WomenCinemakers interviewElizabeth Arifien: Water is such a powerfulessence, there are so many strong connections towater, such as being cleansed, purified, blessed,along with more dramatic visuals of drowningand sinking. I found the various forms of waterfascinating too and how we might physicalisethese and replicate them in movement whichwould reflect the stages of grief we mightexperience. So water enabled me to articulate andt find visuals that reflected my stages of loss that Icould then build from. Water was paramount tothe theme of the work.Another interesting work of yours that hasimpressed us and that we would be delightedto introduce to our readers is entitled, and that can be viewed at. The film’s focus on aging feelsparticularly poignant in today’s youth-centricculture. What inspired you to confront thistopic?Elizabeth Arifien: I was fortunate enough to havehad significant time facilitating dance sessions for
WomenCinemakersa group of dancers over 60. They changedmy life and relationship to my body and it'sabilities. Exchanging movement with themwas such a gift, there were people comingwho had strokes and had such limitedmovement, people who were dealing withthe end of their life. I was asked tochoreograph a dance for one of the dancers'funerals, the biggest privilege of my career.She was full of life and it was around thistime I felt so compelled to shed light in thiscommunity. Some of the dancers have beenmoving together for over 10 years. They allcome from various cultural backgrounds tooyet their religion and beliefs only addeddepth to the movement and meaning of themovement. Sharing some of the dancersstories in ‘Taken By The Hand’ and creating aplatform for our younger dancers to bereminded of the true meaning of dance wasa real privilege and I'm so thankful to thewhole team behind making this happen.We are particularly struck by the film’scelebration of community, especially setagainst the backdrop of Tottenham. Howdid the influence the film’snarrative and choreography, and whatrole do you see dance playing in fosteringcommunal bonds?Elizabeth Arifien: As I mentioned above,dance can eliminate barriers we might thinkare there. I have witnessed, when I removewords and lean into expression I find myselfreaching a whole new depth of emotionwithin myself, a level I am so desperate toconnect and exchange with others throughdance and music. I hope I am able to keepuniting people through movement andcreating bonds that last beyond the dancefloor.Navigating the tension betweencelebrating the joys of aging andaddressing the challenges and societalperceptions that come with it,combines emotiveperformances with honest accounts fromthe elders about their place in today’ssociety. How did you balance these
personal narratives with the moreabstract representation of time andmovement, and what did you learn fromtheir stories during the process?Elizabeth Arifien: Tom Sloan (director) dida wonderful job of talking and listening tothe adult dancers. Allowing them space toshare their experiences which werecaptured so incredibly by Alex Reid (DOP).Tom and Alex decided to split the shootdays into two, one being for movementand the other for conversations. We thenwove these together naturally in the edit.Both of these films were edited by BenBoullier who has such a fluid approach toediting, it was a real pleasure to work withhim.Thanks a lot for your time and forsharing your thoughts, Elizabeth. Finally,would you like to tell us readerssomething about your future projects?How do you see your work evolving?Elizabeth Arifien: My latest work has beenWomenCinemakers
leaning into technology. I recently made a newwork called ‘Boundless Body' which premieredas the penultimate performance of London’sDigital Body Festival. The process of makingthis new work was documented by filmmakerChristopher Thomas and is nearing release. Itwill be launched as eight episodes coveringeight topics relating to my practice. Theseincluded, being Neurodivergent, technology,costumes, motherhood, my story, dance,conversations and the final performance. Thework was made in 2 weeks so it was an intenseperiod and captured vulnerable and rawinsights behind the scenes of an oftenexclusive experience.You can also view the full stage work of myother new work ‘Chapter Chasing Chapter’.This was commissioned and developed withthe dancers of Austi Dance Company inAustimere, Australia.Thank you for reading and I hope this left yourreaders with something worthwhile.WomenCinemakersAn interview by Francis L. Quettierand Dora S. [email protected]
Hello Doina and welcome toWomenCinemakers: before starting toelaborate about your film we would inviteour readers to visitAn interview by Francis L. Quettierand Dora S. [email protected] in order toget a wider idea about your artisticproduction and we would start thisinterview with a question about yourbackground. You have a solid formaltraining and you hold a Master’s from theRoyal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.Doina MindreanWomenCinemakers meetsLives and works in Antwerp, BelgiumIn the village of Kruibeke (Antwerp, Belgium), days unfold in a seemingly monotonous rhythm. A repetitive pattern inwhich a group of cows are stuck in the throes of a dull routine and muted existence. 34 Cows explores the tactility ofrituality and rhythm and where such simplicity can yield.The family of 34 cows are led by the simple-hearted Erik and his frolic dog Micky. The cows navigate through theirmundane existence of chewing cud, meandering through fields, and engaging in predictable whereabouts. Thispredictability represents the simple cyclicality of life and its repetition. The flow of the movie mimics the one of fullyclosed circle which highlights the extraordinary nature of renewal—underscoring nature’s quiet insistence on returningto its core.The relation between the cowherd - Erik and his stock speaks to a sense of companionship and shared existence, wherelife is full of interconnected existence. 34 Cows is an exploration of the extraordinary found within the ordinary,celebrating the charm of routine and the bonds that make even the most uneventful lives truly special.
WomenCinemakersHow did your educational background shapeyour development and approach as amultidisciplinary artist? Moreover, does yourcultural background due to Moldovan heritageinform the way you create your artworks?Doina Mindrean: Yes, first and foremost I want tothank you for this opportunity. When it comes tomy background, I was trained in Academic Paintingin Moldova at the Lyceum ‘Igor Vieru’, among themost rigorous and aesthetically profound paintingschools still standing. After coming to Belgium Ipursued my Bachelor and Masters in GraphicDesign.Indeed, both countries imprinted themselves on myartistic consciousness - not just because of thevariation in disciplines, but also due to the crucialdifference in the cultural and social atmosphere. In aword, both of the backgrounds coexist in me as afounding stone: on one side Moldova thought thesimplicity of solitude, whilst Belgium opened myeyes to complexity. Together, they form, in a way,my credo - suspended between the two, I believe.On top of that after five years in Belgium I decidedto get citizenship here - claiming new skies out ofpride. Still, I believe my background in Moldova isthe one that has been refined and chiseled in theinterview
WomenCinemakers
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WomenCinemakerstime I was away from home.Even though neither educations relates to film, I stillwant to say a few words about my multiculturalbackground, as it is the bit that toiled me as who Iam. As a teen, my conscious self awoke with a paintbrush as an extinction of my hands; sixteen is whenI started heavily filtering my surroundings. That iswhen I got the first taste of dedication, andeverything around me became pigment andgesture. The social atmosphere at the schoolstrongly encouraged students to read and watchgood films - this was how the classic Russianliterature entered my world, igniting philosophicalquestions towards the nature of being. Myinterlocutors became the painters whose biographyI devoured until I exhausted the school’s humblelibrary. At the same time I began watching goodfilms, first on the list being Tarkovsky, then slowlytransitioning to other classics like Parajanov,Kusturica, Sokurov, Bergman, and Kurosawa. In thelast two years of study, I also decided to takeadvantage of the boarding school facility to fullyimmerse myself and, of course, paint more. Ibelieved in the power of devotion.Upon arriving to Belgium, I had to adjust everythingonce I understood that I needed to learn not only tointerview
integrate but also to live. Corona didn’t help alot. My cultural background only became clearerin the highlights of what the Antwerp scenerevealed itself to be. Moldova is Europe’spoorest country, and many of the things thatwere common sense in my painting circle backhome, here, had to be explained. Languagebecame a thing. I began shifting, trying tounderstand the thin line where medium andmeaning intersect. It became a personalchallenge of trying to understand myself. Whenthere came the opportunity to take a MovingImage class, I knew that would be it. There wasa magic into getting to know a camera, inseeing through the lens what my eye perceivesin reality. My teacher, Wim Catrysse, was theperfect guide for it.For this special edition of WomenCinemakerswe have selected , an extremelyinteresting work that has particularlyimpressed us for the way it beautifully
captures the rhythmic monotony of rurallife. Could you speak about your decision tofocus on this Belgian village of Kruibekespecifically, and what qualities you foundthere that embodied the themes of ritualityand rhythm you wanted to explore?Doina Mindrean: Perhaps a couple of thingsshould be mentioned first. Before 34 Cows,there was another film namely - OrdinaryCows - made a year earlier in the context ofthe Moving Image class. The former was filmedat a farm in Nijlen and was a subtle foreshadowof what the latter would become. It, too,portrayed monotony, something my creativeself craved like a purge, simply because it wasan analogy of stripping away the dynamicbackground and noise to uncover a single,pure state. The naming of the state I leftcompletely open to the viewer. Then myhunger was appease.Latter, an opportunity arose to screen this
WomenCinemakersmovie for a show, and the question of fine tuningit came to the table. Wim proposed someneighbouring farms, and there, the project 34Cows began to take shape.People generally dislike being filmed. It intuitivelyresembles an uninvited inquiry into theirwhereabouts. After being ignored or turned awayfrom other farms, we found Erik’s. The cinematicsetting was perfect, it seemed a godforsakenplace with a forgotten god within it. It was utterlysilent. In Ordinary Cows, I viewed people aspolluters of stillness. But with Erik’s farm a newbalance was created. He was one with the herd,he moved among them not as a master but as afellow creature, nothing like the stereotypicalmercantile farmer. He knew all cows by sight andhe recognised their individual stories. He worethe same clothes and he appeared as we’d leftthe day before, which made editing a lot easier.His world resumed with the farms world; hescarcely knew anything of what lay beyond it,aside from what he saw on TV or read in thenewspaper. Erik seemed to me as a self-sufficient,enclosed microcosm orbiting its own quiet laws.To answer your question, Kruibeke was more of apractical, tactical choice. We knew there wereinterview
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WomenCinemakersmany farms around, so plenty of options, and it wasonly a 20-minutes boat ride from Antwerp. I neverexpected the outskirts of Antwerp to harbour suchan enchanting little story as Erik’s. It was a discoveryfor me as well - especially since its proximity to thebig city made me expect it would be more alteredby the economic competition. On a larger farm,aligning narrative or emotion would have beenharder, as the viewer would have been captured intoa somewhat busy surrounding. The ritual andrhythm in 34 Cows came from the setting itself; Iwas there just to witness it. The repetition of thesame was what breathed life into the inert.These themes are something very close to me as acreator, particularly given my Moldovanbackground. I am more inclined to believe in a nonexpansive way of changing oneself and the world.This idea is echoed from the opening scene inTarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, where the father teacheshis mute son a lesson in faith by tending to a deadJapanese tree. Though the tree was seeminglylifeless when planting, the father insisted thatwatering it daily at the same hour would eventuallymake it bloom - and so it did. That is the magic ofroutine, it is not about the thing in itself but the act.The setting of Kruibeke seems less a backdropinterview
WomenCinemakersthan a character in itself. The Belgiancountryside features prominently in yourfilm, and your naturalistic approach, whichlends an air of authenticity to the film. Whatrole did the location play in shaping thefilm’s atmosphere? And what were thepractical challenges of filming with 34 actualcows, and how did these challenges informyour directorial decisions?Doina Mindrean: As mentioned earlier, Erik,Micky, the 34 cows, and their environmentcompletely dictated the flow of the film. ThoughI arrived with a preconceived image of what thething I am was about to film is - due to theprevious work - the story revealed itself asalready complete when we arrived. I had to justcapture it in the least intrusive way and maybenon original, by just letting ourselves to becomea part of it. The entire film was shot in one week,during which we tried to pin down the mostessential elements of their daily routine. Thereweren’t many in this case: the morningcrossover to the field, the meandering throughfields, Erik on his tractor, the evening food, thereturn crossing, and the milking. The simpler theacts, the more palpable the perfection of thecyclical became. It repeated every day so weneeded at least 2 times the shots of the sameaction to ensure we have different angles for thesingle scene. Though unsurprisingly, Erik alsorigorously followed the same route, which alsosimplified the deed.I think the real challenge emerged at the editingtable. One more time struck by question: Howdoes one present this mundanity in a way thatstill captivates? I tend to be a very messy editorand my timeline tends to clutter with obsessivedetails, at times it felt like second guessing.Luckily I had a sharp eye next to me.Throughout production and post-productionone question still echoed within me as an artist:What am I offering in exchange of this theft?What would be the message that I am giving inreturn? Anything in life should be consideredfrom the regard of an exchange, I value people’stime and I understand that time has great costnowadays, therefore the pressure of the filmbeing understood never left me. Thatreciprocation could manifest as a feeling, anidea, or simply shared presence, but there hadto be an exchange. All meaningful art shouldoperate as an exchange, be it philosophical,
A still from
WomenCinemakersemotional, moral or political. seems to reject conventionalnarrative structures in favour of a morecyclical approach. Could you discuss howthis circular storytelling technique reflectsthe thematic elements of renewal and returnthat appear throughout the film?Doina Mindrean: Cyclicality and renewal areprominent themes in my work as a maker.While on a personal level this cyclicality issomething we experience in a downplayed way,it is through nature we truly comprehend them.I, myself, am not a person of repetition. Ourown circularity is harder to perceive - wecannot view our own lives from a bird’s eyeperspective since we only get one to live. Truerepetition rarely occurs in human experience;even if similar moments recur, we changed sowe don’t perceive them as such. In a biggerpicture everything is of course repetition.I don’t know if the narrative of 34 Cows isconventional or not. What I do know is that it isloyal to the subject. That is what the cows werebusy all day, coming and going, mirroring thesea spitting waves at the shore for them toreturn and create the next coming wave - eachwave containing the promise of return. It is asimple parable of life.An important factor during filming was usdiscovering the calves kept in a barn separatedfrom the one of their mothers. The onlyconnection with their mother was the milk thatErik fed them each evening after the milking.They could hear but not interact with eachother until the calves grew big enough to enterthe herd. This is a parallel underscoringrenewal, but also separation and return, subtlypreparing the viewer that this circle wouldrepeat itself over and over and over.Circular storytelling has an element thatreminds eternity. Erik’s story could besomething from the beginning of the earth butat the same time something from the end of it,resisting placement on a timeline.We really appreciate how creates ameditative viewing experience. How do youhope audiences will be affected by the film'sexploration of cyclicality and renewal in ourincreasingly fast-paced world? In an era
interviewWomenCinemakerswhere many films seem to compete forattention with rapid editing and sensoryoverload, your contemplative approach feelsalmost revolutionary. Do you see your film asoffering viewers a particular kind of respite orperspective shift that might alter how theyperceive their own daily rhythms after leavingthe cinema? And was this potential fortransformative viewing always part of yourartistic vision for the project?Doina Mindrean: From the very beginning, Iknew this is something I want to work with. Iwouldn’t call my editing revolutionary - I wouldcall it classical. It is just since the advent of newediting and filming machines that technologybecame more important than technique. And ofcourse, there is now a high demand forcommercial movies, which are adapted to theviewers appetite. The viewer became less sensibleto the natural flow of life, perceiving throughsensory stimulants - hence this more rapid way ofediting.What I wanted to explore was not the newimposed tempo but rather the rhythm of thestate of things. The organic way life flows, which
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WomenCinemakersclashes with what ‘a modern person’ is since socialmedia and the fast spread of information. We live in aworld where the individual can be easily lost in thedeluge of new information it comes at him. I feel itmyself - this discomfort. There is always somethingmore to discover and there is always an urge to beup-to-date with the tide of novelty, which is a taskclose to impossible. We’ve grown distant from howlife should actually feel, thus far from how ourselvesshould feel like. We are already too deep in this twirlof overflowing information.Maybe it is a bit traditional to say but if I want toreconnect with time as it actually passes - not the onefor hybrid humans, but the time of earth itself - Iretreat into nature which gives me a good antidote. Itry to see the tempo of a flowing creek, or thearrhythmic rustling trees or the songs of a bird. Theyare not rushing anywhere and that is the norm.I hope the viewers perceive in my movie time as it is -time as it is felt from an unclocked cow’s perspective.They have no notion of it, their lives is purely dictatedby the cyclicality of the days, a true pulse of the real.The same for Erik: his entire day is wrapped aroundhow the day feels being entirely reliant on theweather. I want the viewer to leave the cinema, atleast, with a more rarified breathing.interview
The relationship between Erik and his herd,as portrayed in the film, seems to operate onan unspoken understanding. To what extentwas this dynamic observed and documentedas-is, and to what extent was it curated orconstructed for the screen?Doina Mindrean: The relationship is portrayedas-is, we really tried to extract the essential of it.Erik would speak to the cows; he would speakto us. I don’t believe he could sense anydistinction in between these conversations.There were moments when he fully focused onhis routine, completely disregarding thecamera. There is a shot with Erik and his friendwhere they shared minutes in complete silence,staring both into the further landscape. Asilence so complete it almost became alanguage. I found it enchanting. There was acertain amount of comfort and amicability inthis interaction. The two friends were living inthe moment, yet together. I doubt muchchanged in Erik’s behaviour with camera’spresence, maybe he had no prior preconceptionor interactions with one, so he accepted it justas one thing he didn’t need to furtherinvestigate. It felt almost natural for him to befilmed, I suppose also because he had no wishto perform in front of the camera.There’s a clear sense that the film isn'tsimply documenting animals, but ratherexploring notions of presence, coexistence,and cyclical time. What philosophical oraesthetic traditions, if any, influenced yourapproach to these themes?Doina Mindrean: In my country we still have alot of traditions that are linked to the cyclicalityof time. People still appreciate their livesagainst the backdrop of changing seasons -perhaps inevitable in an agricultural country.Nature and men is in a state of conversation,something I am very grateful to have witnessed.Rain, for instance, is not just an atmosphericphenomenon that can alter moods; but it issomething that can make the young chicks getsick, can completely ruin a crop, can make thefreshly washed garments mildew, or can besomething me, as a child, sang to invoke. It issomething people would talk as a friend or foe,depending on how uninvited the rain comes.This is a world where nature and men are morethan connected, we are interdependent. I grewWomenCinemakers
up spending my summers at my grandmother farm,surrounded by animals and harvests. Such patternsare everywhere in Moldova’s secular tradition, hidingeven in the smallest details.The apparent contradiction between Erik and his herdis something that doesn’t dissolve in the differencebut it resonates as mutual reflection. It spirals deeperinto relational existence or coexistence, creating athreshold - each coded and layered by each other’scontext.The concept of \"interconnected existence\"features prominently in your film. Could youspeak about how your personal views on humananimal relationships informed this aspect of thestory?Doina Mindrean: I try to not give a moralisticapproach to what I create, preferring to leave suchjudgments to the viewer. If I’ve somehow managedinto portraying a most ordinary cow in a way that itresonates with someone, then I’ve succeeded as acreator. The narrative must remain open enough sothat anybody can find their personal foothold. That iswhat I consider a good piece of art, the ability for theviewer to participate in the dialogue; it should reflectWomenCinemakers
the viewer depths rather than impose myopinions. 34 Cows should not feel like a verdict,but rather it is the state of things beforeinterpretation. What matters is that the filmcreates room - to breathe, to wander or todisagree.My approach to depicting animals resists theirdepiction as mere subjects in Erik’s story, theyare beings with an individual story. They arepresence that occupy their own place and time,which is a mirror held up to human existence.They are not just livestock but becomecreatures whose existence intertwines withours. In this movie I am less concerned withwhat animals symbolise than with how thishighlighted interconnected existence changeour perception and role.We really appreciate your insights and thetime you've generously given us, Doina. Aswe wrap up, we're especially keen to hearabout your artistic trajectory. Could youshare with our readers some tantalisingdetails about your upcoming projects?We're particularly interested in how youenvision your work evolving in the future.Are there new themes you're eager toexplore, or perhaps innovative techniquesyou're looking to incorporate?Doina Mindrean: Currently, I am focused onpainting but still flirting with the idea of filmingagain - something I don’t want to say tooloudly since it creates expectation. I don’t wantit to become demand. In my career as an artist,I’ve noticed that the movements of my art aremirroring my biography. It has the samecontours as my becoming. It creases in itwithout me actually realising or pinning it assuch. I cannot create with what does not relatewith my present moment. I always create tounderstand my surroundings and myself. Therehas to be an urge or itch that mere observationor reading cannot satisfy. Such curiousphenomenas still call me back home,something I really want to get back to, myroots.WomenCinemakersAn interview by Francis L. Quettierand Dora S. [email protected]
Hello Diana and welcome toWomenCinemakers: before starting toelaborate about your film we would inviteour readers to visitAn interview by Francis L. Quettierand Dora S. [email protected] in order toget a wider idea about your artisticproduction and we would start thisinterview with a couple of questionsabout your background. You have a solidformal training: you hold a BA (Hons)Fine Art from Nottingham TrentDiana AliWomenCinemakers meetsCurrently lives in Nottingham but works nationally and internationallyTaken from found footage of 60’s glamour and provocate material, Kind Regardsconveys secret going-ons. Using a super8 projector, the spool runs freely until it isburnt or stuck. Splicing and cut-up methods have been used to reinvent the originalnarrative. It questions the inner fantasies of what lies behind closed doors whetherthat is ours or someone else’s.
WomenCinemakersUniversity and a Masters in ContemporaryFine Art Curating/ Practice from SheffieldHallam University. How does youreducational background shape yourdevelopment and approach as a visualartist? Moreover, does your culturalbackground inform the nature of yourartistic production?Diana Ali: Thank you for the invitation andthe opportunity to discuss my practice.I lived in Bangladesh when I was a child for acouple of years. I used to love the monsoonseason out there because I was so happymaking mud pies. I did not know a word ofEnglish when I came back to the UK. Iremember the school teacher telling the kidsto paint a rainbow and I had no idea what onewas but I remember the pot of black paint infront of me. I instinctively smeared the largepiece of paper with it because it reminded meof mud. But also retrospectivity it was an actof frustration creating that black void. Sincethen I have always seen art as a voice, as a
WomenCinemakersform of communication when we cannot say itverbally.Back then it was not the norm for young Asiangirls to pursue an arts education but my fatherwas very progressive, especially in terms of howto integrate into the Western world, and weagreed that this was the correct pathway. Somepersuasion was needed because of culturalfrictions but it happened.An arts education was a voice for me, anopportunity to formulate an identity and toreinvent the cultural and societal expectations Ihad known. I felt like I was part of a differentand alternative community. I could make myown rules and break them. Art allowed me toembrace that.My cultural background does not strictly mouldmy art but subconsciously it is part of mypractice in terms of how we view art, especiallyin terms of censorship, what is deemed asappropriate or acceptable. So it does not informbut rather contest.For this special edition of WomenCinemakerswe have selected an
extremely interesting experimental filmthat our readers have already started toget to know in the introductory pages ofthis article, and that could be viewed at. We are particularly impressed withyour ability to manipulate the aestheticand emotional resonance of foundfootage. When walking our readersthrough the genesis of Kind Regards wouldyou tell us how did you approach thechallenge of balancing the nostalgic allureof 60s glamour with the unsettlingnarrative undercurrents you sought tointroduce?Diana Ali: I like jigsaws, fragments from thewhole, fixing things, making sense of thingswhen they are put together anew, almostuniting disparate materials together to give anew meaning or purpose. I never know what’son the found footage until I play it throughthe projector. Most if it is to my surprise butthe challenge is making sense of it. It wasserendipitous seeing the 60’s glamour and yesit was alluring and evocate, a bit naughty, abit sexy and a bit seedy….desires which we donot always confront.But in fact the truth is that to have nice things,sometimes we have to sacrifice others. Thereis always a darker truth or a darker reality andthat where the unsettling text comes from.Who knows who these women were, orwhether they liked doing this film, were theycoerced or was it under their control? I willnever know their story. So with the narrative,it was about reinventing a possible story thatwas absurd and evocative.The images come first. I play the footage, Istop it, I rewind it and I put it aside ready tobe put together with others I choose. The‘lurking man’ was a bit odd and I thoughtright that’s where I start. Is he a voyeur, apervert, is he dangerous or does he want tojoin in? Then suddenly all sorts of scenariosstart happening in my head. Much of the textis based on sources I have read, seen, heard,witnessed, experienced and some of it is notpleasant. This where the unsettling feelingcomes in combined with desired fantasies.
Your methodology of reinventingoriginal narratives suggests a form ofarchival subversion. How do youperceive the relationship between thefragmented visual language of your filmand the complete narrative you'reconstructing? What theoretical or artisticinfluences informed your approach?Diana Ali: I want to bring differentfragments of a whole back together. I amtalking about elements of a story ornarrative. Especially fragmented parts thathave been broken and make some form ofunity. Hopefully, this can make them anew,give them a new purpose, a new plotalmost. But the fragmented parts of thenarrative do not always fit so well togetherand that’s fine because there’s always roomfor the story to change. There is an elementof the Gestalt occurring, trying to achieve aunified whole. I have always been a fan of aPorte Manteau film. The way disparatestories are connected by one single elementand I am interested in the interconnectionsof how relationships and plots are depictedthrough personal stories.Your practice seems to navigate complexterrains of personal and politicalidentities, and we really appreciate thefilm's exploration of inner fantasies. Howdo you negotiate the delicate balancebetween individual narratives andbroader sociopolitical contexts?Diana Ali: We all have fantasies, some arewrong, some are insane some or outrightodd and some are never to be talked about.But they are ours and we don’t have toshare them with anyone. There is acollective sense of intrigue, curiosity andsensation when two people look at eachother across the room for example.Depending on our cultural upbringing, ourconstructed manners, our humaninteraction, our introversion or extroversion,we react to situations in a non-linear way.What I am trying to explore in this film ishow human interaction can flit between PREVIEWbeing delicate to confrontational. Either
WomenCinemakersway, we desire to live out fantasises throughour imagination. But other times we want tokeep it for ourselves. The film is inviting theviewer or the voyeur to have a moment in thatimagined space.Political identities are complex and currentlythere are many discourses and debates aboutthis. This is a good thing because we haveopportunities to explore the multi-layerednotion of identities whether this is a difficultconversation or freedom of speech. I amspeaking about the Western world where theseopportunities arise.I was lucky enough to come from one part ofthe world into another and my political identityhas shifted over time and probably will in thefuture. I am trying to embrace the shift of howvisual imagery, especially of this explicit naturecan evoke reaction in people from differentbackgrounds. Yes, it is 60’s glamour which wascontroversial at the time but how do weperceive past visual imagery in today’s world?Censorship is continually changing but again,depending on our cultural upbringing,censorship takes on a variety of forms. I