Kezah and Sharp
A love story between man and fax machine
“Weird, wild, wonderful. Kezah and Sharp is the new standard for fever dreams”
In Depth with the Director -
Ori Severin Di Vincenzo
Hello Ori, tell us a little about yourself and your background in filmmaking
My name is Ori Severin Di Vincenzo. I'm an only child to a single mother. I was born in Israel, where we lived in a couple of cities during my childhood and at the age of 15 we moved to Paris, where I stayed for a couple of years before returning to Israel. Having this fractured base as a child forced me to deal with a lot of loneliness and difficult feelings. My escape was my imagination. I would draw, play with toys and make up stories. Years later, instead of drawing I tattoo, instead of toys I make music and create films.
How did Kezah and Sharp first come together as a project?
I was walking in Jerusalem, where I lived at the time, and I saw a fax machine that was thrown away. I was drawn to it by a mysterious desire and took it home. It sat in the corner of the living room for about a month before I had an idea to create a film where I try to give stage to the weird attraction I have for the machine.
Describe Kezah as a character. Where did you draw the inspiration from and what were you aiming for with the performance?
First of all, Kezah is not a coherent character. He has different sides to him that come out in different scenes. Inspired by the "My Strange Addiction" episode about a guy who's in love with his car, Kezah was a vessel through which I could express and exaggerate my own "weird" ways of interacting.
“Love and technology” are becoming common themes in film, what drew you to the idea of loving a fax machine?
In my own life I'm having difficulties maintaining relationships with people and I always fall back on pieces of gear. The modular synth that I play looks a lot like a version of Sharp. There are many nights where I give up the idea of meeting people and instead choose to spend it with the machine. Same for the computer, camera, etc. The main idea is that gear and technology is more stable than human relationships and the fantasy of being able to live independently just with the gear.
The use of animation throughout the film is wonderful. What was your philosophy interspersing animation into the project?
When I started shooting I didn't plan on including animation in the film. In fact I didn't know how I'm going to end the film at all. I watched the third season of Twin Peaks and was inspired by the liberty David Lynch takes in mixing mediums and breaking the pace of the season for an artistic scene. When the idea for the ending came to my head I realised there's no other way to make it come to life but to use animation.
What were the major challenges in putting this film together?
Animation: I had to learn new aspects of animation I didn't know before, like 3D modeling.
Sound design: Finding the right sounds for the machines! In general the folies were a challenge.
Story: it took me months to think of the ending, that was probably the biggest challenge.
What projects are coming for you in the future?
Now that I'm done with spaceships and aliens, I'd like to come back to real life and create documentaries. I have two ideas cooking in my head at the moment.
Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?
When making Kezah and Sharp I had no expectations of it going anywhere. I made it mainly for myself but fantasized that other people who can relate to it would find it out there. It gives me great great pleasure to have the film screen in Melbourne, thank you so much and I hope you enjoy it.