Thiruvananthapuram: Brett Michael Innes has had a passage from a Hebrew scripture running at the back of his mind for years, conjuring up images and ideas. The passage goes - ‘A voice was heard in Ramah. Lamentation and weeping, great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children refusing to be comforted for they are no more’. It disturbed the South African filmmaker’s mind enough to make his debut film ‘Sink’ based on it.
“Those two words ‘Rachel weeping’ gave me the picture of the mother crying over the body of her dead child. That was where I started the journey to make his film. And as time passed, I started to think what would be a good story to weave around this mother in grief. It grew from there. The politics and other issues are only the circumference. The heart of it is the story of grief, which I think everyone can relate to, whether you are rich or poor, black or white,” says Innes, in an interview to The Hindu.
‘Sink’ tells the story of Rachel, a Mozambican domestic worker living in Johannesburg, who is forced by circumstances to stay behind at her employer’s house after her daughter dies while under their care. She has to choose between returning to her poverty-stricken country or continue working for the people responsible for her daughter’s death so that she can support her family. The film is part of the International Competition category at the 21st International Film Festival of Kerala.
“For me, it shows a side of South Africa that I am very familiar with. The idea of foreign nationals and refugees coming to our country to look for work and them working as cleaners and servants is very common now. Countries like Mozambique and Zimbabwe are facing a dire situation. The film is an image of the life I have seen. I’ve done a lot of work in Africa, researching for documentaries a lot of crazy places in war-torn countries and seen people who try to come to South Africa for a better life,” he says.
He talks about the conflict between the unemployed natives and the immigrants.
“In South Afria, we have 30 percent unemployment rate, which is very high. Add to that a group who are now willing to work for much less, who are there illegally and it creates tension between them and the local people who want some work,” he says.
The film has been received well in South Africa and has won accolades at a few film festivals. Even as Innes is busy in the festival circuit, he has already started working on his next film.
“I write when I travel. I have already written two scripts and is waiting for funding,” he says.
And his favourite filmmakers? “Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Christopher Nolan. I think they have managed to tread the balance of mainstream and independent cinema quite nicely,” he says.
EOM
