New York Filmmaker Beth Cloutier on Building Wor
Indie Filmmaker's Stop Motion Short Screened at Toronto Worldwide Sh
Jun 25, 2009
In 2007, New York-based filmmaker Beth Cloutier had a kitchen revelation. At home, using plasticine and a camera, she assembled the stop-motion short “Building World Peace.” The piece depicts flags from around the world interacting with one another, finally culminating in a familiar sign, over a jazz/worldbeat score courtesy of Swiss-born bassist Derek Neivergelt (Coldplay, Herbie Hancock).
Suite 101 met with Cloutier after the short's premiere screening at the Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto. In this exclusive interview, she talked about her inspiration for "Building World Peace," and something extra she slipped in the film.
S101: Where did the idea for “Building World Peace” come from?
Beth: “It came from living in mid-town New York City, and traveling around the world. I live near Times Square and every day I would see servicemen and women, homeless people on the street.
“I’m a cinematographer by trade, so I’ve traveled around the world for work. I’ve been in the slums of India, I’ve been in brothels in Nepal, I’ve been in the African bush, all over. And when you experience certain cultures and lives, it makes you think a lot about what’s going on.
“Especially with the conflicts the United States has gotten itself into, the whole idea of terrorism . . . the people on the ground really want to get along, the civilians want peace, the governments say they’re working towards it but come on!
“The whole idea behind “Building World Peace” was to take clay – because it’s a very malleable form and has a lot of texture to it – and create the 195 world flags that are recognized by the UN. I used clay as a medium to show that we all come from the same place, we’re made from the same material, and nobody is better than anybody else. We’re all equal, and we should try to see each other as one.
“Granted, our cultural histories are different but, when you take that all away, when you look at your skin, your blood, everything underneath, we’re all the same.
“Bringing world flags into it was looking at different countries, looking at the ones that are in turmoil with one another, ones that have taken over smaller neighboring countries, others that have gained independence and are now at peace with one another. I’m bringing them all together, placing ones that are at war with each other side-by-side and I hope people look at that and create a dialogue.
“We should try to create an understanding between each other. It goes beyond tolerance, it’s through education and understanding that we are all basically the same people. We should try to learn about each other’s cultures, and while there’s nothing wrong with maintaining your culture, you at least try to understand the guy next to you and why he does what he does.”
I noticed you said there were 195 flags but, in the film, I counted 196–
“(laughs) Yeah, I added in Tibet because, when I was traveling through Nepal, I was there for Tibetan New Year. Before, the Tibetans used to celebrate their New Year in front of the Buddhist temples in Kathmandu.
“But now the Chinese influence in Nepal is so strong that they forced the Tibetans who organized the New Year parade go into this back alley and celebrate back there. And it really bothered me.
“Tibetans are very peaceful and they just want to exercise their rights as human beings, and the Chinese won’t let them.
“Of course, being American (laughs) we’re allowed to say what we like, freedom of speech. So when I got back to New York after that trip, I saw the Tibetan people protesting outside the Chinese consulate building. These are very peaceful, lovely people so I felt like it fit. It was the right thing to do.
“I’m sure there are many other groups of people who would like to feel the same way, and I’m sorry I excluded you, I didn’t mean to!” (laughs)
Did 9/11 have anything to do with inspiring “Building World Peace”? Were you living in New York when it happened?
“I was not. The week before, I had moved to Los Angeles, but I still had all my friends in New York, I was completely petrified that I couldn’t get in touch with anybody for a while.
“It’s not just from 9/11, but our past history: of cultures, war and peace. What America has gotten itself into now, which was from 9/11: there are tens of thousands of our servicemen – not just Americans but from around the world – who are working with the US to help these people, and fight this so-called “War on Terrorism” and you think about them, and the people in the countries you’re fighting in, because their lives are completely disrupted.
“I feel for them, I want their kids to be able to grow up and have an education and be in a world that’s not fighting about land or religion, or whose God is better than the other’s, because we all are from the same place, and we all have the same God.
“I hope the right politicians get in who are strong enough and have the will to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
Are you sensing that turnaround right now in the United States?
“It’s hard for me to comment on the past 6 months because my mother just died and I haven’t been paying attention to the news since Obama’s been elected. I created this the year before, and finished the music this year. Right before I finished the music, my mom passed away very unexpectedly so I’ve been focused more on family these days.”
(In Part #2, Beth Cloutier talks about the music of "Building World Peace" and her plans for the project)
 |
