Berlinale Official Jury Citation: A monumental labour of love that celebrates the circle of life, distilling love and grief to create a film that is an ode to an extraordinary friendship. An epic narrative spanning eight decades and continents, rebuilding a world and reliving a memory of a profound bond through remarkable visual artistry captured in a pastiche of cinema verite, meticulous art direction and cinematography, a scrapbook of photographs, miniature sets, dioramas, insect actors and puppets, where the past merges with the present and the enduring friendship comes to life again & lingers on.
Credit: Producer
Director’s Statement:
After Yo died, I couldn't look at the footage for a long time. I was drawn to the material things she had left behind; her old sweater, perfume, fabrics, and old photographs. I began building a series of physical objects and ultimately constructed a ⅓ scale version of Yo's house (and everything in it). Her home appears in the film as a portal between the past and present, memory and myth. The process of creating physical things inspired by Yo's life and stories opened up a space where our relationship could continue. It is in this invented, magical world that our film takes place. It centers around five stories that she tells me about her past. These epic tales span eight decades and three continents, inviting us into her detailed memories. Each story holds a moment of transformation. We bring each story to life through the ritual act of building miniature worlds, puppets, and paper dioramas. Making physical objects became a way to process grief and keep Yo with me through my own life transitions in the 10 years after she passed.