Gjurmë (Trails), 14min,. Netherlands, Experimental
Directed by Gentian Doda, Dimo Kirilov Milev
The compression of space and time
The loss of long-term memory
The erosion and the trails...

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

On one hand the space itself, on the other hand just the desire to do something, to create. The location where we filmed, the 'Metropol' is an old theatre in Tirana (Albania), so this was a way to keep a memory from that space - especially from that somehow intimate space that are the corridors surrounding the stage, where the audience never goes and the artists are alone in that "passage" to and from the performance.

The particularity of the stage is that it is round and the corridors for the artists are built in a way that you don't see the exit until you are almost at the end of it, creating a sense of being lost in a loop that never ends when you walk in it. We were inspired by the idea of memories and trails that those corridors hold.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

It took us two nights of filming and a week to finalize the editing. The filming was done during the night because of the activities in the theater.

Of course, before that, finding the funding, authorisations from the theater and all other production matters took some months...

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

We made it in a way that can not be described easily, haha! We wanted the audience to get lost for a while, a bit like the protagonists... to be in search for a meaning, possible answers or to create even more questions.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Time, the restricted space and illuminating it.

Of course with the filming at night everyone got tired faster and it was a struggle for the artists to keep themselves ready for running or moving at 4 AM.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Surprised in a good way that the audience caught so many details and that the film suggested so many images and thoughts.

6. When did you realise that you wanted to make films?

We always wanted to make films, but our profession (dancers and then choreographers) kept us busy somehow. Now we are finding ways to combine it and we are focusing more and more on it as another way to choreograph, with different tools and possibilities.

It is a way to get closer, to show more details or to show movement in a different way than on stage.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

We see a lot of cinema and we like to discuss our impressions, but together probably is "In the mood for love" by Wong Kar Wai. For many reasons: the way it suggests, the rhythm, the colours, the editing, the camera work, the acting...

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

Definitely more feedback from the jury and audience!

Getting closer to the artists, creating a dialogue exchange of ideas and opinions, and giving them and the audience the opportunity to benefit from that exchange.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

It feels very practical and easy!

10. What is your favourite meal?

Burek! We are both from the Balkans!

11. What is next for you? A new film?

We keep going. New short films in our hands and more and more ideas to come...