The mobility program was through the Doc Nomads Erasmus who arrived at the Swiss-Turkish film producer, Aylin Goekemann, Portugal. During his master’s in documentary cinema, he went to Brussels, Budapest and Lisbon, but it was Portugal he chose to return to, as he “had a special relationship” [o país] And Portuguese, ”he explained to the Lusa Agency.
“I wanted to make a film about people and nature, so I felt I had to go back to Portugal, because I fell in love with the people and the landscape,” the director said.
Upon discovering the Azores, the choice was immediate: “I didn’t give much thought, I bought a plane ticket and went to Pico, because I think Pico is a big attraction for the volcano”, he said.
She embarked on a two-week exploratory trip to the island, where she made “easy friends”, which helped her “discover the object of the film and film the people”.
He would eventually return to the ‘mountain island’ to shoot, in the summer, essentially, the landscape, and again, to shoot the celebration of the Holy Spirit.
The director of LUSA explained, “I really wanted to film the procession, praying about how people interpret natural disasters as punishment from God. I find it very interesting that this interpretation still exists in culture today Is contained.”
Another aspect I wanted to focus on was “isolation and immigration, not only due to natural disasters, but for example, when the whaling ended, when there was a huge wave of emigration”.
“It was also very interesting to note the distance between the people who live and those who move to mainland Portugal, but also to the United States, where there is a large community,” he said.
Eileen Göckmann was moved to Pico, however, the presence of a mountain in the life of a ‘pyrotross’.
“I liked the fact that nature and islands exist in people’s lives. Even when they wake up in the morning, people don’t call it good or bad, instead they say, ‘Oh, Pico Today Show It’s so beautiful [a montanha]`… I thought it was incredible. ”
The director started documentary cinema in his master’s degree, but before that he took a degree in philosophy and modern French, a field he covered in his work: “As I had a degree in a completely different field , At first, when I wanted to start making films, I was a little worried, because I was thinking, ‘Am I going to be late? How am I going to do this?’, But in the end, I did literature. Finished using what I had learned about. In my films, and in this one too “.
The role of mythology is one of those byproducts, such as prayers, which are “a part of the identity of that place”, he explained.
Literature also appears as if his work is “between documentary and fiction,” the director believes, stating that he is “not only what is seen, but what is going on in people’s minds Is also interested in “.
“In Pico, and in the Azores, it is felt that there is a past that is always present. We have filmed a lot, for example, in abandoned homes. You can feel that a lot happened there and What happened. Realizing that I wanted to communicate – that there is something that happens outside the structure “, he referred to Lusa.
The biggest challenge, he confessed, was to make a short film of just 14 minutes. “I couldn’t show everything and there’s a lot”.
“I hope that other filmmakers, especially the Portuguese, who have this special connection, will continue to make films there. I can’t see them. And I hope to be back soon,” he told Lusa.
The film was shot in 2018, and served as a final master’s project, but only in 2020, after “an extensive regeneration process”, was it sent to film festivals, which premiered at the Locarno Festival happened.
He said, “It took me a long time to get it back, because I was always editing it. We did a huge job on the sound. Every detail was worked out and thought through.”
The director said, “Spirits and Rocks: An Azorean Myth” in black and white received good response from the audience. “People who have never been there have been fascinated, they told me they wanted to go there and see it, because I think the film has a dream-like atmosphere, which almost looks like it Not real. It’s quite awesome. ”
The director has now finished a short film for Swiss television, showing how he has gone through imprisonment and is preparing his first feature film, which will be shot in Turkey.
“It would be similar to the film about Azores, because it would have to do with people, with people, and with mythology. For now, that’s all I can say. It will be the big brother of the short film. In Azores. . ”, He explained to Lusa.
Aylin Gokman has a degree in philosophy and modern French from the University of Lausanne and a master’s in documentary cinema from the Docnomads Erasmus Mundus program. This year, he co-founded the production company A Vol d`Oiseau.
“Spirits and Rocks: An Azorean Myth” is shown at the Sundance Festival, next Thursday in the United States, under the purview of the documentary short films program.
ILYD // magazine
Lusa / end
