Ladyjerks a Film Directed by Annett Stenzel won Best Documentary Film award at Cinefern Film Award and Competition's March 2021.
The Film is about LADYJERKS is a short documentary flm about the female band collective from Denmark, called "Lady Jerks Collective" Ladyjerks Collective was founded at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen to build up a musical open space for female musicians to experiment with their skills getting started from new, most unknown points,
playing experimental with for the members unknown instruments and their voices. It has an open structure where other musicians and artists may join in various performances. The short flm documentary focus on the members Tania K. Ballentine, Gertrud Hjelm Kongshøj, Bess Barkholt Andersen, Ida Duelund Hansen and
Maja Westman.
Annett Stenzel is an award-winning international working in Germanybased film artist with a focus on music and feminism. She has a diverse education in arts, with a high interest in gender, language, culture, and philosophy she has studied Picture Room Object Glass at the Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, Painting at the KHB Weißensee in Berlin, and Film at the HFBK in Hamburg as well as at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and Media Art at the Royal Art School in Copenhagen. She had fellowships by Erasmus, Hamburger Kulturstiftung, and Promos, 2021 the Cine Fine award and 2011 the award operare of Zeitgenössische Oper Berlin (ZOB), Exhibited her work in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, Germany, Korea, Poland, USA, and showed flms at Film Festivals in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Actually, she
works and lives in Hamburg, Germany.
Interview With Annett Stenzel
Q: What is the basic Idea Behind the film?
Annett Stenzel: The idea started on one hand with the engagement to transport the picture
of a female musician as a common situation in the music business scene, so that girls and young women can increasingly connect to being musicians themselves.
On the other hand, I wanted to create a view on the fascinating Band collective as an idol character of feminist power creation as a helpful tool to show others the importance of coworking spaces for women. Although I wanted to thanks the members of the collective, which shared their songs for and played a role in my music film Silence Song, which I
started to shoot in 2017 and shoot with some of those in the film mentioned Ladyjerks members in 2018.
Q: How do you handle the Pre-Production, and Post Production?
Annett Stenzel: The shooting for Ladyjerks started with BESS, I had to travel to London and
could not plan much only know the time of a few days I would spend there. But I had no idea about possible surrounding areas for a picturing and had to trust to find something well-fitting. BESS lived at this time at a beautiful former public space -a former pub, with an interesting surrounding. That shoots became the idol of meeting all the other Ladyjerks in public spaces which they could choose by themselves, somehow it was a finding together
because we figured places out. The interview was made spontaneously, in reacting to the answers they gave on my questions all by the direction to get to know about the background of Ladyjerks Collective. The postproduction was made all by myself. I heard and watched the material and decide very quickly, what´s in and interesting. Yes, there are still interesting facts not in the flm...I got directed by the pictures to set priorities. The idea was to show the diversity of backgrounds and personalities the women in the band collective have, - that it is not a homogenous group and can be besides connected with conficts, as between self-will and interest in the other, within one person, which I wanted to show as an arising feeling in the editing itself arisen by jump cuts.
Q: What do you do to stay calm during Production of the film?
Annett Stenzel: As a director in a movie scene, I learned you have to be very much on your
own on the set, you are the leader, even if you have a great team, you have to have your own strength. But you can learn while doing so. Take a good breath and a calming new perspective to get calm, when things get diffcult, focus on concentration on the subject.
In the documentary film, it is a general concentration to open the room for what is happening or has to happen. You just be attentive all the time.
Q: What sort of stories excites you?
Annett Stenzel: I personally like intellectual uncommon stories, stories that resonate with
my personal family stories. I surprisingly actual tend more and more to be interested in funny stories.
Q: Do you think all the good stories have already been made into a movie?
Annett Stenzel: No, of course not! We see nowadays how many new themes of society are
getting on the table and are created openly. There is a need to show all that perspectives, even about themes we nowadays even not yet think about and the younger generations may bring them up and tell them to us.
Q: While casting for your film you prefer to cast a well known face or any new face which fit the character?
Annett Stenzel: In the case of Ladyjerks it was clear because I already knew those women
by seeing them and get in contact with them and sharing their songs for my film Silence Song. So that actually was the reason that I focused on them as my personal view on Ladyjerks, giving something back. For my art films, I cast mainly unknown faces and people, because I have a very visual idea of the character.
Q: What is the most enjoyable thing about Production of the film?
Annett Stenzel: The most enjoyable is for me creating something together and the energy
fow within that work, the things which get created through that which you could not plan before – it is just coming through that – the very new. I love although learning new things, is great within flm making you never are done with learning something new, there is always a new subject, the theme you have to learn about even in production and postproduction how
to realize something you have in mind!
Q: What is the best possible way to promote your film when you are on a tight budget?
Annett Stenzel: When the flm is recognized and shown by a festival it creates more wonderful resonance for an audience, very much joyful and helpful are as usual social networks and networks of flm members, too. And all flm lovers have a high impact of support to the promotion of the flm in general, I am very grateful to.
Q: When your next film is coming and what is it about?
Annett Stenzel: My Longflm Silence Song which I worked on for 4 years will hopefully be
fnished this year and can come out in 2022. Next to it I fnished shooting a short flm called Ophelia recently and start already the casting for the film Ophelia II. They shall come out in 2022 as well. I´m curious which film will come out first - The Ophelia-short films are about how women drift into homelessness by alcoholism and guilty feelings for the death of her sister and what it needs to feel safe in the world and society while as homeless she got inflamed ill. Silence Song focuses on women as well. It is showing a kaleidoscope of relationships.
Q: What advice do you want to give to the new and upcoming filmmakers?
Annett Stenzel: Believe in yourself and in your work - it is worth doing - and then do it! There are always people who love to help you to create your vision, loving to be a part of the vision! Never believe someone who says no or it is not possible.
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