The World Poetry Café radio show, CFRO, 100.5 FM was honoured to have a special interview with Robin McKenna, the director, writer and producer of GIFT calling into the show.
Inspired by Lewis Hyde’s beloved classic The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World, GIFT is a richly cinematic film, interweaving character‐driven stories. On North America’s Pacific Northwest Coast, a young indigenous man undertakes the elaborate preparations for a potlatch – to make a namefor himself by giving everything away. In Rome, Italy, a factory occupied by migrant families is transformed into a living museum, protected by a barricade of art : a model of resistance, and an invaluable gift. In the pirate utopia of Burning Man, a mutant bumblebee art car distributes honey in a post-¬apocalyptic desert landscape. Meanwhile, in Auckland, New Zealand, artist Lee Mingwei preparesto launch Sonic Blossom – a “transformative gift” of song.
GIFT is a tribute to something that can’t be measured or counted, bought or sold. Exploring the parallels between artists’ work and a gift economy, it’s a reflection on the creative process, the reasons we “labour in service of our gifts”, and a celebration of the imagination. Source with thanks to TARO PR.
Robin was such a fascinating guest that I wanted to ask her some questions from young actor and filmmakers. She kindly agreed to answer the questions from young folks around the world and in Canada. The World Poetry Café has 123 countries that listen in.
*How did you cope with the challenges of being the writer, director and producer? Was one area easier than the others, harder than the others?
“GIFT was conceived as a labour of love, so it made sense to be the “author”, make something more personal and heartfelt – the directing and writing are so intertwined in a film like this (where there’s no narration, the story is told through the characters’ voices…) In terms of producing – it wasn’t always easy to switch from the poetic “creative brain” of filmmaking to the practical, nuts & bolts of producing – but that’s what a lot of independent filmmakers need to do! “
*What advice would you give to young people starting out in filmmaking? This question came from a young screen writer from Kenya.
“I love what André Gide, the French writer, said: What another would have done as well as you, do not do it. What another would have said as well as you, do not say it; what another would have written as well, do not write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself — and thus make yourself indispensable.
Think what you want to say that’s personal and original to you – what you have to say that nobody else could say. Find a couple of friends to embark on the adventure, & help with shooting. And start making the work you love, that you want to see.”
*What message for the world do you want to share?
“I’m a bit hesitant about “message” because GIFT meant to be a meditative film – its intention is to give us space to reflect, & find our own insights. In The Gift, Lewis Hyde writes, The gift moves towards the empty place: the film gives us a chance to slow down, & see what arises in that space. “
“The film is a celebration of creativity and art, a reflection on why we labour in service of our gifts. Maybe part of its purpose is to inspire and spark that creative spirit in all of us – make us want to share our gifts in ways that feel meaningful. And to reflect on what a gift relationship to life, and the earth, would look like – the reciprocity of our relationships, realizing all that we receive, seeing we can give back, & give away.”
* What will you be working on next?
“I’m making Thanadoula, a short animated documentary fairytale (maybe a new genre!) 🙂 about the crow as the messenger between the worlds of the living and the dying. It’s the true story of a “death doula” brought to her calling through the loss of her beloved older sister, and the threads connecting them… exploring our relationship to death and dying, and the process of letting go. Working with a very gifted artist-animator named Elise Simard- should be a dreamy and beautiful short film, coming out later this year. “
By Ariadne Sawyer for the Afro News
