Xousha Eisenhardt’s experimental student film Laaggedij might be the pinnacle of suffering for art – a seemingly nightmarish essay on life and death in the natural world; made on a shoestring budget; in the freezing cold Dutch winter; with each team-member wearing multiple hats as deadline day approached. But as she embarks on her latest project De Monding, she tells Indy Film Library that her filmmaking is also about cyclical creation, and the eternal chance for new beginnings.
First of all, congratulations for winning Best Experimental Film at the Indy Film Library Awards this year. What’s been going on with Laaggedij since then?
Thank you, you had a great selection of films. It was a pleasure being part of your programme. Laaggedij was since shown at Ruigoord [a cultural village in the outskirts of Amsterdam] and a few other places.
Of course I carry Laaggedij everywhere, it’s always hiding somewhere in my head, but for now, all my attention is on my new film project.
My review of Laaggedijread the film as a cinematic interpretation of the often-horrific life-cycles of parasitic organisms in the natural world. I’ve since heard you had a different aim when setting out to create the film though. Would you like to set the record straight?
I think your interpretation was very close to my ideas. The theme is very broad as it is a philosophical matter. But the main idea of Laaggedij is to show the life cycle of (human) life. It started with the question of where ‘something’ starts.
What does the unknown look like? In Laaggedij, I sought to explore this question. I found myself captivated by the enigmatic allure of the unknown, leading me to explore the origin and creation stories across diverse cultures. In my film, I intertwine my own interpretations of these tales with intimate personal memories, giving rise to a narrative of creation.
The fusion of humans and their surroundings takes on various forms in Laaggedij. Through the costumes I designed, I situated the character just beyond the boundaries of ordinary reality. As the film unfolds, the protagonist goes through different life stages, which I accentuate through the environment. From these different life phases, I also wanted to emphasise the cyclic nature of life on Earth itself.
Ultimately, Laaggedij symbolises that every ending harbours the potential for a new and transformative beginning, inviting us to embrace the perpetual cycle of creation and renewal. Through this narrative, I invite viewers to ponder the mysteries of the unknown and contemplate the interconnectedness of our existence.
I’m curious how other audiences have responded to Laaggedij – because clearly there is a lot of room for interpretation at play. Do you have any favourite theories you’ve heard? And is there anything in particular you hope viewers take away from the film?
I had an exhibition in ExBunker in Utrecht, where all kinds of people were walking in to see the movie for free. People from all ages, homeless people, people from all kinds of backgrounds that were passing the space came in to look. It was very interesting to talk to people and hear their interpretations. The film has no spoken word in it, so it is a language for everyone.
A child told me that the red ball was an alien, eating the woman. When the alien ate the woman, he took her shape. The child was not the only one thinking it was an alien. Maybe because it is a thing which we do not clearly understand. A creature-like object from space?
Someone thought the horses were actually a strange presence controlling the struggle of the protagonist. Interesting one.
Other theories revolve around disease or battle through life. I think most of them are right in a way. It is all traceable back to the core thought of the life-cycle.
A lot of people got a bit frightened of the intense sounds or images and were not sure whether it is a thriller or not. My intentions were not at all to frighten people, but somehow this translation of growth and interaction with surroundings turned out to be scary for many.
I think everyone’s interpretation says something about their own perception of life. Just as this was my interpretation of many origin stories and philosophies.
According to your submission form on FilmFreeway, Laaggedij was a student project with a very small budget. I assume that meant you had to find a lot of innovative practical solutions to problems other filmmakers might usually be able to throw money at. What were some of the biggest hurdles you came up against in the process, and how did you overcome them?
All the budget I spent was on the accommodation while filming and food. The rest was all made out of scratch. I think the hardest was making the cheap materials look good and sustainable. For instance, the big bubbly costume was made out of papier-mâché. As soon as we arrived at the film location, it became clear that it would rain the whole week. My huge papier-mâché costume of course was falling apart from the rain. We managed to film around the holes and cracks and slimy disappearing parts of the costume, but the costume definitely was not what it looked like before.
Also having a small budget meant I had to do most of the things myself. Of some aspects I knew a bit and of some none. This of course slowed down the process because I had to learn how to make costumes or work with different kinds of programs. For instance, having no experience in animation, I was trying out all possibilities on after effects and struggling a lot on the way. With a very clear vision in my mind, I had to let a lot of visual ideas go in order to move on. As with the costumes, it was most important that the core story was still told, even though it may not look how I imagined it in the first place.
Having a small budget made some things hard. But it also made me look around and find great creative people who do not make art for money, but because they are passionate and interested. This made the whole process very creative, interesting and inspiring.
Probably my favourite part of the film, and what started me thinking it was some kind of sci-fi horror, was the scene when the red ball seems to ingest Sara Calmeijer Meijburg. How did you come up with that visual?
I was inspired by different life phases and tried to visualise them in costumes compared to the human body. The protagonist starts bare naked and moves uncoordinated. Then comes the red ball, made out of the same as everything else existing, symbolising life, surroundings and change.
It is the first layer that covers the naked pureness. Not only the human is drawn to it, but it is also drawn to the human. As you may have noticed, the human feels attracted to it almost like a magnet runs towards it. At the same time the ball seems to want to cover and suck up the human. It comes from both ways. From within the human, but at the same time influenced from outside. This is the first change in inner and outer appearance. The human now is more aware of its surroundings and starts interacting with it, entering a new life phase: playfulness and consciousness of surroundings.
The team behind the production also had to make a few sacrifices along the way. What were some of the most difficult things they faced, and was there ever things you felt you couldn’t ask them to do?
One of the difficult things was the weather. It was pouring all the time we were supposed to film. filming in March seemed like a good idea as it is the beginning of spring. But this week, it was freezing, it even snowed sometimes if it was not raining. Because we were losing so much time waiting for the rain to pass. We were most of the time soaked and cold outside, waiting beneath umbrellas for the few minutes we could film without rain. The different film locations sometimes were more than an hour walking distance from each other and not reachable by car because it was in the middle of nowhere. So wet, cold and tired, we moved with a lot of costumes, food, umbrellas and blankets from location to location. Mostly we spent from early in the morning until the sun went down outside.
It was the hardest for Sara Calmeijer Meijburg, the lead actrice. She had to be (almost) naked in some scenes. Imagine laying naked on the frozen ground, until the rain or snow starts. Putting on and off layers and layers of clothes every few minutes. The costumes were all very cold and thin. I can’t imagine anyone but Sara, who is such a strong and determined woman, being crazy enough to keep going on this roller coaster for a whole week.
I was lucky everyone around me seemed to be as passionate and determined as me. Struggling through the cold wild weather, not even leaving me the awkward possibility to ask more of them.
What were the most valuable skills you and your team learned from this production, which you would take into future projects? And is there anything you’d do differently if you were to make Laaggedij today?
Working together with people who feel a connection to the project is very valuable and important. If you get stuck in difficult situations, this makes everybody want to solve them, instead of running away to their comfortable nest.
If I would make Laaggedij again, I would definitely take more time for different parts of the production. Finding people who are specialised in what they do is very precious. I would like to give away more functions that in this case I did myself, but are not what I am good at. As I said, the animation was a difficult part for me, same as making the costumes. Next time I will spend more time on finding a bigger team, not feeling the time-pressure of graduating anymore.
Was there ever a particular moment, or film which made you thought, “This is something I could do”?
I am a huge fan of Tarkovsky, Bertrand Mandico, Lars von Trier, Yorgos Lanthimos, Matthew Barney and many more of course. I would not say I could do the same as they did. All of them make very different work, but for sure they have a big influence on my work. I keep them all in my (sub)consciousness and let their great work and stories inspire me.
Matthew Barney and Alex van Warmerdan make film-and-installation-cross. The films are still strong enough to stand on themselves, but there is a possibility to walk into a tiny fragment of the world from their films through installation. This is something I am also exploring. Where can art and film meet?
Is there a theme running between all of your projects?
There are a few themes that keep coming back in my projects. My work focuses on explorations of themes such as the working of the unconscious, cyclicity, birth and origins, time, the creation of folklore and mythology, the infinite, and the complexity of nature. Another subject that interests me is the creation of identity.
These themes allow me to delve into the fundamental questions of existence and the human experience, creating a cohesive thread throughout my various projects.
And how is it going to manifest in your next project?
There is a new project I am working on! I am fully living in the world of De Monding currently.
The central theme of the multimedia projectrevolves around the search for identity and connection amidst isolation and disconnection. It explores how individuals create myths and false identities as a way to find meaning and connection in a world where real human interaction is scarce.
The final form of the project is a video (installation), where visual elements from the film are integrated into the physical space. The installation serves as a tangible extension of the events in the film, transforming the audience from passive spectators into an integral part of the experience of De Monding. The video itself has a duration of 15 to 20 minutes and can be presented independently of the installation on various platforms and at film festivals.
What’s next for you beyond the world of film?
For the coming year my life will definitely revolve around my new film project. Next to putting all my frustration into the earth of a garden, drawings and writings, I am spending a lot of time in Ruigoord. That’s a small artist village on the edge of Amsterdam. Here I am organising an event around traditional (Kazakh) music. But I will also continue organising monthly film nights. Additionally, I am participating in a small film production of a Ruigoord trailer trash film, in which various film sketches from classic movies are reenacted in a small underground pub.
And finally, if people would like to find more of your work, or support what you are doing, how can they do that?
Thank you for asking, we are entering times which are hard for artists and culture makers. All support and especially financial support is very welcome. Soon I will start a crowdfunding campaign for my new project. You can follow my new project on Instagram @demondingfilm, where you can also meet the crew and witness the process of creating the film.
My separate art-Instagram page is @xoushaeisenhardt, and there you can find my recent projects and projects from my art-background.
If you have any questions or you want to see Laaggedij, you can also email me directly.