INTERVIEW WITH YLVA FORNER,
DIRECTOR OF "POLVO (DUST)"

By Rooftop Films on 11/17/2008

"Polvo (Dust)" (Ylva Forner | Spain | 12:45)


A young woman about to get married works cleaning houses for elderly people. One day an old man offers to pay her well if she just undresses and sits in a chair over by the window for him. A story about memories and missing someone long gone.

Q&A

Rooftop Films: Tell us about your film.

Ylva Forner: This film "Polvo (Dust)" was actually one of my first short films. The title in Spanish has a double meaning that's lost in translation. It literally means "Dust", but in Spanish slang it can also mean to "Screw". I had lived in Barcelona, for a very short time when I made Polvo and I had to make something that was not based on dialogue, basically because I didn't speak much Spanish. I was interested in making a film where only the audience got the full picture, where as the characters never got to know the objectives of the other. I wanted to start with one character and end with another, like shifting the focus. I would love to make a whole full feature film like that some day, where the story is passed like the baton in a relay race.

RF: What was your inspiration?

YF: For this film my inspiration was dust in afternoon sunlight. Jazz records with Ella Fitzgerald. The shot in Gilda where she takes of her gloves.

RF: Is there anything you'd like to share about the film that might not be immediately apparent (your conception of the film, back-story, production methods, etc.)?

YF: What might be said is that we hade an extremely low budget (non-existent really). The whole film is shot in one day. This was a very strange shooting, basically because there is so much nakedness is the film, on top of that I´m doing the part of the woman in the past myself, which meant that I was walking around the set naked with forties-makeup on the set, directing the crew. After a while everyone got used to it, and there are some very funny photos...

RF: The light in the film was beautiful. How did you create it?

YF: We worked with very little filters and lit a lot.

RF: How did you create the superimposition of the two images of the women in the film?

YF: What we did was first of all to use the same framing and location, but re-decorating the room as it was in the forties when there was still life in the room for the old days - shot. Then we shot the whole part from the past on super-8 to get that "old" feeling. It created a sense of something long gone, maybe our memories are now days on video...Technically we then taped the super-8 projection and superimposed the two images. To me it's very important that when the man's memory begins, the traveling begins and crosses the space from "his corner" in his chair, into the room where the girl is. It's the only time in the film that that happens, and after that moment the story focus has changed from her to him.

RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?

YF: I'm a director and actress hoping to soon be able to take away the waitress... Ultimately I have directed more than I have acted, but I love acting and hope to soon work more as an actress on other peoples films, that's one of the best ways to be a better director too...And the best job in the world!

RF: What is your current/next project?

YF: I've just finished a new short film in Stockholm (where I live), and it's going very well. It's called Greetings From Slussen, Sthlm, and it's is in competition at the Stockholm International Film Festival starting Nov 20th. It's also showing at the Palm Spring Festival in Jan. 2009, and the Scandinavian Film Festival in LA in Jan. 2009. And I'm of course hoping that it will be chosen for next year's Rooftop Films Summer Series. A part from that I have just received a grant to go to LA for 3 months from January - April, to develop my filmmaking and hopefully make a short film there.

RF: If you've been to a Rooftop show, how was the experience?

YF: I whish I could say I had. I really wanted to come over last summer, but couldn't get the financing to do so...I think that the idea of showing films on the roof is one of the most beautiful I know, so hope to be part of that some night!

RF: What excites you about having your short film on Rooftop Films at IFC.com?

YF: I love that people I don't know on the other side of the globe actually see my work and that it hopefully moves them in some way. That's the whole idea of art I suppose... It gives me a bit of Vertigo to be honest... hahaha...

RF: Do you have any questions for the viewers? We hope they'll post comments!

YF: I will be in LA from beginning Jan-end of March, and in New York from March 27-April 5. What shall I do? Where should I go? What can I not miss?!