I grew up in Belgium, less than a mile away from Germany and Holland. My mother is from Thailand, my father from Belgium, my grand-father from Germany. My favourite music bands always were English, my favourite literature American, my favourite clothes Danish, my favourite movies Asian, my favourite food Indian,…
The very notion of identity linked to a nationality has always seemed strange to me. I always felt being a bit of everything. I had the chance to move around and I always felt well everywhere and somehow home nowhere.
All that pushed me into making this film, a film about the notion of travel and the idea of home. Both are very closely linked to me. Travel as a state of mind more than a movement, home as a feel more than a place.
As someone once said:
“ The man who finds his homeland sweet is still a tender beginner, he to whom every soil is as his native one is already strong but he is perfect to whom the entire world is as a foreign land…”
Inspired by the writing of Pico Iyer (Global Soul) and Alain de Botton (The Art of Travel), I wanted to ask myself how it would be to perceive again my home town Brussels as a kind of foreign space.
So-called modern loneliness is a subject that moves me a lot. As a reference to the American painter Edward Hopper, I decided to work on the idea of empty public spaces at night and how it can be lonely people together, making them somehow feel less alone. I translated that into locations I knew very well, most of the film was shot 10 minutes of walk away from my house.
The movie was shot with about no budget but I continue to stress out that it was more of a choice. I wanted the freedom to experiment, I wanted the freedom to have time and more importantly, the story didn’t need more. It had to be light to work.
I wanted to create a short, simple movie in its structure, a near documentary that focuses on the little things. A movie that will hopefully ask audiences questions that are rather philosophical and leave them time to think about it.
To me, emotions need time and space. I decided the movie’s rhythm should follow that idea. Long shots but it keeps moving, sometimes rather fast. I wanted to create a space where the actors could evolve freely, the camera simply capturing the moment.
Somehow I consider this movie as a kiss goodbye to Brussels also, the end of 9 years here. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
.
The very notion of identity linked to a nationality has always seemed strange to me. I always felt being a bit of everything. I had the chance to move around and I always felt well everywhere and somehow home nowhere.
All that pushed me into making this film, a film about the notion of travel and the idea of home. Both are very closely linked to me. Travel as a state of mind more than a movement, home as a feel more than a place.
As someone once said:
“ The man who finds his homeland sweet is still a tender beginner, he to whom every soil is as his native one is already strong but he is perfect to whom the entire world is as a foreign land…”
Inspired by the writing of Pico Iyer (Global Soul) and Alain de Botton (The Art of Travel), I wanted to ask myself how it would be to perceive again my home town Brussels as a kind of foreign space.
So-called modern loneliness is a subject that moves me a lot. As a reference to the American painter Edward Hopper, I decided to work on the idea of empty public spaces at night and how it can be lonely people together, making them somehow feel less alone. I translated that into locations I knew very well, most of the film was shot 10 minutes of walk away from my house.
The movie was shot with about no budget but I continue to stress out that it was more of a choice. I wanted the freedom to experiment, I wanted the freedom to have time and more importantly, the story didn’t need more. It had to be light to work.
I wanted to create a short, simple movie in its structure, a near documentary that focuses on the little things. A movie that will hopefully ask audiences questions that are rather philosophical and leave them time to think about it.
To me, emotions need time and space. I decided the movie’s rhythm should follow that idea. Long shots but it keeps moving, sometimes rather fast. I wanted to create a space where the actors could evolve freely, the camera simply capturing the moment.
Somehow I consider this movie as a kiss goodbye to Brussels also, the end of 9 years here. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
.
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