So Close To The Heart: Giselle Geney On Her Short "3 Feet"
Giselle Geney is a Colombian filmmaker who is the wrote and directed the short film 3 feet, which highlights Colombian children's resilience during school. The film shares a story of a young boy and the challenges he faces on his way to school and uses both animation and live-action.
Gonzalo, an imaginative and tenacious 10-year old faces the most difficult task of his life: getting to school with clean shoes.
The film has participated in more than 30 high-profile film festivals around the world and has won 15 awards and counting, including the 2020 Oscar-qualifying Award at New York International Children’s Film Festival. We had the pleasure of chatting with Giselle about her film, its origins, working with children, mixing animation with live action, and much much more!
How did the concept for 3 Feet originate?
I worked as a documentary filmmaker for about 5 years at Bogota’s Education Department, and I spent lots of hours recording and telling visual stories from the children’s point of view. While I was doing that, there was one thing that I could never get out of my mind: children solve lots of problems on their own during school time! They are so independent and resilient! That fact called me back to my own childhood, and I remembered the biggest challenge for me while growing up: being playful and full of energy while trying to keep my school uniform tidy (A challenge I could not achieve 99% of the time). In Colombia, uniform policy is still very strict in most schools. So, as the rebel I am, I made the film I always wanted to see on the screen as a girl: a child getting away from punishment thanks to his creativity and strong will to succeed.
The film is about a fun, obstacle-filled journey to school. Were your own walks to school full of this much excitement?
No, fortunately it was not! hehehe. But, as I lived in a very small city, when I was 13 years old I finally was allowed to walk from my home to the school by myself. I lived just a few blocks away, but it was such an exciting moment for me. It was the first taste of independence I grasped in my young years… I still remember how much I loved that feeling. I must confess that I also did get punished A LOT at the uniform inspection for having “unpolished shoes,” “too short of a skirt,” and “lots of accessories.” I always have been very active and liked to express myself through clothes, so uniform policy was incredibly harsh for me (and I believe it is for most kids!).
How did you find your cast, and what was it like working with so many children?
I am very proud of our amazing cast because… they had NEVER acted before in their lives!
They are all natives from Pamplona (Colombia). The process was as follows: we held an open casting call in town for children passionate about football, teachers, and workers at the farmers market. The casting was very friendly, with long conversations and lots of games involved. After we selected a group of potential actors, I did a workshop (during a period of 4 months) with all of them, while I was re-writing the script taking into account the amazing insights of the children.
For me, it is amazing to collaborate with children, and be surrounded by their overwhelming energy… Of course, I’m dried up at the end of the day, but their sense of what feels truthful, their passion and commitment always inspires me to do my best as a director.
The shot of the vista that overlooks the town stands out as one of the film’s most memorable moments. How did you go about finding these scenic areas within your location?
We had a great field production company based in the region where we shot 3 Feet (the “Corporacion Frontera Films”). Also, besides my dear childhood memories in town, I also lived in Pamplona for 6 months during the whole pre-production, so I got to know my way around town pretty well. The most important asset was that we had such a great place to film: Pamplona is a very ancient town located in the north-east region of Colombia, surrounded by the beautiful mountain range of the Andes. So, I really wanted to make the audience feel that they are traveling with Gonzalo from the top of one mountain to the other, while passing by the main square of the town framed with its signature ancient cathedral; crossing the vivacious farmers market (constructed in a previous old Jesuit building from the XVII century); and finally arriving to the school premises, surrounded by nature and farm animals. All the great visual elements and locations were there; I really just needed to put them at service of a good and exciting story. It’s my homage to this town where I grew up and that is so close to my heart.
Another memorable moment is when the film breaks into its animated sequence. How did you come up with that scene as a way to show Gonzalo’s imagination? What was the process like working with the animators
The combination of live action and animation arises from a need to immerse ourselves in the universe of our protagonist and see the world through his eyes, with magic, fun, emotion and above all, a lot of imagination. I really wanted the audience to get into the incredible mind of a 10-year old boy in love with football, who sees the world around him as an extension of a football court.
Collaborating with the animation team was great! They are also Colombian but based in Japan, so we were already working remotely back in 2017-2018 (who knew!). The team was led by a very esteemed friend and colleague, Nicolás Guarín. We did lots of work for the animation of 3 Feet: first, we planned and shot the scenes with the cast in the actual farmers market of Pamplona (it was quite an event), and then, using a technique called “rotoscope” Nicolás and his team digitally hand-draw 3000 images to match the video we shot and add the magical/imaginative scenes to it. It’s truly a great achievement! I’m so happy with the way it turned out.
Do you have a favorite scene or moment from the film?
The pond scene is my favorite. It is such a cinematic scene, because, there’s no dialogue AT ALL, but there’s a lot of tension because there’s a lot at stake! The acting from Santiago Perales (our lead child actor) is marvelous… you can actually SEE the thoughts he’s having and the emotions he’s experiencing. The best of all, the pond IS FAKE! It was designed especially for the film, but it looks so natural and cohesive within the surroundings that you will believe it’s a pond that has always existed in Pamplona. This amazing scenery was possible thanks to the wonderful effort of our production designer, Mónica Camacho.
What drew you to the visual arts? How did you get into directing?
I was brought up in a very small town in Colombia and I attended to a very strict catholic-girls only-high school. My grades were great but I have always been a rebel when it comes to being told what’s “appropriate” for a girl to say, think or do, so, besides breaking and bending the rules every once in a while, I learn to express myself through art. Theater was the first love of my artistic life, because I had a very passionate drama teacher, who left a huge print on us. After she left the school a small group of girls decided to carry on with the task by ourselves and we started writing, directing and acting in our own plays. Looking back, that experience was the first time I was a leader, and most importantly, that I was part of the amazing creative force of a collaborative team, so, I learnt right there that in order to create art I don’t require the support of an institution or even money… to start out I just need passion, hard work, a good idea and a great team to carry it out.
What films or filmmakers have inspired you, your style, or your approach to telling a story?
There’s Abbas Kiarostami, whom I was honored to meet in Bogotá through a filmmaker’s workshop; I feel very inspired by his personal take on portraying children’s universe, their challenges and mostly the utmost respect of how he approaches their stories. I adore Sofia Coppola’s directing style; her sensibility, attention to detail, the marvelous nuances of the characters she chooses to show on the big screen…I feel a deep connection to her films as a woman. And, then, there’s Lucrecia Martel, from Argentina, whom I deeply admire as a filmmaker and as a person (every word she puts together is like a bible quote). From her incredible filmmaking style, I particularly admire how she approaches sound design as a key element of the narration (something I always try to keep in mind when I’m writing a film). Also, the breathing spaces she consciously creates in her films, where silence, slow pace and acute observation of a character bring depth, questioning and profound meaning to her stories, inspire me a great deal.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
I’m proud that we are able to share a small part of our very tenacious Colombian culture and beautiful scenery through an exciting children’s story, but, most importantly, I would like to believe that 3 Feet leads to a better understanding of the amazing children’s resilience and autonomy by allowing all of us to have an honest glimpse of how children manage so well in their everyday lives.
Do you have any future projects in the works that you can share with us?
With Natalia Bernal, the producer of 3 Feet we launched our children films production company Pescadito Films, dedicated to creating an exciting and pedagogical experience of making films for children with children. We’re distributing our new production Ramón, a documentary short film directed by Natalia, presenting a very charismatic and brave Mexican Child who’s attending his first kickboxing championship. It has had an amazing track record in film festivals so far.
I’m also working on my first feature film, Diego, The Singer, alongside with the Colombian scriptwriter Johnnier Aristizábal. It is a story where children’s autonomy and resilience is also placed in the center. It is set in the beautiful Colombian countryside, and it talks about how art brightens and improves everyday life. The lead is a country boy named Diego, who has a speech difficulty and a deep love for music. We are in the development stage, and we expect it to be released in 2023.
Last, there’s Powerful Girls, a documentary series to feel inspired by the strength, courage and passion of young girls that practice sports. We have realized how important representation is in film, so we want to put girls front and center, along with their struggles and great achievements, to inspire new generations and ourselves, so we all acknowledge that there’s nothing a girl cannot do! This will be a co-directed project between Natalia and myself, we expect it to be shot/released by the end of this year (2021).
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!