Breakfast with 49 Years from the House on the Left

Interview with Sevgi Eker, director of 49 Years from the House on the Left

In which location did you shoot? How did you work on the set and the lights?
The film was shot on an island one-hour boat ride away from a major city. The location on its own was a key in constructing the rhythm of the film. The uphill, downhill and flat ground of the location worked as internal edit within the image, as the rhythm must sometimes be thought in a slightly different way in single-take films. The single-take structure also requires careful planning when it comes to set design and lights, especially if the camera and the characters are moving like they are for the most of 49 Years from the House on the Left. We practiced the choreography and the timing heavily in advance, shot all variations and made adjustments and readjustments based on them.

Why did you want the uninvited guest to dig a hole at first?
The film begins with a relatively long sequence of sound only, because I saw it as a way to create an image that an image couldn’t create or that an image couldn’t add anything to. Whereas I think of sound and image as equal, one is sometimes stronger without the other.

Weren’t you interested in picturing what happens after the character can talk with an adult?
I felt strongly that this was the only way that the story could be told to convey what the film is essentially about.

Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?
In a sense yes. Both of my last two shorts have been shot in a single take and I think that the risks and challenges often associated with the single-take form are maybe easier to take on with shorts. Risk-taking in general is often easier with shorts in a sense that the short format doesn’t usually have the same financial requirements and responsibilities that a feature has. That being said, the story has for me still always defined the length and the films have naturally fallen into their shorter forms.

What are your reference works?
Whereas I don’t necessarily have individual reference pieces for this film, the works of Krzysztof Kieślowski have made a deep impact on me and definitely continue to inspire.

49 Years from the House on the Left is part of Lab Competition L1.