Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506448
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 AUGUST 2023 8 INTERVIEW Raphael Vassallo rvassallo@mediatoday.com.mt There's nothing 'childish' This morning I chanced upon a '60-second interview' you gave to the Malta Independent, way back in 2007. In it, you were asked: 'What would you like to be doing in 10 years' time?' And your answer was: 'Having a pint in a pub... on Mars!' [Laughing] Was it? That's fun- ny: I have a vague memory of that interview; but not of what I actu- ally said... Well, I thought I'd mention it; be- cause I get the impression that 'Somewhere' – even though set on (and around) a post-apoc- alyptic Earth – has a distinctly 'Martian' flavour to it, in terms of both imagery and colour-pal- ette. So is this film, perhaps, your own way of fulfilling that ambition, through animation? (A medium that ultimately deals with 'realising the impossible', anyway?) It's an interesting way of looking at it, because – even if I've com- pletely forgotten having said that, all those years ago – I do sort of see the connection, now. But with 'Somewhere', the idea actually started off right here, in Sliema. I was sitting at a restaurant, over- looking St Julian's Bay... and I sort of had this vision: what if, instead of the sea, there was only sand? And from there, we started de- veloping the idea further. Because with storytelling, I usually find that – as a visual artist - my best method is start out with a picture in my mind; and then compose the rest of the story, around that image. Mind you, it tends to work better with short stories, than full-length features: even though it's also how Hayao Miyazaki [founder of Japan's Studio Ghibli] works. He takes a series of indi- vidual images... and then fills in the gaps between them. In my case, my image was just a backdrop: which [in the finished film] takes the form of a 'post-Cli- mate Change' environment. Hu- manity has, by then, found a way to survive: by creating a 'Cuboid' – a sort of orbital space station, which is obviously inspired by the 'Death Star'.... but it's also possi- bly influenced, a little, by our own city-scapes. After all, human beings tend to build in 'squares', not 'circles'... Another thing I noticed is that 'Somewhere' places a lot of em- phasis on city-scapes. The main character visits a futuristic Mal- ta, in which all that remains are the 'husks of empty buildings'. Would you say, then, that the film is as much about environ- mental degradation, as about 'climate change'? Well... climate change certainly is an important element of the backdrop. In fact, I think it's one of the main reasons festivals ac- cepted to show it: even if not 'in competition'. The climate change theme clearly resonated, this year... But that's the backdrop. I my- self consider the main story to be more about... 'memory', re- ally. The actual idea came from a PhD thesis that I was working on, a few years ago. It was about representation within the Euro- pean Union. And the question I was playing around with, was: how can a superstructure like the EU, put forward an overar- ching narrative of its own: over and above the national narratives of its member-states? How, in a nutshell, can the 'myth of Europe' be constructed? And I found it very interesting, because – when you look at how institutions like the European Parliament approach this ques- tion – what they really do, is work with memory. It's starts with 're- membering the past'; and from there, they create a sort of 'shared memory' – a 'common history', uniting all the various different countries, and cultures. Because let's face it: something does have to keep all those cul- tures together; and it's not easy, because there a lot of 'moving parts'. In fact, Europe has found it difficult: with Brexit, sadly, it went in the complete opposite direction.... But just as 'remembering' is a way to bring, and keep, people together... there's also the 'forget- ting' part. And the more I thought about it, the more I realised that 'forgetting' is something that is usually applied by dictatorships, and autocratic regimes. China's Cultural Revolution, for exam- ple, did not encourage the 're- membrance of the past'. It tried to erase shared memories, by de- stroying monuments, and other reminders of a different history... And it's the same whenever automatic regimes try to impose their own narratives. They tend to erase books, films, institu- tions... and even entire languages, at times... For the benefit of those who haven't watched 'Somewhere': how does that apply to the film, exactly? The way I envisaged it, it's a case of applying that need for a shared heritage... not just to Europe, this time; but to the entire human race. That is, in fact, the whole point of that 'Cuboid' image. Apart from being a space-station, it is also an organisational structure – let's call it a 'bureaucracy', for now – which is tasked with bring- ing together all of humanity; and working on a long-term strategy, for its survival. Now: I deliberately kept the technological aspect a little vague: but I did ask myself, how would a system like that actually work, in practice? How do you keep so many different cultures togeth- er... so many different languages, cultural experiences, etc? And I started to think: could it be done by getting people to voluntarily 'surrender' their own memories, to a shared pool; so that then – when it comes to starting afresh – we could 'build new, shared memories' together? That, more or less, is the con- cept behind the story. Except that one of the main characters finds himself 'pulled back'. He still wants to return to Planet Earth; because, at the end of the day, I think it's quite human, to try to remember... The imagery associated with this character does seem to evoke a certain 'nostalgia'. He first flies back to Malta in a space-age, vintage 'Ford Escort' – then he finds an old photograph, which Author and animator FABRIZIO ELLUL talks us through his latest animated short – a 6-minute sci-fi movie called 'Somewhere' – and also, through the difficulties in making cartoons, to begin with