GOETHE FILMS @ TIFF Lightbox is looking at love from all sides with five recent young films on 7+9+14 March 2023. $10 tickets on sale now. Le Prince is the love story of Frankfurt curator Monika and Congolese businessman Joseph, a chance encounter that turns into an intense and dramatic love affair.
Director Lisa Bierwirth, who has worked with the likes of Sonja Heiss and Valeska Grisebach, on her debut feature's origin story:
The starting point was my mother Susanne’s relationship with her then-husband Erick, who is from Kinshasa, Congo.
Despite all their problems, they were a great, dazzling couple– not only in their differences, but also in their resilience, humor and interpersonal dynamics. They had the impulse and self-confidence to narrate such a relationship in the first place.
I must admit that, at the beginning of their relationship, I too was skeptical and wondered if this could end well or whether
their 'differences' weren’t too much to handle. But I gradually understood the strength and courage it takes to live out a love that isn’t granted the same chances, that’s eyed with suspicion, while still maintaining its closeness and intimacy. From there, I started intense research and had a lot of conversations to find out what exactly, and more particularly how, one might narrate the challenges of such a partnership. Especially because I was intent on not telling my mother’s story."
Lead actor Passi Balende on his access into the film:
How did your involvement in this film project come about? Was there a casting?
My friend Delphine told me about Lisa Bierwirth, who was looking for an actor of Congolese origin. The film was to be shot in Germany, in German, English, French, and Lingala. Why not, I felt ready. I met Lisa, we got along well, I liked the script, and the following summer I went to Frankfurt several times to work on my role.
How was it working with the German team and director Lisa Bierwirth?
It was great, a big family, German thoroughness at work (as we say in France). Lisa had warned us in advance that the scenes would be repeated at different intensities so that she would have more choices when editing. So you knew that even if the last shot was good, you would replay the scene, adding or changing certain things to get different plays of feeling, rhythm and intensity.
What appealed to you most about your film role?
It was the fact of how much Joseph fights to achieve his dreams despite his situation. I think that in this day and age, many people find themselves in this situation.
People --also Monika, even against her will-- have a tendency to be guided by their prejudices, be they social or racial. How can we succeed in overcoming these prejudices?
Prejudice and racism are the result of ignorance and fear of the unknown. I am of Christian denomination and in my neighborhood, in the Parisian
banlieue, I have had the good fortune to grow up with Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists; with people of different skin colour, different ethnicities, and I have been able to get to know their culture in addition to French and African culture. I was able to share my culture with them as well. Nowadays, however, we are in an era of radicalization. I believe that there have always been injustices against minorities and/or women. We should rather think of ourselves as human beings instead of identifying ourselves only by skin colour, gender, or money. The world will continue to develop, and I think that in the future, origin will be less and less important.
image: Port au Prince Pictures
