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 doing in conveying that intention and, actually, 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?
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)