by Danielle Prince

Here is Part II of my interview with Phil around the topic of storytelling.  If you missed Part I, you can read it here.

It is a privilege to hear someone’s story. In the work that you’re doing with Stirring the Fire, you demonstrate that there are a lot of women and girls hurting around the world due to gender inequality. How do you hold the space of their personhood while eliciting key points from the individual that may be painful?

I have an advantage because usually someone has pre-screened these people to find the individuals who want to tell their story. They’ve come to this place after soul-searching. There was a girl in Liberia who approached us. We were out working in the field when all of a sudden we get a call saying “there’s a girl who wants to talk”. For this Liberian woman, we had to go to a secret place and hide because she couldn’t let anybody else in the community know. So we just rushed to the place, set up the camera and microphone and sat there while she talked. She tells us about a rape. She is now 27 but this occurred when she was 14. Holding the space, besides letting her talk, is me thinking how brave this person is and how honored I am that they are opening up. If it’s appropriate and I speak their language I say it, but it is just a matter of being there and listening. Usually when it’s happening, it’s fresh and raw, never talked about before. Usually it is a cathartic thing for the person. To answer your question I don’t think I do anything to hold the space other than be there and listen and think about how honored I am and how brave they are. I just hold them in admiration in my head more than anything.

I think people sense that.

I think probably they do. It probably translates across cultures.

Phil Borges Capturing the Story (Photo: Danielle Prince)

How do you formulate the structure of the story? Do you think about it beforehand or more in the moment while it is happening?

You always try to do as much of it beforehand as you can. Research, research, research! The trip I just came back from in Nepal is a perfect example. I tried to get as much information as possible about maternal health in that area, who was addressing it, how they were addressing it and who were the players and could I talk to them? I skyped with the birth attendant who I wanted to follow for the almost 30-day trek through the Himalayas. She was all set to go, and then, boom! I get a call saying she can’t go the whole way she has to return to Katmandu. What’s plan B? So I do as much beforehand as I can because you’re there for a limited time, not to prejudice myself to the story but to at least get an outline of how we are going to approach this. I’m looking for my central character. Who’s going to narrate this story and tie this whole thing together? I try to find this person as soon as possible.

Technical aspects: how do you capture emotion and mood of the story through the production elements such as sound, lighting and camera angels?

Mood you can set with lighting. I think music, the story itself and the person’s ability to get to their emotions even while being interviewed and filmed, is crucial. So in Syreeta’s case, the person we filmed in San Diego, we had a young woman who was very emotive, telling the painful story of being abused as a child. We have her emoting, and then we backed it up in a musical bed.

So it sounds like the core of it is finding the person who has these qualities of being present and emotional and accessible while being filmed, and everything else you tailor to fit that?

Yes, you enhance it.

In post-production?

Yes, you’re enhancing it in the edit with music, the way you pace it, the way you can do so much with lighting in post as well as pre. Music is the big one to me, and pacing.

How important is it to cover the past, present and future of an individual’s story? How do you accomplish this in film?

The back story, talking about the past, is usually really important. I try to accomplish this by having them talk about it, but you want to illustrate this as well. So you’re asking them for old video, home movies, photographs. Those are usually the best things. One of the old tricks is to go in someone’s house and start looking through their refrigerator. (Laughter) Past – get them talking about the back story, get someone who knows them talking about it, a child or neighbor or parent. Present – if there is something happening you try and find it and capture it. Hopefully they allow you into their world so that you can illustrate it. Future – have them talk about where they’re hoping to be, what they’re working towards, what they’re obstacles are and how they’re planning on approaching them. For future plans, show what the person is currently doing while talking about what their dreams are.

Do you have any questions for Phil?  Email them to justine@stirringthefire.org