ABOUT THE ARTIST
Why did you submit to the Fourth Annual chashama Film Festival?
I knew about the festival existence through the Withoutabox festival’s highlight emails. The festival focus and interest being on social change, I thought my film could fit in the festival program.
How is your work illustrative of the country you are from?
I was born in France, but I lived 13 years in Mozambique. And very recently (in August 2011) I moved to Denmark. The documentary film “Body and Soul” has been produced in Maputo, Mozambique, over a period of more than three years. It illustrates some of the social and architectural characteristics of the Mozambican urban reality. Mozambique is a contrasted country where you will find huge differences between urban centers and rural areas. You don’t need to go far from Maputo, the capital city, to find a very contrasting rural reality. So the film is focusing on Mozambican urban life by going very close to daily life situations (the transport, the school, the informal sector, entertainment, etc.). It also reflects broader social and cultural behaviours in Mozambique.
Where was the most favorite place where your work was shown abroad? If it hasn’t been shown abroad, where would you like it to be shown?
Up to today the film has been selected by 15 Film Festivals around the world. It has been shown in very different places such as Monaco and Ethiopia, Tanzania and Russia; and I am very glad for that because it meansthat the content of the film also has, beyond its African anchorage, atranscultural appeal. The film deals with young people with physical disabilities but I think their stories bring questions that also go beyond physical disability; they can inspire all of us because they talk about love and how to find one place in society.
So the fact that the film is being shown in places very different geographically, socially, and culturally is a great reward for me.
For example, I was very happy that my film was shown in Zanzibar, Tanzania at the Zanzibar International Film Festival, which I attended, and also at the 21st Message to Man Film Festival, in St. Petersburg, Russia, to mention just a few. The film also has also won the 30thURTI Grand Prix for Author’s Documentary in Monaco; and this was also a great reward.
Are you glad that your work is going to be shown in NYC?
Of course!
What is the best part about participating in a festival that facilitates discussion with international artists?
It’s very nice to be able to meet different people that work in the same area (film industry) and see what they do, understand what inspire them and how they are influenced by the place and the culture they live in. Being able to participate to a Q&A with the audience is also a great opportunity for filmmaker to share with others and discover new perspectives about their film.
ABOUT A RESPONSE TO THE FESTIVAL
What’s the most rapid social change that you have ever seen?
Probably the communication technologies that are a key in globalizing the world.
How do you find strength in instability?
Maybe in very simple and small signs of love (in a very broad sense) provided by friends, lovers, family or even passer by through a smile or a short conversation.
What do you do to divert disaster?
Humm… Difficult question. I don’t think that I have been personally confronted to a real disaster yet (like the Rwandan genocide for example, or WWII). But I think that to make a better world, I would try to improve my own behaviour towards others close to me and the one I meet casually.
If you could make a community more peaceful, what would be fulfilling about it?
The feeling of having made something worthy in this world, of having contributed to something that also includes you but also is greater than you. That’s a gift, but also a struggle.
ABOUT YOUR FILM
How did you choose your thematic material?
I met with the film’s protagonists in 2007 during an introduction to contemporary dance for people with and without disabilities developed by the Mozambican contemporary dance company CulturArte. It was for me both surprising and paradoxical to see people with disabilities to practice dance, the art of the moving body. I saw this experience as a technical challenge for them (first time dancing) but also as a social and emotional challenge, a way to position themselves and present themselves to society. In a world where visual cues (physical appearance, ways of dressing, etc.) are a strong basis for categorization and social discrimination, I wanted to explore the impact of the look at the difference (how they look at themselves and others and what are the consequences of these looks for their lives) and focus on the capabilities of human spirit rather than the difficulties.
How do you work with actors? Or How do you choose your interview subjects?
There were initially six potential youths that could have been part of the film, but after many informal interviews and talks with each of them, I chose the one that according to me has the strongest stories.
How did you choose the crew on the film?
Apart form assuming the core production crew (picture and sound) with in-house resources, the film has benefitted from friends’ good will for production support…
Why did you choose to make a film that length?
I wanted to go in-depth in the life of the characters. The film has three main characters and to go beyond the challenges that are readily perceivable visually through the physical disability of the characters, I felt I needed time and space for them to voice deeper thoughts about their life.
What is the most compelling image in your film?
I think that the most compelling image in “Decorpo e Alma” is the one that shows Vasco walking out of his house; it is a panoramic that apart from revealing Vasco’s physical disability makes the audience foreseeing his challenges.
Compiled by Marcina Zaccaria