Jujube/2019-iffr-takeaway
How to translate autobiographical materials into empathic matters? Perhaps through myth and tales? (See essay --> Jujube/methods-session-5)
What is image capable of in conveying that intention and — in the process or as a result — creating empathy?
Also, not at an idea level but an aesthetic one, I'm drawn to the mountains, seas and remote places...Why? Out of the sublime, the metaphor, the unexpected forms?
I see different ways in which the image carries weight. In some cases, the image is the most charged moment of the narrative, such as the scene when the word messenger faces gun point in Pájaros de Verano. In others, the image visualises a metaphor, like the woman catching water from all directions with buckets in Pattaki. Sometimes, the image becomes part of a well-written essay, as in Above Us Only Sky.
I find sound as important, if not more, as what I see. Sounds represent a place. In Tutto l'oro Che C'è, the wild track is the main track. Sounds create silence. Examples are the forest in Tutto l'oro Che C'è and water in Pattaki. Music can often be a narrative by itself, as seen in The Last Seven Words.
Actor-directed films can lead to incredibly tender moments. In Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie), two characters both with painful family (and/or present histories) share their own feelings towards discrimination and inequality. In this case the director's role is to create a framework to communicate that clearly and foster an environment/crew that lets things be and happen.
I must hone this craft
In my next projects 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
-- I just noticed all these movies feature Asian characters. Interesting? All but the first one are directed by Asian directors: Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia. The director for A Volta.. is from Portugal, born to a Japanese father and a European (?) mother.
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)