The Spirit of Gnosjö

In the pandemic context, from Lisbon, I challenged people in the Swedish town of Gnosjö, to use their own cameras (in mobile phones, ipads, drones, etc.) to send me online short video clips that could portray the so-called "Spirit of Gnosjö" (the essence of labour, industry and entrepreneurship of Gnosjö area). Then, I reframed it with footage I filmed in Amazonia with Huni Kuin Indigenous People, in a way that new meanings could appear.

Crossing a participatory process involving Gnosjö people (in loco and online) and Amerindian shamanic perspectives, I created a paradoxical dialogue between a man and a woman, a local and an immigrant, a person and a spirit, linking utopian desires and our sick present times. The film is dedicated to Shareen Fors and Fredrik Fors, a couple from Gnösjo (she is an immigrant and he is a Swede that has been fighting against a terminal illness and left us in 2021). Both filmed their steps around Gnosjö and sent the images to me by internet.

The result is a split screen short film that reflects about how the Immaterial (through images, sounds, concepts, movements, and dreams) and the Corporeal (through human body, machines, and work) structure and are structured in cultural values and universal archetypal needs, in terms of identity and transformation.