Interview with Dounia Sichov
1. You’re actress, editor and producer. What made you choose this portrait of Vikken for your first film?
I didn’t intend to be a director at all. Before this film, when someone asked me why I didn’t direct, I would say that I didn’t have enough “inner revolt”. And working on other people’s projects was very rewarding for me. In 2014, I met Vikken, and learned that at the time, French law required anyone wishing to change their gender on their identity papers to be sterilised. I was stunned; no one around me seemed to be aware of the situation. This law filled me with the inner revolt that was to trigger the film.
2. The film talks about transition and uses her voice, while you wrote the text yourself. How did you work with Vikken, who is also credited for the sound alongside Maud Lübeck ?
When Vikken told me that he wanted to take testosterone, I thought that we should record his voice, to keep a trace, as it would disappear forever. I didn’t know how to set up a camera (we didn’t have the money at the time to pay for a crew), but Vikken is a musician, and we recorded using his microphone. The form of the film stems from its economic constraints. I suggested that we write together, but he refused, encouraging me to write alone. I did some research, and I wrote, on the condition that he changed every comma, every turn of phrase, every sentence that didn’t suit him. We recorded the entire text several times, over several years. Maud came in for the “last voice”, recorded after the shoot, when we got the support of the CNC.
3. How did you choose the different references mentioned?
Unfortunately, not all of them figure in the film, as we had to find the right balance. After much reading, I wanted to embody all regions of the world and all periods, both human and mythological. I also wanted to touch on things that we believe we know, and which suddenly take on a different light if we pause to consider them. Joan of Arc was very important in this respect. She allowed me to talk about a character who has been used repeatedly for propaganda purposes – notably during the First World War, to give courage to French soldiers. But this propaganda omitted the fact that her executioner had exhibited her naked, upon her death, to prove to the people flocking to witness her suffering that she was indeed a woman, and that the people of Burgundy nicknamed her ‘l’hommasse’ (pseudo-man). But the film is also about that: the image we have of people, of historical figures, of ourselves. The image that we deconstruct and construct.
4. The film is divided into four parts. How did you devise this structure, which uses figures from the past to form an intimate story?
It happened quite naturally, as I was writing. I went from the least intimate – the myth of Ceneus – to the most intimate – Vikken’s experience. This also allowed me to move from past to present. As I wanted to talk about legislation in France and across the world, and about the relationship that we, as citizens, have with the law, I placed the question of sterilisation after that of the historical figures, which leads to the question: “What now? What happens now?” But always from a personal perspective. Always.
5. What choices did you make with Pauline Sicard, director of photography?
For the drag kings, I showed Pauline Bob Fosse’s Cabaret; I love its theatrical feel, combined with the sudden camera movements. For the intimate scenes, I wanted to open the lens’ diaphragm (also the name of our breathing muscle) so that the viewer would have a constantly shifting, pulsating, vanishing point.
6. The film raises political questions, especially about state violence. Is it also a pamphlet?
Yes, I suppose it is, as it stems from revolt against an unjust – and even shameful – law. The law has changed, sterilisation has been removed from the protocol, but there is still a mandatory medical procedure, which, although less clear, is far more hypocritical due to its very lack of clarity. But the film above all remains the sharing of an intimate, infinitely personal experience.
Interview by Olivier Pierre
