Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘...Or to Be’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?
Before making ‘...Or to Be’, I was working on various video projects and video installations. One of them is mainlya project of self-filming, where I create some short film that I call video notebooks. These are a series of videos which, like notebooks in which you sketch out inspirations and drawings, retrace the creative process of my show Šrámy /la débattue.
How did I start?
My grandfather filmed a lot as an amateur and I always saw him filming our family life. I think it was he who gave me a taste for using film as a way of expression. I then studied at School of Art in Geneva (HEAD) where my work focused on using video and performance art as a medium to express myself.
Tell us about ‘...Or to Be’. How do you describe it?
It's a meeting, or rather a non-meeting - a meeting that won't happen, between two people. Two parallel worlds that come so close together that they almost touch and intermingle, but just not.
the two characters try, in their own way, to fight their way out and appropriate a space as best they can.
Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.
I don't have favourite filmmaker. But 3 filmmakers that I discovered their work while I was studying at School of Art, really shaped my way of filming: Yasujiro Ozu, Jan Švankmajer and Pierrick Sorin
I do have a favourite film, though: Stalker from Andreï Tarkovski. I watch it again every 3-5 year. And everytime I discover something new that inspire me.
If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?
My ideal project would be to work deeper on history of my family who is from the region of north Kivu in Congo. And I would love to invite for exemple the congolese choregrapher Faustin Linyekula or the dancer Mamu Tshi to be part of this film.
It would be a documentary combining family stories and the history of a region that has been at war for 30 years. These stories would be passed on by two characters who would dance to express these memories.
What was the hardest part of making ‘...Or to Be’.
Maybe the lighting. I don't normally work with lights. I always use natural lighting.
I really wanted the lighting not to change the natural atmosphere of the spaces in the film, because the chosen spaces had a naturally beautiful light. Fortunately, the person in charge of the lighting, Zuzana Režná, completely understood the challenge and did a great job.
If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?
I'm working on a series of short films/ documentaries archiving artistic events, shows or artistic residencies. I'm interested in archiving as a medium for giving a second reading to the documented event, to reflect my own experience of the moment.
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