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CHRISTOPHE CHASSOL, In quest of perfect harmony

CHRISTOPHE CHASSOL, In quest of perfect harmony

Christophe Chassol is the modern version of a Maestro possessing this inherent talent of harmony. Constantly aiming to harmonize reality, he fuses unique arrangements between film and music to create these powerful multisensory art pieces, called “ultrascore”.

Where does your love for music come from?

It was my father who made us, my sister and me, go to the Conservatory when we were about four. Playing the saxophone, he was in several bands and took us with him to his rehearsals. At home he made us discover different kinds of music. He was a very good teacher, very pragmatic, telling us when you play something you should say the name of the notes every time you play anything.

Since you’ve been a child, was it always clear for you that you’ll become a musician?

I started playing the piano when I was six. At the Conservatory I had amazing teachers, especially this old piano teacher, who had something of the master of Hermann Hesse’s novel “The Glassbead Games”.

But I actually decided concretely to become a musician when I was twenty, after studying Philosophy for two years at the university. My parents weren’t happy at all with this decision because they really wanted me to have a stable job. But my father’s deception gave me also this constant urge of proving that I can make it. I know that I’ve taken the right decision, I couldn’t do any other job.

Where does your interest for film come from and the concept to connect it with your compositions?

It comes from the love I have for music and for cinema and from the TV Pop Culture that I grew up with. I love watching TV until late at night, switching from one channel to the other discovering incredible films and documentaries, like an amazing concert of an orchestra at 3 o’clock in the morning.

When I was a kid, my sister and I were huge fans of West Side Story. This film was a real revelation to me because it’s the perfect synchronization of music and image.

“There’s something very subtil in synchronizing an image on a musical score. The video becomes part of the music. ”

Even though a film is moving you can observe the details as they’re linked to music. Since I’m repeating the movement there are so many different synchronization points.

To me, music is like constructing a building with all the constraints that exist. Fusing an old interview that I find interesting and that has a particular resonance for me with a chord that I was recording two years ago and that I was obsessed about for a long time.

But I also like to compose for other people, it maintains something handcrafted that I like very much.

What is for you the most beautiful sound?

There are many sounds that I like, there’s not one that I prefer. John Cage explains

“There’s no need to disguise sound romantically. You can like the sounds as they are.”

Depending on the situation I can like different sounds, like the sound of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, rain dropping on the rooftop, etc.

Is there an artist, other than musician, that fascinates you and inspires you?

Hermann Hesse is definitely one that influenced my deepest thoughts. I started with his novel Siddhartha and I was really moved by his way of expressing feelings, emotions, ideas.

I then read Narcissus and Goldmund which touched me a lot because it was dealing with logic and flesh, becoming an artist to sculpt the face of the mother so the father will be proud.

But my bible is Hermann Hesse’s book The Glassbead Game the imaginary biography of its hero Josef Knecht, the “Magister Ludi”, the master of the Glassbead Game. This novel is wonderful and a big inspiration for my next album.

Xavier Veilhan has invited you to the Biennale di Venezia this year. Can you tell me a little bit more about this collaboration.

Xavier Veilhan’s idea is to alter the perception of the French Pavillon and turn it into an environment made out of wood and tissues in the “Merzbau” style, mixing volumes between sculpture and scenary, containing an installation that contains a record studio.

He has invited several musiciens to work in this “Studio Venezia” where the visitor will step directly into this moment of creation witnessing the creative process.
I’ll work there for three or four days in July and will do some recordings.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

Me in the 80s in our bathroom in the morning before going to elementary school. My mum was already awake. I remember hearing the jingle of the news on the radio and then the announcement of the war between Iran and Iraq.

Discover Christophe Chassol’s trilogy of ultrascores:

Nola Cherie “Easton” (extract from Nola Cheri):  http://youtu.be/_2x76-6BI_Q

Indiamore (full movie): http://youtu.be/X0euvHEnSw8

Big Sun “Reich & Darwin” (extract from Big Sun): http://youtu.be/wdYkTb_gSWA/

Credits:
– Portray by Laurent Bochet
– Profile picture by Flavien Prioreau
– Photo “Hand” and photo “Cat” by Flavien Prioreau
– Album cover “Ultrascore II” by Flavien Prioreau
– Album cover “Indiamore” and “Big Sun” © Tricatel
Text: Anahita Vessier
Translation: Anahita Vessier
http://www.chassol.fr/

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SILIA KA TUNG, Fantasy is interior world’s reality

SILIA KA TUNG, Fantasy is interior world’s reality

Silia Ka Tung is a Chinese contemporary artist based in London. Her work is a psychedelic ballet of organic shapes in saturated colours dancing together with mysterious creatures reminding us of ancient mythology. The mix of this modern dreamland and the influences of Chinese culture and tradition make Silia Ka Tung’s art so hypnotizing and unique.

What made you decide to become an artist?

My grand-father from my mum’s side was an established traditional Chinese painter, so it was in the family.
I initially wanted to be a designer. When I went to a school interview after high-school to study design they told me I should do fine arts if my parents will support me. That was actually the first time it came to my mind.

You were studying Oil Painting in HangZhou at the China Academy of Fine Arts and then continued your studies in London finishing with a MFA in painting at the renowned Slade School of Fine Arts. Is the style of teaching in China different than in England?

I did one year of art school in China after being accepted to a BA at Chelsea College of Art in London because my father thought that I needed to learn some “Chinese culture”. That’s why I went to an art foundation class before going to London doing my BA.

“The style of teaching is very different in China than in England. In China I was doing life drawing every day and the schooling was very academic. You do everything in a group, the teacher comes and corrects your mistakes and tells you what you need to do.”

London art school was fun and free. The teaching style is very casual and inspirational but you were left alone most of the time.

There’s a real evolution in your work. Your earlier work was mostly black-and-white line drawings, and then the figurative lines dissolved and became a beautiful ballet of colorful, abstract shapes of organisme covering several canvases.
In your recent work you’ve changed from painting to experimenting with materials and creating soft sculptures of fantasy animals and organic shapes such as branches of trees. Why did you change from painting to making sculptures?

“Drawing or doodling is always part of my life … I just do it as soon as I have a pen in my hand. ”

For my BA final show at Chelsea College I decided to develop from a small drawing idea into something big and these life size portraits filled with doodles lasted until my second year of MFA at the Slade College but then I wanted to try something different. I wanted to do “game paintings”, colourful, saturated paints directly onto the canvas, like automatic drawings.
Painting for me is about game, chance and fun and I always paint around the edges. Slowly I was drawn towards painting onto objects. So I started making soft sculptures to paint over. That’s where I am now.

Did motherhood change your work, your inspirations?

Motherhood is difficult for me as an artist because of the change of your priorities and of your life-balance. As much as I enjoy being with my two daughters, I found myself struggling to be an artist. But time helps and slowly you regain some of the balance and hopefully being a mother also has positive impact on my work.

Is there a phrase, a proverb that inspires your work?

“All our interior world is reality, and that perhaps more than our apparent world. ”
Marc Chagall

When you work on a new art piece, do you show your husband Gideon Rubin, who is also an artist, the work-in-progress or do you prefer to keep your creative bubble as private as possible?

We work in the same studio, so often we show each other what we’re working on, especially when my work takes relatively long to finish. I mainly show him to ask his opinion, no matter if the piece is finished or not.

Are you working on a new exhibition?

I am finishing some pieces for a three persons group show in Amsterdam called “Father, Mother, Daughter, Son” curated by Mette Samkalden at Canvas Contemporary. The exhibition opens on 14th January 2017 and goes until mid February.

What comes to your mind when you think of Iran?

I’ve never been to Iran, so everything I know about this country is through friends, movies, news, Instagram. Yes, I hashtagged Iran on Instagram a few times and it led me to very weird places.
It’s a big country rich in history and culture, beautiful and mysterious. It’ll be great to visit one day.

Credits:
All works by Silia Ka Tung
Text: Anahita Vessier
http://www.siliakatung.com/

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MASOUD GHARAEI, Black and white street poetry

MASOUD GHARAEI, Black and white street poetry

Masoud Gharaei is a young Iranian photographer from Tehran whose main inspiration is everyday life, observing people and their manners in an urban environment. His work is a kind of a modern visual poetry of life in Iran. He loves to walk through the streets to capture with his camera his view of the city and its people.

“Sometimes I show people who I don’t know the photo that I’ve taken of them. They’re very surprised and their enthusiasm encourages me to continue.”

Masoud Gharaei was born in 1988 in Behshar, in the north of Iran, and has received a master’s degree in Industrial Management at the Azadi University of Tehran.

Credits:
All photos by Masoud Gharaei
Text: Anahita Vessier
https://www.instagram.com/masoud__gharaei/

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NOAVI, The ultimate Kunst of Wanderlust

NOAVI, The ultimate Kunst of Wander Lust

My first encounter with Noavi was through her photos and I was immediately seduced by her vision, the sincerity and spontaneity in her work. Being born and raised in LA, with Yemeni Polish roots she’s a beautiful mix of both cultures with an incredible energy and boundless curiosity.

Being fascinated by Bedouin culture she travels from Abu Dhabi to the Arctic to study the Sami culture, from the breathtaking heights of Yemen to Luxour and down the Nile to the Nubian area always with her camera and her Moleskine notebook in her bag, constantly capturing her unique wondrous travel experiences all over the world.

You travel a lot to Middle Eastern countries, how did you manage to take photos as a woman in those mainly Islamic, male dominated countries?

In general it’s harder as a woman or a man to take photos of women in Islamic countries because they are very closed off to being open to the camera. Taking photos of men is much easier. It’s such a conservative culture, it takes so much more work to create a comfortable space to take pictures of women in Arab countries.

How do you make people who you don’t know feel comfortable in front of the camera?

Non-verbal communication is the most important thing.

“There’s so much that can be communicated without words, with your eyes, with a smile.”

It’s the most valuable tool to gage the sense of comfort of people that you’re working with. That’s why I often take photos of old people or children who are the most keen on non-verbal communication. Children because it’s so recent that they’ve acquired language, and old people because they’re old enough that you don’t always need words to communicate.

Being raised in a multicultural background, is it an inspiration in your work?

I feel it’s such a privilege and richness to grow in such a multicultural environment that it’s even more of an obligation.

From the beginning my parents gave me the desire to travel and to discover other countries and cultures. They were always backpacking, never travelling the fancy hotel kind of way. Me and my sister, we were always the babies in the backpack.

Is there an artists who inspires you?

I am very inspired by literature. There is something very imaginative where you can break the bounds of reality.
There is the author Lawrence Durrell who has lived in Alexandria. He was British and wrote the series of books called The Alexandria Quartet. The first novel of the four is called Justine and for me it’s the most beautiful piece of writing. I’ve never read a book so many times. It’s the book that I’ve used to travel with all the time.

Do you have objects that you always take with you on your travels?

I always have Moleskine notebooks with me. I’m on my 28th now. I’m constantly writing, sticking things into my notebooks like tickets, flowers, a paper cut out of newspaper, etc. It helps with moments in time. You can remember a day but you can easily forget intricate details which made the day so special and unique.

What do you think of when you hear about Iran?

From a language perspective I find Farsi the most poetic language. In general I associate poetry with Iran…And another place I want to go.

Credits:
All photos by Noavi
Text: Anahita Vessier
http://www.noavi.com

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ROXANA FAZELI, Portray of Iran

ROXANA FAZELI, Portray of Iran

Roxana Fazeli is a talented Iranian photographer who lives in Tehran. She observes in her pictures the multi-facets of culture and society in Iran. Here a selection of photos that she has taken on several journeys travelling with Iranian tribes (Qashquaïs, Turkmans, Kurds) who have preserved their traditions and old way of living.

After a Bachelor degree in photography at Azad University of Tehran, Roxana has been working since then as a freelance documentary photographer. She’s working for Iranian and foreign newspapers and magazines.

Throughout her travel with the tribes Roxana met simple but generous people, farmers, shepherds who welcomed her in their house.

Iranians no matter which level of society they belong to are known for their excellence of hospitality.

Credits:
All photos by Roxana Fazeli
Text: Anahita Vessier
http://roxanafazeli.webs.com/

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SLAVS AND TATARS, A new vision of Eurasian Art

SLAVS AND TATARS, A new vision of Eurasian Art

Slavs and Tatars is an art collective founded by Kasia and Payam, a Polish-Iranian duo, who dedicate their work to an area east from the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China. Anahita’s Eye follows their work for a long time and had the chance to interview them while they were preparing their exhibition “Afteur Pasteur” in New York at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery.

Why the name “Slavs and Tatars”? And why this devotion to an area, as you describe “east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China”?

Usually a name is chosen for what one represents or who one purports to be. We decided on Slavs and Tatars for the opposite reason: for that which we are not. Our name is a mission statement of sorts: to devote ourselves to a geography that is equally imagined as it is political, to a region that falls through the cracks of our amnesiac floors.

“It happens to be largely Muslim but not the Middle East, it is largely Russian-speaking but not Russia, and though largely in Asia, only a small part (Xinjiang) has historically been under Chinese rule.

There’s of course an element of humour in the name too. We founded Slavs and Tatars in 2006, shortly after the entry of the new member states in 2004 into the European Union. If you recall, there was quite a bit of prejudice, if not hysteria, about this ‘other’ Europe, namely Eastern European states joining what Europeans had imagined themselves until then an exclusive club. There was the infamous Polish plumber, the Bulgarian builder, etc…The name Slavs and Tatars clearly plays up this fear–both in a contemporary and historical sense–as if there were hordes waiting to rape and pillage à la Braveheart.

Our name–Slavs and Tatars–is not an identity, it marks the collapse of identity. Even between these two terms, “Slavs” and “Tatars” there is a whole story of confluence and tension. It is only by accumulating several identities–and negotiating the tensions between them–that one can begin to move beyond the reductive and brittle identity politics which continue to plague us.

Explain me your creative process. What are your inspirations? Why did you finally chose sculpture/object art as your main tool of expression?

Sculptures, installations and exhibitions are only one of our three activities and by no means the main one, alongside publications and lecture performances.

We currently present 2-3 lecture-performances per month in different venues: from universities to art institutions. We generally work along three-year cycles. The first two years are dedicated to research on a given subject of investigation: first bibliographic research, for example, into Turkic language politics or the medieval genre of political advice literature known as “mirrors for princes” followed by field research, say, to Xinjiang to experience more affectively the ideas that we’ve been exploring more analytically. Then the crucial question arises:

“What are we as artists bringing to the table that is distinct from the work of others, policy makers, scholars, activists…?

The translation or transformation of this research into art work is perhaps the most difficult. In the beginning, we worked exclusively with print: if someone wanted to engage with our work, she had to read. There are few things less pleasant, less considerate to the public than putting something to read on a wall. Even though the practice proliferated – to include sculpture, installations, lecture-performances – walls somehow did not become any more attractive in our eyes. If we live in an age of visual glut, then we are amongst the (many) guilty enablers!

Among the three axes of our practice, the lectures and publications articulate a series of concerns that the sculpture, installation, the material art work with a capital ‘A’ must disarticulate. That does not mean to remain silent: rather to undo, unravel these very ideas, like a loose thread of a sweater.

Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?

“Quit this world. Quit the next. And quit quitting”
–Thomas Merton

Does each of you have a very defined role in “Slavs and Tatars”?

Yes, but we edit each other rigorously.

In many of your installations you invite people to interact with it, touch it, sit on it, lie on, discuss on it. Is this direct confrontation and personal experience that people have with your artwork an important part of your artistic concept?

Definitely. It is also a commitment to the idea of contemplation in spaces devoted to culture. Too often, the only place to sit in a museum is the cafe, or the rare bench in front of a masterpiece. If art is to play a transformative role, and not only an educational and entertaining one, the venue of its activation must be more hospitable.

Slavs and Tatars speak so many different languages, Farsi, Polish, English, French, Russian etc. Language and the linguistic complexity is a very important subject in your work. Why this intense love for languages?

Translation becomes a form of linguistic hospitality, to quote Paul Ricoeur. We invite the Other into our language and the expropriating ourselves into the language of the Other. We are different people in each language: our sense of humour in French is not at all similar to that in Russian or Persian, etc.

“Language allows you to “other” yourself.”

Is humour an essential ingredient in your artwork?

Absolutely, it has always played a very important role in our work: as a disarming form of critique, as an extension of generosity, as an indication of infrapolitics: as defined by James Scott: the hidden transcript, the whispered stories.

“Every joke is a tiny revolution”

to quote Orwell, rather than the often confrontational, explicitly visible politics of the march, the news, or the state.

What are your future projects?

We’re currently preparing for our first show with our NY gallery, Tanya Bonakdar, on pickle politics, or a reconsideration of our relationship with the Other, via our relationship with the original foreigner: the microbe and bacteria. We’re also working on a mid-career retrospective for 2017-2018, between Warsaw, Vilnius, and perhaps Istanbul.

You have a very cosmopolite live, your art is shown at art fairs and exhibitions all around the world. Is there any special object that accompanies you on your trips around the world?

We try as much as possible to travel with fresh herbs – a bunch of tarragon, a couple stems of coriander – to soften the blow of eating en route in trains, planes and automobiles.

Slavs and Tatars, what comes to your mind when you think about Iran?

Mulberries

Credits:
All works by Slavs and Tatars
Kitab Kebab, 2016 – ongoing
Friendship of Nations: Polish Shi’ite Showbiz, published by Book Works / Sharjah Art Foundation
Mother Tongues and Father Throats, Moravian Gallery, Brno (2012)
Dig the Booty (2009)
Pray Way (2012)
Installation view at Trondheim Kunstmuseum
left: Larry nixed, Trachea trixed (2015) right: Tongue Twist Her (2013)
Lektor, sound installation, Leipzig (2014-15)
AÂ AÂ AÂ UR, Skulpturpark Köln (2015)
http://www.slavsandtatars.com

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IRACEMA TREVISAN, Brazilian essence of chic

IRACEMA TREVISAN, Brazilian essence of chic

To me, Ira, is someone who has an incredible feeling for style and chic, the way she mixes colors, accessories, prints, the way she’s wearing her own creations of her brand Heart Heart Heart. This twisted chic, her Brazilian origin, her life now in Paris and her career as the former bass player of the Brazilian indie band Cansei de Ser Sexy make her style so unique, personal and intriguing.

Your scarves are all produced in limited edition and are numbered, almost like art pieces. Why did you choose scarves as your main item?

During my studies I got very passionate about textile print and the easiest item to wear print is a scarf.
I don’t want to give a precise date to my creations, that’s why I replaced the collections by series. A scarf is a timeless piece that you keep all your life and that you can wear in so many different ways.

Where are your inspirations for your textile design coming from?

Nature. The relation between nature and man.

“I get inspired by nature, trees, animals, insects and combine these natural elements with something very “unnatural” that has no reason to be there.”

Who are the artists that inspire you?

I’m really into conceptual art, especially some female artists like Agnes Martin and Jay De Feo. Most of the time it’s not about a particular work or esthetics, but more about the artistic gesture, the creative path to arrive where they did.

Are you planning to design other items than shawls for Heart Heart Heart?

Yes always. I’m naturally sliding to jewelry. But there are plenty of other possibilities.

You’re recent collaboration was with the American artist Miranda July. How did this projet happen?

It’s been a projet I’ve been thinking of for a long time. Miranda is a friend, but apart from that she’s one of the most striking contemporary artists.

“It’s always my intention to bring something more to the design, something that tells a story.”

Why did you choose Heart Heart Heart as the name of your brand?

For the image that brings to mind, and also for the words that are hidden in the word “heart”, earth and art.

Do you listen to music when you design? Which music did you listen to for your latest collection?

I listen to rap and hip-hop all the time. In my opinion that’s where you find today energy and innovation. Rock comes and goes and recently has made me really bored with too many references from the past…like fashion does sometimes.

You’ve been the bass player of the Brazilian indie band Cansei de Ser Sexy. Why did you switch from music to fashion?

I was already in fashion before doing music. I was working as a fashion designer for Alexandre Herchcovitch. I was making music on the weekends. Cansei de Ser Sexy was existing since 2003. It was a great time and an amazing experience. We were very spontaneous at the beginning. However while we were working on the the 2nd album, suddenly we tried to control everything, there was no magic and spontaneity any more. And that’s the moment when I left the band. I decided to move to Paris and make a master at the IFM.

Even though you’ve left music, you collaborate from time to time on music projects, such as on the cover for Nicolas Godin’s latest album “Contrepoint”. How was it to collaborate with Nicolas, who is also your fiancé? What did inspire you for this album cover?

Nicolas and I, we had the idea together. A friend of us who is a photographer made the photo especially for the cover and I added the paint brush on it.

And why lips?

The album is very sexy and has something very sensual. I wanted to reflect this sensuality of the music through the album cover.

Being from Brazil and living now in Paris, what do you like of Paris and the Parisian style? Wha do you miss about Brazil? And how do you combine both cultures and mentalities in your every day live, in your work? Is there a typical Brazilian tradition or habit that you keep in your Parisian life?

Haha! Being late counts? … Brazil is really easy-going and layed back, which is good but also a curse because it’s really hard to get work well done or done at all.
I love how the french take style seriously, it’s a way of living and one of their most well-known talent they export all around the world.
I try to make things light around me, think of the sunshine back home. Maybe that is a contribution. Brazilians are also more free with fashion and style. We don’t have much to look up to from the past, so people think they can invent their own story.

Is there a special object that is very important to you that you took with you moving from Sao Paulo to Paris?

I brought a beautiful old edition of the novel “Iracema”. I was named after the title’s name.

What comes to your mind when you hear about “Iran”?

The Persian empire, history class, … also Persian design that is so intricate and beautiful, like the women in Iran.

Credits:
Portray of Iracema by Christophe Roué
Photos of Iracema’s shawls by Iracema Trevisan
Concept of Nicolas Godin’s album cover “Contrepoint ” by Iracema Trevisan
Text: Anahita Vessier
http://www.heartheartheart.com

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YARED ZELEKE, The beauty of Ethiopia

YARED ZELEKE, The beauty of Ethiopia

Before I met Yared Zeleke, I saw his movie “Lamb” and I was blown away by the beauty of this film and by the talent of this young Ethiopian film maker. When I then met Yared in person, I was immediately seduced by his kindness, by his openness, by his humor and by his love for his country Ethiopia.

What pushed you to become a filmmaker?

I grew up with my grandmother’s stories. She was a great orator and she was known in the community for her stories and this is the origin of my first interest in film making. Later when I grew up I loved reading and writing. I love to write and to direct, I really love to do both.

Why did you want to do a film about Ethiopia?

In my case, having grown up in the US after the age of 10 and people telling me that I come from the desert. There is nothing wrong with the desert per se but it symbolizes emptiness and so it means that I come from Nothing. That was one of the many reasons why I chose to make my first film in Ethiopia.

” I wanted to show the beauty of this country which is the opposite of a desert, it’s green and mountainous instead of flat and dry.”

Is it autobiographic?

It’s the topic of how a child deals with loss, everything that exactly happened to me. In spite of the famine and the difficult political situation (dictatorship, war), I had the happiest childhood, loved and supported by my family and by my community.
But even though the fundamental theme is my story, the world isn’t mine at all. I grew up in a city (Addis Abeba), I never had a pet, I don’t like to cook. So a lot is also my imagination which is important when you tell stories.

The actors in your film are non professional actors. How did you find them? Wasn’t it difficult to film with non-professional actors?

We auditioned 7000 people in 6 months, half of them were kids in public schools, mostly in the city, some also in the village where we shot. When we found Rediat Amare, the boy, it was first hard to convince his parents and get their permission for him playing in the movie. We had to gain their trust. He is a poor kid from the slum who is very gifted. However it took us 4 or 5 tries before I knew that he was the right one for the main role because it requires so much: Can he be open, can he listen, can he trust, can he laugh, can he cry?
A few actors were also theater actors. So we had to train them to act in front of the camera.

And the lamb?

We had to get individual lambs who do not have any attachment to each other. And then we trained them for a couple of months individually with Rediat, the boy, so each lambs builds a relation to him.
We always had 5 lambs with us on the set all the time, when we went 4000m up the mountains or into the forest. But finally throughout the whole film you see always the same lamb because she just did everything.

How did the people in the village react when you were filming?

They are rural Ethiopians living deep into the mountains who don’t even have any electricity.

“So we seemed to them probably like aliens with weird instruments making strange experiences.”

At the beginning they were cautious and reserved in the Ethiopian way always with a smile, but in the end we gained their trust and then it was just beautiful. They were near tears the day we left. There is such gentilness in this place.

However it was not always easy to make this film because the government was suspicious, the people were suspicious because of the bad image Ethiopia had in media. For the religious scenes we needed a permission of the orthodox Ethiopian church. It was so fragile the making of this film and had so many chances to fail.

Lamb became the first Ethiopian film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. It was screened at the festival’s “Un Certain Regard program. How did you feel presenting your film in Cannes? Did you you take the actors with you?

It was so overwhelming that I almost couldn’t enjoy it because it was so intense. But it doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it at all, it’s just like a Tsunami that hits you!

“All the actors came with me to Cannes. It was their first time out of their country. Can you imagine their only impression of the western world!”

For the film music, you’ve collaborated with Christophe Chassol. How did this collaboration happen? Did he have “carte blanche” or was there a very specific brief for the music?

As far as scoring, however, I chose to do non-Ethiopian music because I did not want to make a folkloric film. Even though the story takes place in a typical and traditional Ethiopian village, my particular point of view as a filmmaker is contemporary. Therefore, certain artistic elements in the film needed to be contemporary. So for the music what better person than Christophe Chassol.

I was very lucky to be introduced to Chassol’s work by Jorge Fernandez, the music supervisor of Lamb. When I first heard his music, I instantly knew that Chassol was the right person for this film. And when we sat down to work together, it was magic. There was a lot of listening and learning and feeling things out together. Total trust. He was so attuned to the story and the characters and me. It was a combination of “carte blanche” and collaboration.

Being from Ethiopia, living in New York and now in Paris, do you have any typical Ethiopian habit to keep Ethiopia with you?

I got really shapped by New York where I did my studies, I went to Addis Abeba 3 years ago where I have most of my family and now I’ve embraced Paris. But when I get homesick I go to an Ethiopian restaurant .
Listening to Ethiopian music also helps me to keep Ethiopia with me. It connects me and inspires me. I love old Ethiopian music just as much as contemporary Ethiopian music.
Another thing that I love from Ethiopia are these traditional shawls that you also see in my film. A lot of them are hand-woven. I always have one with me on my travel. There are so beautiful.
There is also one object that I bought in Ethiopia and that is very important to me, it’s an orthodox cross. I carry it with me all the time, It brings me luck.

When you hear about Iran, what comes into your mind?

I think of the films of Kiarostami, of films of the Kurdish side of Iran such as “Turtles Can Fly” of Bahman Ghobadi, of “The Colors of Paradis” of Madjid Madjidi. Farsi sounds so beautiful when I watch this movies.
I think also of the poet Rumi that I love to read.

Credits:
Photos by Ama Ampadu (Slum Kid Films)
Text: Anahita Vessier
http://.filmsdistribution.com/Film.aspx?ID=11744

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ANAHITA, Persian divinity

ANAHITA, Persian divinity

Anahita was the ancient Persian goddess of water and fertility, patroness of woman, as well as a goddess of war. She was identified with the planet Venus and was worshipped throughout the Persian Empire for many centuries.

She is dressed in golden robes complete with jewels and a halo crown or diamond tiara.

Her name means “the immaculate one” and she was considered as the “Golden Mother”.

The dove and the peacock are her sacred animals.

Credits:
All photos by Romain Guillon
Models: Roxane Lagache, Florinda Harvey
Make-up: Carole Hannah
Text: Anahita Vessier

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Anahita's Eye