During the Q&A session following the world premiere of his latest film, Gondola, in the Competition section of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 23, director Veit Helmer was asked why he’d set the movie in Georgia. Helmer, a German national, is famous for shooting in Eastern Europe and Western Asia. His breakout hit, Tuvalu (1999), was filmed in Bulgaria, and for his last trip to TIFF in 2018 he brought The Bra, which was set in Azerbaijan.
 
However, in the case of Gondola, the setting was premised on the titular mode of transportation, a cable car on a ropeway connecting two mountain enclaves of different altitudes. “In Germany, the cable cars have no soul,” he said in response to the question. “In Georgia, they have their own souls. The characters in the movie are fragile, and they wear these cable cars to protect themselves. And also, there’s the breathtaking landscape, which you can’t find anywhere else.”
 
The “fragile” characters are the two female operators of the cable cars, one a slightly cynical veteran (Nini Soselia), the other a new recruit with a more naive disposition (Mathilde Irrmann). If this gentlest of movies has any conflict, it’s between the two women and their boss, a stout, humorless man who doesn’t tolerate the kind of relaxed work ethic the women abide by. The cable car is an important means of public transportation in this sparsely populated corner of Georgia, and the two operators take advantage of its unique qualities to entertain themselves and their passengers, much to the consternation of their supervisor.
 
In one of the film’s many magical realist moments, the women install ropes on the gondola and use them to suspend an elderly man in a wheelchair below so that he can get a true bird’s eye view of the scenery. The segment both delighted and troubled one man in the audience, who wondered what kind of safety precautions the crew carried out, since the cable cars themselves “looked old.”
 
Responded Helmer, “In that scene, was impossible to use visual effects, so I used a stunt man, and we constructed a wheelchair with special ropes and shot the scene twice.” However, there was some trick photography involved in the overall production. Helmer explained that the ropeway he chose for the film only had one operable gondola, but the script required two, since there are many scenes where they pass each other in the sky. So he had to improvise a bit.
 
Another issue he had to work around was Irrmann’s fear of heights. “One time, my camera assistant had to climb on the roof of the gondola to unlock the brake, but to me, no pain no gain.”
 
A common trait of Helmer’s films is the lack of dialogue, and one person asked Nini Soselia if it’s difficult to act without saying anything. “It was difficult in the beginning,” she said. “But the plot was so interesting that by the end it was easy.” Helmer added that he thinks silence is something we tend to take for granted in real life, and for that reason he feels it’s more “cinematic.” “Dialogue is better suited for the stage and radio,” he said.
 
In any case, what gets communicated between the two female operators is quite clear, and one audience member asked how their relationship will be viewed in Georgia, given the country’s “political climate.” Helmer said, “Originally, it was not a love story between two women. They were men, but we ended up casting female actors, and when we sought permission to shoot, we said the movie was about two best friends who had trouble with their boss.”
 
Assistant director Keti Kapanadze elicited a smattering of applause when she added, “Georgia isn’t tolerant toward LGBTQ issues, but they would probably be more concerned if the movie were about two men. We are always fighting for such things and will be there to support the film when it opens in Georgia.”
 
An audience member pointed out that Helmer’s movies often show his obsession with “vehicles” of some kind, and asked why that was. “They inspire me,” the director responded. “Movies are like journeys, and the audience gets to travel to another country. I don’t even think this movie is about Georgia. I would never dare to make a movie about Georgia, since I’ve never lived there.” The setting, he implied, is mainly in the imagination.
 
Q&A Session: Competition
Gondola
Guests: Veit Helmer (Director/Screenplay/Producer), Nini Soselia (Actor), Keti Kapanadze (Assistant Director)