Monday, September 22, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
Interview with Sonia Bible (Black Jelly Films) on the recently funded Rosaleen Norton documentary
Sonia Bible, writer, director, co-founder of Black Jelly Films, and winner of the Silver Hugo
Award at 2011’s Chicago International Film Festival is taking up the huge challenge
of creating a new documentary on legendary artist Rosaleen Norton. Having won
the Silver Hugo for her first long form film Recipe For Murder (2009), Sonia
has her sights on the Witch of Kings Cross.
Having cut her teeth in the hideous whoredom that is
advertising, promotion and marketing (well, we all have to eat, don’t we?) her
latest project is going ahead thanks to the strong support she’s received via
the crowd-funding dollar gained from the begging bowl that is Indiegogo. As she
says herself “So far it’s going really well. I’m very pleased with everyone’s
response and I’m very humbled by the support of friends and family, and also
the way the pagan and occult community have gotten behind me and the project.
There’s a lot of love flying around for this project!” Indeed, there’s love but I imagine there will be many a pair of
beady eyes trained on the final product so just what is it about Ms Norton that
made you want to move from short to long form film? “That’s always been the
goal; I’ve always been interested in long form story-telling, whether it’s
fiction or documentary. “Recipe For Murder was set in Sydney in that post-war
period of the 1940’s and 50’s, and I did a lot of research for that film and I
came across Rosaleen Norton’s story then,” She laughs as she adds “and I thought
‘Ah gee, that’d be hard’…” But like all good ideas, the seed had taken root and
“I think in 2010 I started collecting a little folder of stuff about her and
then I put it aside and went ‘Ah no, no, no – that’s never gonna work’ and over
the years it just kept niggling at me and friends would say ‘Oh Sonia, you
should do a film on Rosaleen Norton’ – I can’t tell you how many times that’s
happened! Then at a certain point [as part of her work as a finalist at the 2012
F4 Film Festival for Outstanding Emerging Documentary Talent], I was mentored by
these international film makers.” It was during this period of mentorship by,
among others Natalia Almada from Mexico, that the idea really took hold. “There
was this intensive week of mentoring and watching films, and there was something
that Natalia Almada said to me…all of sudden I just saw it! I could see the
film and I could see how to do it – and I’ve wanted to make a really art-house
film - the kind of film that could go to Sundance and those kind of festivals -
and I thought ‘This is the story’ and I could just see it and then it all just
kind of fell into place in my brain. And from then I’ve really been working
very hard on it for about two years; a lot of research and now we’re at the
point. I’ve done 11 interviews and I’ve got this crowd-funding campaign to
complete the interviews - and I’m having a lot of difficulty getting it
financed in Australia.” She breaks into more laughter at the strangeness of the
situation.
Initially Sonia approached the ABC and SBS for funding but
as she graciously acknowledges “in support of the ABC and SBS, they are under
attack.” And she points out that “We are making this independently. We’re
ploughing on and it’s going to be quite difficult because historical films are
expensive; once you get into licensing the archive footage and things like
that, there are a lot of complications; there’s a lot of licensing, there are a
lot of expenses.” She notes the (relative) ease of making a contemporary film
with actual, living, breathing people, observing that “You can just go out and
film stuff; it’s actually quite easy to do it on a shoestring – well, it’s not
easy but…”
“To do this kind of film independently is very, very
difficult so I’ve kind of dived into a deep hole,” again, she’s laughing as she
adds “but I just have faith in the project. If I was a sensible person, I’d
probably give up now and go and get a job and earn an income but I’m not!” More
laughter rolls out of the phone before she continues “And I kind of feel
responsible; I’ve come this far with it and I’ve done so much research and this
is my third historical film that I’ve written and directed – basically I make
films about dead people – and there comes a point of no return…” You can hear
her passion for the project and she struggles to limit her creative urges with a simple definition. She
pushes forward. “I feel responsible to the person that I’m making the film
about, to tell their story. I’ve done so much work and I believe that I’m going
to do my best to be true to that person and portray them in a way that they
would approve of. Also I’ve uncovered a lot of research and I’ve found artworks
in people’s cupboards that are covered in cockroach poo and nobody’s ever
really pulled it all together like this; the visuals as well as the story, and
I feel responsible to the Australian public to capture their history for future
generations because the people that own these works are going to die and stuff
is just going to get thrown in the tip and that Australian history will be
gone. Like I say in the pitch on the Indiegogo page; this story is on the edge
of living memory. It really is. If I don’t get these interviews done in the
next six months, people will be dying and the stuff is lost forever.”
Well, we all know how difficult it is to get occult art
acknowledged in the wider circles of the art world. She agrees, adding “I don’t
want to mention any names but I do believe that there are some people, who I’ve
asked to interview or asked to be involved, and they don’t want anything to do
with it because of that high-brow/low-brow division. Jack Sargeant talks really eloquently about it in his interview and
I’ll be including that notion in the film that Rosaleen’s art was religious art
and that doesn’t make it less important or less valid – but there is a bit of
snobbery in the art world. I guess that’s what makes me more attracted to the
story as well because I like to think of myself as the kind of film-maker
that’s not elitist. Recipe For Murder appealed to a really broad audience and people
really enjoyed the film and I don’t like elitism. I kind of rail against it so
I guess that’s why I feel as though I need to finish making this film because
it’s kind of what I stand for in a way. ”
And what form will the documentary take? “What I’ve got in mind is that I want to make
a feature documentary that will go into international film festivals, and to be
true to Rosaleen Norton. The film itself has to push the boundaries.” Sonia
tells me that there’ll be all manner of “created and dramatic elements”
including animation and graphic design. She says “I combine all these elements
so it’s not just interviews and photos; I am planning to shoot some very
abstract and interesting dramatic elements – but they won’t belittle – it’s not
like re-enactments. It’ll be very abstract because, with this film, I do really
want to explore Rosaleen’s inner world as much as possible. I want to use her
writings and her actual words.” She assures me there won’t be an actress doing
voice overs, rather she wants to “have the voice, Roseleen’s voice, with her
words and her philosophies and I’ll find really abstract and interesting ways
of visualising those ideas. So it will be art-house and it will be experimental
and it will be out there, and I think for Rosaleen, to capture her character,
it has to be. And also funny – she was a very funny woman! She was very witty
and she always had her tongue in her cheek; she was a very playful person so
some of that black comedy element will come through.”
I’ve read the pitch, the press release and the campaign and
it sounds bloody interesting and worthwhile so everyone who is interested in
such things should get involved and throw some cash into the pot. Sonia Bible
and Black Jelly Films with Rosaleen Norton. Coming to a movie theatre near you
soon. Bloody good stuff.
Post-script.
Just before this interview was published, Black Jelly Films
hit their Indiegogo target. And Sonia had this to say:
“I’m so touched by the incredible good will and generosity
of people coming in for this film. It’s really special. I know there’s an
audience out there, and the support is a real vote of confidence at a time when
this kind of film is difficult to finance. We won’t let the cultural
gatekeepers stop us.”
I’m sure you can still throw money at the project – go ahead
and spare some coins for something that’s worthwhile.
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