18/08/2021 - The Italian filmmaker presented a suggestive essayistic documentary dealing with a colourful character

Out of competition at this year's Locarno Film Festival was presented the new work by Italian director Giovanni Cioni. This very dense essay film deals with the incredible story of a scientist who had big ambitions in the field of organ transplants. From the Planet of the Humans [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giovanni Cioni
film profile] interweaves the past with the present and creates images as well as sounds that could easily come from a different planet. We talked to the director about his research and how he developed the concept of the film. 

Cineuropa: How did the idea of the film come to you?
Giovanni Cioni: At the beginning, I didn’t have the intention to make a film about the border or this region. It all came very spontaneously to me. My films start from the encounters I make. All of them are personal and then I try to give a political meaning to them. I was in the region by chance and then took my time to watch and observe. A friend then told me about the meaning of the cages that can be found there and which were once used by a doctor who lived there to keep apes inside of them. I was impressed by the story of Dr. Voronoff and the link between the past and present. This then became my main focus for the film. 

How much time did you spend there?
I spent a relatively short time there, which was quite an unusual approach for me. But I didn't intend from the beginning to incorporate the footage I made there into the film. I saw it mainly as research. But later, I liked the suggestive character of that footage. It shows that this very real place has a fantastic dimension. 

How did you develop the concept of the film?
I wanted in the editing to bring to life the link between past and present. The film should feel like you arrive on a different planet, as the title suggests. I immediately thought of fantastic films such King Kong or the Planet of the Apes, when I worked on the material and wanted to recreate this feeling. 

How did you research the story of Dr. Voronoff?
I have a friend who lives near the former mansion of Voronoff. He wrote a book about him and has a big archive. So that was where my research began. I was fascinated by this character, because he felt like a fictional figure. This was also what others said, when I told them about Voronoff. I was sure he would be the perfect character for a film. It was important to me not to depict him just as a crazy scientist. He had a vision and played an essential role in the history of organ transplants. His personal background is also very impressive. He experienced a cruel time of history twice. He was convinced Mussolini would admire him and spare him. But no, he had to flee from two pogroms. I liked this political dimension very much.

Does every human have his ape?
Well, surely, people have always had the dream of eternal youth and are willing to do a lot to fulfil it. Moreover, we live in a system that wants us all to be consumers. We have a system of apartheid, the separation between the social classes. I am sure we all are conscious of the desolate climatic or economic state of the world, but we invent things like borders to distract our attention from the real problems. 

Sound and music are very important in the film. How did you develop the film’s soundscape?
Sound is always very important to me. It doesn't mean the sound has to be overwhelming though. Silence is also a sound for me, for example. The music of the film should correspond to the silence, and to all the other sounds. The voice also had to be part of the music and sound concept, as if it would sing. 

When did you write the text? It has the character of a diary.
I created it during the editing process. Both the editing and the text corresponded to each other and influenced each other. It really is a diary, a diary of the production process. 

Why is it important to concentrate on irony at a formal level?
Well, for me, form is also content. What you can't tell with words, you can tell with the form.