A documentary in tune with Gaston Rollinger's poetry
Gaston Rollinger, an elderly poet and film-maker, lives alone in his childhood home in the astonishing landscape of Esch-sur-Alzette, a very special place where industrial relics meet wild nature. He draws all his inspiration from this place, and tells Fränz Hausemer many of his secrets, even though some of his landmarks are gradually beginning to disappear. This portrait of a singular man is interspersed with spellbinding pieces, the contours of which are drawn from Rollinger’s own poetry.
A surprising and moving exploration of the work of a poet and topographer, this musical documentary is in tune with the spirit of Gaston Rollinger. Between past and present, a portrait emerges of an irreducible artist, in love with the land he surveyed all his life.
In this film, rather than offering a portrait of an artist, I wanted to draw inspiration from his work to extend it, to bring it to life by immersing myself in his sensibility. Knowing that I would be constantly moving back and forth between past and present, fiction and reality, I gave myself a very precise unit of location to anchor myself in: the 2 square kilometres surrounding the poet's house, the setting for his entire life.Imagining a film in this limited space, which the poet had constantly visited through his films and poems, and which I was going to revisit over a period of several seasons, opened up many ways for me to talk about poetry. Singing it, reciting it, drawing it, putting it into images, of course, but also making it tangible by approaching it in the very moments of the ageing poet's life as it draws to a close.Through the poetic gaze, I also wanted to tackle universal subjects such as childhood and its anxieties, the loss of landmarks and the disorientation that threatens us in a world where everything changes. The creative process, which lasted several years and was prolonged by the pandemic and my protagonist's repeated stays in hospital, gave me the opportunity to do some in-depth musical work on his poems. The result was a collection of poems set to music on a vinyl album, which in turn fed into the film, which I wanted to be musical from the outset. It combines sound effects from historical archives, melodious piano-vocals and abstract jazz. Dans ce film, plutôt que de proposer un portrait d’artiste, j’ai voulu m’inspirer de son œuvre pour la prolonger, la faire vivre en m’imprégnant de sa sensibilité. Sachant que j’allais voguer en permanence entre le passé et le présent, la fiction et la réalité, je me suis donné une unité de lieu très précise pour m’ancrer : les 2km2 qui entourent la maison du poète et qui représentent le théâtre de toute sa vie.Imaginer un film dans cet espace limité que le poète avait sans cesse visité à travers ses films et ses poèmes et que j’allais revisiter sur une période de plusieurs saisons, m’a ouvert de nombreuses voies pour parler de poésie. La chanter, la réciter, la dessiner, la mettre en image, certes, mais aussi la rendre palpable en l’abordant dans les instants-même de la vie du poète vieillissant qui touche à sa fin.A travers le regard poétique, j’ai aussi voulu aborder des sujets universels tels que l’enfance et ses angoisses, la perte des repères et la désorientation qui nous guette dans un monde où tout change. Le processus de création de plusieurs années, prolongé par la pandémie et les séjours répétés à l’hôpital de mon protagoniste m’a permis d’aborder également un travail musical en profondeur autour de ses poèmes. Il en est sorti une collection de poèmes mis en musique sur album vinyle qui à leur tour ont nourri le film que j’ai voulu musical dès la première écriture. S’y côtoient les bruitages d’archives historiques, le piano-voix mélodieux et le jazz abstrait.
Fränz Hausemer, born in 1975, is a film director and musician. After studying Music, Film and Television in London, he worked in France, Germany, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium. In Luxembourg he is the founder and co-director of the theatre and music company JUCAM. His work includes numerous scores for film and live performances, as well as two albums as a songwriter and composer. He also works as an actor and teacher.
