23.07.2018 | The Khello brothers as a test show in Kiel
With her debut film "Jola", Hille Norden was the youngest filmmaker to receive funding from Filmwerkstatt Kiel - at just 16 years old. In her new film "Khello Brüder", she accompanies the two Syrian brothers Tarek (journalist) and Zakwan (artist), who fled from their home in Aleppo to Germany and now talk to the Director about their experiences. The Documentary has its first public test screening on 30 July at the Kino in der Pumpe in Kiel.
I came across them through a tip from my mum, as she happened to visit Zakwan's exhibition in Leipzig. I actually wanted to make a feature film about or with refugees and was in the preparation phase. But then I liked the idea of making a documentary better. Fortunately, it was quite easy to get in touch with the two brothers - all it took was an email enquiry. Both were immediately on board. The only condition was that Tarek's family was not shown. It wasn't originally planned for him to play such a big role in the film. But his journalistic view of Syria and Germany is the perfect complement to his artist brother. With Zakwan, on the other hand, I found it very exciting to see how an artist understands the war and realises it in his work.
Zakwan was often very emotional during filming and cried a lot. He hadn't been in Germany for long at the time and was very upset by the flight, the war, the homesickness and his grief. However, I only heard his story through the interpreter, and Zakwan often tells his story in a very abstract way. This made listening to the interviews less painful. I still cried a lot during that time and let the story get to me. For me, that's a form of respect. I think telling things that you would prefer to forget would be exhausting for anyone - and I want to fully engage with a story like that. I like to cry and laugh with my interview partners. In the evening, Tim Butenschön (camera and editing) and I had a beer, a good meal and talked about the stories we had heard. That was a good transition back into my own life.
I like both ways of working. However, working on a documentary feels quite lonely for me. I like the mix of teams on a feature film, the many different genres, characters and talents. I find the creative process more enjoyable on a feature film and more intense on a documentary. I have just shot a documentary in Cambodia about transgender women called "Real Girls" with Grant Hennessy and found the working experience intense, rewarding and extremely exhausting. You can't choose if and when something happens to the protagonists. Sometimes you wait a long time and nothing happens. And then you don't get to rest for three days. I think it trains your personal flexibility when you have to find your way around different environments quickly without disturbing the people in front of the camera. You have to be able to listen well and strike the right note.
Of course I want to work in both areas, but right now it's mainly documentary. I realise that I'm learning to understand staging and dramaturgy better through documentaries - and I think I can take a lot of that with me for feature films. So I'm looking forward to both in the future.
