What is your relationship with the work of Lolo and Sosaku? How did this film project originate?
I have known Lolo and Sosaku for many years; we have been involved in many projects together. They have been curated several times at Sónar, a festival where I am co-director, they have collaborated on several of my previous films, and we shared a studio for a few years. The idea of making a documentary about them came from a conversation with Silvana Fiorese, curator of the documentary art film festival DART in Barcelona. She gave me the idea after leaving a session of the festival, it surprised me, intrigued me, and I decided to do it.
You choose not to film them at work, or discussing their work, but to integrate this work to the spaghetti western universe. Why did you chose to approach their work in this manner?
I didn’t want to make the typical documentary where artists appear saying how smart they are, the books they have read, and how profound their work is. I wanted to break the mold of art documentaries. That’s why I proposed making a western, where, in the midst of nature, they would be shown doing a series of irrational actions. I was interested in showing their creative energy, how through play and improvisation, they reach their pieces or installations. At first, they didn’t want to make a western, let alone wear a cowboy hat, but I convinced them…
However, you also show their installations in the museums or galleries where they are exhibited. Why this occasional departure from the western world?
Because I wanted their previous pieces or installations to be shown in a non-conventional way. For me, it is a Fiction/Documentary, and I wanted the film to also serve to showcase their work.
Sound is extremely important in the film; you sometimes even use the sound of Lolo and Sosaku’s intallations as dramatic music before revealing its source. You also choose not to include any dialogue. How did you envisage the place of sound within your film?
Sosaku didn’t want to speak in the film, and Lolo talks too much. So I decided it would be silent. In all my works, the sound generated by the action itself builds the narrative. I only use music when it is justified and never to amplify the emotional sense of the film.
You create a duo of antagonists, almost all dressed in red. Why this threatening presence?
If you want, we could talk about it being a representation of their Id in constant struggle with their Ego, but in reality, it is much simpler… To make a good Western, you need gunfire and characters to
shoot at, so I created them. And by making them red and with wigs, anyone on the team could be a double. If things can be made easy, why complicate them…
Interview by Nathan Letoré
