#BonfireStories — Welcoming Filmmaker and writer Ekwa Msangi
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Q:When it comes to storytelling, where do you get your inspiration from?
I grew up around a lot of storytelling. Not necessarily formal, although oral histories are definitely part of my upbringing, but because I grew up away from my parent’s country of birth. Whenever someone came to visit there was always so much storytelling around catching up on all the events. My relatives used such colorful descriptions and painted such amazing scenes with their depictions of who had gone astray, who had conjured up another crazy scheme, the final moments of someone else…its how I met my family, my people, and helped me to see myself. So I would tribute my family as my inspiration for storytelling.
Q: Ekwa, Questions of time and elasticity are clearly central to the film between the relationship between Walter and Esther, what was your approach to raising those questions?
Well, having been in a few long distance relationships of my own, I’ve always been intrigued by where you have to put your mind in order to make the relationship work. To make it real. You tend to hold onto memories, stories…stories that you shared or stories that your partner tells you, and stories that you might make up in your own mind: about yourself AND your partner. So really my goal was to try and…
