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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