Of inspiration and appreciation
I’d been meaning to go to Edinburgh on a research trip, and while in the country try and make a meeting with either Katie or Olivia at Blue Iris Films happen, and when my dad suggested he come with me since he’s never been to Scotland and always wanted to go, we decided to make a mini-holiday of it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to meet up with Katie or Olivia, but at least I got some proper, touristy sightseeing done. We went on a Ghost Bus Tour of Edinbrugh (which was hilarious.) and we took a train to Glasgow and walked for about a mil to visit a, art gallery; it killed my feet, but the Rembrandt was worth it.
Back on Swedish soil, I came back to Hälsingland with my dad for a couple of days since I’d been awarded an arts grant from that I needed to collect anyway. The whole thing was a little surreal; The six of us walked onto a small stage, serenaded by three blokes playing various brass instruments, and with the entire County Council for an audience we stood in a row and listened as their motivations for each one of us was read out. Mine was surprisingly detailed and very lovely:
“The Gävleborg county council’s arts grant 2014 has been awarded to writer and director Ida Thomasdotter with roots in Ljusne. With a strong and vivid narrative Ida describes our reality and our imagination, in Ljusne and in the world. Unfettered she moves between different creative outlets such as film, drama, photography and blogging. She lets her gaze travel from cats to motorcycles, from classics to relationships. Through her eyes we see all this in a different light when she allows us to peek into a world that is so similar to ours that the recognition is immediate but where melancholy can still be something pale and sweet, and where broken families can be fixed with a touch of magic.”
Afterwards we had lunch at Mobackes. My mum and I ended up at the far end of the table with fellow scholarship holders writer Carolina Thorell and dancers/choreographer Destiny Bergvall and the conversation was inspiring to say the least. I actually had an idea for a collaboration with Destiny and I kept thinking about it all the way home; I want to make a movie with dance instead of dialogue, subtitled.