Eva Lanska – The musicality between gesture and dialogue is what drew Eva Lanska to filmmaking. She trained at London Film Academy and London Institute of Photography, and draws on her experiences living in Paris, Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, as well as her upbringing in Moscow. Influenced by classic Italian filmmakers such as Fellini and Antonioni, plus the expressive virtuosity of prima ballerinas she saw at the Bolshoi Theatre as a child, she works either in black and white or elegant muted colors, using stylized camerawork to refer to tradition and continuity. Women’s rights are one of Lanska’s core concerns in her creative endeavours and she has long campaigned for a film industry in which a woman’s age, nationality or origin cease to be barriers to a career in cinema.
Lanska’s first short, Okay, Mum, about domestic violence, won Best Picture at Los Angeles Film Festival and was selected for Short Film Corner at Cannes 2017. Centering around the complex issues facing women internationally, her work finds different ways of intertwining this core priority with related themes such as interfaith marriage (short film Little French Fish, 2020) and transcending stereotypes (documentary The Abraham Accords Change History: Women in the Middle East, 2021). Forbes interviewed her as “one to watch” in 2020 and she’s received awards or nominations from over thirty film festivals. Her upcoming feature film I Am Not an Actress, based of the life of Brigitte Bardot, is signed with NoW Films.
FWM: You have drawn on your experiences in Paris, Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv for your photography. Share your background.
Places and surroundings have a profound effect on the creative process. For example, I am especially sensitive to smells and lighting. Of course, Paris and Venice have the most beautiful skies and a combination of sunlight and shade that I have ever seen before. The silence that can be heard at night in Jerusalem is certainly magnificent – the energy of the city is so powerful that even very strong personalities dissolve in its greatness and become part of environment. Dubai impresses me with its rapid pace and desire for everything new – there is no doubt that this city will soon take the lead in digital art and new technologies. The experience of living in different countries fills the soul and becomes an integral part of you, which the artist invisibly transfers to his/her works. I think this significantly expands the boundaries of one’s thinking.
FWM: Tell us about “The Existential Choice” What was your mission?
My video installation has many different parts. One of the topics was its message to women. We are much stronger together not competing but helping each other. In this sense, in America, women have achieved great success. We are not talking about feminism – the idea is that true femininity and naturalness are a huge, underestimated power. These works explore the theme of the Sisterhood Movement. These works have a metaphorical connotation and are filled with symbols. It’s also important to mention that the titles of the works are expressed in numbers – which is a gematria of various words translated from Hebrew. These titles describe deep hidden feelings.
FWM: Your first film, Ok Mum was dedicated to children’s protection from domestic violence, was selected by the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. Tell us about your film.
This film primarily addresses the problem of children who, unfortunately, are exposed to violence and aggression in their own families. Often many children cannot report this to society and, having no support, try to cope with it on their own, which in most cases is an unbearable burden for the child. We must do everything in our power to stop this and, of course, lend a helping hand to any child to which this has happened.
FWM: .As a filmmaker, what inspires you?
My invisible teachers were the films of such great filmmakers as Antonioni, Buñuel, Luchino Visconti, as well as contemporary greats such as Scorsese and Jarmusch. I remain true to the classic ways of filmmaking in the face of technological advances, but do not deny the benefits of the latter. I want to add that not a day goes by that I do not turn to the works of the master Davinci. It was under the influence of his work that I created the “The Existential Choice.”
FWM: Tell us about your film, Little French Fish, (2020).
The film explores the universal theme about the love between people from two different worlds. Little French Fish is a story about a Jewish woman and a Muslim man, and the conflict between their feelings and passions and traditions and social order. The film asks the question, “How does a person who finds his or herself in such a situation solve this internal conflict?”
FWM: What social issues are you concerned with today?
After two years of covid epidemic, the hearts of many people are filled with fear of loneliness, fatigue and emptiness. This definitely affects my art and film projects. We, as artists, can help people to return warmth to their souls and gain confidence in tomorrow. In every person, there are both a light and a dark beginning inside, but artists can help create positive art to convert dark to light. I hope that my projects will be able to fill the audience with joy and warmth.
FWM: Your upcoming feature film, I Am Not an Actress, is based on the life of Brigitte Bardot, which is signed with NoW Films. Why did you take this project? What surprised you the most?
What surprised me the most was how little people actually know about the real Brigitte Bardot. I have interviewed more than 1000 people in Europe and America. Only a few people know the true motivation and heartache that this great and very strong woman experienced. When I was a student, I lived in Paris and was lucky enough to perform cover versions of Serge Gainsbourg songs, and among them were songs written by him for Brigitte Bardot. Since then, I have been researching this topic. It took several years to create the script and it was finally completed only this year.
FWM: Share your upcoming projects.
Most recently, I visited the NFT conference in Miami and met some very interesting people. I joined the community of women who create NFT art projects. At the moment in Venice there is an exhibition of my photo and video works “The Existential Choice” and soon these works will be available in the NFT format.
FWM: Share your social media.
