Women Cinemakers meets
Michelle Gevint Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York City, USA
'The Sweet Stench of Sulfur' blends documentary, history, and fiction by merging the mythical and the apocalyptic into what seems like fragments of a dream. It examines human interaction with nature and how nature reclaims itself through natural disasters. The film was shot on the outskirts of the dead sea where a geological phenomenon called sinkholes is exponentially forming and ‘swallowing’ man-made habitats due to rapid evaporation and climate change. Although dangerous and unpredictable, there is much beauty in these pools of green, orange and blue liquid which resemble a Martian landscape and have been a mysterious source for new microbial life in an ecosystem infamously known for its barren characteristics. This region is associated with the biblical story of Lot who fled the apocalyptic destruction of the ancient city of Sodom. Evoking a collective memory of apocalyptic disasters, the film connects this current mysterious environmental disaster to a historical mythical context. The voice-over is based on an interview conducted with a geologist who was ‘swallowed’ by a sinkhole. Trapped inside a cavity in the earth, he underwent psychological extremes from hope to despair. In a post-truth political era, where objective facts about global warming are mythicized, the film reflects on the uncertain through a scientific, metaphysical, and historical lens.
An interview by Francis L. Quettier
these experiences address your artistic research? In particular, how
and Dora S. Tennant
does your cultural substratum due to your studies of Anthropology
womencinemaker@berlin.com
and Sociology influence the trajectory of your artistic research? I studied Anthropology and Sociology at Tel Aviv University, following a
Hello Michelle and welcome to WomenCinemakers: to start this
year of living in Asia. During that time, I bought my first film camera.
interview with a couple of questions about your background. You
This was before the advent of digital photography. The camera became
have a solid training and after having earned your Bachelor’s Degree
the impetus that pushed me to observe and reflect. It came with me
in Fine Arts from Bezalel Art Academy, Jerusalem you moved to New
everywhere I went and I would constantly be documenting what caught
York City to nurture your education with an MFA that you received
my eye. After I would finish a roll of film, I would take it to a local
from the prestigious Parsons The New School for Design: how did
photography shop to be developed and wait anxiously until it was ready