Carolina Hellsgård about SUNBURNED “Stranded in desert, dust and death“

Together with her mother and sister, Claire spends the summer holidays at the Spanish Mediterranean. Feeling lost and disoriented, she meets Amram, a young Senegalese beach vendor. As their relationship deepens, Claire tries to help him, but unintentionally ends up making his desolate situation even worse.

Even when Carolina Hellsgård's film raises important socio-political issues, it is in the first place Claire's growth and evolution that might stay with the audience. Child, girl, woman,… a process taking place very subtly against a backdrop of geometric coastal apartments and dark clouds over a golden beach. Ever since the project was pitched last year in the Schlingel festival – “Such events are really important for a film like this” – expectations about the German SUNBURNED were high. You can watch the trailer here.

I like your title! It sets a certain tone that includes as well a holiday atmosphere as the risk of getting injured.

Carolina Hellsgård: In one scene, Claire voluntarily gets a sunburn. This is an act of self-punishment, but it is also about welcoming a new experience, although it hurts. There is another dreamy connotation to the title – when catching too much sun, you can’t see things clear anymore. Experiences and people become fleeting, and actions seem to have no real consequences.

You had all elements of traditional ‘holiday movies’ at your disposal, but you decided about a totally different look for your film. What elements were defining the visual language you used?

Hellsgård: The whole film looks blueish, which is connected to a melancholic feeling of loss, a kind of mourning. The story contains at least two major elements of loss, Claire’s loss of childhood, and the loss of immigrant lives in Europe. My DoP Wojciech Staroń’s images brilliantly reflect these losses on an emotional level. We shot mainly indoors to create a claustrophobic atmosphere. We worked a lot with mirroring surfaces, making Claire and her family appear as if trapped behind glass, disconnected from the world. There are hardly any panoramic shots; everything is shut in, because after all, these three women got stuck in their existence and initially can’t get out. On the other hand, Amram as well is trapped. Spain has become his prison. Wojciech and I, we both love the work of Michelangelo Antonioni, that is also focused on austere architecture and the psychology of characters – and full of shadows.

Can I quote from your intriguing Director’s Note? “I remember my own family summer holidays as a teenager, the strange mixture of apprehension and boredom setting in. Burning sun and an unnaturally blue ocean, mixed with a longing for something to break the monotony of the vacation resort. The eternal power struggle between my sister and I.”

Hellsgård: SUNBURNED is a mix of autobiographical memories and fictional elements. The story is inspired by my relationship with my younger sister. We always had a power struggle going on, and there was a lot of jealousy between us. We alternated between being friends and being in conflict with each other. Claire and Zoe are a combination of different character traits, found in both my sister and myself.

Can you tell some more about Claire?

Hellsgård: With Claire we created a character not feeling at ease with herself, an outsider within her own family. Going on a vacation together, they are supposed to enjoy themselves, but Claire simply can’t. She watches her mother’s and sister’s flirtation games and feels merely confused. She doesn’t yet grasp the concept of being desired, or desiring someone. Claire appears as perfectly normal on the outside, but yet she doesn’t connect with the world. Her mother and sister exclude her from their interaction, and ultimately she feels lonely and somewhat lost. The non-communication within this family creates a sense of danger and an almost thriller-like atmosphere.

SUNBURNED reflects on the superficiality of the tourist industry when exploring new countries and cultures.

Hellsgård: We filmed on the Spanish Mediterranean, near Huelva. It was important that the location couldn’t be recognized as such, creating a feeling that this could be anywhere – Italy, France, Greece. Even the scenes in North-Africa don’t mention a specific place, only desert, a symbolic place, where climate change has even aggravated the living conditions. Amram returning to Africa does in no way symbolise a solution, it rather means the end of his existence, stranded in desert, dust and death. Claire is not the typical white saviour, rather she is part of the problem, regardless her good intentions. I recall how my childhood holidays often took place against the backdrop of poverty and political unrest. But like most tourists we indulged in the food, people and culture, instead of reflecting upon the circumstances.

The fact that parents remain relatively absent in the entire story is no coincidence?

Hellsgård: I love the way Sabine Timoteo gives shape to the mother’s unsympathetic character, even if that seems taboo. Sabine and I developed a backstory about the mother being recently divorced, longing for male attention and validation. She is convinced that her daughters will be fine without her. Both her mother and sister don’t pay much attention to Claire, as they are trapped in a different mind-set. But I’m optimistic about all three of them, they will eventually find out what they really want. Claire just happens to be the first one to achieve it. Leaving her family behind she embarks on a new journey into a world that is bigger and more complex than she expected.

I was impressed how bonds between characters, especially between Claire and Amram, were expressed without dialogues. How did you work on these non-verbal acting skills? 

Hellsgård: I got to knew Zita Gaier (Claire) quite well after having spent a week in the countryside together before we started shooting. But Gedion Oduor Wekesa lives in Nairobi, we couldn’t rehearse with him on beforehand. Instead we sent a coach there. After we saw him in STYX we knew we wanted him for the role, even though Amram is Senegalese and actually should speak French. His patterns of movement are completely different from those of German teenagers. Zita and Gedion getting along very well, is reflected in the nonverbal communication between them.

Through Amram’s story we learn about a tragic socio-political issue. By focussing on the individual, we try to understand the bigger picture? 

Hellsgård: I don’t want to generalize things, Amram is not supposed to symbolize all Senegalese people in Spain. In Andalucía I did some research. Most Senegalese men I spoke with thought it was better to earn a living as beach vendors than working in the fruit industry, where they would earn only €20 per day, living as captives in camps in the fields. That is virtual slavery. On the beach, at least they feel free, they don’t feel marginalised by individual people – only structurally. People in general treat them nicely, except the tourists. People on holiday, far away from home, often refuse to take responsibilities. Many of these beach vendors are quite young, but not being allowed to study they have no perspective in life. In winter they go to Paris to live in camps under bridges.

When meeting Claire, Amram gets lost into a dream. She wants distraction, while he has to earn money.

Hellsgård: Their relationship is definitely pragmatic, but they are also kindred spirits. Just like Claire, Amram is an outsider. From the start he honestly tells her that he needs money. He wants €5, which she gives him. He needs more money, so she gives him her mother’s credit card. She is still a child, probably a bit naïve and not aware of the consequences. But Amram’s plight is acute and real and Claire, unlike many other people, reacts to that. That’s why I like her so much.

Based on the producer’s press files