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Interview with Idrissa Ouedraogo about 11’ 09” 01 - SEPTEMBER 11 project
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Where were you on September 11 2001? What did you feel when you learnt about these events?
- I was in a café in Paris when some friends told me the terrible news... at that moment, your head is filled with all sorts of questions - Who has done this? Why? Then you tell yourself the world is truly turning upside-down, that you must do something. But how?
You are a very busy film-director. Yet you did not hesitate to answer this invitation: joining in a collective work based around the September 11 events in New York by making one of the 11 shorts. Why?
- To participate in a collective project with celebrated creative artists whom I have always respected is first of all, for me, a great honour. Making a film about the events of September 11 is my own way of contributing to a rebirth of conscience, of saying that hope exists despite everything, that it is the most important thing of all.
Had you thought of expressing yourself around the events of September 11 before being asked to participate in '11’09’’01'?
- Yes, in the press.
What events or personal experiences did you want to bring to light through your short? What personal echo to the events of September 11?
- I come from West Africa, from Burkina Faso. Like all Africans, I was shocked by the violence of the attacks. Like them, I felt sympathy, for the pain of the families and for the American people. I am also waiting (like all Africans everywhere) for the same surge of solidarity with an Africa beset by malaria, AIDS, famine and drought.
How did the idea of your film come to you? Immediately or after long consideration?
- The idea for the film came to me straight away. The questions raised by new relationships between the developed and underdeveloped world are problems which have occupied my mind for a long time.
Has the time constraint of 11 minutes, 9 seconds and one frame, imposed on every short, caused difficulties when constructing your story. How did you deal with it?
- I have made many short films; the time-constraint posed no problem at all.
How did the actors and the technicians make and experience their contributions to the film? How did the shooting progress?
- I was very lucky; the technicians and actors became a sort of family around me, and trusted what I was doing.
Each director has built up his or her film without having the slightest inkling of what the others would do. Has this been a problem for you? How have you experienced or 'lived' this collective work?
- That each director, in his own part of the world, has responded to the events of September 11 according to his own environment, with an open mind and free of any attempts at 'comparison' has been positive and stimulating.The very fact that this is a collective work has encouraged each director to express himself in his own way and to be fair in his intentions.
In your view, can the film bring new perspectives to a reflection on our contemporary world? Can cinema function as an instrument for peace?
- For us, '11'09"01' is about restoring hope to the world... and encouraging a better understanding of cultural diversity, the only way of building lasting bridges between nations. This is how cinema can contribute towards peace.
Do you think that the events of September 11 will influence your future films?
- Any event of world-wide importance has a great impact on our lives and is likely to exert a powerful influence on future intellectual and artistic developments.
Do you think there exists a 'before' and an 'after' September 11, such events constituting a rupture in contemporary history?
- From this point, culture will play an essential role in the relationships between nations. It's clear that only cultural diversity can oppose the forces of fanaticism and hegemony.
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