This refined documentary tells the tremendous truth behind the story of two women, seemingly different but linked, deep down, by the same shocking trauma of World War II. What is striking in this documentary is the beauty of the visual storytelling, which makes it look like a fiction short film. Your film departs from the typical realistic framework of documentaries and seeks a different type of connection, more lyrical, between words and images. Can you tell us more about the genesis of this project? Did you already have in mind the narrative structure of the film or did you let yourself be guided by the protagonists?

A friend of mine introduced the project ‘’For our fathers’ to me a couple of years ago. ‘For our fathers’ is a truly one of a kind project, that might even sound fictional. Two women, Lisa Rosowsky and Ute Gfrerer, who was born the same year, but experienced something completely opposite and yet so similar. With their art, they are trying to grieve about the past, deal with the present, and warn all of us about possible future tragedies.

Almost immediately after I learned about ‘For our fathers’, I contacted Lisa and Ute and requested filming a short. Producing the film myself, I prepared a so-called ‘Production bible’ that had a day-by-day shot list and beat sheet. Overall it was a lot of work since we had a limited production crew. I traveled from NY to Boston several times in order to capture different parts of the film: interviews, rehearsal, and the main performance. Certainly, the main piece of the film was their rehearsal and performance at senior home Newbridge on the Charles.

I found it very helpful to have a scenario and the shot list for this film. Ideally, you need to know how your film will look like starting the project. Yet it’s crucial to stay observant and curious, getting interesting angles and shots. And this is what is beautiful about cinéma vérité and documentary genre. The real, time-consuming work started when I approached editing. Thankfully I had a great professional editor Kuldeep Gangola that helped me to have a smooth ride down the road. Both of us worked hand to hand weaving this film together.

How did you get in touch with these stories? And what is it that fascinated you so much that you want to tell them?

Chemistry. You need to have a certain passion and a necessity to tell these stories of people who are for some reason unheard. The story needs to spark something in you, if not you won’t have a good film at the end of the day.

 

 

Women and men often approach some issues of their inner life differently. It is a constructive diversity, which underlines the importance of integration between these two worlds. In relation to the historical period of the twentieth century, do you think it is important to emphasize that Lisa and Ute are two women, when it comes to reworking pain? Or maybe, in the face of certain traumas, gender doesn’t matter much?

In my opinion (maybe it’s based solely on my personal experience) women tend to experience certain things deeper, more sensitively, than men. Lisa and Ute reconnected on some inner, invisible level with all that pain that they went through. And even though personally they are completely different, yet their trauma molded them together into a beautiful project ‘For our fathers’.

The two protagonists are now adults and independent and have built their own life paths. But from your film it is possible to perceive the weight of the past on their everyday life, which seems to have shaped them, sometimes with violence. What relationship do you have with your personal past, also with your creative work as an artist?

Cinema is life itself and cinema is an extension of the author, just in a different form. It consciously and unconsciously represents what the director believes in and what is his opinion on certain things. You can only film what you actually know well, otherwise, the viewer will feel that something is wrong. In true cinema, you should express yourself and should never pretend you are someone else.