Interview with Filmmaker Manfred Borsch (MIRRORS)

MIRRORS played to rave reviews at the September 2018 Experimental Film Festival in Toronto.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Manfred Borsch: Julian Scherle (aka Són) – a good friend since our student days – told us about his newest project called Rituals. Each track on his new album was to be visually interpreted by different directors. Julian mailed us the track without a single word. Left to our own devices, we began analysing this piece.

And so we began establishing the visual concept: Chaos, something unstable, bereft of orientation. What is large, what is tiny, what’s up or down? Soon we knew we wanted to incorporate nature shots, since nature usually does a decent job combining apparent chaos and logical order.

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

We filmed four days in Iceland. Back at our studio in Cologne we filmed the macro shots with Ferrofluid. All together from the first call from Julian to finishing the clip it takes six months.

How would you describe your short film in two words!?

The Beauty in Chaos.

What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

The shooting in Icland wasn´t easy: Continuous rain, three out of four days. Everything was grey, and the beautiful picturesque landscapes we’d seen on the web were nowhere to be found. And it was freezing! At times, even our 4×4 couldn’t handle the terrain, which meant we had to walk through the pouring rain for miles to reach our desired spot, only to find out that everything was still pretty much tinted grey. But then again, it fitted the music.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

It is very interesting to hear the peoples feeback. Especially to hear that they spoke about the “visual effects”. It was all real shots.

We experimented with various materials such as Ferrofluid, wall paint, different kinds of oil, baby powder, sometimes directly poured on a subwoofer playing Julian’s track, sometimes on a simple baking tray or acrylic plates, which we laser-engraved beforehand using photos from Iceland.

Watch the Audience Feedback Video of the Short Film:

What film have you seen the most in your life?

Couldn´say-.- we watch a lot of different style of movies. There are a lot of brilliant talents around the world.

You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway, what are you feelings of the submission platform from a filmmaker’s perspective?

FilmFreeway is a easy way to submit our films to a lot of festivals.The site is easy to navigate, has adaptability, custom forms and features that can be changed.