Berlin Feminist Film Week - Ghost Syndrome
An experimental documentary portrait of a Moroccan lesbian who immigrated to the
United States, and the emotional resonances of living in-between cultures.
Interview with filmmaker Rita Piffer
Watch Ghost Syndrome here:
Why did you make your film?
When I made this film, I was living in San Francisco and very sensitive to transcultural issues. I am originally from Southern Brazil, a lot of my friends were from different places all over the world, or even in the other places in the US, and we constantly talked about culture shock, adaptation, individual preferences, and our feelings of "home", family, identity, gender, and individuality, how migration affected and changed us. Houda Ben, the woman I portrayed in this film, is from Morocco, and she was going through a hard time regarding her coming out as a lesbian, at the same time she was getting settled in the US.
She is also a dear friend and a very bright woman with her own ideas, feelings and questions about the world. She has a way of talking about the most hurtful and deep feelings that is just beautiful, and at the same time that it is very specific, is very universal. Specially the way she questions and relates to ideas of belonging, what is that create that feeling of belonging (or not) somewhere? This felt to me quite strong for a short film portrait character, because she really embodied this question.
Imagine I am a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I think you should watch the film because it is a beautiful quiet piece that allows you to dive in another persons emotions and views in a way that is affecting.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I believe that the feeling of wanting to be part of something, to belong somewhere is quite universal. The personal issues in the movie really are specific ways of how she was trying in her very own way to deal with belonging within a very specific scenario: she felt she was suffering some prejudice due being a Moroccan immigrant with a Muslim background, and back home she really didn’t feel at the time that she could come clear about her homosexuality because she was afraid of not being accepted. So, in a way, at that time, she was living an emotional limbo that was very potent to discuss the universal themes of what culture, home, and belonging mean.
How did the script and film evolved during the development and production of the film?
First, I interviewed Houda and selected about five minutes of the interview, that was very directed towards issues of culture, migration, sexuality and belonging. After that I made a plan of images based on research I did on portraits. At that time, I was very taken by the work of Lorna Simpson, and her discussions of face, affect and race. It was something about how non-white people are seen to be known just by their very faces, as if they are no individuals, as if their faces can tell a whole history. So, I decided to not show Houda’s face until the very last moment of the film, when she turns around and looks at the camera in a very affirmative way.
By the time you see her face, you already took a deep dive into her feelings, and thoughts. Houda was very participative in the making of the images, and it was an act of liberation for her to show her naked back. In the process, I decided to burn the film with incense to create gaps in the images and further take away the idea of a possible wholeness in portraying someone, or in telling our stories.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Visibility to the film, and the issues dealt in the film. It is amazing that there is a space nurturing dialogues about short films like you do.
Who do you need to come on board to amplify this film's message?
I believe this film would be a great tool in gender, LGBT, and migration issues debates. So any organization interested on that could amplify its message.
What type of impact you would like this film to have?
Besides making people think about this whole idea of culture and belonging as something very personal and subjective, I really think most films exist to just do this: enhance our empathy.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Can we change the way we perceive our culture and our home, and belonging to be?
Interview: March 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Ghost Syndrome
A film by Rita Piffer
Length: 7 minutes
Sound Design: Marie Spiller