Shorts
Reviews, previews and highlights of features and shorts from the myDylarama team and guest writers.
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Interview with Lisa Giacchero, director of L’Arrivée du soleil dans votre signe [The Sun’s Entry Into Your Sign]
11 February 2022, by Abla KandalaftOn a boat to Corsica, Karina meets Sylvain. She had planned on getting some work done, he wants to get to know her. Are the characters Karine and Sylvain based on real people? How did you come up with the idea for their meeting? I’ve travelled alone frequently and observed that, among solitary travelers, there are those who intend to remain alone and those who take every opportunity to chat up others. That observation allowed me to write about something broader: what we project onto (...) -
Interview with Omar Kamara, director of Mass Ave
11 February 2022, by Brasserie du Court team, Elise LoiseauOver a day of landscaping work, a first generation African American and his immigrant father have their tense relationship and different outlooks on life transformed irreversibly when they are racially profiled by police. What did you aim at exploring through the difficult relationship between the father and his son? As a first-generation Sierra Leonean American, the differences between me and my immigrant father were always incredibly apparent to me. We didn’t view life or process (...) -
Interview with Diana Cam Van Nguyen, director of Love, Dad
11 February 2022, by Brasserie du Court team, Elise LoiseauShe finds letters full of love her dad wrote her 15 years ago. Now she fights to get that love back. How much is Love, Dad autobiographical? A lot. It’s my story, my voice, my handwriting. How did you work on the letters’ incorporation to the animation? Are they original letters? Did you film yourself for the female character or is it an actress? Yes, the letters are the original ones. And I know from the beginning that I want to use them as they are. That’s why I chose replacing (...) -
Interview with Clémence Le Gall, director of Le Chant du feu [The Light’s Song]
11 February 2022, by Abla Kandalaft, Brasserie du Court teamIn a huge industrial city, Noé is a young lighthouse keeper watching over the sailors. When he receives life-changing news, his quiet loneliness turns slowly into madness. Why did you choose a lighthouse as the setting for your film? Did you want to explore the impact of automation? I grew up close to the sea, in Loire Atlantique. The coastline always seemed to be an interesting place to film. In this space, there is an indescribable atmosphere, like the end of the world. I like the (...) -
Interview with Bill Morrison, director of Her Violet Kiss
7 February 2022, by Brasserie du Court team, Elise LoiseauA woman attends a party where she is observed by and finally meets a mysterious guest. From which material did you build up Her Violet Kiss? Her Violet Kiss sources material from a lost German film, Liebeshölle (1928), directed by Wiktor Biegnaski and Carmine Gallone, and which was released in the USA as Pawns of Passion in 1929. I was working with the only known surviving copy of the film, which was a 35mm nitrate print of the American version. Michael Montes created the score. Why (...) -
Interview with Dania Bdeir, director of Warsha
7 February 2022, by Brasserie du Court teamA crane operator working in a construction site in Beirut, finds his freedom when he is away from everyone’s eyes. How did you come up with the character? Is he based on someone you know? In 2017, I was sitting on my balcony in Lebanon overlooking all of Beirut and I saw a man standing on top of one of the tallest construction cranes. I was afraid thinking the man was going to jump. It all looked so dangerous and unsafe. As he kneeled down and put his forehead to the floor, I realized (...) -
Interview with Daniel Cook, director of The Bayview
7 February 2022, by Abla Kandalaft, Brasserie du Court teamOn the North East Coast of Scotland, an extraordinary family have turned the previously derelict Bayview hotel into a place of respite for international fishermen when they come to land. This film is a glimpse into this unlikely home and the transient guests who pass through it. Tell us more about the Bayview. How did you come across the place? How familiar are you with the area? The Bayview sits on the edge of a traditional fishing village called Macduff in the North East Coast of (...) -
Interview with Maythem Ridha, director of Ali and His Miracle Sheep
7 February 2022, by Brasserie du Court teamGuided by his grandmother’s haunting Sumerian lament, 9-year-old orphaned mute Ali takes his favourite sheep for sacrifice. Over a 400km journey they bear witness to the beauty and unravel the ills of Iraq. Can both boy and sheep survive the hardship and accept their fate? A lyrical tale about the loss of childhood against the harsh realities of adult life. How did you come across Ali and learn about his fate? In 2018, I was shooting in Iraq an ongoing film and photography passion (...) -
Interview with Chanrado Sok and Kongkea Vann, directors of Somleng Reatrey [Sound of the Night]
7 February 2022, by Brasserie du Court team, Elise LoiseauVibol and his brother Kea sell noodles on a motorized cart every night on the streets of Phnom Penh. They often face troublesome threats from gangsters and thieves, even if these very people are their only customers. As the city is growing around them, they consider their unstable income and imagine a different future. Kongkea Vann, can you tell us a bit about your inspirations and the story behind Somleng Reatrey? First, I met Chanrado Sok, who is the co-director of Somleng Reatrey. (...) -
Interview with Olive Nwosu, director of Egúngún [Masquerade]
5 February 2022, by Brasserie du Court teamOn the day of the Egúngún festival, Salewa returns to Lagos to bury her Mother. At the funeral, she encounters an acquaintance who forces her to confront old wounds. Egungun is a meditation on memory, identity and duty, on the many versions of ourselves that haunt and heal us. How was Egúngún born? Egúngún was born from a desire to investigate my own feelings about the idea of “Home”. As a wanderer, who has lived in many identities, this is a question I often grapple with: this sense (...)