Im Gespräch mit
Kantarama Gahigiri
über ihren erfolgreichen Kurzfilm ETHEREALITY
2019 entstanden fünf Filme im Rahmen des Projekts 5x5x5. Fünf afrikanische Filmemacher/innen kamen für dieses Projekt im Herbst 2019 nach Winterthur an die Internationalen Kurzfilmtage. Zusammen mit Studierenden des Bachelor Video realisieren sie je einen Kurzfilm zum Thema «to come, to stay, to leave».
ETHEREALITY von Regisseurin Kantarama Gahigiri war einer der fünf entstanden Filme. Er lief nach der Premiere in Winterthur sehr erfolgreich an über 40 Festivals und gewann diverse Preise!
Im Gespräch mit Kantarama wollten wir mehr über das Projekt erfahren und wissen, wie sie die letzten zwei Jahre und den grossen Erfolg ihres Films erlebt hat.
The film Ethereality was created as part of the 5x5x5 project of the Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Langfilm and BA Video, Lucerne University of Art and Design. Can you briefly describe how the approach to this film project was?
The 5x5x5 residency invited 5 filmmakers from Africa, representing Rwanda (myself), Burkina Faso (Simplice Ganou), Algeria (Yanis Kheloufi), South Africa (Nomanzi Palesa Shongwe), and Sudan (Hajooj Kuka). We each had 5 weeks to make a short film with a (still somewhat open) theme: “To Come, To Stay, To Leave.” I think each one of us, the 5 directors, understood it differently, according to our own sensibility, interests, background, and it resulted in a very diverse and surprising portrait of Winterthur, where you will find an astronaut returning to Planet Earth, a black Santa Claus running for elections, a sculptor in his wonderful magical house, an abstract landscape of dreams and a film about layers of housing and social milieu cohabitations.
The challenge was double: we had to work within an extremely short timeframe in a place we didn’t know, Winterthur, and with a team that we just had met on the first day (each project was crewed with students or ex-students of HSLU Video program). We spent 2 weeks in Winterthur shooting, then 3 weeks in Lucerne at the school for editing and post-production. Then we premiered at Kurzfilmtage Winterthur in front of a full auditorium on the last day. So as you can imagine, there was a lot of sleepless nights.
I think I got lucky because I was very happy with my team: Daniel Bleuer (Director of Photography), Kathleen Moser (Sound recordist, editor and designer), Manuel Troxler (Editor), Yoro Tobler (1st AC) and Joachim Schönenberger who did our poster. Each one of them put their experience and talent entirely to the service of our film. It resulted in a great collaboration and a very inspiring mindset where we all worked towards creating a piece with respect, creativity, and professionalism. We had a lot of fun during the 5 weeks despite the pressure. Because it’s also about that, making films is also about the journey, not just about the finished film!
Your film addresses the issue of belonging. What role can the medium of film play in thinking about belonging?
ETHEREALITY talks about Belonging, but not only, it addresses also the questions of Identity, Dignity, Sovereignty, and ultimately I think it speaks about what makes us Human. It points towards the elements that connect us all, and therefore I think it is deeply intimate, but also very political. We created portraits of people from Africa that had left more than 20 years ago, and I wanted to question what it meant to them. What did they left behind, and what were they able to (re)create? Maybe because my own story is also influenced by migration. And then, we also told the story of an astronaut returning to Earth after 30 years spent in space, because I needed to find another layer of poetic storytelling and paint new imaginaries. I realized only after completion of the film that is was very personal.
I wanted to address these themes because I think that with the medium of film (and with art in general) we are able to access a part of the human brain and emotions that can trigger change. Artists are capable of imagining another way of living. We are the people that reflect about our times and our societies; that challenge what we experience and question the meaning of it all. It is even vaster than that: we are creating memories of the past as well as images for the future.
Your film has been to over 40 festivals since then and has won various awards. What does this success mean to you?
I think a film needs to be seen. That is why we make films; to connect people, make them dream, make them think, make them feel something. I feel very humbled and I am touched that ETHEREALITY (and the subject itself: migration, belonging, questions about identity and dignity) is resonating with audiences in the whole world. And it also gives me energy to continue my work and make more films.
I mean we screened 8 times in Brazil only! We screened in Europe, in America, on the entire African continent, which for me was one of the priorities. We even won “Poulain D’Or – Best Short Film Award” at FESPACO 2021, last month in Burkina Faso, which is the biggest festival on the African continent! We screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals, we screened at popular festivals, we screened outside under the stars, in the villages, by the sea… who knew, when we were making this film that it would reach so many people? What an incredible and beautiful journey!
e there already any other projects that you have planned or would like to tackle?
I am working at a feature film at the moment, a futuristic odyssey to be shot in East Africa. But that really is all I can say about it right now!
A short recap of the festivals and the awards:
FESTIVALS incl.:
Kurzfilmtage Winterthur 2019
Clermont-Ferrand ISFF 2020
Chicago IFF 2020
Namur IFF 2021
FESPACO 2021
Kurzfilmtage Hamburg 2021
Quartiers Lointains – Season 6
Awards:
POULAIN D’OR – BEST SHORT FILM AWARD – FESPACO 2021 WINNER EXPANDED SHORTS JURY AWARD this human world – Intl Human Rights FF Vienna
BEST SHORT FILM Rastro Festival Brasil
BEST SHORT FILM Arica Nativa Film Festival Chile
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY Nova Frontier Film Festival USA
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM presented to producer Olivier Zobrist, Langfilm & to director Kantarama Gahigiri at Short Encounters IFF, Greece
Best Editing Nomination for Manuel V. Troxler at Short Encounters IFF, Greece
HONOURABLE MENTION by Mostra de Cinema Africanos at FIFF Cotonou (Benin) &
NY Women in Film & Television Outstanding Female Content Creator Award
Other screenings:
Quartiers Lointains – Season 6 Afrifuturistik Program screenings in Brazil, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Martinique, Nigeria, Colombia, Switzerland
& National Theatrical Release in France and the USA