is THE track.
- The sounds create silence. (Forest in Tutto l'oro Che C'è, water in Pattaki.)
- The music itself has a narrative. (The Last Seven Words)
Actor-directed films can lead to incredibly tender moments. See Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie).
I must hone this craft
In the projects for the next phase I want to be better at creating moving images. I will invest more in understanding and practicing cinematography. (See Jujube/cinematography for concrete learnings.)
A good intention will never come across in distracting camera work (e.g. the excessive shake in The Day I Lost My Shadow). I want to avoid abstract aesthetics when something is just abstract for the sake of it (or some lofty intellectualism in the name of poetry... enough of those random and self-indulgent manipulation of the 16mm films in the shorts from History Deletes Itself).
P.S. My criteria for the films (and the ones that did end up teaching me a lot)
A story based on/inspired by myth/tales/rituals
- Pájaros de Verano
- The Gold-Laden Sheep & the Sacred Mountain
- Pattaki
- The Last Seven Words
A highly personal story
- A volta ao mundo quando tinhas 30 anos
- Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie)
- Memories of My Body
- Last Night I Saw You Smiling
scenes in the mountains and/or by the sea
- Tutto l'oro Che C'è
- Above Us Only Sky
alluding to the meaning of images"'
- After Images shorts (Gulyabani and TROPICS)