7/29/2019 Kim Longinotto

1/3

Kim Longinotto: "Women are striking out more on their own without

guilt"

Interview by Lus Mendona | March 2013 | At the portuguese moviewebsite pala de Walsh: www.apaladewalsh.com

When I look at your filmography as a whole it strikes me, immediately, onequestion: if, on the one hand, there is a political and formal constancy forexample, observing women fighting (and in a moviefighting is the right word, fora better situation), on the other hand, it seems that - cultural, geographic,linguistic - diversity is a clear goal for you to achieve as a filmmaker. Did youplan beforehand your career this way or do you adapt your "action" film byfilm?

Each film feels like a new beginning. Im looking for a good story, something I canfeel passionate about. Im attracted to stories about change, about challenge to

tradition and old ways of thinking. It seems to me that in the world today, women are

at the forefront of change because they have most need of it. Men are more likely to

feel that culture favours them, although it often forces them into damaging andrestrictive roles.

In the first half of you filmography you worked with another female directors,like Jano Williams (Japan), Ziba Mir-Hosseini (Iran), Florence Ayisi(Cameroon). Since "Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go" (2007), we saw you directing"alone". Why did you choose to make these "partnerships" in the past and todayyou don't do them anymore?

It seemed fair to give a co-director credit to the people I worked with who spoke the

language of the country we were working in. I really enjoyed my working

relationships with Ziba and Jano and they contributed a lot to the films we worked on

together. Films are always a team effort; I really admire Ollie Huddlestons work as

editor, for example, he is so inventive and playful with the material. Also the sound

recordists I work with are often amazing. In Hold Me Tight, The Day I Will NeverForget and Rough Aunties we didn't work with a translator, so I couldn't credit

anyone else. It can be useful to have someone to put down as co-director as they cango to festivals with the film. But with my last film, Salma, the subject of the film is

representing the film at festivals - she's really enjoying doing it so it's working very

well!

For some critics, you have and observational style of directing, reminiscent of thegreat Frederick Wiseman. However, if for the American director the constancyis achieved in thegenderless "life of the institutions", your constancy is women"resisting" or "persevering" all over the world, below different kinds of roofs.How do you cope with theses comparisons? What are you seeking when youchoose the individual over the institution, the woman over the man?

7/29/2019 Kim Longinotto

2/3

Im always drawn to rebels, to pioneers. I admire them. They stand up against

tradition with great courage. Its often very painful for them to be an outsider in their

own communities; sometimes they feel lonely and scared.

My first encounter with your cinema was with Shinjuku Boys and the

unexpectedly moving and intense Gaea Girls. In these two pictures (and alsoDream Girls, of course) you show us women in a "man's outfit", fighting for theiridentity. I believe there is a strong humanistic stance in your cinema that isrelated to this idea: even when they want to do man's things or to become a man(the extraordinary wrestling coach ofGaea Girls is almost a Shinjuku boy, as hermasculinity surpasses the harsh masculinity of the common man) women arestruggling against all barriers for their identity. There is, nonetheless, avalorization of the inner strength of women. Do you feel comfortable whensomeone say that your cinema is more feministic than feminine?

I think the 21st century will continue to re-define and broaden what is considered

masculine and feminine. Traditionally male means : adventurous, practical,powerful and selfish. Female is seen as being nurturing, sensitive, intuitive, andsacrificial. I think were much more flexible and imaginative about this now. Many

men are realizing that theres more fun to be had in their lives if they can admit to

feelings that were perhaps taboo to their parents generation and women are striking

out more on their own without guilt.

Comparing your Iranian diptych Divorce Iranian Style and Runaway with a movielike Gaea Girls, a thing strikes my mind: before structures of power, your camerafocus on the reaction - the gestures, the physicality - of the individual. In DivorceIranian Style, you give us several shots of women's faces in distress. In Iranianculture the face of a woman condenses - at least socially - the whole expression ofher body. For the sake of the "political argument" or a objective style, should adocumentary filmmaker fight that kind of "natural" plasticity?

I was very happy in Iran. Life is endlessly fascinating there as its so

contradictory. We were forced to live in a women-centred world but this engendered

a great solidarity between us. Women would walk into the courtroom and beam at

Ziba and I. They were so pleased that there were 3 women there, witnessing their

struggles, and supporting them.

Another possible comparison can be done between Divorce Iranian Style andSisters in Law, two movies that reflect a certain social and cultural reality in thetheatre of the court. In what way is your camera attracted to the courtroom as aperfect microcosm of society and what's your role there: lawyer, judge,witness...?

Yes, youre right. I was so surprised when I saw how similar those two films

are. The structure, everything. For example, the opening scenes in both films give aglimpse into the past, they give us an idea of what these women are challenging. In

Divorce the first woman we see is from the older generation, she has put up with alife of hell with her husband for 30 years; the younger women we see next arent

willing to contemplate a life like that. In the first scene in Sisters we learn how awoman was married against her will, in fact she wasnt even at her own wedding and

7/29/2019 Kim Longinotto

3/3

was exchanged for the price of a pig! At one point in Divorce, a 6 year old girl,Parniz, plays at being a judge and shows that she has much more understanding of

womens lives than the real judge were watching in the film. But Sisters has muchmore hope because of the wonderful judges, Vera and Beatrice who are daring to

challenge superstition and culture and have the law behind them.

We were witnesses but we were also drawn into the action. For example Ziba doesn't

tell the judge that Maryam destroyed the Order. We would tell the women how brave

they were and that we were on their side. Ziba told them how she too had been

divorced, once at 16 and then again at 18 years old. We weren't objective at all

which was important for the women who were used to everyone criticising them and

were facing a law rooted in 500 AD. I think our link with the women comes across

strongly in the film. They confide in us, whisper to us when the judge isn't listening.

I can't imagine how hard it might be do capture very private and harshmoments, as you do several times, for example, in the funeral sequence in RoughAunties, without feeling or making the audience feel that the camera is beinginvasive. How do you set boundaries for yourself between what's truthful andwhat's exploratory? Do all these moral "thin lines" concern you as afilmmaker?

I make these films with the people Im filming. If I ever felt I was being invasive, Iwould stop. The Rough Aunties called us down to film at the river when Shubaba

died. The people there wanted us to be a witness to what those companies were

doing. We were there as part of the team.

Your two most recent movies,Pink Saris and Salma, were shot in India. I waswondering: do you first choose your subject (like Sampat Pal or Salma) or yourdestination? Are you preparing to do more films in India, as you did, forinstance, in Japan?

Definitely the subject. I was inspired by Salmas story. I just HAD to tell it. It is the

story of millions of girls all over the world, right now. Salma has given them a voice,

at last. Im so very proud of her.