BREAKING BOUNDARIES
Calgary filmmaker’s animated documentary Wall a visual treat
There’s no shortage of impressive moments in Calgary filmmaker Cam Christiansen’s animated documentary Wall.
But it’s safe to say few films this year will boast one as brilliant as the segment that closes his thought-provoking, visually stunning National Film Board collaboration with British playwright David Hare. The five-minute sequence depicts years of layered graffiti that has been painted on the so-called “separation fence” between Israel and Palestine, a 700-kilometre, $4-billion barrier that began construction in 2002, ostensibly to combat terrorist attacks from the West Bank.
In Christiansen’s film, nearly two decades worth of inventive, politically charged images and slogans spring to vibrant life. It’s one of the first scenes the filmmaker thought about creating when he was approached by NFB producers to make the film based on Hare’s like-named 2009 monologue.
“As a visual artist and animator, I could immediately see the connection and how that could be brought to life,” says Christiansen. “That was the initial reaction I had.”
What followed was a seven-year journey for the filmmaker, which took him from areas of the Middle East to Britain’s famous Pinewood Studios to his own Calgary workspace.
Using 3D motion-capture technology, state-of-the-art gaming and animation tools and hand drawing, Christiansen’s film follows Hare on a trip to the Middle East where he explores the impact the barrier has had on both sides. Voice actors portray activists and experts — including Israeli novelist David Grossman and professor Sari Nusseibeh of AlQuds University — who discuss the wall as both a physical reality and philosophical metaphor.
Hare is a playwright and screenwriter who received Oscar nominations for both 2002’s The Hours and 2008’s The Reader. He has also had a long fascination with the Middle East.
Wall, his 2009 monologue, was the jumping-off point for the film. But it went through some changes, including the addition of a narrative about three characters who travel throughout the West Bank and get stuck at checkpoints, something both Hare and Christiansen thought would give audiences “a sense of the physicality of the wall, so it’s not this abstract concept,” Christiansen says.
“We adapted it together, so I went to England to his incredible studio,” he says. “Initially, it was really intimidating because he is such a formidable guy. You go to his studio and there are photographs signed by Vanessa Redgrave and Meryl Streep. It’s just this incredible, celebrated history he has. But I realized he is a lot like me. He’s a guy who works in his studio and creates worlds and characters through his plays and screenwriting. I really connected with him on that level.”
Since making its world première last September at the Calgary International Film Festival, Wall has travelled to film festivals around the world. Given it’s prickly topic, Christiansen admits he thought the film would spark much more intense debates during its festival run than it actually did.
“One of the things I’ve appreciated, and what I’m learning, is that within the Jewish community and within the Arab community, there isn’t really any monolithic viewpoints,” he says. “There’s a lot of nuance and conflicting views within each community about the situation. It’s been a really positive experience. In a lot of ways, I’m a bit surprised by that, actually.”
Christiansen studied painting at Calgary’s Alberta College of Art + Design before becoming a commercial animator. In 2007, his sixminute animated short I Have Seen the Future was screened at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals. He followed it up with 2008’s short, The Real Place, which explored the life and work of playwright and librettist John Murrell; and 2009’s Five Hole: Tales of Hockey Erotica, based on Dave Bidini’s book.
Wall is his first feature-length film. Created over seven years, it’s a monumental achievement for the filmmaker. It was also an exhausting one.
He says his next film will be a live-action drama, based partially on his grandparents’ experiences as Danish immigrants.
“Wall was just a punishing experience,” he says. “I feel like I achieved what I wanted to achieve with it. Do I need to make another one? I don’t think I do at this point. But I really did love the storytelling aspect of it and that’s transferable to live action.”