Black Butterflies' Palua van der Oest talks to Tymon Smith
How did you get involved in this film?
A friend of mine made a beautiful documentary and she gave me Ingrid Jonker's poetry, which I loved. It started with that documentary. Then a producerwanted to make a feature film about Jonker's life. We talked about it and I did research. The story shifted from a love story to rather focus on Jonker's relationship with her father, which defined her.
The fact that she needed the love of many men i s an amateur psychological approach. But when the first man in your life rejects you, you start looking for love with others .
Were you concerned about portraying her as a tortured, hysterical woman?
Making a film about an artist is difficult. Artists are self-absorbed, insecure and unpredictable, so how do you make a film about them that people will relate to? Jonker 's poetry is sometimes light and tender and at other times dark . We avoided portraying her as hysterical .
How did you deal with poetry on screen?
We kept going back to the poems , so there are elements of the poetry hidden in the visual elements of the film.
What was your approach to the politics of the time in relation to the story?
Politics works as a background. But Abraham Jonker is a methaphor for apartheid. H is daughter is the free spirit who doesn't want to conform to this system.
She did things from her gut and she was also very smart. The way she behaved was intuitive and emotional.
- 'Black Butterflies' opens in cinemas today
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