Béatrice Steimer

Béatrice Steimar is a performer, photographer and filmmaker. She created Lucy Dreaming, a film about a young woman who sleeps 23 hours a day trying to escape her traumas, but in this escape, she ends up awakening parts of herself that urge her to come back to life. Lucy Dreaming is among the films selected for Experimental Brasil.

EB- What led you down the path of experimental filmmaking, and how do you perceive its role in the broader landscape of cinema?

I am an artist primarily working and interested in moving images. I perceive it as painting, making music or poetry and like to describe or explore my personal vision on images or reality as a projection coming from our minds. I like to research indescribable states of consciousness of being and longing.

EB- When crafting a film, what is your approach to storytelling and how do you balance it with experimentation?

I like a story to be there but I want it to have different layers or possibilities and parallel stories going on so you can see it from several angles and watch it over and over again. Also I like to combine films . There is a second part to this one.

EB- How do you view the relationship between your films and the audience, and what techniques do you use to create an immersive experience?

I hope there is an immersive experience! I like to create this via the rhythm and the tone of the overall inner experience projected outwardly that possibly lures you into the mind of the protagonist. Closeness and close ups.

EB- Can you provide insight into your creative process, from the initial idea to the final product?

I have an idea or a thought or something that I heard and that unleashes a whole story encompassing other fields of my interests.Then I know immediately with who and where.Then I write something. Then I try to get some money. Then we meet up. Then we do it.

EB- What obstacles have you encountered as a filmmaker, and how have you overcome them?

The only obstacle I perceive is getting the money. When you direct you have to be somehow very determined and fierce to get what you want but that is a valuable learning experience.

EB- How do you balance the technical aspects of filmmaking with artistic expression in your films?

Artistic expression is the most important but if the film doesn't look great and nobody understands anything because the sound sucks it's too hard for the viewers?

EB- What guidance would you offer to those seeking to enter the world of filmmaking?

I don't know what you mean. Just start making a documentary or film your favorite spot where you always go, make up some stories. Copy your heros. Contact me.

EB- How do you define success in your films, and what metrics do you use to measure it?

Success is if you love your film and you want to watch it over and over again and show it to all your friends and everybody you meet. The whole world!

EB- What are some of the recurring themes or topics that you explore in your films, and what motivates you to delve into these subjects?

I love David Lynch and my field is Love and the Mind. Art, Beauty the uncanniness of being in weird situations, drugs, subconscious states new ways of being in this world...

I always want to create a space where I would like to be.