Salomé

Living in Medellin, Colombia, I discovered an art workshop that practices a somewhat unusual method to help young girls overcome their past from the war: they help them express themselves through art while emphasizing the power of forgiveness. Since from my own experience I know the power of art to bring deep connection in ourselves, I thought it would be rewarding to explore this filmically, and wrote a story based on many young women's situations in the war-wounded country of Colombia. During the process of the project I kept coming back to this image: a picture being painted on a canvas that wants to lure the artist into their dark unexpored past. In a way it is representative on my own journey as a filmmaker: film has always been a way to express myself and, in the end, to somewhat be healed from my own pains. Of course the hope is that "Salomé" could inspire someone out there to commence or continue their own personal path to (a possibley very painful) healing.

When approaching the stylistic choices, I recognized the character of Salomé is torn between two worlds, her unstable everyday life, rooted in the forces of unforgiven pain and in a way as slippery as the muddy streets where she lives, and the world of arts that represents for her another universe, a space of stability, tranquility and harmony. I thought it would be interesting to let the camera style represent the latter world, by using steady shots and a calm and stable storytelling, instead of the typical and overused handheld shots of the "neighborhood films". Also in the music, instead of using a local, "creole" or even "urban anger" type of music, I sought up Ola Jansson, a talented Swedish pianist and film music composer whose works for me represent the "sanctuary" of art, harmony and in the end, peace, in Salomé's life.