LBB Film Club: Hands of Sicily
As a filmmaker, challenging and limiting yourself during a shoot helps hone your craft. This process of thinking up alternative ways to visually convey a concept is exactly how Marko Roth’s short film ‘Hands of Sicily’ came to life. By using one role of 35mm motion picture film and working alongside director of photography Josua Stäbler, the essence of the island of Sicily came alive.
Favouring an organic process of meeting people and capturing their lives, both Marko and Josua were keen to include authentic stories of farmers, artists, nonnas and more, as they showcased the hands behind each story. With expression and passion in the region being reflected in the hands of those individualised stories, it was all about using the analogue format to further capture this. With close-up shots of a painter on a canvas and a nonna on the phone – who was a natural in front of the camera – it was in the unexpected moments that the shoot came to life.
Sharing more about how he used film to further enhance the subject matter, Marko speaks to LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.
LBB> Where did the process of creating ‘Hands of Sicily’ begin?
Marko> The birth of ‘Hands Of Sicily’ was when my DoP, Josua Stäbler, reached out and told me about his new passion project series called ‘400ft projects’. The concept was to only shoot one roll of 35mm motion picture film. This equals approximately four minutes of raw footage. I remember how I immediately fell in love with the idea, especially the limitation and the freedom which comes with that. Some days later I called him and suggested that we could limit ourselves even more. Why not just filming hands in action? Nothing more. Only hands. That’s how the idea behind ‘Hands Of Sicily’ was born.
LBB> Can you share your initial ideas and how you set about bringing this short film to life?
Marko> The initial idea was to portray a culture just by showing hands. We immediately thought about Italy as a culture since they use a lot of hand movements in their daily lives. Sicily came up since both Josua and I hadn't been there yet and we were really curious to get to know the vibe of that island. From there it was pretty straightforward. We booked our flights, a rental car and an Airbnb. Since neither of us speaks Italian, I called a friend of mine who speaks both German and Italian. She was our translator. So the three of us travelled to Sicily and stayed there for four days.
LBB> Of course, the campaign features many people’s hands as the focus of the spot. How did you find all of the different hands which you featured and what was the process of directing them in an organic way?
Marko> It was very important to me that we find authentic actions for our hand shots. I didn’t want to fake anything or recreate scenes which came from my imagination. I wanted to go with the flow, see who we meet and portray the raw and unfiltered vibe of the island. So that’s what we did. We didn’t know anyone on the island before this trip. But through our first contact with our Airbnb hosts, we met farmers, artists, nonnas and many more. Everybody introduced us to someone else. And after four days our film roll and hearts were full with so many special encounters, stories and hands.
LBB> What did you learn about the region through the hands you came into contact with? Are you able to share some of the unusual or surprising stories?
Marko> I have learned how important it is to enjoy life and to not take it too seriously. It sounds cliche, but the people on Sicily really got that one figured out. We met one old man - he must have been around 80 years old but he looked like he was 60. I asked him about his life secret and he said: “Olive oil, afternoon naps in the sun and no stress.”
LBB> Who’s hands were the most characterful to shoot and what was the background story behind them?
Marko> My favourite shot is the one of the old lady on the flip phone. She had such a special energy. She really didn’t care that there were three strangers in her garden with one huge camera.
She was curious but at the same time, she didn’t really care about us. This is a dream of every filmmaker. Because this allows for authentic moments to arise. I remember that we were done shooting with her after filming her hanging up her laundry. We were about to leave and then her phone started to ring. She picked it up and started to chat. I told Josua to go in with the camera to capture this special moment. Such a lucky shot.
LBB> The spot is shot on one single roll of 35 mm analogue film. What were some of the considerations you had to account for when shooting in this manner?
Marko> Shooting analogue makes you think more about what you really want to shoot. Especially when you only have four minutes of raw material. At the same time, it makes you trust your gut feeling because this is the only thing you can rely on when you have to decide in one second if it's worth pushing the trigger or not.
LBB> What was the biggest challenge of creating this spot? How did you overcome it?
Marko> This project really felt like it was meant to be. There were no really big challenges. Everything went smoothly. Maybe because we didn’t have any expectations nor any fixed locations or schedules. We just went with the flow.
LBB> How did the filmmaking process impact you and what were some of the takeaways from shooting in an organic way, like this?
Marko> Shooting ‘Hands Of Sicily’ has been a much-needed note for myself as to why I love filmmaking. No schedule, no crew, no fixed locations, no expectations and therefore no pressure. It is incredible how going back to the roots reminded me of all the reasons why I wanted to do the film:
You meet incredible people whom you would never meet in your daily life;
You wake up way too early to catch the sunrises;
You feel like being on a road trip with your best friends, including all the bad jokes which are only funny because you are so high on good vibes;
You allow yourself to follow your gut feeling;
You allow yourself to express emotions through film;
You trust and flow through the process.
I am super thankful for all the amazing people, moments and deep talks. We didn’t know anyone in Sicily before this trip and somehow we stumbled from one aperitivo to the next, meeting artists, farmers and nonnas. The birth of something very raw and very simple.
