Jacqueline Lentzou's Moon, 66 Questions is showing exclusively on MUBI in many countries starting February 19, 2022 in the series Debuts.
SNIPPETS OF MY MOOD BOARD
1. The Death of Leopold (1910), Leon Spilliaert
I saw this painting—or more precisely a digital copy of the painting—before working on the script, although I had in mind the idea.
I wanted to see it again and again.
I did not care about the narrative elements. I was not intrigued by who Leopold is, or if the other person is his daughter, sister, or wife. I was deeply excited about the antithesis I observed: a death scene dressed in “alive” colors, playful brush strokes, taking place in the skies, kissed by a star. This image was constantly in my head while shooting and editing.
2. Moonscapes (Lichtenstein and Magritte)
The script took its final “turn” on the 15 August 2015, when I discovered something personal that changed not only me, but everything around me, as well as the ways I interact with truth and knowing. It was a bright full moon. That’s how “moon” became part of the title of the film.
3. “You Are Tired (I Think)” by e e cummings
This poem is what Artemis telepathically recites to her father. It makes me cry every time as in its words I find love, and at the same time, lack of love.
You are tired, (I think) Of the always puzzle of living and doing; And so am I. Come with me, then, And we’ll leave it far and far away — (Only you and I, understand!) You have played, (I think) And broke the toys you were fondest of, And are a little tired now; Tired of things that break, and — Just tired. So am I. But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight, And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart — Open to me! For I will show you the places Nobody knows, And, if you like, The perfect places of Sleep. Ah, come with me! I’ll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon, That floats forever and a day; I’ll sing you the jacinth song Of the probable stars; I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream, Until I find the Only Flower, Which shall keep (I think) your little heart While the moon comes out of the sea.
4. Gena Rowlands
Gena, not as a character in a particular film, but Gena as the spirit she is.
Gena as the energy she is.
Gena as the pain she hides when she smiles. A forever inspiration, a friend. She fed Artemis’ character with a big spoon.
That’s why her birthday is in the film, the first diary we ever listen to.
5. Jonas Mekas ( everything he made, wrote or shot)
Jonas fills my heart with light and love. He helped me to write the diary of Artemis, which manifests itself in the film through low-fi, VHS imagery, the “other texture” as I would call it.
VHS imagery is the space in which Artemis discovers her father, through what he used to capture, when he was healthy. This practice of discovering someone through the things they see and cherish is how I fell in love with cinema as a super alone child, as it was a way to know people in depth—people with whom I would never shake hands or walk together.
6. My father
Here is my dad windsurfing, shot by my mom, years before I was on earth. Seeing this photo, and then my father’s current state of being had its own, constant, and high-in-pain sound, a “why.” Then, that why turned into 66 ( and many more) questions about everything.