Separated by distance, two friends confide their lives to each other through voice messages. From these intimate confidences comes Iris, by Montreal-based Brazilian filmmaker Gabriela de Andrade.
Selected for Doc.Berlin, Iris is an ode to friendship, a sensitive exploration that reminds us of the importance of human ties, no matter how far apart we are.
What's your documentary-making process like?
My films grow out of a close relationship with the characters who make them up: my friends, my family, my community. It's not the film that creates the relationship; it's the relationship that fuels the film. In a confessional tone, I seek a sensitive, poetic language to tell the stories of people who have embarked on non-traditional, even marginal paths. For this film, Iris, my nomadic friend and I forged a unique bond through voice messages. These recordings have become a pillar of our relationship, tangible proof of our mutual attachment to our friendship as deep as it is mysterious.
What were the key challenges making Iris?
With Iris's agreement to use her voice and stories, my main challenge was to create a narrative structure that respected our intimacy while reflecting the evolution of our relationship and our lives. To make an intimate film without breaking our bonds of friendship or the trust of Iris, who was my first viewer. By opting for a narrative carried exclusively by Iris's voice, you create a particular dynamic.
What are the reasons behind this choice of narration?
Iris's voice is an instrument in itself. Its richness and poetry invited me to create a space where it could express itself fully. My voice's absence creates a space of intimacy, leaving the audience free to imagine our exchanges and to project themselves into this relationship. It's through images that I answer her questions, creating a subtle dialogue between sound and image.
How did you conceive the visual aesthetic of the film, centered on landscapes and the floating female body?
Iris's audio messages, with the sound of her footsteps in the background, transported me to her wanderings. I wanted to retranscribe this sensation of perpetual motion in the images, creating fluid landscapes and a levitating female body. This body symbolizes our bond, a fragile yet resilient entity. My appearance on the screen is a way of making visible this part of me that resonates with her journey, and of sharing with the viewer this quest for balance between anchoring and escape.
Could you tell us about your current projects, and in particular those that are closest to your heart?
The launch of Iris encouraged me to continue exploring female bonds. Thanks to a residency at MAI (Montreal, Arts Interculturel), I'm experimenting with new forms of creation, which will be presented in the form of a multiscreen installation. In collaboration with Exeko, I propose a series of creative workshops to create a space for expression with a group of women living or having lived through homelessness or social precariousness. It is through the voices of these women, which I hope to amplify, that the visual will be created. At the same time, I'm preparing to edit my first feature-length documentary, a project that has been close to my heart for several years.
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