double bill #37

Two films, each focusing on one woman in one take in a domestic setting. The camera doesn’t hide; it’s part of the encounter. Its presence demystifies the films: a situation emerges, defined by time.

In Oumoun (2017), we sit across from the filmmakers’ grandmother. In the background, mattresses and blankets are stacked, slippers sit on a stool, and a plastic bottle lies on the floor. We can almost smell the room. In New Shoes: An Interview in Exactly 5 Minutes (1990), we sit with the narrator at a kitchen table—cleaning supplies on the counter behind her, and two cups of tea between us. In both cases, we are the filmmaker’s eyes: we take a seat at the table and become part of the conversation.

Agreements were made between the filmmaker and the subject. The grandmother is asked to respond to an audio clip. In New Shoes, the conversation is not allowed to last longer than five minutes. The cameras are turned on, and the filmmakers let things unfold naturally.

And then the conversation takes a different turn. In Oumoun, the grandmother talks about the rain and the pain in her head, and in New Shoes, the woman shares an anecdote about her traumatic breakup with her childhood sweetheart. Together, the two films create a small family archive. They explore where stories—especially those of women—are told, shared, and preserved.