“I always want to see in the film that we have a future”
Interview with Elene Naveriani, director of Wet Sand
I am super happy that my work is screening again in Taiwan. In 2017, my first feature film I Am Truly a Drop of Sun on Earth was selected in WMWFF. I was invited to Taiwan and it was one of the best memories from the festivals. I’ve been there and it’s been one of the best times I had. Really great audience and I am super happy that my film Wet Sand is screening in WMWFF this year. I’d love to be there with you. It would be the best way to participate and share from both sides, but I am already very happy to see you remotely.
Q: Can you talk about the starting point of making this film?
The idea basically comes from my scriptwriter, Sandro Naveriani, who is also my brother. He had been developing the script for many years, and later I proposed to work together on the script. The initial idea was to co-direct the film, but somehow the screenplay later veered to my direction. It became more like my film, so he is happy to step back, and let me direct the film.
In a way, the story says something very close to my reality, not only about Georgia, but also about Switzerland. Fortunately, it’s not entirely about my everyday life. I don’t have to face this massive violence, but there are people around me who encounter many difficult situations. There was a transgender woman murdured in Tbilisi last year for example.
On the other hand, of course there are different levels of violence, hatred and descrimination against the minorities, but I can clearly see how they manifest in different forms in different societies. I think this topic is always very close to me, and I can’t even find another better way to express things that constrain me or bother me. Making this film, I want to talk about something that is not spoken enough, and I really hope that this film turns out to be an act of empowerment. It’s about the representation of queer communities and young queer people. I always want to see in the film that we have a future, so I hope that the ending of the film can provide the message that it’s possible to follow our dreams.
Speaking of the lack of representation. I also wanted to say that Gia Agumava, who played Amnon in the film, is a non-professional actor. He was awarded for Best Actor at the Locarno International Film Festival. It’s his first time acting in the film. He came to our casting, and we talked. I really felt that he also had something to say. Participating in this film, acting in this role, is the gesture to break the silence around us. A move to talk about something that we don’t often talk about.
Q: Compared to your earlier work, it has more elements to it with clearer structure, but it does not lose its sense of subtleness and minimalistic tone. Can you talk more about your collaboration process with Sandro Naveriani?
It’s my first time co-writing the film with someone else. Sincerely, I also think this family factor also plays a lot. You are family members, and you have different expectations, so it’s very interesting. But we have to divide these two things, and set up the boundary as collaborators.
As we are not in the same place, he would send me the script, and I would rewrite and change the perspective. I also tend to reduce the words, so if he sent me ten pages of dialogues, I would for example have reduced them into two pages. It’s like a translation. How the words can be translated into cinematic languages. It’s also a challenge for me to make it a more condensed language. Structurally he is putting the story together, and I would work more on its “color” or “flesh”.
It’s super nice to write with someone else, because screenwriting process is sometimes a torture for me, I didn’t really like this process. Being with someone makes it so much more vibrant and creative. So for the next film, I am also co-writing the script with someone else.
Q: The film was shot in Georgia, casting Georgian actors. When it comes to such a“sensitive” subject matter, does the casting process encounter any difficulty?
The casting process is quite interesting. There were actors who refused to participate, because of the subject matter, or they don’t want to engage in something they are not really supporting. It’s particularly hard to find Amnon, a 65 year-old man. For the young girls, it’s much easier, because they have experienced something similar. They are very willing to participate in general. They also have confronted different kind of violence, not necessarily about the queerness, but something that doesn’t have to be like this.
I used to work with non-professional all the time, but this time a lot of them are professionals. When you mix non-professional and professional in this film, you need to push or pull this button, making it even or in harmony with the overall energy or mood.
As we made this film in the village, we also cast some villagers. I was explaining very clearly what the film is about. I don’t want any confusion or misunderstanding, and their participation is very important. In the beginning, some of them were saying, “maybe we’re gonna be there. After all, we are playing our real roles in life.” But being part of the process, they have totally changed their perception. In the end, they know queer people, queerness or homosexuality is not something to be scared about. It’s great to bring people closer and make them overcome their fear.
I am also very lucky to say that I didn’t encounter many problems, because we all talked beforehand. It’s not just about the queerness, but the fact that love has different shapes and forms.
Q: The village has its own unique visual characteristics. How do you find the village?
Since the beginning we knew we were going to make this film on the seaside. The idea of constant movements, waves and sound are closely related with our story. We end up finding this “holiday” village. It used to be something bigger in the early days, but nowadays nothing really happens there. The shining color is vanishing and gets sun-bleached. It’s very precise for me. Something has a history, but you don’t know exactly what kind of history it has. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll even find the color monochrome. I also like the way it does not have a specific locality. You don’t necessarily feel the place is in Georgia. Therefore, the location gives us a lot of freedom. You can tell any story you want.
Q: The soundscape of the film is really incredible, sometimes the perspective is shifting. Can you particularly elaborate on the use of music?
The way I select the music is how I dedicate the songs to each character’s world. It’s the personal sound for each of them. Not just for the scene per se, the music also helps me construct the tempo of the character, how they move, and what’s their internal drive, the core of their feelings throughout the film.
Q: Through TV or radio broadcsting, this film did bring out the general social atmosphere for the queer communities. Can you briefly talk about the challenges that queer communities in Georgia are still facing?
For the last fifteen years, it has changed a lot. Fifteen years ago, there was no visibility at all, as if queer people had never existed. Over the years, there were more “coming out”, not necessarily in terms of an individual level, but more gender friendly spaces, bars and cafes started to exist. But they are not defended and protected by the government. They exist independently as if fighting in a very separate movement.
For the government side, it’s super far-right, and it becomes more conservative, because of the church. They don’t do anything for the minorities, be it ethnical, sexual or anything. They don’t care about integrating everything that is there. They think the minorities are not part of the country. So there is a sense of contradiction. Visibility has changed over the years, but it doesn’t bring change to the law or government’s attitude.
Wet Sand was screened on the first day of the Pride Week, it’s amazing that they selected the film as the Opening Film. There are many sharing, and you felt there was something vivrant going on. But outside the screening room, there were hundreds of police men, protecting us from the right wing Christians, religious communities, who are very violent against the existence of the minorities. Therefore, although there are events, spaces to gather and action happening. Queer communities did exist, but in reality they are still being openly and violently treated by the majority of the society.
Q: Is there any form of censorship?
Nowadays, I don’t think it’s possible to have this co-production in Georgia. But it’s still possible when we financed this film. The newly-appointed Minister of Culture has killed anything that she thinks is “different”, executing the contemporary censorship. Therefore, I am very sure that we won’t be able to get the funding as we used to be. It’s a disaster concerning what’s happening now in Georgia.
Q: In your films, there is always a sense of tenderness existing among the absurdities or brutalities of the given condition. I can also feel the anger, which makes it more political in an apparent sense, and the ending leads to an act of activism. Can you comment on that?
Filmmaking for me can be sort of activism. And you are absolutely right. For this film, it’s the accumulation of what I have seen and experienced. For queer communities, I always thought that things were never going in the direction of what I wished for personally. What I wish is to feel empowered and know there is hope. To know that we have a place, and this place is not only for you but also for us to share. For the ending scene, we had quite interesting feedback. Some find it too sweet, and some wish it ends with the burning of the house. But I really can’t finish the film with the burning. To know there is hope is important. To know we can make it. I can’t stand with the activists who endangered their lives to fight, but I am trying to do this tiny bit to open up something that I feel is important.
One thing that I wish to convey, which is about how I made this film, not only me, but the entire crew, is that: it’s love, it’s a right to exist in any form. We don’t have to harm each other. It’s here, and love is gonna win somehow. We are all different, so what we need to do is to hold each other’s hand and walk together. And this does not lead to negativity or contradiction, instead it can bring out so many possibilities and opportunities in our life.
